The Best Laid Plans

 In a couple days we leave for our first show. As always it seems to come up really fast.  I had signed Carmen up for Second Level tests 2 & 3 and Quaid for Training Level 1. 

This kitten. Can you even? 

Now that Carmen is sound (no I'm not trying to tempt fate, really) we've been ticking along. 

Do I feel as prepared as I would like? No. 

But am I confident that we'll be brilliant. Also no. 

That's okay because Carmen has enough confidence these days for both of us. She has turned into a really solid mount. She’s still sensitive and opinionated but I trust her to keep us safe and she delivers. The other day was really windy. 2 years ago I would not have even tried to ride. Last year I would have thought hard about it. Today I threw a leg on. She was sensitive and opinionated, but listened and tried. She was still convinced that every waving branch was hiding a sabre toothed tiger. We’re standing here at the end and I said “see the trees have not attacked us” and then a leaf blew on her face. 

Carmen: ......

Me: Well except for that one.

Last week I took both horses to Krista's for lessons. It was a good lesson, leaving me feeling tired but happy. We actually managed to get our counter canter circle both ways. For the show my goals for us are:

1. ride an accurate test. I can get a little in my end by times (shocking I know...) and that leads to me overthinking and being late or making last second decisions.

2. maintain flexion. Carmen may be safe but she's still happy to make decisions on our behalf. The first sign that she's about to seize the reins (so to speak) is that she loses inside flexion and then things fall apart.

3. keep my seat in the saddle and no pop out. My sign of tension is that I pop out of the saddle and then I can't properly half-halt.

The highly suspicious trees

I've been sticking to my plan to take Quaid places and get him used to working in new locations. He also came last week for a lesson. This would be our fourth time at Krista's. He loaded and unloaded really calmly and was really relaxed in the barn. But when we got to the ring and I mounted he clearly felt that work was optional and his choice was no. His behaviour to get out of work and some of his 'tantrums' were a bit over the top. He'd go forward and then slam on the brakes. Or go sideways. Or all of it. When he'd charge forward he'd hit the bit and then get really annoyed. The best way I can describe it is that it's like when you first learn to drive a standard and struggle to get the clutch/gas ratio right so the car jerks. It is not fun.

The good piece is that I was not feeling nervous about getting hurt. Instead I was annoyed and determined to ride this out. So I did. But the downside is that we never did canter. I talked to Jane that while I can do lots of canter at home I have not yet successfully cantered him off property. Because of that I dropped us down to Intro B test at the show which is a walk-trot test. One thing Quaid does when he's agitated is gape and play with the bit. It gets turned around and it's really hard to keep the bit steady. I've added in a flash and it seems to be helping. He's a lot less choppy and it going to the bit much easier. I think he's appreciating the steadiness the flash is providing. It's not tight but does help keep the bit more stable and I'm happy with how he's going with it.

Look who showed up for a short visit: Julia! 

Now for the real talk: I am not happy with having to drop down and I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to crack Quaid's resistance in new places. However, I also realise that this is the right call and I am making progress, just not at the speed I want. That's horses. If it was easy everyone would do it, lol.

The next day at home I tacked him up and I was pretty sure he'd still have feelings from the day before. At first he was really good and then he tried some of the same shenanigans but I just stayed still and rode as Jane told me. Last year when he was like this I would have kept things at walk-trot and avoided any 'spooky' areas. This time I just sat up and rode all three gaits, fixing as needed. We ended on a good note. Since then he's been really cooperative.

My goals for Quaid are:

1. keep his focus on me in the warm up and the ring.

2. ride through any resistances calmly and with clear aids.

3. trot forward and don't try to hold him too much.

4. if things go wrong regroup and keep going,

The weekend will be a fun time. I'll get to connect with some people that I only see at these events. Even the weather looks promising. But whatever happens we will adapt.

Steady On

 So I'm sure you all wondering how Carmen is doing. Fear not, gentle reader, I have not forgotten about her.  When I last told you about her, she had been off after fooling around in her paddock. She then recovered and seemed to be fine. I took her to the lesson the same day I took Quaid. 

It was neat when I took her out after Quaid's ride. She seemed quite excited to be taken out. And she was amazing in our lesson. It is really neat to be able to take her out and feel completely safe on her. 

The wind had really picked up and the arena was making lots of noises. Carmen worried a few times but totally trusted me when I said it was fine.  We struggled a bit with the counter canter, she was drop to trot and pick up the other lead. Jane had me bring her back to walk and then ask again. We just kept building towards being balanced on the circle on her 'off' lead. It was a struggle and she felt like she was just trying to tell me that it was wrong and she was going to fix it. 

 Here's a brief clip of our turn on the haunches. I love that she didn't try to barge through. 

It was such a great lesson and she felt perfectly sound.  I rode her that week and she was fine.  Then 2 days later (Friday) I got her ready and she was unsound again.  She was really resistant to weight bearing on her left hind again. This time I called the vet. We talked and we both figured it was her stifle. I made an appointment to bring in her in on Monday for a full exam. In the meantime I was to ice or cold hose her stifle, give her Bute and restrict her turn out. 

Not going to lie, I was really worried. The next morning I iced her leg even though it wasn't swollen or hot and gave her more Bute. But she was 3 legged lame. I told myself not to worry about it until I knew what was going on. I went about my day. 

I came home later in the afternoon and when I brought her in she was walking 100% sound.  I brought her in and picked up her hoof and found a small hole.  Could it be that simple?   I decided to not give her Bute Sunday and see if she was still good. She was and has been 100% ever since. 

What I think is that she's had an abscess brewing off and on since April. I think the running around a few weeks earlier exacerbated it and the Bute knocked it back. It grew again and finally worked its way out. 

At least that's my working theory. If she comes up lame again I will rebook the vet appointment no matter how she seems.  

We head off property again tomorrow for lessons. Our last ones before the show next week. (next week?! how? Why? What have I done? It's fine, everything is fine).  

Carmen: hang on, I've got this

Stability

 How did I get so far behind? Let me see if I can summarise what's going on. 

Let's start with Quaid. On May 17th I took both horses to my friend's , Krista, place.  I wanted to take Quaid off property before we head to a show and it allowed me to have a lesson on both horses.   You may recall that last year Quaid and I fell apart when we tried to work in new places. For example, the clinic at Krista's and the shows.  It really knocked my confidence. 

And then he was really good at the ground work clinic a few weeks ago so I had some positive feelings about it. Both horses loaded easily and we headed out. Fun fact, we ran into a car that was clearly out for a Sunday stroll making the drive there waaaay longer then it should have been. But I had lots of time so it didn't really matter. 

I rode Quaid first and it was a really good lesson. In that he was better than last year and not as good as I had hoped. He was clearly worried and tense. And his go-to when tense is to not want to go forward and object if I make him. 

tight pony is tight

And because he's behind the leg I put on more leg to get him to go forward and he objects even harder.  Jane was having me back off the leg and use my seat for transitions. Do you know how hard it is to not put a leg on a horse that won't go forward? The answer is 'really hard'.  

But Jane didn't care that it was hard, lol and kept getting me to work on it.  She didn't want me to give him an excuse to escalate. Our trot was good by times and horrible by other times. 

Rather than pick it all apart, I was fairly happy with my riding. I wasn't leaning forward and I honestly wasn't nervous. I was not relaxed either, to be honest. I felt a lot more confident in my riding. What I realised with Quaid is that when he gets tense and trots his rhythm falls all apart and he wants to speed up and then jam on the brakes. It feels like stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time. When I try to give him a steady rhythm, he gets pissed off about that and starts to throw his shoulders around and yank the reins. 

At one point I stopped and said to Jane: so when he gets tight and his rhythm goes he starts throwing his shoulders and then I start to lose my balance and flop around and it all goes to shit. 

Jane: 'yes' 

Me: so my question is: what do I fix first? 

Jane: good question, I would fix the rhythm and go from there. 

me talking to Jane as above. Quaid, 'stop holding
my face!' Me: literally not touching the reins buddy

Jane had me do a lot of sitting trot because I could be more stable in the saddle. I was going with him too much and not being the stable centre for him to come to. I had to stabilise my core and my hands no matter what he was doing. 

a good moment

a not-so-good moment but not horrible

It was a hot day and by the end we were both sweaty. But I took that lesson and started doing it at home. I think I've been avoiding letting him get upset at home. Which is not helpful because then we can't practice dealing with it. 

While I have not been deliberately stressing him, I've not been avoiding things that are stressful either. I had what felt like a break through ride where he got upset at something when we were cantering (birds/trees). He fell out of canter and began to do his unrthymical thing. In the past I'd bring him to walk to settle. But this time I kept the trot and just asked him to come to me. He was not happy about that but I just kept riding a steady trot and not letting him speed off or slam on the brakes. And it worked. He came back to me. Then we returned to the canter work.

Since that time we've been working on it. Some rides have zero issues but most have at least one moment where he asks how serious I am. In many ways it reminds me of how Carmen would spook and we'd end up really far away from the original ask. I learned to deal with the spook and then go right back to what I had been asking right before the spook. And it really works.  Quaid's resistances are different but were resulting in the same things- not following up on the original ask.  I've been working on staying steady and stable in the saddle even when it seems that he hates it. Because in the end he does come back to me and feels more confident. 

Things are feeling good in that we're dealing with any issues and going back to work. If that makes any sense to anyone but me.  I am feeling a lot more confident and not worried about my safety, which is key for me to ride with purpose.  And while I sometimes miss the 'every ride is perfect' days, this seems to be more real and providing a better foundation that will stand us well.  

Dealing with the Unexpected

 

First of all the happy update: after giving Carmen 4 days off and 3 days of NSAIDS she seemed to be completely fine. I did some free lunging and she looked good. The next day I rode her to see how she was. 

Me: okay Carmen we're going to have a nice quiet ride. Lots of walk and some gentle trot. 

Carmen: 

She was quite sassy and even managed to sneak in some big dekes/spooks. So I decided that this was a good time to work on getting her to soften and relax even when she wasn't feeling like she wanted to. And we did. 

I have to say that my biggest triumph with Carmen is not that I can ride out her antics or even prevent them. It's that I can get her to the other side of her rage to a place of calm.  

Since then we've returned to normal work and things are going well with her. Mostly.  I'm just happy that her injury was not serious. 

Remember Oliver the kitten who appeared on our doorstep? Well he's settled in quite nicely. But we think he's deaf or severely hearing impaired. He really doesn't react to noises, quiet or loud and sometimes I think we startle him because he didn't hear us coming. Thank heavens we took him in because there's no way he'd have survived outside. I'm glad we found him. He's now officially an indoor kitty. 

nothing like a box

My rides on Quaid are going well. I've been focusing on up and down transitions to make them smoother. They are getting a lot better.  Our trot-canter transitions feel really good. The down ones still need a ton of work. 

closely watching my sand delivery for the ring

I've done work of setting up things that are distractions in the past. But lately the universe is doing it for me. They've started to clean up the property next door. It has involved some heavy equipment and possibly a chain saw. Yesterday I was riding Quaid and we were doing really well.  We were cantering up the long side by the next field when he started throwing his haunches in. 

Hmm. Come back, regroup ask again. This time going down the long side we start going sideways. I bring him back and he starts doing his move of planting his front feet and spinning on them. I immediately start riding a 10 metre circle. On our second circle I see what's going on: a large truck pulling a trailer drives right beside us and over to where the junk is. 

Me: aha! Now I see the issue. 

Quaid: I saved us! Time to abort. 

Last year I might have dismounted and called it a day. I checked my watch and we'd been working for about 40 minutes. But I didn't want him thinking that when the world throws a surprise we can stop and exit. So I returned to work: walk, trot and canter transitions on the circle. I ignored the truck (which was gone now anyway) and I gave him other things to think about instead of 'where did it go and what if it comes back?' 

Once we had a lovely transitions and, more importantly, his focus, I called it quits. I was happy with both of us. I am pleased that I feel more secure on him and less worried about what might happen. And, of course, this makes me ride with confidence and give him confidence as well. 

Tomorrow I take both horses to Krista's for our lessons. I'm pretty sure that it will have some moments for Quaid but that's what it's all about. 

Unexpected

 So months ago I signed up both horses for a test riding clinic. I've done it before, the idea is you go to the venue and practice the test with coaching. It's a low-stakes way to get the horse and rider some show experience without the added pressure of judging. 

Unfortunately, there weren't enough people to make it feasible to go ahead and it was cancelled. But I have a full size dressage ring so I reached out to a couple people and offered that they could come to my place to practice. It would allow me to have 2 lessons and give Quaid the excitement of people coming and going. 

the horses are starting on the back paddock 
for short periods of time. Quaid is very happy

In the end only Tanya and Suzi ended up coming. I put myself as the first ride and decided that it should be Quaid. I figured that Tanya would pull in while I was riding and I didn't want him running around in the field and maybe hurting himself while I was riding Carmen. It also gave me time to do ground work first. 

I've been practicing the work I did in the CJ clinic with working with Quaid until his focus is willingly on me and he's relaxed. Funnily enough, those go together.  Jane came up and we talked about how things were going. I said that I thought things were going really well. I told her that I had signed Quaid up for the first show but just for one test: Training L1. That way I could do a really good warm up, ride the test and then be done. I wouldn't have to worry about tiring him out for his second ride. She said that she thought it was an excellent idea, especially for young horses. 

She started us off walking the test pattern while we talked it through. She was really nit-picky about hitting the lines and tangent points. Which I appreciate because I can get a little 'that's close enough' in my schooling.  (I actually really liked that and have incorporated it into our warm up). 

After that we did our warm up of trot and canter.  As we were starting there Tanya pulled in. Quaid was a bit distracted by that but not too much. Then Carmen flipped a switch and began to bolt around her field just beside the ring.  It completely caught me off guard because she doesn't do that. Like she might run a little but she's generally not a fan of self-exercise. 

you can see Carmen in the background here
while I try to not panic that Quaid was gonna panic. 

Jane was giving me instructions to just ride my horse like I've been riding him. I was NOT to get grabby or tight.  It was hard. I was worried he would bolt and leap around in response to Carmen.  Jane took us to the far side of the ring to get my focus back. Not Quaid's. Because other than a few seconds of 'what is going on' he just settled in and waited for me to tell him to what we were doing. 

the bravest little toaster

 Even when Tanya brought Suzi up by the ring he was so good.  Like he wanted to look and broke canter a couple times but he wasn't freaking out and he didn't get annoyed at me for giving him instructions.  (FYI, I was really happy that Suzi was there because I need to practice with distractions). 

a screen grab of a canter stride. I just thought it was funny-
like we were being picked up by aliens. 

We practiced the test and it went really well. He did break from canter early near the end because he was distracted cantering by Suzi. Jane then just had me canter him all the way around the ring.  Which we did with zero issue. Which is great given some of the canter issues we had last year.  

I love this one

Some takeaways: 

• we're progressing each ride and lesson and it shows. I need to stop expecting him to be resistant when things are going on
• Quaid will stay on me as long as I am also connected and ride with intent. 
• I'm sitting up much better (i.e., riding less defensively)
• I need to practice more sitting trot- he thinks he's either going to walk or canter when I sit. 
• downward transition need work: I shut him down too much and he falls on his forehand. 

He's a brief clip: 

There's a lot to improve on but I just love how quiet and unflustered we're being. 

After I put him away (and stuffed him full of carrots and praise), I went to get Carmen. Whomp Whomp, she was lame. I think in her silliness she strained her stifle. She walked out of it a bit but was not able to have a lesson. Like at 16 she decides she's going to experiment with lameness?! Anyway, I have her on Bute and quiet turn out. She's already walking better, pretty normal but I'm not sure if we'll actually be able to show or not. My plan is to call the vet tomorrow after I see her without the Bute. (I'm not spiralling, you're spiralling). 

In summary, Quaid is being quiet and mature. Carmen is being silly and wild and things are never normal around here. 

but look how handsome my pony is! 

Of Saddles, Spooks and Intention

 According to my watch I rode a total of 22 times in April. Which is way better than the total of 4 for March! It's been pretty even between the two of them. 

It's been an interesting start to training. Carmen had a few days off with what was probably an abscess or stone bruise. She was off with zero heat or swelling. It's also possible that it's the saddle.  The saddle fitter was out and she said that while the saddle fit wasn't terrible she probably needed more room for her shoulders. I figured it was coming and she's bringing in some saddles for me to try.  She's moving sound now so I think that, while the saddle isn't doing her any favours, it was more hoof related.  I can't argue because I've gotten 11 years out of it and you can see how she's changed:  

2015

2025

That means that Quaid has been stepping up. I had another lesson on him last weekend and it was so good. Even better than the week before.  

Last year I had an issue with wasp nests around the ring. So this year I bought some fake ones and hung them around the ring. I totally underestimated how scary the horses would find them. So I had to work through that. Carmen took all of 10 minutes and she was over it. But, in fairness, this is the work we've spent 10 years doing.  While she's been spicy this year, she's also been really rideable, so it's fun. We've not had any big explosions this year.  Not that the spooks aren't there, they totally are. I just think my timing in answering her questions has really improved. 

Quaid, however, was really upset by the nests. So I've been working on it with him. Yesterday was a rare gorgeous day so I decided to work both of them. I rode Carmen in the morning and was a great ride.  I then headed off to karate where I was worked hard.  Because Sunday was supposed to be heavy rain (which it is), I decided to work Quaid after karate, despite being tired. 

I spent some time working him on the ground by the nests and he was fine. I then hopped on. It started fine but then he began to object to going by the nests. I was working through it and then he started to act up even when we weren't by the nests. It felt less like an uncertain horse and more like a horse asking me some fundamental questions. And not really liking my answers.  

I was all alone and wasn't feeling too safe. So I hopped off and I put him to work from the ground. Rather than working on him being quiet and soft, I was working on him listening to me and following my guidance. When he was all 'yes ma'am'  I got back on and we went to work. I realised that I was probably being too tentative about asking him to go forward and letting him set the pace because of his worry about the nests. Now I worked on keeping my intention super clear and not worrying if my ask was not perfect and stopping. I asked him to deal with me and my asks and go forward. There was some judicious use of the crop to reinforce the leg. 

And it worked, he went forward and focussed on me and not on all the things he was being distracted by. I swear one day I will learn, lol but maybe not.  But if we can't work through stuff at home we have zero chance of doing it elsewhere.  So I think my homework is that we go forward and follow my lead. 

Now it's May and soon it will be time for our first show.....

Quaid's Very Busy Weekend

 Now that the weather is better (sort of. At least the snow is gone) I've been having a lot more rides.   My rides on Quaid are getting longer and more demanding. Instead of primarily walk we've been doing WTC and asking him to stay with me.  

And I have to say that he's really been stepping up. He's definitely matured physically over the winter but it seems that he has mentally as well. He feels a lot less worried or emotional about things. Not that he's not having feelings but they have seemed easy to work through. 

The other day the ring had a lot of puddles (like I know April showers and all that but could the world be less gray?).  We've done the work of going through, standing in them etc. This time I decided to act like they weren't there. I rode and if the path took us through a puddle then that was fine. But I didn't ride the puddle, I rode the straight line. It really worked.  Not that I don't think schooling puddles specifically is wrong. I think that we needed to do that. But now that he understands puddles we can just carry on. God I hope that made sense....

Quaid: am I a seahorse now?

Anyway, things are going well. So when Jane was able to teach this Saturday I jumped at the chance for Quaid to have a lesson. It would be a good test of whether things were as good as I thought or if I was just not challenging him so he was happy. 

I start every ride with him doing groundwork. How much depends on how he feels. I do it until I believe I have him connected to me and then I get on. I had my Pivo set up for the lesson so I recorded the work I do at first. Here's a short clip. 

I describe this as playing. I know that there's a lot I can do to firm things up (more on that later) but I really enjoy it and I believe that it makes a big difference in him. 

Jane arrived and I hopped on. I've been working on keeping my outside leg on (not pushing, just there) as part of my homework and it quickly became clear that unless I focus on it, my leg just falls off and does nothing. Which means that my hands do the turning and not my seat and legs. Sigh. Riding is hard.  

Anyway, Jane is aware and she spent a lot of time (well the whole lesson really) reminding me to keep it on, and, no, it's still not on, yes really, c'mon you can do it but do not kick your horse it's not his fault your leg is off.  I love how she doesn't get frustrated with me because she knows that learning is a process. 

look how grown up he looks

We did a number of 10 metre circles at the walk with me using my inside leg for bend and my outside leg for steering and I was not to use my hands.  And then we did teeny serpentines down the long side. And Quaid just buckled down and did his level best to follow these weird instructions. 

We did a lot of trot work as well, but not in the small circles because we want to preserve his joints. I was to use my legs to encourage him to take longer steps behind but not faster.  Which meant I was to squeeze longer, not tap-tap-tap fast because that threw him out of rhythm. 

The whole lesson was amazing. And Quaid was right there. He didn't get flustered or do any of the kicking out that was last year. We picked up the canter to the left and it was good, then he lost his balance and fell out of it. We rebalanced and then he picked it right back up with zero fuss. 

whee

We had a break and then went to the right. I was not allowed to ask for canter until the trot was good. I was pleased that he kept going too after the break because I'm sure he thought we were done. 

Here's a brief clip. What you will see is a trot, some canter that falls apart, we regroup and try again. For me the big part is not that we fell apart. It's not neither of us were flustered. He didn't get upset. He just tried to figure it out and do it. 

It was a great lesson. Jane was pleased. I was thrilled. Quaid was happy for all the carrots at the end. 

Now the reason that lessons were on Saturday was that some of us had signed up for a ground work clinic with CJ up at Krista's. I thought it was a great way to get some practice working in a new place and work on him learning to relax and not melt down with worry.  

Carmen was left home. Not that she was happy about that but I want to keep working on them being apart and it being NBD (no big deal). After a small hesitation, Quaid self-loaded on the trailer and we were off. When we got there he unloaded easily and walked nicely up to the barn. He was clearly worried but stayed connected. I put him in his stall and set him up with water and hay. 

I watched a few lessons and I was really pleased I decided to come. CJ's philosophy matched mine. He was keen on horses being connected and finding relaxation. He was not keen on confrontation or 'dominance'. He wanted the horses to follow a soft feel and he worked with each one to help them find it.  He talked about arousel levels with 1-4 being chill and totally relaxed; 4-7 is up and excited/ energised and 7-10 is instinct (flight, fight, or freeze).  He does not like horses that are shut down. He wants them to engage with the environment. So if you present something novel (like a flag) he wants them to look at it (this reminded me a lot of the TRT Method). He doesn't want a horse thinking 'if I just close my eyes it will go away'. 

Quaid: I don't know who that is but I like him

I brought in Quaid and explained that he worries and loses focus in new places and I wanted to get some tools to help me (and me).  He was able to show me how subtle Quaid's initial lost of focus is and how to get it back using my whip to ask him to yield his hind quarters. Not even a big yield, just so that the horse is bent to the inside. He corrected how I used my whip at times.  And showed me some things. Like how choppy his steps get when tight and worried and not stop the ask until he showed even a small reduction in tension. 

Quaid, was slightly distracted but really was quite calm.  He was 10 times better than last year when I brought him, right out of the gate. CJ said that I had done some really nice work with him (which is always nice to hear). Quaid was passed back and forth between me and CJ and dealt with that really well.

One thing CJ shared that really resonated with me was 'notice what happened right before what happened happened'.  That's where you make your correction. So if you're riding down the long side and the horse just starts to bend to the outside that's when you start asking them to connect back, not wait until it's a big disconnect (like a spook). I left Quaid to chill back in the stall after and then took him home. He didn't really want to self-load to come home. I tried a few times and then led him on. I probably could have worked through it but I needed to get home and I didn't need to pick that particular battle. He follows me on easily enough and stands tied so it's not critical. 

When we got home Carmen was quite excited. So was Quaid but he walked quietly beside me back to the barn. When I let him out, Carmen was all over him but he was like excuse me ma'am and he headed out to the field to frolic a bit. He was so happy to be back out. Carmen looked a bit offended but then went and ate her hay. When Quaid came over to share she pinned her ears so everything was back to normal, lol. 

 CJ may have wondered why I came but to me it was totally worth it. I got a few exercises, some tips, some encouragement that I'm on the right path and it was a really solid, positive outing for Quaid. I think a lot of people believe groundwork is for when your horse is a problem. And it totally is. But it's like the riding basics: we all need it and we should always be working on it, no matter what level we're at or how calm our horses are.