Wizard Sessions 363, 364, Ride 365: Down in the Park

I scheduled an appointment with the vet for Weds, May 30. I shot videos so she can get an idea of what we’re looking for. Based on what Wizard is doing, it appears that it’s the inside of his right front leg/foot. To the left, he has more of a head nod. The vet said to keep him working, since she does not want him sound when she tries to examine him! After he’s diagnosed, we will treat/rest/whatever is needed.

Trotting left:

Trotting right:

Weight as of 5/15/12: approx 975 pounds- definitely underweight for his size. Since he has gotten on more pasture and has settled in more, his weight is FINALLY increasing again. I’m hoping that the UlcerGard is helping as well. I can’t believe how quickly he stressed the weight off when we moved.

Wednesday, 5/23/12

After work, I went to the barn and took a walk in the Assunpink with Cathy and Miss Tuesday. This was before the vet told us to work him, so I was resting his leg and we hand walked in the park. We were out for about half an hour, and Wizard was pretty good. He walked on pavement and on the grass.

Friday, 5/25/12

I got a nice note from one of the boarders. She noticed that Wizard had been separated from Sunny for Sunny’s riding lesson, and after his usual hollering and crying, he spent some quiet time with his Thoroughbred neighbor, Bailey. Wizard is finally making friends, and his whole world no longer revolves around one mare.

After work, Wizard got a quick bath and a hand walk in the Assunpink, this time with Christie and Brigid. We mostly walked on pavement, as part of our long-term conditioning plan. Once he’s off the property, he is MUCH more relaxed since he’s away from Sunny. We practiced with some halts when we got close to the barn. He needs to be SOLID on knowing how to stand quietly when needed.

Saturday, 5/26/12

Since the vet wants him working up to the exam day on Weds, I saddled up and rode. During tackup, he was fidgety for about 5 minutes and then settled pretty well. We went back out in the park with Christie and Brigid. We walked over 2 miles, and it was a really nice little ride. Wizard was happy to let Brigid lead sometimes, and they got along very well. We rode past the Monmouth Hunt Club and up and down a few gentle hills. There were lots of rabbits, a few bluebirds, and beautifully-scented spring flowers. It felt GREAT to finally get out for a ride in the park- the trail/hill work was a big reason why we moved in the first place. Back at the barn, he stood pretty well while he was untacked. I think I am finally getting the real Wizard back.

Wizard Rides 288 & 289: A Head With Wings

Friday, 9/30/11

In the photo above, my friend’s dearly-departed Morgan, Mary, is modeling the Stubben Golden Wings bit. The bit does not fit my friend’s new mare, so Wizard gave it a try.

We began our ride outdoors. The air was cool but damp from all the recent rain and humidity. All my tack got moldy from not riding for almost a week :^P Wizard was energetic but not evasive. He happily purred while we rode. Something about the cool air, the bit, and the time off seemed to agree with him, and he was FABULOUS. He was taking contact, and I was able to keep my hands right there with him instead of feeding the reins through with my fingers or creeping the reins up when he stretched into the bit. I think the Stubben is SO mild that Wizard is comfortable sitting on it a little more than his usual bits. All of our bits are extremely mild, but this one seemed to sit in his mouth like butter.

We worked on some lateral exercises, and I worked diligently on using my calf instead of poking him with my heel (awful habit that I fall into sometimes). We did some lengthening of our gaits, and I got the most BRILLIANT trot out of him. It was pretty close to a real extended trot- the tempo did not increase, but his stride lengthened and he really pushed with the hind end.

Annnnd then it rained.

So we moved indoors. We continued our lateral adventures, and did some shoulder in work, mostly at the walk. I got so brave that we practiced a few steps of Walter Zettl’s Shoulder-In Entwickeln Exercise. It was pretty sloppy, but the basics were there. He was SUCH a good boy. It made me think again about doing dressage shows with him :^)

Sunday, 10/2/11

Sunday’s ride was short, much to Wizard’s delight. We rode in the indoor arena with Kris and Sunny. We had a long, lazy walking warmup, followed by some leg yields at the walk. Then, we went into the trot, practicing circles at the ends. We worked on the leg yield at the trot, and were doing some transitions before Kris needed some moral support during her ride with Sunny. Wizard was off the hook for the rest of the ride, and was even referred to as “the good horse”. My goodness, how far we’ve come…

Wizard Ride 253: Rider

Saturday, 6/25/11

My friend Erin came from Maryland with her lovely Morgan mares Belle and Esme and picked up Wizard for our trail ride in Assunpink Wildlife Management Area.

Esme, photo taken this spring…

Wizard loaded onto the trailer like a CHAMP (woo-hoo!) and was quite happy with his equine companions. We tacked up and met up with Christie and her filly, Brigid, who was started under saddle this spring. Esme is also pretty green, so Wizard was the second-most seasoned trail horse on the ride! Belle is the trail princess, and she has been everywhere. The flies were not too bad, and Wizard was equipped with his Nose Net and a fly bonnet. The weather was wonderful- after a week of sporadic rain, some of the trails were wet but totally rideable.

For the beginning of the ride, Wizard was a little balled up with energy. I expected this, and did my best to settle him into a good walking rhythm. On narrower trails, he was fine, but in the huge open fields, he would get a little prancy. He also likes to prance up hills, but my biggest pet peeve ever is letting horses blast off at a faster gait than you want. So we WALKED the hills, not the most relaxed walk ever, but better than a jig.

About a mile into the ride, Wizard settled into the walk I was looking for; he has a delightfully swingy and ground-covering walk when he is relaxed. The larger group of horses meant that sometimes they were riding alongside him, which was fine unless one of them trotted ahead of him. Then, he would get antsy and dancy and fussy and not really pay attention to me. In the words of Dr. Deb, Wizard’s “birdie” leaves the building.

At one point, one horse trotted past him up a hill and he went into a leaping, cantering, pulling, sideways, clumsy tantrum. He does not rear or buck, so it’s fairly simple to sit, but it definitely feels a little like riding an octopus wearing roller skates. He threw the tantrum once again when we reached The Horse Park of New Jersey, where we strolled through the cross country course. Someone trotted ahead of him, and there I was again, cantering, sort of, on a horse who felt like he had no head because it was tucked so low.

I’m not really sure how to work on the issue. It never usually happens, since the trails at my barn are narrow and nobody usually trots past me when I’m walking. I would like to work on it, though, since I’d love to do some hunter paces with him. I guess one answer is to always be the leader and never allow anyone to pass us when we’re walking, but that’s so controlling and limiting. I’ll need to think on it.

So for about 20% of the ride, Wizard was wound up or fussing, but for the rest of the ride, he was delightful. He was fine on the lead or in the back of the pack, but he definitely prefers the lead. The only time he spooked was when one of the horses we were riding with separated and walked around a group of trees. We met face-to-face and BOTH horses jumped! It was hilarious.

When we reached Stone Tavern Lake, Wizard was interested in wading in the water, but the ripples seemed to freak him out a little. All the mares got into the water and were even playing and pawing. Wizard stood at the verrrrry edge. I could feel that he wanted to try it, so I tried a few different angles and walked toward it a few different ways. I did not force the issue, and eventually, he got the hang of it and walked in like a pro. Maybe next time, he’ll wade a little more.

At the Horse Park, we explored the hills and paths that make up the Jersey Fresh cross country course. It was really cool to walk in the footsteps of the eventing greats- of course, they galloped those steps, ha ha!

We returned to the trailer and let the horses graze for a little while before they loaded up and went home. I gave Wizard a much-needed hosedown and put him back outside with his paddock buddies. Hopefully, we’ll have a few more off-the-farm adventures this summer.

And I blazed
in the last orange hours of the day,
until the dust hazed and hid us away.

Wizard Ride 151: Over Under Sideways Down

Thursday, 6/17/10

Wizard had a visit from the farrier on Thursday. He remarked that Wizard was far more flexible in his hind end than he was the last few times. This makes me think that the chiropractic appointment last week had more benefits than just the ones I felt under saddle.

I rode Wizard in the dressage court outdoors, again with our stripped-down bridle and also an ear net to keep the flies away from Wizard’s delicate noggin.

Forward and sideways were the name of the game. We worked on leg yirlding at the walk and the trot in both directions. In order the keep his impulsion up, I also sprinkled in some big-trot-little-trot exercises. We were able to leg yield with the correct amount of bend from the center line in both directions. I’ve never tried that before- we usually use the quarter line as our marker. He was great! And he was also greatly improved at his transitions within the gaits, moving smoothly into a very big walk from a regular walk and also a great forward trot from his working trot. I used to do a lot of forward trot work with Alibar and I think it has a world of benefits for a horse.

The best part of the ride came when we were doing a forward trot across the diagonal- my reins were soft and giving to allow him to stretch his neck and head, and he pushed himself onto the bit, stretching and also taking contact. For just a moment, we had ourselves a pretty fancy little trot :^) Onward and upward…

Paris Ride 1: Off to a Flying Start

Sunday, 12/6/09

As I watched the strapping Holsteiner mare performing an intricate series of leaping, crowhopping, kicking, and sunfishing on the longe line, I wondered if I could stay in the saddle for even one of those maneuvers. The big bay must have read my thoughts, because she strung together a particularly creative repertoire, slinging her graceful neck downward as she rolled into an uphill canter, punctuated by gigantic bucks; my friend looked like a big game fisherman grappling with a marlin. The mare’s powerful frame proved too much to hold and the longe line slipped out of my friend’s hands and trailed behind as the mare rounded the turn of the arena and headed back to the barn at a graceful hand gallop. We followed, calling out to the unsuspecting folks back at the barn to beware of the loose horse and laughing at how many times we have chased loose horses down this same path so many times before.

Her name is Paris and she belongs to my friend. Over the past few weeks, she had not been ridden much so it was expected that she would play a bit on the longe line, but when she plays, she plays hard! She may be playful, but she is also a sensible sort, and she slipped into her paddock before being apprehended and brought back out to the arena. Playtime was over and Paris willingly returned to work, trotting on command and stretching her topline on the circle.

We brought Paris into the indoor arena and I watched my friend ride her. She has been trained to be a show hunter, but judging by the way she moves, I’m sure she would excel at many disciplines. She has a powerful hind end, and it acts as an engine, propelling her frame in a seriously impressive trot. The mare exhibits the delightful warmblood work ethic and I could see her rounding her topline and accepting contact through the reins.

I put my saddle on her (it miraculously appears to fit!) and mounted up. Although she is out of shape, I could feel how naturally supple and balanced she is. She is wonderfully responsive to leg and hand. She did not seem to respond as much to my seat. “Leg yield?” I asked and she responded with a “Yes, ma’am”. At the trot, she has a wonderful rhythm and natural balance. Like many horses (Alibar was the exception), Paris is softer to the left than to the right. As we trotted, I did a little work on getting her on my inside leg and outside rein by counting to four and squeezing my inside rein on four, keeping my outside rein steady the whole time. 1-2-3-squeeze, release, 1-2-3-squeeze. Paris responded more on the left rein than the right. I kept the trot work to a minimum due to her lack of fitness.

I dismounted and walked her outside as a cooldown. Sometime during her longeing escapade or during her ride, she lost a shoe. Argh! This means I’ll have to wait until the farrier visits before I get to ride her again.

What a lovely mare. This is going to be fun.

Selena Ride 48; Wizard Ride 118: Chaos Theory

Saturday, 11/14/09

Before night fell, Wizard and I went for a trail ride with Mary the Morgan and her owner. We did not do the full loop, but we were out for about 45 minutes. Wizard was quite good. He had a few “oh boy!” moments, but was otherwise nice to ride.

When we returned from the trails, I tacked Selena up and ride in the indoor arena with Mary the Morgan and Miss Tuesday. In preparation for the upcoming hunter derby at my barn, there was a delightful array of creative and interesting jumps in the arena. I expected Selena to give them a good look when we walked into the ring. Instead, she almost seemed more comfortable with them in the ring. Of course, her two best barn buddies were in the ring as well, but there were also other horses who were coming and going.

I asked somebody to slam the arena door loudly to re-create the jumpy moment from the last ride. Selena did not bat an eye. She is not a spooky mare, so I think she was simply surprised (as was I!) when the door slammed on Thursday.

Selena was quite stretchy and ready to work. We did a long walking warmup, followed by large stretchy circles at the trot. We worked into transitions from walk to trot and back to walk. When she felt warmed up, I took advantage of all the jumps and we rode intricate patterns around the fences. She was fantastic. The chaos of the jumps seemed to work out nicely for her. Perhaps it reminded her of her jumper background.

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.

Wizard Ride 38: By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Monday 1/12/09

This weekend, we had the perigee moon, the biggest full moon of 2009. While tonight the moon was not full, it was a buttery gold when it rose and it had a beautiful ring around it in the clear January sky. I wish it was a little warmer and I would have been crazy enough to ride under it. I used to ride Alibar by moonlight at the old barn- it’s one of my fondest memories of him.

Tonight was a pleasantly quiet night. Sometimes I love the hum of a busy barn and I like the comings and goings of horses and riders. Sometimes I love to ride alone and focus completely on the horse. Tonight was one of those nights. My barn buddies finished early with their horses. Sarah was finished for the night and asked if I wanted a lesson, but I decided to try out everything we learned last week in a session by ourselves.

First, I hand walked Wizard for about a half a mile in the indoor arena (approx 8 laps around the indoor arena equals a mile). Then, I longed Wizard for about 10 minutes. While he longed, I kept his quarter sheet on him to help warm his muscles up.

Then, I took off the sheet and worked at the walk under saddle. We worked on small circles along a bigger circle- I used an opening rein to encourage the smaller soft circles. We worked on them in both directions. Then, we trotted. It was not the prettiest thing in the world, but it was not ugly! We trotted about 4 big circles in each direction, stopping to walk when needed. He was a lot easier to the left and he stretched into the bit a few times. His neck was tighter to the right and he began to rush a bit, which was a little frustrating until I remembered that this was our first time ever trotting alone for any extended period of time. Progress! I then worked Wizard at the walk as a cooldown. We walked down a series of poles in the center of the ring- he is very calm and willing to navigate obstacles. I dismounted, untacked him, and let him trot at liberty for about 5 minutes. In this cold weather, the horses don’t get quite as much exercise during turnout since they cannot really run on the frozen ground. I like to make sure Wizard gets a little time to stretch his legs. As he gets fitter, I can see him enjoying his playtime more and more.

I put his tack back on (loosely) to walk him into the barn- it’s good schooling for him and I did not want to carry it all back myself ;^) He was much better about grooming. I noticed a few hairs shed out on him and I think he’ll enjoy grooming MUCH more when he starts to shed all the way. I put Thrush Buster on his feet, put him in his stall, gave him two buckets of lukewarm water, and fed him a feed tub of Dengie. As I watched him chow down on his forage, I noticed how muscular he’s getting. He was in good pasture shape when I started riding him, but now the muscles are smooth and big, not short and ropey. It looks like he has also put on a few pounds. His coat looks lovely and as usual, his mane and tail are abundant. The Wizard is looking mighty fine!