Selena Ride 26; Wizard Ride 96: Sticktoitiveness

Monday, 9/14/09

Another dose of top-shelf Jersey weather. Ahhhh!

The horses have been spending all day and night outside and I can feel a difference in Wizard and Selena. Both are more focused and settled.

I rode Wizard for about 15 minutes at the walk. We walked around the property with Mary the Morgan. I did not take him in the arena because I’m still trying to figure out if his resistant behavior from a few months ago was more physical or behavioral. He stood quietly for mounting (and cribbed on the fence- little booger!) and was a perfect gentleman for our walk.

Selena was also fantastic- this may have been our best ride yet. This was our ride plan:

– walk on loose/long rein for 10 minutes
– trot on a large oval, asking for contact and asking for a stretch
– walk and ask for leg yield in both directions, using the wall
– trot in figure 8, making sure to make them loopy without too much straightness at the center
– trot in large oval, asking for a longer stride on the long sides and as shorter stride on the short stride (I hesitate to call it lengthening since we are not at that level)
– ask for the horse to stretch and chew the reins at a trot on a large ciecle
– walk to cool out

I got more bend tonight than I’ve ever gotten before and Selena is responding really well to my half halts, meaning that I’m doing them better. Hooray! I did not feel quite as secure in my position as I did last week, but I think it is because I was doing so much hiking and activity last week. I need to keep it up.

As a final exercise, I lined Selena up with Mary the Morgan, horse show style. Selena stood quietly and sighed as if to say, “I’ve done THIS before, silly!”

I asked Mary’s owner to leave the arena before us to work on separating Selena from other horses. We’ve done this exercise a few times and Selena is becoming more and more relaxed.

Progress is a powerful thing. It makes all the difficult days so worthwhile.

Selena Ride 23; Wizard Session 94: Nibble, Nibble…

Wednesday, 9/9/09

Poor little JR’s ankles are covered with itchy bites. He got them on our trail walk on Monday. I hosed his legs, scrubbed them with Betadine, and dried them off.

Wizard has them as well. I took him for a short trail walk tonight (light was fading fast!!!) for about 3 miles and did the Betadine scrub routine for him as well.

Another great ride on Selena! We had the deck stacked against us, since it was a chilly, windy night and most of the horses were in the barn, but we worked right through it! She was just a little tense and snorty at the very beginning of the ride, so I went right into our work on transitions and she responded nicely. We did walk-halt-walk work, some big circles, and used the traffic cones as guides. Then we graduated to walk-trot-walk transitions. She is working off my seat for downward transitions really nicely. During our last ride, I felt Selena round and maintain contact with the bit a few times- tonight, I felt it several more times. Yippee! She did it in both directions and did not back off when I held the contact with the reins. We trotted a ground pole about 4 times during the ride- she was a little wobbly over it so I kept my leg on her.

We’ve had a few big steps forward with our progress. Time for me to sketch up some new ride plans :^)

Selena Ride 21; Wizard Session 92; One for the Road

Thursday, 9/3/09

Last ride before my trip to Saratoga to see Rachel Alexandra’s date with destiny in the 2009 Woodward Stakes :^)

I arranged the cones and ground poles in a larger pattern for my ride with Selena. The cones were in a big rectangle, making a large oval. I put two ground poles in the center so I could ride through to do figure 8s. I’m not sure if it was the time of day or something about my riding, but it took a while to settle Selena and get her as focused as she was for the past few rides. By the end of the ride, she began to reach into the bit, just a little, so I rewarded her by cooling out. I understand that there will be peaks and plateaus, so it was not altogether disappointing to have a just-OK ride.

My mother and I took Wizard for a hike in the woods. We walked almost 5 miles :^)

Selena Ride 19; Wizard Session 90: Big Orange Cones

Tuesday, 9/1/09

Another gorgeous Jersey day! The only hints of the miserable bugs from the past few weeks are the leftover welts and scabs on Wizard’s legs, chest, and sides. The air is dry so everything is healing up quickly.

When the weather permits, the horses stay outside at night. My new system with Selena is to bring her in from her paddock and let her eat hay in her stall while I walk Wizard. This seems to be a good pre-ride routine. The past two days, she trotted toward me, which is always rewarding for a horse person :^)

I hand walked Wizard and was accompanied by two riders, who rode Mary and Miss Tuesday. We hit the Across The Street trails again and were out for between 30 and 45 minutes. At the end of the straightaway, we got to a sloped trail with lots of little “roller coaster” dips- this is perfect for Wizard, who needs hill work to build strength in his hind end.

We got back to the barn as it was getting dusky. I grazed Wizard for a little while, and put him in his stall for hay and Dengie while I worked with Selena.

I grazed Selena for a few minutes before our ride. I was out in the outdoor arena under the lights with my two barn buddies and had a fantastic ride! In order to focus my ride and improve my position, I took my barn buddy’s advice and borrowed a Parelli exercise (I have mixed feelings about Parelli work, but what I like best is that there is a clear plan for rides and ground work). We set up four traffic cones at four corners of a square on the size of a big circle. I started the ride by walking and situating my position. Then we rode the circle and halted at each cone, walking between them.

Cones on a Circle

The exercise helped me to make my cues more precise and it helped Selena to learn to relax a bit because she recognized the pattern after a few circles. Then we played with the pattern, stopping every other cone, and sometimes walking past them. It helped me to refine my half halt as a precurser to the transitions and it helped Selena to learn to listen to me.

After the walk work in both directions, we began trot work. Selena was awesome! I think my position really helped her to relax and accept my requests to supple her. We walked from one cone to the next, then trotted to the next cone, and so on. Then we began skipping cones, and then doing transitions between cones. The exercise probably helped me more than it helped her, but it did wonders for getting me to focus and fix my position so I was actually sitting on my seatbones. Selena responded by relaxing her topline and stretching her neck. It was not a true stretchy trot, but it was relaxation and there was no resistance at all. Yahoo! What a difference a day makes.

JR Ride 47 (and a quarter)

Tuesday, 6/30/09

I’ve learned that a key to working with a green horse is to try to keep at least a step ahead of him at all times. That way, you are able to guide the horse and engage his mind. One of my biggest flaws as a rider is my occasional lack of a ride plan. This journal has helped to encourage my creativity. I let the creativity slack a few times recently with JR and he decided to occupy himself whenever I did not entertain him :^) If I am not engaging his mind, he gets distracted- it does not help to be frustrated when this happens because a) he’s a HORSE and b) I am responsible for his schooling. There is a big difference between JR’s reaction to deer in the woods while his mind is engaged and JR’s reaction to deer in the woods when he is simply motoring along. As I increase my saddle time, I need to keep this in mind.

I turned JR loose in the arena for about ten minutes before our session. As indicated by the photos above, he was delighted with the opportunity to romp, kick, buck, leap, twist, contort, scamper, and play. He’s a young horse with a big sense of humor so I think a little playtime is good for him. He longed nicely in the outdoor dressage court. I did not do any work with spirals because I did not want to become too repetitive with the mental or physical demands of the exercise. Instead, we worked on transitions and responding to verbal cues. He did break into a canter a few times from the trot on his own, and even broke into a few playful cartwheels, but otherwise he was good on the longe. The biggest challenge was keeping the circle round when he got distracted.

After we longed, I did about 5 minutes of work at the mounting block. Almost every shred of his sour attitude at the mounting block is gone. He stood like a stone when I got into the saddle. He rode like a perfect gentleman. Because it was dusk and I knew there were likely a few deer crashing around in the woods, I engaged JR’s brain, circling, changing footing, walking up an incline and back down the incline.

My ankle is feeling pretty fantastic with just a few exceptions. I am beginning to wonder if the Mountain Horse paddock boots were to blame for the sprained ankle in the first place, since I never sprained my ankle before and I always wore Ariat before. The heel is a little taller in the Mountain Horse. They are great for riding, so I hope to hang onto them a little longer and maybe I can get acclimated to them.

The ride was short, low-impact, and sweet. I dismounted from the right, both for my ankle and to continue to do new things with JR.

I had hoped to longe or sit on Wizard’s back, but he was not-quite-right on the longe. More waiting…

Wednesday, 7/1/09

Sunny day all day long. Until I was 5 minutes from the barn. I hurriedly tacked JR up and brought him out to the arena. We longed for about 5 minutes before the rain was too steady for us to stay outside, not to mention the thunder and lightning. We headed for the indoor arena in hopes of continuing the session, but the arena was packed with all the other horses and riders who were avoiding the rain. If there were a few people in the arena, I would have gone in, but it was a full house.

I tried to wait the rain out to no avail. I untacked JR, gave him a good grooming, and put him to bed. More rain. I gave Wizard a good grooming.

More rain. OK- I can take a hint… I called it a night.

Wizard Session 71; JR Session 26: Pain in My Gluteus Maximus

Every few days, my barn buddy Cathy sends me photos of Wizard and JR during the day while I’m at work. Here’s her latest photo of the two hooligans. I find it very amusing that I can keep tabs on them while I’m in the office- reminds me of the nanny cams that people install in their houses.

Wednesday, 4/8/09

So my wool saddle pad theory was all wrong :^/

I hand grazed Wizard for about 20 minutes before I rode today. The air is cool and lows tonight are in the 30s. From the beginning of the evening, Wizard’s body language was tight. He was ticklish and sensitive about grooming and a little jumpy outside- not spooky, just kind of on edge. When we were done, I put him back in his stall with some Alfa Supreme for 30 minutes. I left the Thermatex cooler on him while he ate, hoping that the warm wool might loosen up his cold muscles a little bit.

I longed JR in the indoor arena. Little yellow fellow is feeling FRISKY! He was pretty mellow at first but when he broke from a trot to a canter, he EXPLODED into playful bucks and once again, I felt like a deep sea fisherman wrestling a marlin. I’ll have to tack him up next time if I want a more serious longeing session- he was in a halter today. He trotted a few times over some ground poles and he was very willing and round. Good boy! Our longeing session lasted about 20 minutes, including warmup.

I put JR to bed and tacked up Wizard. He was still sensitive, even when I put his plushy saddle pad on his back (no more wool for him). I kept the cooler on him and took it off once he was warmed up a bit at the walk on the longe line. The footing was a little hard and dry but Wizard looked pretty good on the longe- I longed him for about 10 minutes, just walking and trotting. I longed him because I wanted to see if he worked out of the tightness I was seeing.

Sarah showed up for our lesson and I explained Monday’s ride. I mounted up and Sarah asked us to do a long, easy warmup at the walk on a very loose rein. After several minutes of walking, she asked us to trot on a loose rein. BACK went Wizard’s ears again! We had not trotted a full circle before Sarah said, “He’s hurting” and asked me to dismount.

I took off my saddle and she ran a line of pressure down both sides of his back to feel for soreness since he looked to be backsore rather than sore in his legs. Back seemed pretty good, but when she got to his left hip and hamstring, she found the root of the cause: a big knotted muscle. This is the same injury the chiropractor felt when she worked on him. I was a) impressed with Sarah’s judgment and diagnostic skills and b) relieved that it was the same thing we’ve noticed before.

Sarah and I walked Wizard back to the barn and she showed me some massage techniques to help break up the tight muscle tissue, rubbing and currying in even circles in the direction of the hair. Wizard let us know exactly how he felt about it by yawning and chewing contentedly. Yawning is seen as a release of toxins by some equine practitioners.

So now that we know that Wizard’s left hamstring is sore, what can be done and how did it happen?

Fibrotic myopathy requires surgery in its more severe cases, but can be relieved with massage, acupuncture, and laser therapy. I plan to call the chiropractor out in the next week or two to see if she agrees with this possibility and to see how she thinks we can address it.

How did Wizard get a sore hamstring? I believe that it’s an old injury but it seems like it gets sore sometimes. On Sunday night, he was playing and galloping in the outdoor arena and perhaps he pulled it in the deeper footing (footing is not as deep indoors). He also has a rowdy new equine neighbor who has been leaving bites on Wizard and they might have been rearing or wrestling.

Honestly, I’d rather work on something like this than a leg or hoof issue so I’m relieved that Sarah diagnosed the issue. Now he just needs a little pampering until he no longer has a pain in the butt :^)

Check out the silly sign I found in a local antique store- it’s now proudly hanging on Wizard’s stall door :^)

Wizard Ride 66; JR Ride 22: The Best-Laid Ride Plans of Mice and Men…

Monday, 3/30/09

The weather is windy but dry after a few days of rain. Both horses were complete mudbombs from rolling and playing all day in the sunshine. Wizard has a big bite on his neck and a little lump from the bite between his jaws, probably from too much horseplay. It did not seem to bother him. I gently cleaned it and put a little ointment on it. I grazed both horses before it got dark outside. I administered Wizard’s Ulcergard and gave him a tub of Alfa Supreme while I took pictures of Mary the Morgan wearing bunny ears and worked with JR.

JR looks like the time off did him a little good. I free-schooled him for a few minutes in the arena and he trotted and cantered around the arena, investigating the big collection of jumps in the middle of the ring (there was a horse show at the barn this weekend). Grooming did not bother him and he was fine about being saddled. I tried my KK Ultra on him to see if the looser mouthpiece was better for him. He chewed the bit most of the ride, but it looked like productive chewing. Unfortunately, JR still felt resistant under saddle. He was willing to perform the tasks I asked, but he was not as forward as he can be. I did a long warmup at the walk, followed by trotting on a loose rein. He was rushing at the trot so it took a little bit to relax him enough to stretch down. We worked on walk-trot transitions and I could feel resistance in the transition from walk to trot. I rode him on a big figure 8 and rode a few simple patterns. I asked for a few steps of leg yield, which he did very well. I rode JR for about 20 minutes. I might go back to groundwork with him and give him a little more time off from riding.

I recently got a new saddle pad for Wizard. My Roma pad already fell apart in the wash (My bad! Gentle cycle means gentle cycle) and I’m going to see if my mom can save it. Tack of the Day sold Eous sheepskin pads and I got one recently. It’s thicker than my Roma pad so I was a little concerned how Wizard would like it. Wizard gave it the stink eye as I placed it on his back, but then the funniest thing happened. He took a BIG SIGH. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but perhaps he really is a sensitive guy and really enjoys everything fuzzy.

So here was my ride plan for Wizard. The plan is italicized and my comments are in bold:

Warmup:

Warm up at the walk on a loose rein, allowing the horse to take in his surroundings. Wizard performed this very well. He was calmly interested in his surroundings- the sounds of the wind outside did not affect him at all.

Begin work at the trot on half the arena, first asking the horse to stretch down and reach for the bit. Ask for walk/trot transitions, using the entire arena. Encourage engagement of the hind end by asking for the transitions frequently. Be sure to actively ride into and out of the walk. DO NOT pull for a walk. Ask for the trot when the inside hind leg is ready to go forward. Change directions and work on walk/trot to the right and to the left until the horse feels more supple and is on the rider aids. The warmup trot went well, but this is way too soon in the warmup to ask for a lot of walk-trot transitions from Wizard. When I asked for them later in the ride, they were far better (see below). The changes in direction were a little awkward at first but then we both got more balanced.

Ride on a 20m circle in both directions. Count the number of steps on the circle and determine if the number is similar the next few times around the circle. I decided to do this exercise later in the ride. I spent more time at the trot letting Wizard get more relaxed and balanced. I did not longe him tonight and I think that’s why we did well with a longer warmup.

Work:

Ask for a Figure 8 with a walk in the center, making sure to trot only after the center line. We started this exercise trotting the entire figure 8 and when I felt him responding to leg, seat, and hands, I asked for a walk at the X of the figure 8. It went really well! We continued on to serpentines and used the entire arena (100 x 200 is a BIG arena!), walking at each change of direction and picking up the trot after the center line. This is a really beneficial exercise for Wizard.

Begin work on a more sophisticated and balanced trot by alternating between a forward trot and a working trot, making sure to keep the rein aids light and soft. If the horse gets tense or resistant, give, give give and ride softly. I incorporated this exercise into the serpentine/walk exercise. Whenever Wizard felt like he was bending well and using his hind end, I kept riding down the long side of the pattern and ride in straight lines down the arena, asking for forward trot on the long ends and working trot on the short ends. Wizard feels quite green with this exercise so I need to be very sympathetic with my hands and seat. When he needed to be rebalanced, I took him back into the serpentine and went back to the exercise with transitions. By the end of this exercise, Wizard was doing a little of that happy working Thoroughbred snort that I love so much. Whenever he gets tense, he makes “the gelding noise” (that gork-gork-gork sound) and it goes away as soon as he relaxes. For some horses, they make the gork-gork sound even when relaxed, but I always notice that Wizard is tense when I head the sound.

Go back to riding a 20m circle in both directions, riding short into the circle and ask for a leg yield for just a step or two outward toward the rail and the edge of the circle. This was our first work on the 20m circle. I tried leg yield a few times and decided 1) Wizard does not know it nearly as well as JR does, if at all 2) it’s easier on the straight line for Wizard. So I asked a few times by walking on the quarter line and asking him to step just 2 or 3 steps of leg yield. He did it well but greenly so I did not ask for it at the trot.

Cooldown:

Trot on a loose/soft rein on a 20m circle, counting the number of steps again. Did they change? Are they the same? No comparison since I skipped this exercise in the beginning of the ride. To the left, Wizard took 30 steps every time. To the right, he took 31, then 28, then 28, then I got him to do 30. He’s less consistent to the right so I think it’s not as easy to trot rhythmically to the right.

Walk on a loose rein until horse is cooled out. Did this, good boy! It was a GREAT ride. I rode for about 40 minutes and he was steamy and just barely sweating when we were done. I’ve long been looking forward to the day when I could have ride like this on him. Things are really coming together. I even felt that old familiar feeling of not wanting to be done with the ride even though our work was done.

Ride plan for Wednesday night? Riding lesson!

Wizard Ride 65; JR Ride 21: Little Piles of Sticks

Thursday, 3/26/09

Another week, another awesome riding lesson :^)

We began the lesson where we left off last week, asking for a little bend from Wizard in simple exercises and doing work with walk-trot transitions. As he became more relaxed and forward, the exercises increased a bit in difficulty. We worked on figure 8s, serpentines, and skinny figure 8s. I felt more stable in my seat and I can feel my leg improving just a little with each lesson. Wizard is much more confident during changes of direction.

Gradually, Sarah incorporated a few trot poles into the exercises. She set up three trot poles one stride apart from each other and we trotted them. Wizard is excellent at negotiating trot poles! He maintains his rhythm and articulates his joints beautifully as he glides over them. I do my best to stay out of his way and help him over the poles.

As I rounded a corner after trotting the three poles, I heard the familiar sound of clanking jump cups… I turned around and saw a little cross rail.

“Sarah!” I said, “That’s a JUMP…”

Sarah grinned and responded, “No, Sarah, that’s just a little pile of sticks. I’ll tell you when it’s a REAL jump.”

So we trotted a little line from half a cross rail to a teeny-tiny, itty-bitty vertical. Wizard trotted everything really nicely. He picks his feet up very carefully and maintains his rhythm over poles and jumps. I close my hip angle, give him his head, and stay out of his way.

A long-term training goal is to gradually encourage Wizard to canter under saddle. I’ve read many schools of thought about how to ask a green horse to canter. The method I like best is to invite the horse to canter by teaching him to round his back over small jumps or out on the trails. Naturally, the horse will break into a canter between obstacles and it’s the rider’s job to encourage the rhythm and stay out of his way. Wizard decided that today was the day to show me his canter under saddle. Dear readers, his canter looks way more uncomfortable than it rides! After trotting a little fence, I could feel him rounding up as if he was thinking of cantering. Sarah immediately told me to let him do it and encourage it. I did my best and it worked! It was our first little canter and it felt pretty organic and comfortable. Success!

We rode the line a few times in each direction. Wizard sometimes chose to canter and sometimes chose to trot. I really focused on letting him do what he needed to do. When I look back at these photos, I realize that I could have given him even more of a release and I was jumping a little ahead of the motion.

On the last two lines, Wizard started feeling a little frisky and got a little quicker down the line. After the second fence, he bowed his head and playfully flung his front feet up a bit as we slowed down the canter. He was not bucking, just playfully leaping. I think that he likes these little jumps.

When we were done with the lesson, Wizard was barely sweating- he’s getting quite fit. I wrapped his legs in standing bandages for a few hours and put his Thermatex cooler on him. He grazed for about 20 minutes and then munched on his Lucerne Farms Alfa Supreme. I gave him a dose of Ulcergard before the ride.

Before the saddle fitter arrived, I turned JR out in the big outdoor arena to let him play and stretch his legs. The horses were only outside for a few hours due to the rainy weather. I let JR graze for a little while and then he had a saddle fitting appointment.

Besides being an expert saddle fitter, Teri Miller is an accomplished rider. Her eye for saddle fit and rider position is fantastic. As soon as I met her, I was immediately impressed with her knowledge and her professional demeanor. She took wither tracings of JR’s back and carefully examined his muscling. She noticed that his right shoulder is larger, which could be a big factor in my saddle issues. Teri also watched me ride JR and noted my position and how the saddle sat on his back. Teri adjusted the saddle by adding wool to the right side. As soon as I sat in the saddle the second time, I felt a HUGE difference. I could finally sit my left seatbone in the saddle! For all of the previous rides on JR, I was caving in to the side because the saddle was not straight. As a result of the crookedness, my seatbones could not both sit in the saddle. After Teri’s adjustment, I felt like I was riding in a new saddle.

Teri also looked at the fit of my Stubben Portos on Wizard’s back. She said that the saddle is actually a little too wide for him so my merino sheepskin saddle pad is a good idea. She also gave her blessing for me to continue using my Thinline Ultra pad on both horses. Just for kicks, Teri put one of her County saddles on Wizard’s back. The saddle fit him like a glove. Since Wizard is not my horse, I was not looking for a long-term saddle fitting solution, but if I was, I would definitely consider County saddles. The craftsmanship is fantastic and the saddles look like they are designed with the horse in mind.

For anybody looking to improve the fit of a saddle, I highly recommend contacting a saddle fitter. Reflocking and adjusting are very financially reasonable ways to improve saddle fit as long as your tree fits your horse’s back. If you are in New Jersey, contact Teri Miller. It was well worth the very reasonable cost. I wish I had done this years ago.

Next time I’m out at the barn, I’ll be back on JR and I hope to begin work at the shoulder-in with Wizard. I’m on a roll!

JR Session 19; Wizard Ride 63: Get On Your Boots

Monday, 3/23/09

Back to chilly weather here in New Jersey. Temperatures hit the upper 20s at night and the wind was gusty. The air is dry and there’s local concern of forest fires with the dry air and cold winds. Horses love cool climates, but the dry air seems to irritate them while they are being handled. I hand grazed Wizard for a few minutes as the sun set. When we walked back in the barn, his tail looked like a cat’s bottle brush tail after seeing something scary! I put a little conditioner on both horses to combat the static and dryness.

JR worked indoors on long lining, followed by a longeing session. Monday was his third time long lining and he’s beginning to get the hang of it. The first night, we only walked a few steps but now we can do some circles and change direction. Of course, he breaks into a trot and sometimes gets distracted, but he’s a good study and I expect him to keep improving.

On the longe, JR was frisky. He trotted and walked quite nicely but once we ventured to the far end of the arena and he felt that magnetic pull to the gate, he broke into a playful canter and hauled against the longe line, playfully bucking. I joked to my friend that it felt a little like fishing for marlin- not that I’ve ever fished for marlin, but a leaping palomino on the longe line must feel something like hauling a huge fish onto a boat. JR is getting fitter- he just started blowing and broke just a hint of a sweat by the time we were done. I cooled him out, groomed him, and put him to bed.

Wizard was again very sensitive to grooming on the crossties. He did not do anything threatening, but was clearly displeased by the brushing routine. Was it the static? Or was it the fact that I rode him three days in a row? Or was it the fact that this was the second session without Ulcergard? I’m still not sure.

On the longe and under saddle, I saw no problems in his behavior. He was a little stiff but he worked out of it. I also noticed the slightest bit of filling in his left hind fetlock, but it looked defined by the time I was done riding him. I longed him for about 10 minutes, then rode for about 20. We worked on about half the arena and I asked for circles in different parts of the ring. My goal was to keep him soft and introduce a little more leg whenever he felt like he was losing his rhythm. It worked well and he was comfortable with riding in different shapes. He relaxed quite a bit to the left but never completely relaxed to the right. He was obedient but not quite the superstar he was for the past two rides. When I was happy with the work he did, we cooled out and I brought him back into the barn. He was better about grooming after the ride.

I noticed that Wizard interferes (makes contact by touching one leg against the other) a bit on the longe and under saddle. I hear the click somewhere between 0 and 4 times during each session. I’m considering putting brushing boots or polo wraps on him to protect his legs. I tried a pair of Nunn Finer open front boots on his front legs. The sheepskin liner and leather shell are lovely but they slid down an inch or so while Wizard longed. I assume that the sheepskin needs to mold to his leg and wear down a bit before the boots fit him perfectly. Get on your boots, Wizard!

And for those who are keeping score at home, here are some progress photos of Wizard…

December 2008:

March 2009:

December 2008:

March 2009:

JR Session 18; Wizard Ride 62: On Your Knees

Sunday, 3/22/09

I heard from the saddle fitter and she’s hoping to be able to schedule an appointment to adjust my saddle very soon- hooray! In the meantime, training has not ceased for JR. I started our session with work on long lines. For those who are unfamiliar with the process of long lining, check out this link. I’m about a million times more boring as I wander around the arena with a wiggly green horse, but the link gives you an idea of what you can do with long lining. With JR, we’re only walking at this point- he occasionally jogs and then settles back to a walk. The long line work is good for him to learn the driving aids. I’m working him in a cavesson until he’s a little more experienced and then I can try the bit.

I long lined JR for 10 minutes and then longed him. Today, we used the entire arena (100×200!). I moved the circles as JR worked so that he started at the bottom of the arena and ended at the top. I’m gaining more lateral control over him. He still has that gravitational pull to the gate, but I learned today that a little give-and-take on the line as he goes through the “magnetic” part of the circle really keeps his “birdie” on me on the longe line and not at the arena door.

JR is showing more rhythm and relaxation in his trot. Occasionally he feels the need to remind me that he’s a green youngster, like when he did a 180 degree spin at the canter and bolted in the opposite direction when he saw a break in the arena wall. The little guy has quite a pirouette on him :^) I’ve increased canter work with JR on the longe and now we’re doing more than a few rotations. His balance is improving at all gaits. When we finished longeing, I turned him loose and let him stretch his legs: buck, leap, fart, leap. I cooled him out and put him to bed.

Today was the first day I’ve ridden Wizard without Ulcergard in a few weeks. I decided to use today as a test to see if I need to go back to administering a dose before each ride or not. I did not see a big difference under saddle, but I saw a difference while I was grooming him. He was touchier and more irritated than normal- he did not make contact, but he nipped in my general direction I brushed his side. He also lifted a leg when I brushed near his belly. Is he touchier without ulcer meds? I shall continue my experiments.

My friend Kris visited the barn today. I’ve known her since 1997- she’s a friend from college. She always loved horses but has gotten more serious about her hobby in the past year or so. In two weeks, she will begin leasing her first horse. I’m really happy for her. And it’s a lot of fun to have a crazy horse friend who understands the joy of the latest Dover Saddlery catalog and enjoys visiting the barn during my crazy night owl hours.

While I was tacking up Wizard, I showed off Wizard’s carrot stretching abilities to Kris. Side to side, Wizard flexed his bendy neck. Then, we did the bowing carrot stretch. Wizard began the bow as usual, arching his neck, lifting his topline, lowering his head. Then, he bent his front legs and… WHOAH! Wizard was on his knees and just about lying down in the barn aisle. I helped him back up and checked him for any injuries. Aside from rumpled hair on his knees, he was fine. I tried the bow one more time, and WHOAH! On his knees again. What the heck was going on??? I brought him in the arena so I could watch him move out and see if anything looked out of the ordinary.

I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I worked on the same exercises with Wizard as I did with JR and I walked up and down the whole arena with Wizard circling me. Left and right at the trot, he was very good. I did a spiraling exercise on the longe and Wizard was a champ. Then, I stepped up the difficulty level and we did the arena exercise at the canter :^) To the left, Wizard was fabulous- I don’t think he broke stride more than once. To the right, it was much more difficult for him. He broke stride a few times but he kept trying and eventually his rhythm and balance improved. As we moved back to the gate end of the arena, he broke stride several times and began stopping a few times. Once he successfully cantered one last rotation on the correct lead, we were done. The canter work is much more of a workout for Wizard- he does not break a sweat at the trot but the canter is more mentally and physically taxing. He’s come a long way!

I rode for about 15 minutes, working at a walk and a trot. Since it was late at night, I used the under-saddle work as a cooldown. We did a lot of walking on the buckle and a lot of relaxing trotting. He was great to the left and a little more tense to the right (as usual). I got several good little stretches- not exactly a stretchy circle, but he definitely loosened his topline. I was able to trot him on a slack rein in each direction. After Wizard was cooled out, I put him to bed with a tub of Dengie.

As I drove home from the barn, it occurred to me why Wizard ended up on his knees in the barn aisle: the shoes! I do the side-to-side carrot stretches before almost every ride but I have not done the bowing stretch in a while. The last time Wizard did the bow, he was barefoot. The poor guy had no traction when he tipped his toes forward as he bowed deeper. It was a slow-motion thing and I think he was simply sliding. And then he even did it again for me when I asked the second time! He’s such a sweet, willing horse. I’ll be sure to only ask for carrot stretches on dirt from now on. Or as Kris suggested, I can purchase a yoga mat for Wizard.