Mr. Fancy Pants

Butterball and I had a fun extended weekend. We unintentionally put together two of three phases of an event but in a new order. There is zero media from any kind of action, but I did take many, many pictures of the golden pat of butter hanging out. 

We went to Majestic Oaks on Friday with Ms. GY and her guy. Butterbal was, once again, just a delight. Even with his nemesis, the tires. He's found this jump just incredibly spooky, stopping 20-30 feet out to stare before finally jumping it every other time we've been. This time we jumped it on the first go, not pretty, but still an improvement. One of my favorite things about this horse is that once he has learned something won't eat him, he seems to remember (in direct contrast to darling Ben who thought a specific jump panel at JT's was going to kill him every single time). 

We looped around doing 4-5 jumps at a go before taking a break and moving somewhere else on course. We played with a few training fences as well once things were going swimmingly. And he was great, tackling the training roll top to water to novice corner like the wonderful boy he is. Happily, all our changes were there too. 

Palisade, the ground drops away from the backside in a more impressive way in person. He was so good and clever to this, waiting to the base. 

Mane taming in prep for the dressage show the next day

We didn't do a ton since we were headed to a dressage show the next morning. But it was enough for me to feel comfortable planning** to send in my entry for the May event there. 

So GOLDEN

I used to do the North Florida Dressage Association (NFDA) schooling shows all.the.time as a teenager, but hadn't been since then. I thought it would be fun to return and essentially wanted to practice some dressage tests and hear how perfect my pony is for a relatively low cost. Plus my sister in law was showing and it's always nice to have friends at shows. 

So Saturday morning I bathed the poor pony at 7:30 with a pocket full of treats. He doesn't like getting hosed at the best of times and 55 degrees and no pre heating workout didn't help. The other issue is that our hosing spot is a tie up high in a tree over grass and dirt. Normally this is fine, but when you're trying to get a moving pony's stockings white, it matters. Jokes on me though, for some reason he had loose poops that morning, so the hind stockings were spattered brown/green by the time we arrived at the equestrian center. 

The show was at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center, which was another appealing point for going. The Equestrian Center is a little over an hour from us, the same distance as the Florida Horse Park where the Ocala dressage association (STRIDE) holds their shows. It was an easy drive over after his bath. When we arrived, I left him in the trailer, moseyed by the show rings and found the office with no difficulty. Fortunately our number was in the "nice" pile meaning we'd sent in all our documents and payment correctly, so I picked it up and went back to the trailer to get pony out for a bit of a hand walk. 

Most handsome, but spot the poop splatters on the right hind

The grass IS always greener on the other side of the fence

He seemed relatively settled, so I found my sister in law while we were walking. We chatted for a few, and then BB and I went back to the trailer to get tacked up. 

11 usually IS his nap time 

Something caught his attention. Ermagerd he's cute.

Beautiful details on the saddle literally highlighted by the sun/shadow contrast here

I got on about 25 minutes before my first class, training 2. He warmed up like the professional he is, then I had 15 minutes to my class. When will I learn. He's honestly easier at shows than at home. So we took a walk around the barn and then started back up again when the rider before us went into the ring. He had a few moments of sticky I don't wanna and then went back to work. Good boy. Our test was accurate and pleasant, but lacking sparkle. I guess the judge felt like pleasant and consistent was good enough since we ended up with a 72% which put us in first in the class. 

As usual, the canter was the weakest part of the test. We did get a 7 on our left lead T-C transition and a 7.5 on the C-T transition both directions, but got 6's for the canter circles. And 6's for both centerlines. The final halt we were left of centerline which is easily fixable, but he was against my hand in both. The entry was abrupt because I was staring at the letters from the nearby small arena and almost missed the mark at E-B to halt. This led to him almost rein backing as we stepped off into the trot again, but I barely stopped that, leading to the crookedness as we departed. 

He got sponged off afterwards, then got a chance to pee before getting back on the trailer for some more hay under his fan. 

Classic picture

Noms

I watched some short stirrup divisions at the HJ show that was going on and ate some food before heading back to get him tacked up for the second test.  

His little face melts my heart. Especially when accompanied by the nicker he did as I walked back towards him

I wised up and gave us just 10 minutes to get ready for the second test. We did do quite a few canter transitions in that time though, focusing on me moving my back but not driving with my seat through the transitions and the canter itself. 

Then we headed in. The judge stopped me as we were giving them our number and said "It's Mr. Fancy Pants again!" She asked about his breeding and shared that she had bred her hanoverian mare to a welsh stallion and adored the cross as well. The test was again pleasant and consistent overall. The canter work had helped some and we got 6.5s for both our circles this time. Our centerlines also improved. 

Good enough for a 73% for first in the class and high point amateur for the day. 

Thinks ribbon pics are stupid

Hiding his face and refusing to show off the ribbon

Back home a couple of hours later and staring at the other horses while posing

Everyone decided the bareback hack to the barn was the perfect time to gallop up the field as well. Worth his weight in gold, he kept all his marbles while they did that. 

Bestest boy

While I did get told by several people in warm up and the judge how perfect he was, which was most of my stated goal, we should've done first level. I was worried about doing lengthenings and leg yields on cue, but the large arena gives adequate time for preparation, and we both would've been a bit more entertained with those additions. Honestly, the training level tests were a bit the antithesis of what JV has been telling me - always be doing something. And changing tempo is pretty frowned upon in the test, so the diagonals, circles, etc. there was a lot of time for both of us to kinda zone out. But overall it was a fun day with my best bud. 

**Planning to send in my entry meant I got as far as the payment screen then gawked at $330. I texted a few people then made a plan to volunteer at the event and then school the cross country the next day. What I've been discovering this winter and spring is that shows are the most fun when done with friends. So that's what I've been prioritizing. Butters doesn't need the show ring experience at this point. And I'm not trying to qualify for anything this year. Which means we go for fun, and I've slowly been figuring out what makes things the most fun: positive experiences that challenge us a bit done with friends. 

First Crack at Training A + Bit Clanking part 3

Butterball and I went to a fix-a-test with Susan Graham-White at Majestic a couple of weeks ago. We signed up for Training Test A. In spite of being nowhere near ready for training level XC and stadium, I felt like challenging us with the training level dressage test (lengthenings and transitions at the letters instead of between letters being the only real differences). 

Inspired by Emma, I tried to take plenty of pics around the event because I knew we wouldn't have any from the ride itself. He got a bath beforehand and it was just chilly enough to be able to put his BOT sheet on after

It turned out to be a wildly productive day, more so than I knew going into it. We warmed up for about ten minutes and then went into the test. He was lovely for all of the trot work, and, as per usual, the canter work kinda sucked, especially relatively speaking. 

After informing Susan that her generous interpretation that the canter work sucked today was incorrect and that the canter work actually sucks every day, she asked me to try something. 

Side note, I've been on such a freaking journey with this horse's canter. When we first met JV he was so deeply behind my leg that we had to fix that before doing anything else. Then we stopped seeing JV and spent 5 months on our own with a forward but hollow horse. Me afraid of pulling him into the contact and getting him behind my leg again. He goes forward from a light touch and has impulsion now (he carries himself forward without me nagging), but that's it.  

Anyways, Susan had me using the inside rein to generate a "space" in his neck, lifting the hand higher and even at one point crossing it over the neck to demonstrate to him just how serious I was about inside bend. The outside hand moved slightly away from the neck to give him a space to move his shoulders into, but didn't get completely dropped. And oh wow, what a difference that made. He was instantly more supple and soft and through. We've been playing with that since then, keeping reaction first in our minds, and I think we're on the right track. I'll break the pivo back out soon to document some of this. 

For the canter lengthenings on the circles, she had me think of starting a stretchy circle, but only letting him out one notch of the reins. That's the feeling, lengthen the frame and stride, try to avoid letting him fall on  his face. 

Hi, yes, I'm really cute

She said at the end that his mouth was gaping open during the canter work. I told her our saga with bits and also told her about my flash trial. JV had recommended a flash to prevent the gaping. When I told him Butterball hated flashes, JV said it didn't need to be tight at all, just needed to prevent a wide open mouth. I had tried the flash the ride prior to the fix-a-test, and it did NOT go well. I could fit three fingers stacked on top of each other between the flash and his jaw. So it really only came into play when he opened his mouth wide. But he felt it while I was tacking up and was mad. I could feel him re-discover it every half-circle or so while we were working and then be mad all over again. About 75% of the way through a 50 minute ride, unintentionally that long, he finally gave up and softened nicely. I'm not sure that a flash is the right answer though, and I haven't bothered trying again since then. Susan wasn't insistent on a flash either, but she did say boundaries were a good thing sometimes. She also caveated that she didn't know us well enough to know if the flash was the answer. She recommended that if I was going to keep going with the flash, pair putting it on with a peppermint, which seemed wise, since he'd gotten mad even before I got on his back. 

Susan ended by saying that if we got the canter work to the level of the trot work we would be winning everything. Kind words for sure. 

Snax before the fix a test

There was the option to work with a bit fitter, Michelle Ryan-Schwartz who is a HS Certified Bit Fitter, afterwards. I don't know enough about the bit bitting world to know if coming from a specific brand means the same thing as in saddle fitting, and we did only try HS brand bits, but she was incredibly helpful, so who am I to judge. While I hadn't planned on trying out bits since we've fixed the clanking, I was prompted by Susan's comments to at least give it a go. We tried 5 or 6 different bits while the fitter and the clinic organizer (also a dressage judge) watched. Which meant I got both of their expertise.

I immediately vetoed the double jointed that was very similar to his prior bit that he clanked so aggressively. 

But we did try 

And this; I didn't know HS is the company that makes nathe bits. 

This one ended up being the winner. We put it in with latex bit wrap on it, so when she ordered the bit, she ordered a roll of bit wrap as well. 

TBH I don't remember his response to each bit. I wish I did. But we were all chatting in between and watching and chatting with riders coming in for the fix-a-test. And our pony participation meter was definitely a bell shaped curve. He generally gets quieter in his mouth the longer he goes, which was true for this ride/day as well. But then he started asking WTF was going on and how many more times was he going to have his bridle taken off and then put back on and then be asked to go trot and canter again. Which was a totally fair question. I kinda was too. Since it was a spur of the moment addition to our day, neither myself nor Ms. GY were completely prepared for the additional 1.5 hours of time. But the fitter and organizer were incredibly generous with their time and had a number of useful thoughts on the matter.  

About two weeks later, I had the bit in hand. 

My attempt at sorting out exactly how far back he would be able to pull it. I think the key here is that the single joint means the middle can pull back, but the outer edges that could get near his teeth cannot. 

My conclusion was that it wasn't a lot especially because this is a 4.5" so fits more tightly in his mouth than the myler I had been using 

Next follows a confession. We ordered bit wrap because they had wrapped it during our trial. $26 for a roll. I watched a video, but it wasn't the exact same type of bit wrap. So I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to get the wrap to stick while it was still attached to the thin cottony layer that keeps it from permanently adhering to itself in the box. Wow guys. Somebody gave me a doctorate at some point. 

Anyways, once I took the cotton layer off, I got the bit wrapped. 

While he definitely still opened his mouth some, he was overall quieter. He also felt much straighter and steadier in the contact and his body. Which is weird because I spent a while feeling the single joint in my hands and playing with it and wondering how on earth it wasn't inherently uneven because one side is longer than the other to put the joint in the center. I still don't have an answer. But it seems he can't clank this bit either, so while the myler hasn't been relegated to the tack trunk yet, I think this bit is an improvement. 

As stated above, the pivo will be coming out at some point soon, and we'll see how busy he is. If he's still gaping at times mayyyyyybe I'll revisit the flash. But even though it was FAR from cranking his mouth shut, I hate to do things that he so clearly hates since he's generally the most agreeable dude. 

I'm also a little surprised that I managed to go through so many bit trials in December and January without trying a single jointed bit and/or realizing what it is about the single jointed shape that would prevent clanking. 

Stable View - Day 0 and 1 - The Socialite

Butterball and I drove up to Aiken on Friday. We left at a pretty leisurely 10:30 AM. We were staying about 30 minutes from Stable View at a friend of a friend's farm. 

Butterball ate

And napped

Rainy as we pulled in 

The one thing Butterball didn't do while travelling was drink any water, which worried me. Fortunately as soon as we turned him out he took a nice long drink. Excellent. 

Trotting up to me, I love him 

He was in a pasture where he could see the permanent residents (two horses and a donkey) part of the time. I did find in the morning when they'd moved to the far end of their pasture where he couldn't see them that he had dug a bit of a hole in the corner closest to them. Sorry dude. I spent a somewhat restful night in the trailer. Note to self- the cozy spot under trees is NOT cozy in the rain because when the nice soft rain stops there will be LOUD intermittent drips falling from trees. 

We dressaged at 1:30, so I started the bath and braid process around 10 AM Saturday morning. The washrack had hot and cold water, which meant he got a nice WARM bath! Lucky pony! He was a little anxious in the barn solo braiding and then a little anxious when we pulled up. I was a little anxious when I discovered that he had probably spent the 30 minute trailer ride trying to rub out his braids. I should've known after his dramatic roll at Chatt as soon as we got back to the stall after dressage. Now I know. 

"I deny trying to rub these out. You just suck at braiding."

I have continually forgotten to take a pic of his last two braids - they get so white with his frosted mane, I find it just adorable

Mid-paw, his forelock braid was not my best work

I gave us about a 45 minute dressage warm up which was totally unnecessary. But he wouldn't even settle and eat grass near the trailer, so I was unsure how long the hack to dressage through tents and other potentially spooky stuff would take us. And also, for the first time ever, kind of unsure what kind of horse I was going to be sitting on. But he got to warm up and was like "Oh, we're here to dressage, got it." and was solidly lovely. So we walked a lot on a loose rein so I didn't use up the pony. He also met not just one adoring fan, but three. And ate it all up. He's hilarious. Even though people have never fed him cookies, he's always looking to catch someone's eye on the rail and be a complete ham. He marches right up, puts his nose alllllmost too far into their space, and then flirts with them. 

We were in the ring next to tents, but I put him to work around the outside and he didn't seem to care at all. Our dressage test was totally respectable, but not sparkling. It's all very pleasant now, so I need to ask for more. More trot, more softness. If we could bump just a couple of those trot scores up to 8's, the whole score would go up. 

31.4, good enough for 11-T out of 31 

I walked XC and stadium with EM after dressage and then took the pony back to his temporary home. This time we put him in a HUGE field more adjacent to his friends. He was IN LOVE with the donkey, Cotton. We let them meet over the fence and Butterball tried to touch the poor donkey an offensive amount. The donkey ended up moving away from the fence like "who is this weirdo and why is he obsessed with me??" 

Please may I have him?? 

Butterball did do some trotting around and mostly stayed on the side of the pasture closest to his new BFF. But overall he seemed more settled. I had a pleasant evening sitting outside of the barn, watching him move around in his pasture while I ate my dinner. 

I suffered the only casualty of the trip that evening. It was still... damp everywhere from all the rain and I stepped out of the trailer tack room onto the mounting block that was on slightly slanted ground and almost ate it. I didn't, but smacked the SHIT out of the medial part of my right ankle. The bruise is super fun colors right now. But at least it didn't tweak any ligaments in any way. So I'll take it, even if my boots did rub the bruise in a very special way on Sunday. 

Out of Florida - Bouckaert Farms part 1

For the first Chatt post, I'm going to celebrate that Butterball and I LEFT the state of Florida (with a health certificate I wrote myself, woohoo! only had to redo it once when the temp didn't enter...) and were not stopped by a hurricane or by sore feet. Overall we had beautiful weather and a lovely time hanging out at Chatt. The place is GORGEOUS. Seriously, cannot describe how pretty it is. This post is a Friday-Saturday recap. 

On the way, assessing Ellis Bros where we stopped to get some chocolate covered pecans and honey. If you're ever on 75 in mid-Georgia, skip the Buc-ee's and check out Ellis Bros. Free samples of soooo many different pecans. I snagged the grand marnier dark chocolate pecans for my dad - they were a big hit.  

Pulling in to Bouckaert, sooooo pretty 

The stalls are lovely, they come with mats and a nice window to the stall behind them

And lovely ventilated stall doors

Albeit slightly tall stall doors if you're a Butterball

But not too tall to get the snoot over

Getting his neighbor to fall in love with him 

They napped "together" like this a lot, it was adorable. His neighbor's person probably thought it was less adorable that by Saturday afternoon, said neighbor was SCREAMING every time I took Butterball out of his stall. Oops. 

Insert Ritz please 

As expected, Butterball was just a DELIGHT to travel with. He did his usual mix of eating and sleeping on the drive up. Then unloaded politely and made himself at home by helping distribute his shavings and then flopping down in them. Our schooling ride on Friday was relatively chill, so I kept it quite short. 

Dressage on Saturday wasn't until 1:20, so we had loads of time to hang out and watch the UL tests. I debated not braiding since stadium was on Sunday; it seemed silly to braid for roughly three minutes in front of a judge (so why would six minutes make it better?? LOL). In the end though, I had loads of time and no excuse not to, so the pony got braids. 

I left his mane a bit longer this time, and I liked the overall effect better. The banded braids came out a little rounder and more pleasing to my eye. 

It drizzled on us a bit during dressage warm up, but pony pants doesn't care, which is really nice. He was pretty stiff to the left and the serpentines in warm up from right to left weren't fantastic. Once in the ring, I stopped picking fights about the left bend though and focused on just riding him forward. We had our best dressage score to date! It was a bit generous in parts, but I think overall reflected the work we've been doing. It was a 29.4, good enough for a 3 way tie for 4th place out of 14. 

Proving that he is indeed the best, once we got back to the stall and I removed the saddle, he IMMEDIATELY flung himself into the shavings, intent on rubbing out his braids. I had, not realizing his feelings about braids, left him unattended for about 15 minutes after braiding him before tacking up and he HAD NOT done that prior to my test (which would 100% have meant he went in not braided). Thanks for not doing that before hand, buddy! 

The rest of the day passed peacefully, watching a few stadium rounds, and then joining friends for dinner. The drive to dinner and dinner itself were my first time back in AC. The weather was quite nice for camping in the trailer, but pretty endlessly damp the whole weekend. It was nice to be dry for a bit. 

I love doing night check and seeing this adorable face 

Peaceful dusk