10/13/08 Quick Rides for Both

I had company coming over for supper, and wanted to show the progress I've made with both horses. So right after work, I hurried to water the dogs, change shoes, and scrambled to the back yard.

Caught Romeo, saddled him up with the old western saddle. Tied him in his stall.

Caught Chewie, saddled him in the new Dakota Barrel, and scrambled to the round pen. He warmed up beautifully, with a little more effort on his own to carry his head on the inside canter-right. I crawled on, walk, trot, canter-left, about 20 more minutes. Friend pulled in the driveway, walking towards the round pen, I thought, "This'll stir him up...", and I asked Chewie to canter left. Stirrups flapping in the breeze, he picked up the wrong lead. I slowed him back to trot, and asked again, head leaning inside. He picked up the left lead, and was going going going! I didn't feel like I was bouncing too much in the saddle, so after about three circles, I "shhh"ed him to a trot, sat the trot for a few circles, and walked him out. Friend said, "Who is that lady in the saddle on that big fast horse?! That's not the lady I saw riding a few months ago!" I laughed... "I have a focus now, and it's on something other than being scared. We're all doing a little better."

Cooled Chewie down, unsaddled, hosed the mountain of frothy sweat off of him (it wasn't terribly warm, but he's terribly out of shape, I suppose), and asked Friend to hand-graze him just outside of Romeo's pasture until he dried.

Grabbed Romeo, put his martingale & bit on, and off we went into his pasture. Walk, trot, figure eights, circles, whoa's. Did a little backing up, he threw his head a bunch, so I trotted some more circles, figure eights, and the sort. Asked for a back up again, and he complied. I figured, "He's warmed up enough. Let's show Friend how hard I've been working, and how smart Romeo's gotten."
Asked for canter, purposely on the straightaway, head tilted a tad outside. I wasn't going to chance the wrong lead (again). Romeo has to have head tilted out for the correct lead, Chewie tilted inside. He picked up the left lead, and we loped and loped and loped. Romeo had about the same gas pedal rate as Chewie. I laughed, and got his attention with a light bit-check. He eased up a bit, and we did some huge circles in his pasture. Biggest ones I've done in that pasture yet. I saw Friend watching dead-stare. When I could tell he was actually paying attention, and Romeo had calmed to a nice lope, I reached for his neck, and said, "whoa". Romeo stopped on his rear end. I rubbed him "good boy", and walked him back to the trailer.
"Well, what did you think?"
Friend, again, says, "I don't know who that lady is up in that saddle, but the horse looks amazing. What a great ride. You've got both of the horses where you want them. It looks fantastic!"
Romeo's total work was about 15 minutes. He's gone over & above for me Saturday & Sunday, so I walked him to the trailer, got off & unsaddled. Hosed him off, as well. Put him in the stall still wet, and he didn't disappoint - rolled about six times, all the way over. Good Boy!

Both horses will get today & tomorrow off. Weathermen say 40% chance of rain today, 60% chance tomorrow. 40% again Thursday. We'll see... I won't hold my breath.

Chewie Back to Work

Sweat is what Mr Don said he needed. And Sweat is what he got. I caught Chewie on Saturday (09/06), tacked him up western saddle, english bridle, and we set in the round pen. I warmed him up with walk, a little trot, and a lot of canter. Trot builds muscle, but I wanted him thinking, "I am going to canter with Mom today", so I got all of the chance of canter-buck of out him before getting on. He threw a little mini fit here and there, and had his head out to the right. I figured that was still a little pain and decided that canter-right lead might not be in the cards under saddle just yet.

When I climbed on, we worked on trot right, with great results. Without a side-rein warmup, he was a bit stiff, but quickly loosened up and relaxed his head & poll. I had his mouth, and his attention, but the reins were still on gentle contact. A nice forward trot, good up & down transitions. I focused on "3s".

Reversed to left. Trot 3, walk 2, trot 3, walk 2. I figured if I was going to canter, this was my chance. Trot 1, canter 1.5. I felt like I had lost a little balance in the canter, so I told him, "Sh", just a little bit, hoping he'd just ease up a bit. Nah. He transitioned down immediately into trot, and softened his face. I laughed, realized he gave me what I wanted from "SH", and if I want an easier canter, I'm going to have to find another way to get it. I can't verbally ask for it anymore.. *giggle* Smart little man.

A little more trot left, and back to the right. Focused the last right and left set on "stretching down" trots. He lifted his back and stretched down a few times, so I walked him out. Total work, nearly an hour. He was very cooperative for a horse that hadn't been cantered under saddle in over three months. I was satisfied he was ready to get back in the game.

Sunday, I warmed him up a bit, saw I had his attention, and his brakes. I walked one circle in the round pen, opened the gate from his back, and walked around the pasture. The wind was fierce, and his ears were everywhere. His head was up a bit, so I had just a bit of contact, just enuf that if I had needed it, I could stop him. Walked around for about 15 minutes, and I hopped off. I wanted to "test drive" my new confidence on him, and I think the best way to measure the level of trust in our relationship is trail riding. Anytime we've had success in an enclosed space, it seems to blow apart in the pasture. Since I'm working on his fitness, I figured it's a good time to work on my confidence.

I'm learning that all my horses are waiting on is for me to trust them, and relax. Both are bright enough (now) that they know what's expected, and they know how to stop if I need it. The only thing holding us back, is me, and my fear. I've come a long way, and there's still more to accomplish.

Chewie Is Back to Work

I haven't got the pictures yet. I unfortunately didn't start snapping up shots before Mr Don started work. Here's the quick word summary.

• Took as much off the front right as he could, but it's still a tad longer than the front left
• Rear toes were chipped up - wall seperation, rounded off toes to try to prevent reoccurence
• Thrush still lurking front left, rear right. Other two cases are clear. Took out some of the frog around those thrushy cracks so I can get the Durasole in better this time
• Hoof shape & angles are improving, but not there yet.
• The pad on front right is working! All the signals indicate it helped
• Front right has blood hemmorage on the sole near the toe, old bruise growing out, probably from Chewie's barefoot five weeks standing around & being grumpy
• Front hooves blood still flowing - pulse is still evident on both - although not good, indications that P3 is creeping back up where it belongs by soundness

So I asked Mr Don "Okay, the question of the day.. What can he do now?" I love his answer, "Sweat! Get him back in work, get the muscles back where they were before this mess started and you met me. If he gets sore, get off, hose him down, give him a treat, and apologize to him for over-doing it. Take the following day off, and then get back after it. Don't linger every day at trot - hard on the hooves, hard on the legs." He also told me to give him some patience if he gets fussy or grouchy. He said, "If that head isn't bobbing, he's sound, but if he is a real grump one day, it's probably because something hurts, and he doesn't know how else to tell you. If he's like that many days in a row, call me. We'll talk about what you need to do next. If it sounds like he's just avoiding working, we'll talk him through that, too."

And Sweat it is! We're ready to get back at it. I hope to get a couple canter circles today. Mr Don also confirmed something I've been thinking for a while now - Chewie swinging his head to the outside for canter right, wasn't defiance, wasn't bad balance, wasn't him being a snot. He's trying to get that 50lb head off the right front hoof. Poor kid. And to think Robin was forcing weight on it, shorter inside rein, putting more strain on an already painful situation. I only feel kind of like a snot for pushing him despite the bad foot.

I've decided to put the chiropractor for him on hold a bit longer - I want him sound & muscled before I waste the effort. It's a long drive, and I don't feel like hauling him now, and then hauling him again in a few months for the same thing. He hasn't been fussing about being brushed, and doesn't seem to be particularly bucky one direction or the other.

Cheers all... have a great day. I've got too much to do, so I better get the engine oiled (with coffee), and get my rump moving.

Chewie 09/30 and A Saddle Question

I tacked Chewie for dressage, and we headed to the round pen. Nice easy loose warm up, followed by 15 minutes w/t/c on side reins. I've got them back to using the inside rein one shorter than the outside - he's been leaning out, especially to the right. It's probably his way of avoiding putting weight on that right front, but he needs to learn to trust it. I rode walk and a tiny bit of trot, all sound & satisfying. Total work session about 45 minutes.

Mosquitoes are here, too, and wow are they hungry! Skeeter-monsters.

So, onto my saddle question. I've had a Wintec western saddle for about 3 years. It's still in great shape, but I'm not entirely convinced it fits either of my horses well. I think it's too small in the front for either horse. It might be the pad I'm using, but I somehow doubt it. I think it's more an issue of a small saddle. Paperwork says "Semi QH bars"... I thought it was a 15" seat, but there's a little stamp on one of the girth-keepers that sure looks like "16" to me.

I'm much better at English-style saddles.... I have a Wintec Pro dressage saddle (17"), that's got the "one smaller than the avg gullet" in it - Chewie only. I've also got an HDR eventing saddle (17") that fits Chewie much better than Romeo - it seemed to just sort of lay across Romeo's almost non-existent withers.

What should I be looking for, and better yet, where can I go to find something durable, yet cheap? I think synthetic is okay, but I'd prefer regular leather, for sturdy-ness, if nothing else.

Thoughts?

Chewie 09/26/08

Stiff and a bit sore. I over-did it the night we trotted, I suppose.. darn it ol' boy, I'm sorry. W/t/c free lunge for about 15 minutes, then I walked him a few minutes bareback. He loosened up after the first 15, but he was a bit fussy bareback, trying to avoid working.

So I tried it again this morning. I gave him a run on Romeo's bit, stainless steel loose ring snaffle with a copper link in the middle (JP Korsteel, I think). He seemed to like it quite a bit. So great.. We'll keep using it.

10 minutes free lunge w/t/c
15 minutes lunge on side reins w/t/c
15 minute under saddle walk One little spurt sitting trot, purposely holding him back a little bit so he wouldn't hurt himself

Fitted him last night for his new Schneider's turnout - It's going to fit like a dream! I'm super happy I invested in it. It's not resting where the Rambo did - so there won't be nasty painful rub-marks on his shoulders this winter. He seemed pretty cooperative with the new belly-band, too. What a neat turnout. No takers yet on the Rambo, so keep considering it, and/or asking anybody you know that has a true need.

I need to get going for the day. I have to find a pair of reasonable dress pants. Rumor is I might be part of the Hurricane Crew invited to dinner with our infamous CEO Wednesday. Little twit likes to think of himself as equal to the President of the USA, I guess... I got a schedule that the dinner is happening, in Freeport, and a note from my boss saying, "We might be asked to attend." Um... can we be a little better in our planning? He ain't so famous he needs to plan this last-minute. The dress for the event was requested to be "very casual, khaki pants & dress shirt." Great.. None of my khakis fit anymore. I've lost about 4" on this diabetic diet I'm on. So they're either waay to wide to keep up, or too short, and up over my ankles when I sit down. dang it. I hate clothes shopping.. hate it hate it hate it.

Cheers everyone... I leave you with two "thoughts of wisdom"..

If we evolved from apes, how's come there's still apes?
When the batteries from your remote control start fading, why do you press harder on the remote buttons?

I can trot, Momma! I can!

Running out of patience, I decided to saddle Chewie up in his best-fitting dressage saddle (with the gullet adjusted just for his cute little self). I put him back in the round pen, with the same sound free lunge, w/t/c. He was obeying voice & hand signals, and remembered the difference between "reverse right where you are and keep going" vs "come into the center, get a love-pat, and get back to work in the other direction."

Somebody's "Dora the Explorer" Happy-Birthday balloon floated into the pasture. Chewie saw it, and was absolutely horrified. So, I walked out to the pasture, picked it up by the string, and brought it into the round pen. I led him towards it, letting him think he was chasing the balloon. It took about ten minutes, but he did finally let me touch him with it, and I rubbed it all over him. It made that neat plastic-swishy noise. ooh.. spooky balloon.

After deciding I was more curious than I could stand, I crawled on him. We only worked for, oh, about 8 minutes. I did a few laps of walk, and two sets of two laps of trot, each direction. WOW! I thought he was floaty before. That new stride I described with his new feet before, that was "up", rather than "dragging"?! It's so different, I can feel it riding. It felt like he was ready to spring into a canter at any moment, but still steady at the trot. I did a little on-bit contact, and a little off-bit, on a loose rein. He accepted the contact cheerfully, not once throwing his head, but instead stretching down, still bent at the poll. One time on loose rein I peeked down, and saw the reins swinging from side to side. Absolutely amazing. What a neat feeling, on a big horse, that finally has a big trot to match.

I crawled off, he licked & chewed, shook all over, and I swear the look on his face was, "Thanks Mom.. that was fun!"

He's coming back.. slowly.. but he's coming back.

Chewie 09/22/08

It was late in the evening, and I knew there wouldn't be much daylight. Mosquitoes and other flying pests have been yucky lately, so I wasn't very motivated to turn the lights on. I decided to catch Chewie, clean him up, and free lunge a bit.

We worked on 2-laps each gait & direction. Plenty of transitions and direction changes. I was also working on visual cues to get him to stop and come to the center of the round pen. I think he was getting it - he'd see my arm reach out when I'd exhale, and walk into the center, licking & chewing.. "scratch me, momma.. right there... thanks momma".

I grabbed my helmet, his bit, and crawled on. Rather than 15 minutes of plain regular walk, I worked on spiral in & out, plenty of direction changes, and oodles of neck reining. We'd make circles in to the center, reverse out, or complete the circle. I split the round pen into quarters, and did quarter turns. All walking, no halt-breaks. Solid walk for 15 minutes. No rein contact, all neck reining & leg cues. Spiral in & out without bit contact was funny. He was leaning on leg cues for every step. Very very neat. When I got off, he was yawning, licking & chewing, and shook all over. *giggle* Good to see he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Had a call from Cowboy Les last night... "Can Romeo wear a martingale like I am using on him when he competes jumping?" I responded, "No. That's a running martingale. No extra aids during flat classes, and standing martingale only over fences. There's no reason to even need that at the lower levels he competes at." For crying out loud... if he can't train the horse without contraptions, why did I leave him there?! His other two horses he trained, Sugar, and Blue, on the flat, when they're not on cows, work in a Tom Thumb with a small leather strap as a chin strap. If he can train them on a lousy Tom Thumb, why in the heck does Romeo need a running martingale and a twisted wire snaffle? There's no reason to add contraptions. Geez...

The rest of life, is, well, life.

Whatta Weekend ... Horse Updates x3

Friday - both boys worked. Romeo in his cowboy-borrowed bit. He did great. First time he tried a zippy trot, I applied a little bitta bit pressure, and slam! on the brakes. That'll get his attention. Good stuff! We walked around the neighborhood a bit, then went to the neighbor's yard. He was un-boarding his windows, and sat to take a break. He sat down on his little square deck in the yard, and Romeo & I walked over to it. Romeo seemed scare of the deck, so I asked him to walk up to it, so he could see it wasn't going to hurt him. He walked right up to it, and even tried to take a step up on it. Good boy!

Chewie Friday - w/t/c in side reins, 6, then 5. He was pretty good. Not very round & not giving all the time at the poll, but not taking off & fighting it, either. 25 minutes of that, then I worked him at a collected & long loose walk, alternating collection & direction for 10 minutes. Sound, and happy.

Saturday - Chewie, repeat. He was pretty darn good. Accepting of the collected walk, with a nice forward walk. Hooves look great, and I think the pulse on the left front is gone. If it's not gone, it sure is hard to feel. I'm going to look for it again tonight. Right pulse is still there, but the hoof seems to be handling the shoe job well - He isn't dragging it, and still has nice front movement at trot. About 12 minutes of bareback walk - I lost track of time, we were having fun. I also asked for turns on the forehand, and turns on the haunches, first time since July. He wasn't 100%, but gave a pretty good effort.

Romeo, Saturday. In the morning, we had a longer work session, about 45 minutes total, with much more trot. The trot work was great. Nice & easy, slow, bending on neck rein & leg. Towards the end, I collected him up, and put him in a come & go workout of trot shortening & lengthening. He got pretty firey from that, and it made me consider maybe that lengthened trot doesn't feel good for him. Not sure.

Romeo Saturday night. We loaded up grain, supplements, and the trailer, and headed out. Went to the rodeo arena to hang out with the ropers. (This was not the original plan - the initial plans were to take Romeo to Cowboy Les' house, unload his things, then go for a short trail ride before leaving him there. But, cowboys change their plans frequently, and anytime someone says, "Let's go rope", there's no stopping it.) Romeo helped pen the steers, and moved them from the end of the pen to the roping chute twice. The second time was a true adventure. There were some riders outside the alleyway, helping us move the steers along. There was also a younger high-school aged kid holding an electric shock prod. Turns out, that prod has more influence than Romeo does. Two steers flew past us as the kid stood on the fence between the arena and the alleyway. The steers spooked, split with about 6 behind the kid (on the wrong side of the chute). It was a mess. I know the kid is learning, but when everyone hollers, "Get down off the fence! You're confusing them! Get down!", why not listen? augh.. people are stupid. :)

Both boys had Sunday off. Romeo is at Cowboy Les' house, and Chewie got a break. I was busy all day, between church at 8am, a kick-off singles group meeting at noon, NFL football at 3, obedience trainingat 430pm. It amazes me that I didn't sleep very well last night. I should have, as busy as I was.

Today is another day. Chewie will get his regular work tonight, with probably 20 minutes on side reins, 20 minutes bareback walk. I *might* ask for a brief circle each way wp jog.. I'm just not sure.

Chewie 09/16/08

Tick check in the ears - all clear. I groomed him a bit, and we went to the round pen.

w/t/c 20 minutes, each direction sound. I put on my helmet, put his french link bit in, and gently hopped on bareback from an upside-down flower pot. Walked for five minutes, and I got off. He was still sound back to the barn.

I'd like to give that a "go" again tonight, if there's enough daylight. Might even toss a jacket on, and turn the round pen lights on. Mr Don farrier said I could do that for a few days consecutive, adding time slowly. I plan to keep this up through the weekend, then give him a call to see where to go from here.

Big plan tonight is Romeo again, front, side yard, and maybe a little figure-eights in his pasture. Over the weekend, he'll go back to Cowboy Les' house for some more work. I figure it'll be a few more weeks there at least.

Les thinks the bad ride over the last weekend (at my evac house) was due to stress & a new place. I'm starting to wonder if it's saddle fit. I know my western saddle isn't a great fit on either horse.. and I know I ought to be looking for a used replacement. It's too bad used saddles aren't falling out of the sky & landing cheap in my neighborhood. :)

Storm recovery continues for some of my co-workers at another site in the corporation. It's frustrating to be this geographically close, and not have any way to help. I've asked, and even made some suggestions. I don't have much desire to randomnly donate cash & water. I'd rather be helping somebody in particular that I know or have worked with. I'm hoping we'll have some plans made soon.

The Horses Remind Me...

Of the little things. They're peacefully in a paddock together now, and it looks like Chewie got his ear cut on the inside. I'll try to get closer tonight. Other than that, they've been great. They hand walk to and from stalls for their meals without incident. Many other big horses & mini horses are around, and there hasn't been a scuffle, a snort, or a fussy fight between anybody. They're eating all of every meal, and gobbling every giblit of hay I toss at them.

Rode Romeo in the arena, about 45 minutes. He's progressing, but the little turkey flies into figure eight turns right now. Darn it! :) He'll get better.

Lunged Chewie for about 20 minutes. He was going bezerk while I was riding Romeo, pretty upset about the whole thing, so I didn't lunge longer. Sound both ways, w/t/c. He loved his hose-down afterwards, yawning, licking, chewing. Cookies for all.

The clouds are rolling in, and they say the storm will hit tonight. The latest track & predictions say it will rain, and bring 40-60mph winds to my house. I sure hope the trailer house can handle that, and no tree branches swing into the windows.

All here at my home-away-from-home is good. Tranquil, peaceful. Betty the maid washed my clothes from yesterday, and brought clean towels. :) I enjoyed fresh eggs this morning for breakfast. I did get a good night's rest, and that was refreshing. Woke up hot a few times... need to ditch a blanket before I turn in tonight.

I still owe ya'll my thoughts on evacuations.. For now, I'll say this -- "If they say go, GO! You idjits! They don't say evacuate for the fun of watching you get stuck in traffic!" Too many on the Houston / Galveston coast aren't going "because it costs money". Dial 3-1-1, they'll get you FREE transportation to a FREE shelter with FREE meals! You idjits! Nobody wants to see you sitting on your roof, house flooded, saying, "I didn't know it would be this bad!" IDJITS! Just GO! =) That about covers it.

Hope to call to check on furry little ones today. I suspect they're doing great, but probably miss me. The cats & little dog Charlie here snuggle up once in a while, I think to remind me I'm still cared for.

FSSunny - Don't worry about it.. Don't feel guilty about your weather compared to mine. I went through that with Katrina. Here's how I settled it in my mind - I donated blood, and donated cash to the Red Cross after the storm. That little money I donated probably went to some clothes & hygeine supplies in a shelter. Rather than feel guilty, I did something... Maybe that will help you. Otherwise, go groom a horse, and think of me...

It's just stuff... Yeah, it's my stuff, but that's all it is. Sitting & worrying about it getting damaged won't bring it back after the storm. There's nothing there I can't replace. I guess I've lived too many places to be worried about the structure. A part of me hopes it goes - I'd love a newer place, even if just a trailer house again. =)

Chewie, Weekend of 9/5

9/4 - Round pen, near dusk, about 30 minutes of free walk, trot, canter. Plenty of transitions, not much goofing off, and completely sound.

9/5 - Chewie had other plans. I tried catching him in the late morning, and after a half hour chasing him around the pasture, I gave up.
Tried again, in the evening, and while he took off once, he did let me catch him. Another half hour of w/t/c free lunge.

9/6 - Round pen, morning. He didn't run off, and was completely compliant. I introduced him to some uncoordinated ground driving. I didn't put the surcingle on, and as a result, the outside line kept creeping up his withers. He did a lotta walk driving, and a bit of trot. Plenty of work w/t/c free round pen, again.... Sound. 40 minutes.

9/7 - Day off.

Will start back up tonight. I'm going to use his bridle and surcingle. No side reins. Perhaps later in the week I'll reintroduce those.

*laugh* While doing yard work yesterday, I accidentally left the little gate open from Chewie's pasture. I also, fortunately, left the other little gate open to Romeo's pasture.. I was happily mowing the grass, and saw Chewie, standing in between the stalls, munching on lawn grass. No halter, nothing.. =) I laughed as I turned the mower off, and quietly walked over to Chewie. He walked away from me, wandered through Romeo's little pasture gate, and sniffed all over. I closed both gates, praised him for not running down the street like a nut, and left him in Romeo's lot. I will put him back in his spot tonight, and I'm sure he'll appreciate all the shady tree cover.

Chewie Round Pen 09/02/08

After I dropped Romeo off at Les's house, and arrived back home, Chewie was pretty happy to see me. So, I took my hoofpick, Durasole, and halter, and headed with him to the round pen. I really only intended to clean his feets, apply the gorilla-killer solution, and ask for a little trot, expecting the limp to persist.

When I set Chewie loose in the round pen, he took off, like the happy race horse he is. He ran and ran and ran... I left the round pen briefly enough to get his attention. After about 5 minutes of this silly running nonsense, bucking, farting, twisting mid-air, rearing, he finally calmed down.

I asked for walk-left, he was sound.
I asked for walk-right, he was sound.
I asked for trot-left, I got about 6 strides, then canter left (slow)
I asked again, and got trot-left, he was sound.
I asked for walk-right again, he was still sound.
I asked for trot-right, again, a few strides, then canter right (fast)
Asked again, for trot-right, he was sound!
Asked for brief canter-right, he was sound. Slow, easy, head to the inside!

Things I noticed...
Chewie was sound, trot, canter, left & right.
Knee action! Rather than dragging his toes, kicking up dust in the front, and not giving a floaty trot, he was lifting his legs, bending his knees with every step, and hitting the ground whole-hoof at once. Beautiful movement!
I didn't have to push him at trot to get a nice stride. I clucked, and he was tracking.
No shoe clicking in the full tracking trot. No rear hoof hitting front hoof.
No tripping! He was picking up all four hooves.

Total work, about 20 minutes, some because of Chewie's flip-out. I turned him loose, and he followed me up to the trailer for a pat & cookie.

Talked to Mr Don. He was happy with the good news, and suggested the following path forward:
Lunge & Round pen for two more weeks
Light to moderate work only
In two weeks, ride bareback, at the walk, 5 minutes for one day
Next day, 5 minutes, if sound, add 2-3 minutes
Next day, add a few more
Repeat Repeat
Only at the walk, bareback, for at least one week, perhaps two
Then, call again, give him an update on soundness, and he'll suggest when he can carry bareback at trot, or saddled.