Wizard Ride 125; Paris Ride 9: Froggy Jamboree

Wednesday, 3/24/10

With springtime comes rain, sunshine, and the return of the screaming frogs- it’s a regular Froggy Jamboree. And I get to ride outdoors, which is a total delight. A friend visited the barn and got to meet Paris and watch our ride. Each time I ride Paris, our communication is improving. Our ride was basic since I was mostly working on my leg and hands. We worked at the walk and trot and she was bending beautifully by the end of the ride. It really helps my equitation to ride such a balanced and well-trained mare.

I also rode Wizard for about 15 minutes. He was very willing but worked the bit nervously, flickered his ears, and moved tensely. We did just a little bit of trotting at the end of the ride. In hindsight, I should have let him trot around the arena loose before my ride. No biggie, there’s always tomorrow :^)

The State – MTV Shows

Wizard Ride 124: You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy

Saturday, 3/20/10

What do you do with a horse who has not been regularly ridden since November? If you said, “ride him on the trails by himself at dusk”, then you get a gold star.

Now that Wizard has his hind shoes, I’m giving him another crack at under-saddle work. The indoor and outdoor arenas were busy so I decided to try him on the trails. He’s a fairly sensible sort on the trails, so it was not a totally crazy idea. Only a little crazy.

I led him out for about a mile before I mounted up on a sandy bank and rode home. On the way out, we encountered a little creek of runoff water from the massive amounts of rain we’ve gotten. The water was about three feet wide. I stepped through it, sort of hopping. Wizard gathered himself like a cat and LEAPT over it. That boy can jump! Time to work on walking THROUGH things with him.

Our ride was pretty good- he was a little hot, but I sort of expected it. He was walking, but chewing nervously on the bit and swishing his tail. I sat quietly, talking to him and keeping my hands soft. We rode for about a mile, and I dismounted before we got back to the little creek. He LEAPT over it on the way back as well.

I was happy with our maiden voyage. My crazy plan worked.

Selena Rides 1 & 2: Ricolaaaaaaa

Friday, 7/24/09

I did not get a lot accomplished- I need to work more on my ride plans so I don’t fritter my nights away. I worked with Selena, walking around the property and grazing her. JR and Wizard also got some grooming, walking, and grazing.

Saturday, 7/25/09

Wizard: I gave Wizard a little time in the indoor arena to trot at liberty so I could watch his movement. He’s definitely improving. My plan is to do lots of hand walking in the next few weeks. While he was turned out in the arena, he was arching his neck and doing his best to show off for his audience (me and my mom). He’s not quite the ham that Alibar was, but he did get a big laugh out of us when he sniffed the end of a hollow jump pole- the sound reminded me of the big horn used in the Ricola commercials.

Selena: My dressage saddle appears to fit her pretty well. I took her into the indoor arena and asked her to longe for just a few rotations, about five minutes. She broke from a trot to a canter several times. She’s out of shape so I did not want her exerting herself so I mounted up and rode her at a walk for a few minutes. She was good as gold. She shook her head a few times while I was hand walking her. Bugs? Teeth? Not fond of the bit? I’m not sure, but she did not do it under saddle.

Sunday, 7/26/09

A late night ride :^) I got to the barn around 9pm for a quiet, focused ride with Selena. I tacked her up, did about 5 minutes of hand walking to get her warmed up, and mounted up. She was fantastic again. We walked for about 15 minutes, stepping over a few ground poles and riding in large, easy patterns. She is a well-trained horse so my biggest task is getting her fit without moving too quickly. My plan is to start doing trot sets- walk the short side, trot the long side, etc.

JR got a few minutes turned out in the arena to stretch his legs. Wizard got 15 minutes of hand walking.

Ricolaaaaaa….

I Wanna Be Sedated: Wizard’s Veterinary Appointment

After a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend in Georgia, it was time to get back to business with Wizard. Yesterday, the veterinarian did a lameness exam and floated his teeth.

The exam began by watching Wizard trot on a longe line. I probably should have anticipated that Wizard would be a little fresh since he is fit and has had so much time off, but instead I was surprised when he came close to pulling me off my feet as soon as we began longeing! The halter with the longe line snapped to the chin ring is normally just fine for control but he was feeling his oats yesterday. The vet pronounced him sound in both directions. I asked her about his high action and she said it’s likely a combination of animation and a loose, flexible way of going.

She performed flexion tests on all four legs and the prognosis was good. She heard a little creakiness in the right front knee when she folded it, but it is probably a touch of arthritis and nothing that should keep him from the level of work we’re doing. His left hip is dropped a bit, which is in line with what the chiropractor mentioned about the tight muscle tissue in his hamstring and pelvis. I’ve known horses whose hips are dropped far more than his and they have gone on to perform well with correct strengthening work. The vet recommended more work with ground poles to help Wizard’s topline and hind end strength. His right hind leg also showed a little stiffness with one of the flex tests, but nothing that caused concern for his current workload. Wizard quite enjoyed the jogs on the dirt road and was arching his neck and throwing his head playfully.

The vet examined his back and carefully went over his acupressure points. No back pain and just a little tightness in his pelvis. She evaluated my saddle fit and said it looks good.

The veterinarian’s advice? Get back on Wizard and try riding again. If he still is showing signs of distress under saddle, treat or test for Lyme Disease. She also suggested doing another 4-day bute test (as a diagnostic tool, not as a treatment). If both fail, further evaluations will be needed, like x-rays or blood tests. But so far, everything looks good.

Wizard also had his teeth floated. All of the hooks have been fixed and more corrections were done to his wave mouth. She was pleased with the way his mouth looks and said he can have his teeth floated next in a year- hooray!

While Wizard was under sedation, I cleaned his sheath, clipped his bridle path, and pulled his mane. I LOVE how he looks with the pulled mane- it does my hunter/jumper heart good :^) I did a combination of traditional mane pulling and a little thinning with scissors by teasing the mane up and cutting the excess vertically with scissors. I did not want to subject the poor guy to an entire mane pulling- he had almost a foot of hair and now it’s the length of a pulling comb.

Thursday, Wizard has a farrier appointment. I hope to be back in the saddle very soon.

JR Session 2; Wizard Session 47: Baby Carrots are Your Friends

JR targeting a traffic cone

Monday 2/9/09

JR seems to be enjoying the attention and the work. I put my Moritz dressage saddle on him since it’s wider than my Stubben Portos. It looks like it will fit OK, but it might be narrow (it’s also too far forward in the picture). I’ll try to get a better photo of the saddle fit when I have an assistant hold the horse or snap the photo instead of me doing both ;^)

In only his second longeing session, JR has improved by leaps and bounds (no pun intended). I am using clicker training to mark good behaviors on the longe line. It appears that JR understands “go” but has little “whoah” or any gait variations on the longe. He also does not respond as much to “good boy” as Wizard does. Wizard comes to a full stop if I even think “good boy”, almost to the point of propping.

I kept JR on a much shorter line than last time and it really helped. The first few rotations, he hopped about, cantering, trotting, changing leads, and wobbling in a shape very unlike a circle. I worked a little on “whoooooah”, rewarded with a click and a baby carrot. I spoke very quietly and praised frequently, feeding the line a little and not using the whip at all. I then got a good trot in each direction- click and treat. I asked him to move off again and he walked- good boy! Click and treat. JR seems to be getting the hang of the clicker. Our session had very little aerobic work since I was trying to keep him at a walk and trot so afterwards, I let him stretch his legs in the arena. Wheeeeeeeee! Lovely flying trot and a few wild bucks for good measure. He immediately came back toward me when I called, which was very cool.

Wizard is on vacation from riding until I get my farrier to check out his feet. I did notice that the venice turpentine made his sole smooth and mayyybe a little tougher. I’ve noticed a personality change in Wizard in the past week or so- he’s not his normal laid-back, sweet self. Instead, he’s a little removed and sometimes I see his ears pinned back. Once he saw the bag of baby carrots, his mood brightened considerably :^) We did a little bit of work with clicker training (10 minutes), targeting jumps and doing stretching exercises. He tolerated grooming and I started a Panacur Power Pac, chased by a tub of Dengie.