Way back when I first started riding with Jane I made a comment in this blog along the lines of 'I know I'll plateau at some point but for now I'm enjoying the progress'.
Jane told me after that I was not going to plateau, not on her watch. And she has not been wrong. I've been riding with her now since 2021 and I don't want it to end. Honestly, it seems that every lesson I have I say 'that was the best gait or movement yet'. According to Jane, if you continue to show up and do the work there is no plateau, there is only moving ahead.
This weekend I have a 2 day clinic with Jane at Krista's place (about 40 minutes away) and both horses are going in it. I'm excited because:
1. I'll be riding with friends
2. Having 2 days in a row helps move things ahead
3. Quaid will have lessons away.
I had to write out my goals for the clinic for both horses and here's what I wrote:
Carmen: Continue to work on forward, straightness and self-carriage. Julia will be riding Carmen on Sunday but I'll have her on Saturday.
Quaid: be able to work in anew location, straightness and rhythm, improve walk-trot transitions, canter work.
two horses getting ready for work but with very different feelings about it
Of course, once you write down goals it's impossible to not think about them in the rides leading up to the clinic. Quaid continues to impress me with his basic ridableness (new word but I like it. If it irritates you maybe ridability is a better word. Spellcheck doesn't recognise either one). I can ride him with Carmen or alone and he's fine. It's not that he's not sensitive. He is, I would argue, as sensitive as Carmen. But his reaction differs. While Carmen tends to do the big spook/spin/bolt his are more a quick splay of the legs or small scoot and then back to work. The other day Julia was riding Carmen and she had lots of feelings to express. Quaid reacted to none of it. Even when she did a big spook/bolt he barely flicked an ear. He does worry about going by her in the ring but that's just it- he worries and then does the thing. At one point I said to Julia, would you like to trade horses and ride the easier one? Which is hilarious given that she's 14 and he's 4.
Today I put out 3 trot poles. I hand walked and trotted him over them then did them under saddle. I expected some tripping/stepping on the poles at the trot. Instead he looked at them and was very careful with his feet. We only did a few passes over them and I let it alone.
Carmen with some feelings over walking into contact
now she's over it
Yesterday we went out hacking with Julia and Carmen after our work. He was great, following along. Today I wanted to see if he'd let me open the gate to leave. He was unsure and once the board fell and he scooted. But then we went back and, step by step, opened the gate and stood there waiting. I looked at Julia and said 'I should be in the dirt and he should be over there' . But Quaid likes to think his way through pressure which is great. Then he led the entire hack out. I was super impressed.
leading is a great way to get him to being able to be solo
I know that Quaid's progress is a result of his basic temperament and all the work I've done. Like I've said, he's quite sensitive and could be, I think, pushed into being a hot horse. Our canter work is our biggest issue right now. Partly a balance issue and partly me letting go. I definitely need some help with it before it becomes a thing. We may not be able to work on that at the clinic but I will book a lesson soon at home to focus on that.
Carmen is also the result of her temperament and the hard work I've done (with so much help thank god). Last week I actually took her out on a solo hack. I have done that at times but with a feeling of taking my life in my hands which is not fun. Now I have confidence in my riding ability and her understanding to not worry overmuch.
When I first titled this blog 'Journey with a Dancing Horse' I didn't really understand how much of a journey this really is and how exciting it is to discover what's around the bend.
If you clicked on this thinking I was going to give you some wonderful wisdom about making horses and this sport affordable, you are going to be severely disappointed. And while there are some things that save money it really is all relative and, let's face it, horses are incompatible with a life filled with fine wine, food and travel unless you have a small fortune of your own. And you probably shouldn't control it because it will just result in more expensive horses and equine related purchases. ...
no regrets though
So, yeah, I got off on a little tangent there. Sorry.
Anyway, this is more about riding in this heat and making training sessions short and economical in terms of training. With the heat and humidity resulting in high temperatures I'm finding I can usually one get one ride in and for only about 30 minutes.
Cordelia waiting for me to fill the pool
It's made me more focussed and spending much less time fussing. Instead I get on and we get on with it. Of course Quaid still requires a few minutes of groundwork. Or I do. But whatever. Knowing that we have limited time means that I can pick a few things to work on and so I need to prioritise. With Quaid I'm keeping the focus on forward, straight and our walk/trot transition. It is improving but it takes some concentration. He has a habit now of lifting his front and hopping into the trot rather than pushing. He does it when lunging so it's not just me causing it. I need to make sure we have a marching walk and then ask him to pick up the trot. If he tries to do it fast he'll launch so I let him have the time to sort out his feet and not get after him to respond quicker. The nice thing is that when I correct him he figures it out.
Today I noticed that he was getting distracted and even spooked. I realised that I was not occupying his interest enough so I needed to be asking more. As soon as I did that he flipped his focus back to me and we carried on with a good ride. Quaid minds the heat more than Carmen. And the deer flies really bother him. As soon as they start swarming I try to finish up pretty quickly so I'm not torturing him. I haven't put his fly sheet on because it's so hot.
With Carmen I've been focussing on her responding to my half-halts. A lot of the time she'll completely blow them off and lean on the bit. As soon as Jane dialled in on this for us I realised how much I was letting her decide if she wanted to rebalance or not. So now I'm not and she's not always happy with me even though she's a lot more balanced. Funnily enough, since I've been working on her rebalancing our canter-walk transitions have improved tremendously.
After our rides I hose her off and let her graze while I put her tack away. When she's ready to go back in the field and I'm not done she'll come in and find me.
Carmen: I have to do everything around here!
Carmen doesn't mind the heat as much as Quaid does so we sometimes finish hot and sweaty. Which is why I typically have only ridden one of them. Today I rode both because it was cloudy. By the time I was done with Carmen I had to peel off my breeches.
I've been enjoying the short, focussed rides a lot. No more endless walking and seeing if Carmen feels ready to trot. We walk, and then get on with it. I think she likes it better too, but it's Carmen so I'm reading between the lines here.
Carmen: oh my god woman have you not looked at the forecast? There's a heat warning out. Why are we even standing here.
Me: well it's not really hot yet and I figure we could get some work in.
Carmen: *sigh*
Me: Remember you're a desert horse
Carmen: Virginia? I don't remember any deserts there.....
Me: I meant your heritage and, for the record, your mom was from Spain.
Carmen: Well I'm a Canadian now, used to cold winters and mild seasons. Not a humidex of 39!
Me: And we don't have to work hard, there's no need to be spicy. Just sayin'
Carmen: I swear you don't even know me.....
*Editors note: Carmen was fine, with a couple little tests. We were able to get our work done and cool off.
**Carmen's note: I'm always fine. I just didn't feel like making her work too hard, she seemed awfully warm and I didn't want her to have heat stroke. You're welcome.
First of all, thank you to everyone who reached out and commented with encouragement, support and empathy. I really appreciated it.
This morning the vet clinic I had reached out to called me. They are working hard on a plan to support the horse owners in our area. The woman I talked to was professional and kind. She said that they are looking at setting 1-2 days a month to come to our area for routine care/calls. She outlined the emergency procedure and generally made me feel a lot better. They also have a great set up for hauling in so I might do that. The big worry is that if there's a major emergency and the horse can't be trailered because of how far away they are but I won't borrow that trouble. It feels like a huge burden has been lifted. I'm hoping that we will see equine services in our area again.
I love this screen shot from my lesson last weekend
Last week we got our small square bales in. It was a lovely day and it was fairly easy. I usually get a mix of square and round bales. This year I'm doing a mix of small and large squares. I'm hoping that this will be easier for storage and less dust.
Cordelia approves of the hay
Ed and I also went strawberry picking the next day. I love strawberries and we are currently feasting on strawberry shortcake, putting strawberries in yogurt and I want to back some things with them. I made jam and will freeze some berries in baggies to add to my breakfast over the winter.
summer deliciousness
I've been riding both horses fairly regularly. With the summer heat settling in I have to get it done in the morning. But I don't mind. Quaid and I growing in confidence and it's a lot of fun. We have some great conversations. He developed this hop into his trot transition which was making me uncomfortable and trying to figure out how to fix it. As with moth things, there's not one answer. He needs to be forward thinking and a little flexed to the inside. The last two rides I've been working on correcting it. When he'd hop, I'd say 'no' and bring him back, reset and ask again. When he'd simply trot without the hop I'd praise and reward. I can really see him thinking it through. He's so cool in how he tries. Today was pretty hot so he enjoyed a good hosing after.
He's filling out nicely
The deer flies are awful this year and driving him a little crazy. I finally caved and bought him a fly sheet. I hope this will help him. But man he looks hilarious.
Serious Mrs. Roper vibes here
The flysheet was a bargain and is a cheetah pattern. The fly boots are hot pink because he usually comes in with just 1 and the hot pink is easy to find in the field. Carmen's expression when she saw him was hilarious. I don't have a fly sheet for Carmen. The flies bother her but not too bad and I don't like how hot they can get in them. The longer I have horses the less I'm inclined towards blankets and sheets in general. (but I do use them when I think it's necessary).
I've signed both horses into a clinic at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to riding them both. Based on last year's experience it should be a lot of fun.
I've been hesitant to even think about this, let alone write about it.
Two weeks ago we received notification from the vet clinic we've used since we moved to the area in 1996:
As you may know, we are experiencing veterinary staffing shortages. Unfortunately, we do not have enough Equine or Livestock Veterinarians to continue these services this fall. This has been a hard decision for us, however, effective August 1st we will be discontinuing livestock services (both clinic and farm calls for cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, goats), as well as temporarily suspending equine services effective August 16th, 2024.
This means that as of August 16th, I will not have any vet for my two horses. This is incredibly frightening to me. So much so that when Ed tried to talk to me about it I told him I couldn't. I have reached out to the clinic they said might be able to provide coverage. I have yet to hear back.
There is a crisis in equine medical care and it's bad. It is estimated that 4.9% of private practice vets practice equine medicine (https://horsesport.com/horse-news/conference-addresses-critical-vet-shortage-canada/). There are lots of reasons: cost of education, limited enrolment possibilities, demanding and rude clients and an impossible to maintain work-life balance.
I believe that the other factor is the current trend of private vet practices being bought out by large corporations (https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/veterinarians-corporate-consolidation-1.7207186). My clinic used to be privately owned. Now it belongs to Vet Strategy which is 70% owned by a large conglomerate in Boston.
Pets are now big business. I have my doubts that a large business in the U.S. cares whether my horses have access to care and this worries me. Most vets and technicians do not enter this profession to make money. They enter because they love animals and want to make their lives better. But the reality of trying to operate a practice on your own (or with partners) must be daunting. And I believe that while having someone run the practice makes it easier for vets, not being able to guide the practice in a way you want must just add to the pressure (this is just my opinion and observations, I have no direct evidence of this).
In the meantime I have to figure out what to do. I will continue to reach out to other clinics. Last year my local vets saved Quaid's life. If I have an emergency what do I do? What about ongoing vaccines? I am comfortable to give my horses needles but I can't float their teeth. And I can't buy vaccines without a vet prescription in Canada; unless I figure out how to get to the states and get them. Which I 100% will do if I have to.
Do I buy a shotgun and learn how to shoot my horses in case I have to euthanise? I've even considered selling and moving away to where I can get a vet. Do I keep moving then?
the communication from my vet clinic said:
We understand that there will be feelings of support and understanding as well as disappointment. We understand that some may be interested in contacting us to express their feedback. We encourage you to contact us at (email) so that we can best direct your concerns as well as leave our phone lines open for emergencies. We would like to remind you that verbal abuse or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated or elicit a response.
It is our intent to resume Equine Services as soon as staffing permits, however we will not be resuming Livestock services.
I have sent two emails asking for clarity on the vaccine issue. I have yet to hear back.
It is hard to not fall into despair over this situation. I honestly don't know what to do or where to turn. All I'm left with is to hope that equine services will resume at the clinic or that someone take me on or someone else will fill the void here.
I had a lesson on Saturday and, spoiler alert, it was really good. Carmen was just coming off a heat so I knew it would be better. Now that she and I are working calmly it's a lot easier for me to identify patterns that affect behaviour. I will say that it's pretty clear that she's less willing to ' do the thing' (or anything really that doesn't involve rubbing her tail and eating) when she's in heat. Sometime I consider using medication but I've decided that we can figure this out without messing with her hormones (she is on chaste berry but nothing else).
Our lesson was early and it was a truly lovely morning. The focus continues to be on helping Carmen and I to be in more self carriage. It is no longer sufficient that we are not careening about, now we have to elevate our game. This requires me to be consistent in my aid, reins and expectations. It is hard work, for both of us. Like a really hard pilates class. Although I am grateful for my pilates classes because it's making this easier for me to do.
I have to share this sequence of photos from the video. We were walking around, something spooked her and then we went right back to work. This is really good for us.
falalala
oops!
false alarm
I have to say that when I rewatch the video I can see a marked improvement in Carmen's gaits. She is tracking up and staying much steadier than even from 2 months ago. We even did a serpentine counter canter and it was pretty balanced.
Jane is having us work on shoulder in on the circle. I would swear that I'm doing it but when I look at the video we are not. But we're trying. Carmen is funny- when she's uncertain (or unwilling) she will tighten everything up and then leg yield around the circle. Jane, I'm sure was getting frustrated with us. I did say at one point 'I don't know what we're doing but I'm pretty sure it's not what you want'. Not that she gets mad, I just know that if she were riding it would be sorted while I flail about. (Instructing is not for the faint of heart).
square halts at least
Canter is coming too
We changed direction and she became even stiffer doing some sort of leg yield crab walk thing. I could definitely feel it be wrong. I can feel what she's doing I said, then I muttered 'now I fucking do something about it'. Jane laughed. I put on my leg and tapped Carmen with the whip. She needed to go forward and then bend. And she did. We came around again. Oh I took off my outside leg, no wonder she went sideways! I know, Jane said (a little smugly but that was fair).
The goal, as Jane explained, is to take the weight off her front legs by half-halting into the transition. It also means riding her forward without going faster. This way she'll step more under with her hind legs.
so much lighter
This mare is not easy. I doubt she'll ever be easy and I don't think I could have done this last year, she requires a level of fitness that Jane says wouldn't be necessary with a more sanguine horse. But she's taught me so much and made me elevate my game. When I worry that maybe this is too hard I look at the videos and see how this training is helping her to be balanced and soft which will only help her stay sound.
It always seems like it's feast or famine with horse blogging. Not much is happening and then everything is happening. Which gives a lot to blog about but less time to actually, you know, write. Rather than procrastinate (any more than I have already) I thought I'd do a summary of what we've been up to.
First Hack:
Right before we headed off to the show Julia and I took the two horses for a hack. Last year the woods were so soft and wet we couldn't hack at all. So this was Carmen's first in 2 years and Quaid's first under saddle.
Carmen was really happy to head out of the ring and into the woods. Quaid was a little excited and needed a lot of half-halting to not run up Carmen's butt. He did not like that but he has to learn.
There are a couple logs across the path that are easy to walk over. One is a bit bigger. I had Julia go first and then halt on the other side. I didn't want Quaid to get overexcited and do a big jump. He was uncertain so I just stayed calm and urged him to go forward backing off when I felt him incline forward. He went over after a little bit of dithering. We looped again and this time he jumped with his front feet and walked over with his hind. It was funny. He liked the stopping to graze part.
We've been able to hack a second time since then and he was much calmer and relaxed. Which is his style- each time he gets better. Carmen was a perfect babysitter.
Quaid: this is all very interesting
Post Show Lesson (Carmen):
I gave both of them a couple days off after the show. I did book a lesson with Jane for Sunday (June 16). Jane shared how she had been so proud of all her students at the show. We talked about how good Carmen was and the judge's comments. Overall the judge said that Carmen needs to carry more behind and improve her ability to collect and lengthen. All of which is totally legit.
We spent the lesson working of having Carmen flex and bend because that's what is going to help her with this. It was a really good lesson and Carmen was right with me. Jane said something that made me pretty happy. I was along the lines of 'She's going so nice and calm because of your riding, not just because she's older'. Not gonna lie, I had a little glow of pride with that.
I can really feel Carmen understanding what's being asked and, when she's not sure, she's looking for the answer. I still have a lot to work on. I keep seeing the videos of my shoulders super tight and raising them. I hate that I still do that but I'll keep working on it.
Schooling Quaid:
I am really enjoying working with this guy. He tries so hard. Each ride is better than the one before. We've been struggling with the right bend but I keep working at it. His straightness is really good. We even trotted down the quarter line without wobbling. He is building his understanding of the tasks. I do groundwork before every ride. What we do varies but the purpose remains the same: to have his attention and willingness. It honestly doesn't take long but I don't skip it, I think it's critical. We've added in cantering on both reins (just on the circle).
Johanna Clinic (the readers digest edition)
If you've followed this blog for a while you know that I attend clinics with Johanna Beattie Batista. She is a classically trained Centered Riding instructor - from Spain but now lives in Portugal. I always enjoy these clinics. I love the pace and hanging out with the other riders. They are arranged by Karen who is a very close friend. Typically I travel about 2 hours away to do the clinics but there was a glitch and it was in danger of being cancelled. Fortunately, Stepehanie and I came forward and hosted it this time. That made is easier in terms of travel. And it was fun to host Johanna and Karen. The location was split between my place and Stephanie's. I rode both of my horses and there were 2 riders at Stephanie. There were another 2 riders who had lessons on Friday and Sunday as karen was transporting Johanna. I know this sounds confusing but it all made sense, trust me.
My rides were first and both days I started with Quaid. There were people there with lawn chairs watching and we had Johanna but he took all in stride. The ride was really good. Johanna helped me to be really consistent on asking for the flexion and having him understand bend (for a baby horse). As we worked he became more and more consistent in the contact.
Johanna talked about making sure that I was a steady rider and to let him find me. Which is also want Jane tells me. So how can I argue? Day 2 was very similar (as you would expect) but we rode longer and did more trotting. Johanna had me work with him and she made comments as we went. There was a lot of positive things.
His trot was the steadiest it's been. Like I said, every ride is better than the one before.
look at this :)
With Carmen I told her about working on Carmen carrying more from behind. I was fascinated that Johanna's approach was very similar to Jane's with different nuances. As we warmed up we did this exercise of shoulder in to haunches in to shoulder in, with a turn on the haunches and repeat. It was tricky to keep everything organised. I remember Johanna saying 'if you want quality gaits you need to ride with quality'. Like I always say, riding is hard. But fun. I could feel Carmen getting more under me.
Funny story: we went to canter and Carmen was NOT feeling it. She didn't want to go forward. This is not new. I probably asked a bit strong and I think I surprised her with the transition. What she does when she doesn't want to canter forward is to pin her ears and suck back. She'll even give little bucks but those are NBD. I gave the rein forward to make sure I didn't pull and urged her to go forward. Johanna had me take her large encouraging her to open her stride.
You can see in the video Carmen changing from feeling pissy to having fun. The next day she was a bit sore from the work and/or because she was coming into heat. So we kept the work lighter and ended at a good place. We finished with walking half pass making sure that Carmen was bending. I have learned that when I think the bend is good it's still not enough. Johanna reminded me that it was an exercise, not necessarily what I want in competition,
Saturday night we all got together and shared food (so.much.food) and talked horses and laughed. I think I was in bed by 9:15.
patting her for cantering forward
When I look at my photos and videos of Carmen this year I can see how her top-line is really developing.
It was fun, if tiring, weekend. I was pleasantly surprised that I could ride two horses back to back for 2 days and not fade. At least not until I sat down. And I definitely had a nap after everyone left and Johanna and Karen were on the road.
There's still a lot of summer ahead to keep working and I'm excited.
