Today is Wizard’s 17th birthday. To celebrate, he had the day off from work on Monday, and got to graze in his favorite little field. Today, I took him out in the Assunpink for a 35-minute hand walk. It was chilly and snowing just a little bit, and Wizard had a spring in his step. There was a HUGE tractor thing on the road by the hunt club cleaning up trees from last week’s storm. On the way out, Wizard gawked at it through the trees, and had an ear on the crunching sounds for most of our walk. On the way back, we walked right past it on the road. He was on his toes, but was actually much better about it when it was closer to him. As we passed it, he kept himself at a flat-footed walk, even when it crunched down a huge branch.
When we returned to the barn, we did some long line work in the indoor arena. It was yet another fantastic session. I increased the walk-trot-walk transitions, and we also worked on our lengthenings like we did on Sunday. The thing that really impressed me was after the canter work, when his topline was swinging, relaxed, and soft. His trot was loose and rhythmic, and he was softly chewing the bit instead of champing on it. The sessions are short and sweet, but we get a lot done. It feels like we’ve made some really great progress. I can’t wait to start riding him again.
I got in touch with my regular vet last week and we had a good chat about what she saw in the x-rays (see previous training blog). She also talked with my farrier about a shoeing plan.
First of all, and this may or may not be related, but his Lyme Disease levels are much lower now than they were when we tested and treated him a year ago.
Basically, she has seen way worse on many horses, and she is optimistic that corrective shoeing and work will help quite a bit. She saw some very minor arthritic changes in the right knee. In the right foot, she did not think there was coffin bone rotation, per se. She said there was a change in the angle, but she was looking more at the whole picture, including the broken-back angle of P2 and P1. I was glad to hear this, because my farrier agrees with this assessment. My vet saw some very minor sclerosis of the navicular bone. It sounded to me like whatever issue he has/had was affecting the whole foot and the angles. Shoeing, injury, etc. Wizard’s body compensated, and we are seeing the long-term results in the x-rays.
Since we were between shoeings, my farrier came out and put aluminum shoes on his fronts, set well back for heel support, and a size larger to support his whole foot (aluminum because the larger size would make regular steel shoes heavier). He put snow rim pads on him. And the day we put the new shoes on Wizard, I saw him land consistently flat on the footing for the first time. He always tends to be toe first. It wasn’t heel first, but I was pleased to see flat!
So the short-term training plan is to let him get used to the new shoes and gently work him until my saddle arrives. I’m trying not to do too much circling, but when we’re stuck indoors due to the weather, it’s tough to avoid it.
Wednesday, 12/26/12 We worked indoors in long lines, and upon suggestion, I tried a little flash noseband attachment thingy, as an experiment. Wizard is very chompy on the bit, and the suggestion to try the flash was not in order to crank his mouth shut, but instead to steady the bit. Some horses don’t like bit movement, and a flash can help to keep things steadier. Wizard was NOT amused. He stuck his nose out, and leapt around a little when he felt rein pressure. We kept the session short, mostly doing bending exercises at the walk and a little trot work.
I’ve been at the barn for a lot of grooming sessions and sometimes quick hand walks in the park, but these are the actual work sessions he has had recently:
Thursday, 12/27/12
Years ago, when Wizard was doing more of his spinning and occasional rearing routines on the longe, a friend suggested longeing him in two lines. It seemed too complicated for my clumsy self, so I never tried it. Now that we’ve done more long lining work, it seemed like something worth revisiting.
We worked indoors again (%&*$%&$ winter &%*^&*% rain), and it was mostly successful. The biggest issue I had was him sucking back off the bit and geting behind the driving aid (whip) from time to time. I’m going to try a longeing cavesson next time out. Other than that, the two-line method was pretty neat.
Friday, 12/28/12
Wizard was tacked up in a bridle, surcingle, and longeing cavesson for this session. We were indoors (again). I used two longe lines, with the clips attached to the rings on the cavesson instead of on the bit. It worked much better. He was feeling a little fresh from all the rain and not a lot of work, and threw some pretty wild kicks when the longe line got too tight around his hind end. At one point, it also got shimmed up under his tail for a minute, ending in another kicking spree until his tail loosened and he got back to normal. We also experimented with the outside line draped over his back. I like the two-line method quite a bit, because it is closer to riding, and I have more control of his shape. On a regular longe line, I have no outside “rein” so he can pop his shoulder whenever he wants.
Thursday, 1/3/13
OUTSIDE- finally! The rain cleared, and a strong wind blew for a few days, drying things up nicely. I was going to go for a walk in the Assunpink, but I forgot to renew my permit, so we stayed at the farm and worked in the outdoor arena. I swapped bits to a fat loose ring snaffle, trying to make it as mild as possible for our groundwork. Over the bridle, he wore his cavesson. We warmed up at the walk on long lines, with me walking behind and also working from his hip. Then, we did a little light trot work, all with the lines snapped to the cavesson. The cavesson is basically as mild as a halter, and Wizard started to play, breaking from a big trot circle to a loopy, bucky canter festival. I was able to slow him down, but the force of him against the lines was hard enough that I was running pretty quickly to keep up as he slowed down. Okay, I guess he can handle a bit now! So we went on to the bit. He did his curling routine again, backing off the bit. I asked for a few transitions, which helped a lot. After a little gentle work, he began to stretch into the bit at the trot. YESSSSS. My goal with the long line work is to patch up some of the holes in his training, especially getting him to accept contact and loosen his back more. Today, I saw him doing a little bit of that. Now if only that saddle would arrive…
In the past, I’ve done some long line work with Wizard, but it was always nuts-and-bolts type work. Basically, it was me trying to figure out how to do it and how to keep myself from getting spun around or any of the other many awkward things that can happen when attached to a 1,000-pound creature by two pieces of cotton webbing.
But on Friday, I actually got a taste of the work part of long line work. We have come along for enough with our basics to start actually doing some schooling. We worked with three dressage cones, and did a little weaving pattern around them. We also walked over two ground poles and were able to do it in a straight line (!). This stuff is fun!
So we don’t exactly look like this, but it sure is good training for both of us…
Saturday, 12/1/12
Before our session, the farrier did Wizard’s feet. Interestingly, Wizard is sounder on his right front, but his heel looks lower and underrun. The farrier decided to try a wedge pad. I was leery of putting a wedge on him, but if it is not working out, my farrier is a phone call away and can come out and make changes. So far, he’s moving out nicely on it.
We did a repeat session from Friday’s long line work, plus a little added trotting in hand. That’s not much of a workout for Wizard, but great exercise for me- whew! He actually seems to enjoy it. I need to get my hands on some longe lines to go a little longer with it- my long lines are fairly short and I have to run around like a nut during the trot work. He chews a lot on the bit just like he does under saddle, but he looks relaxed- I think the chewing is some processing/nerves as he is learning something new. We’re getting the hang of a little bending, and just the verrrry beginning of a shoulder in when we really have ourselves together.
Sunday, 12/2/12
Kris and Sunny went out for a walk with me and Wizard in the park. We were out for about an hour, walking through some fields and down to the lake. It felt great to get out and do some walking. With all the hunting, we’ve been sticking to the roads and to the Horse Park when we go out, but since Sunday is bow hunters only, we felt safer going out. We did not see any hunters at all, unlike last week.
After our walk, I did some long line work with Wizard in the outdoor arena. The ring is slowly drying out, and we have more room to work. After warming up at a walk, we did a little trot work on the long lines, working on the outside rein and trying to get a bit of a bend. Wizard seemed pretty happy in his work. After our long line session, I longed him for a few rotations in each direction in side reins. Between the walk in the woods and the long lining session, we were out for a while, but it was very low impact work.
Monday, 12/3/12
Before work, I enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather (60s) and did a long lining session with Wizard in the outdoor arena. It rained the night before, so the arena was a little sloppier than it was on Sunday, so we kept our session to a walk with just a little trot work. We walked up and down the long side of the arena, turning a keyhole shape at each end and reversing direction. We zigzagged between the dressage cones and walked over the ground poles. At the end of our session, I put him on the longe line with no side reins and let him to a very loose trot, just for about 4 rotations in each direction.
I did a session of ground schooling with Wizard today, starting with long line work and followed by longeing. I tacked him up in a surcingle and his regular riding bridle (Happy Mouth mullen D bit). I warmed him up on the long lines, practicing with me walking a little further away than in previous sessions. Wizard is pretty easy to long line when I’m on his left side but he’s rather squirrelly when I walk on his right side, just like when I longe him to the right. We walked to the left first in order to get him moving forward. Then, I halted him and asked him to yield to rein pressure and turn his head, first on the right, then the left. Then, I switched sides to his right. He began to spin his hind end away from me, but I gently asked him to bend his neck again to each side. I think it worked to keep him centered and relaxed. We then walked to the left (counter-clockwise) but with me on his right (I was walking along the wall). I usually long line him to the right with me on his right.
There were a few traffic cones in the arena so we practiced keeping him from crowding me by walking with the cone between me and him. He knocked one over but was able to navigate the rest of them. We also walked over a few ground poles. Forward and straight, forward and straight.
I fastened side reins on the loosest hole possible in order to mimic light rein contact. When his head was relaxed, there was no pressure on his mouth at all. I put the side reins on to work on relaxation rather than for any gymnastic purposes. To the left, he longed beautifully, stretching down and relaxing his topline. To the right, he was rushy and tense, breaking into a fast canter several times and propping/spinning. Gently, persistently, I got him to move out at a trot after a few tries. He trotted about 10 times in each direction- I was not longeing for physical exercise but for mental exercise. By the time we were done, he was a little sweaty, which is interesting because he can play/run at liberty without breaking a sweat. The long lining and longeing was clearly more stressful and challenging than when he free longes, even though he canters and gallops at liberty and only walked and trotted for in-hand work.
I have a bucket of Equi-Pride and I’m trying to get Wizard to eat it without thinking it is poison. The first time, I added about an ounce to his rice bran mash and he refused to eat it. Now I’m being sneakier, adding a good serving of molasses and only putting a spoonful or two of Equi-Pride into the rice bran. I’ve learned that picky eaters like Wizard (Alibar was the same) can learn to eat new things but the new things must be introduced gradually. He used to hate rice bran and now he nickers for it. He hears the jar lid on the molasses and I can feel his stare as I prepare his treat.
Speaking of molasses, you know that saying about being “as slow as molasses in January”? Spend a little time in a barn with a jar of molasses and you’ll understand why people say it.
Seems like everybody I know was watching TV tonight: football, baseball, Sunday night programs. After I left work, my first thought was the barn :^)
Wizard got a bucket of Alfa Supreme and a rice bran mash. He is loving the rice bran!
I tacked Selena up in a surcingle and a bridle and did a longeing session with her. She was obedient but I don’t think she got a lot of training on the longe in her past. One of the reasons she did not get longed much is because she is so good under saddle :^)
After warming up at the walk, I asked for a trot in both directions. She broke into a canter several times and I gently corrected her and asked her to trot. We probably longed for about 15 minutes, including warmup and cooldown. Even though it is rarely needed for a horse like her, it is a good thing for horses to know how to go on a longe line, for training, rider fitness, and for veterinary evaluation.
Wizard looked like an old pro after working with Selena. I longed him very lightly (I’m trying hard not to stress his stifle) at the walk and trot. Then, we went back to our long-lining exercises. He already was more forward and bold to the left since our last session one day ago. To the right, he stopped once and pinned his ears- interesting! I coaxed him forward and we walked toward the gate to get a little forwardness and straightness. We halted twice and I heaped on the praise. He continues to be a quick and sensitive pupil.
A good day for ground work. I tacked Wizard up in his bridle and a surcingle and we did some ground work in the indoor arena. I started with a very light longeing session, walking for a few minutes, followed by about 7 times around at the trot in each direction. Then I fastened two long lines to his bit and introduced long lining to him.
I started by standing on his “good side” (his left) by his shoulder. The lines were held in my hands like reins. I asked him to walk on, just like we do on the longe line. His walk was a little wobbly because he was uncertain, but he seemed to catch on quickly. I asked for one turn and one halt, and praised profusely. Then, I tried the “bad” side (his right), which is the side on which he stops and spins on the longe line. He was very hesitant and reluctant to go forward but responded when I clucked him into a walk with my voice. I walked him along the wall so I could keep him straight. It will take a lot longer to work on the right, but it is an interesting glimpse into his personality to see that he is just as funny about his right on the longe line as he is in hand.
Here’s a photo of me long-lining JR this spring. Wizard will take a few more sessions before he can be this far away from me.
Rock and Racehorses: Sarah K. Andrew 