25 Questions

Mares or Geldings? Why?
My first 3 horses were all mares.  The first two were great - opinionated, but knew when to back down.  The third was a demon-child.  She was super fancy and athletic and super opinionated and picky.  After her, I decided I wanted to stick with geldings for a while because I wanted a horse with a little less "personality".  I love my current guy - opinionated enough, but has no desire to be the boss of anything but his little herd in the field.


Green Broke or Fully Broke?
I usually end up going for the green broke due to money restraints, and the fact that I love the bond that the training process creates.

Would You Own A Hotter Breed?
I currently own an OTTB, so I would say yes, I would.

What Was Your Dream Horse Growing Up?
My dream horse growing up was an upper level eventer.  Didn't matter what breed as long as the potential was there to do a */**/***/****

What Kind of Bits Do You Use And Why?
Ha - just did a blog post on this.  For dressage we use a full cheek Dr. Bristol because the stability of it helps to compensate for my busy hands, and he likes it.  For jumping we are currently in a double jointed 3 ring elevator with the reins on the loose ring portion.  It gives me the little bit of extra whoa that I need since Otter likes to get a little strong and on the forehand while galloping.  After the show is over next weekend, I think I'm going to experiment with a wonderbit to see if it gives us the same control without the extraneous rings.

Helmet or No Helmet?
Helmet.  Always.  When I was younger I used to ride without one occasionally, especially if I was just going to be doing flatwork.  One of the days I was just doing flatwork, while I was tacking up, I had a feeling that I should just wear a helmet that day so I put one on.  During our ride, my mare spooked and flipped over on me, crushing my knee.  Not sure what would have happened if I hadn't been wearing my helmet, but so glad that I was that day.

Favorite Horse Color?
Bays, black and white paint or a nice dark dapple grey

Least Favorite Horse Color?
Light chestnuts

Dressage or Jumping?
Both

How Many Years Have You Been Riding? 

30 +

Spurs/Whip or No Spurs/Whip?
It depends on the situation.  XC and XC schooling we use both.  Jumping at home we use nothing, and dressage we use nothing unless Otter needs a friendly reminder about where his hindquarters are supposed to go, and then I will pick up a whip for a few minutes

Your First Fall?
Too young to remember.  Probably around 4ish.  I had a pony - enough said.

When Was The Last Time You Rode And What Did You Do?
Last time I rode was Thursday night and we did flatwork since nobody else was at the barn (my barn owner who lives on property and I have a light/time system so she knows I am ok)

Most Expensive Piece of Tack You Own?
My jumping saddle.  Collegiate Beta - not the fanciest thing, but fits us both well.

How Old Were You When You Started Riding?
Probably around 1? I was thrown up on the back of a horse as soon as I could sit up.

Not my first ride

Leather or Nylon Halters?
For around the barn, I don't mind nylon; but if a horse is getting turned out in a halter - either leather or nylon with a breakaway strap.  Show and trailering always get leather.

Leather or Synthetic Saddles?
Leather.

What Type of Reins Do You Like?
Rubber reins

English or Western?
English

How Many Horses Do You Currently Own/Lease?
One

Do You Board Your Horse? Full Board? Self Care? etc.?
Board - Full care

Have You Ever Put Down A Horse You Loved?

Yup -2 so far.  Demon child and the pony

How Many Saddle Pads Do You Have?
Let's not count those - I might have a problem.

Slant-Load or Straight-Load Trailer?
My horse seems to be most comfortable in slant loads - The one time he was in a straight load since I had him, he seemed really confused by it.  I think he would enjoy a straight load though, since he likes to stand as parallel to the trailer walls as he can.

Why Do You Ride?
I ride because it's something I've done my whole life.  I love the bond I have with my horse and I enjoy the feeling of brushing him down, cleaning tack and a  good ride.

Quiet hands

Earlier this year we started playing around with different bits for Otter to go in for dressage to see if we could get him to stop (or at least reduce the amount) grinding his teeth.  It’s something that he has more or less always done.   He does seem to have some triggers for it – stress, making him work hard/learning new things; at our first show I got reamed out by the dressage judge for it.  I’d pretty much given up on it as something that is just him.  My new trainer wasn’t quite as willing to give up on it (since she particularly hates the noise), and so the bit trials began.

Before I moved down here, we always used a copper double jointed loose ring.  He was soft-ish in it, and was foamy at the lips. But, like I said, my trainer wanted to see if we could find a bit that might make him happy enough to stop grinding his teeth.

So we tried an Albacon boucher.  The bit itself was a little big, but it was the only one we had at the barn and I didn’t want to shell out big bucks just to find out that he hated it.  I tried it because I had good luck with my mare in that bit, plus any little bit of incentive to help him lift his forehand is a good thing.  He was quieter about his grinding in it for a few days, then went back to his normal self.  I kept riding him in it for a while longer to see if he would settle down again, but the bit being too big kept bothering us – it would be really uneven in his mouth at the end of a ride. 

More or less what our current bit looks like

So one day, I decided that I was done with the boucher (might have done this while my trainer was out of town) and put him a bit that we used to jump in – a full cheek Dr. Bristol.    Immediate difference.  So we have been riding in the full cheek for a few months now and he has been going great and other than a few outliers (like schooling the day before Holly Hill when he was a tense, angry man), he is getting quieter and quieter about his grinding. 

Switching gears for a few moments, I have always had “busy” hands – flexing, bending, basically always asking for more.  It’s something we have really been working on, and it is getting better slowly.  I’ve been learning that if I keep my hands steadier, and use my seat and legs to ask for bend and balance, I might not get an immediate softening, but when he does soften, he is more likely to stay there and then I end up using my hands a whole lot less. 

Back to my lesson the other day, we were working on a new skill for Otter – shoulder-ins, and while he had been quiet for most of the ride, he started grinding occasionally and quietly towards the end when he was getting tired.  My trainer made a comment about the noise, and I replied that he has been a lot quieter lately.

To which she replied “That’s because your hands have gotten a lot quieter.”

And that’s when the lightbulb went off in my head.  He was quieter in the full cheek, and to some extent the boucher, than the loose ring because they are more stable bits and so reduce some of the “noise” that I make with my hands.

Duh.

Hello again!

I know, I know - I am the worst blogger ever.  I apologize (again).  Not going to promise that it won't happen again because, well, life happens.

So, since I last checked in: we (finally) moved into our new house, this school semester kicked my butt (Business Law and Accounting), got Otter back in shape and took him to an event, more or less unpacked all the boxes from moving, got into a wreck, got a new car and changed jobs.

My poor old car.  I was really lucky that I wasn't directly hit by the semi that caused it.

Otter is doing fantastic - all sweating issues gone.  He came back into work great - the break seemed to do him a lot of good.  We had a pretty major blowup on Friday while schooling at Holly Hill HT, but that seems to have been due to a couple of factors, and he came out on Saturday a completely different horse and we ended up scoring a 25.  Unfortunately no pictures from that due to the 5 inches of rain that got dumped on us that weekend.  He also ended up with a major case of rain rot from that (and the 3 weeks of rain that followed) and we have just about gotten that cleared up.

It's a amazing how a little bit of photo magic makes you almost think the sun was out when this picture was taken - trust me it wasn't.

Anyways, I'm going to do my best to stick around this time.  Hopefully life cooperates!

The proof is in the pictures

Yay sweat!

More sweat!

Funk going away and hair growing!

More hair growing!

Sweating again

Sorry for the radio silence, ya’ll.  Have just had a lot going on the past couple of weeks and haven’t had much of a chance to sit down and write. 

We are counting down the final days till we get to close on our new house, so have been busy with checking on the build progress and doing paperwork for that, along with packing.  I have also been looking for a new job – one with slightly better hours so I can have a more stable barn schedule.

I did get to the barn over the past weekend though, and since we had some cooler weather decided to take Otter for a short walk to see if he would start sweating.  I was going to just ride him bareback around the fenceline – then thought better of it since he hasn’t been ridden in over a month, plus there was a photography clinic at the barn that day.  Really didn’t want to take the chance of any antics that might happen getting immortalized.  So I threw his saddle on instead and we went for a walk.  I shouldn’t have doubted him – he was a perfect gentleman the whole time.  I am very happy to report that he started sweating like normal again – even on our short walk he had sweat on his neck, between his hind legs, underneath the saddle and girth, and also under his bridle. 

I made about as much fuss over him it was like he suddenly figured out one-tempis, but I am so happy we are back to normal.  I went for another walk last Sunday and during our rides this week I have started incorporating small bits of trot.  He is definitely a bit out of shape right now, and I don’t want to work him too hard and stress his body out again.  However, my trainer believes that if all goes well with bringing him back, we could definitely aim for Holly Hill at the end of October.  We are still keeping him on the One AC till it gets cooler, and he still has his mister fan on him when he is in the stall – I think we are afraid to change anything in case it sends him back to no sweat land.

Random barn cat, since I have been horrible at taking horse pictures lately

Also, so a few people at the barn have also been struggling with the funk on their horses.  One lady who has a bit of a medical background thought to put Vaseline on her guy’s spots, and it was a bit like a miracle on how quickly they healed up.  She told me about this, and I was dubious about it – I’ve definitely been trying to keep things dry – not put more moisture on the areas, but I couldn’t discredit how much better her guy looks.  So with some trepidation last weekend, I greased Otter’s hindquarters up, thinking that they couldn’t get much worse that they were already.  The next day when I went out –it was amazing.  He let me curry all the spots, and all the funk came up easily, and the skin underneath was left soft and not ouchy.  So all this week I have been continuing the Vaseline treatment, and even putting it on his legs.  It has been seriously amazing – his hiney has cleared up and is regrowing hair at record speed, and so are his legs.  The best part is that he doesn’t even mind it, nor does it leave him greasy (I guess because it absorbs into his skin?)  I definitely recommend this course of treatment if any of you are bold enough to try it. 

I also had a jump lesson on Rocky this past week.  He has been great for my jump position.  I’m not sure if I blogged about our last jump lesson or not, but if you don’t maintain a correct position while jumping – he lets you know it.  His antics in the barn are legendary.  Our first jump lesson was quite interesting with some bucking after the jumps – luckily I have a lot of experience sticking bucks from naughty ponies, but it was a good immediate correction for me when I was not correct or soft/allowing enough in my position.  This time, we had no bucks, and I definitely could feel the difference in my position.  I am hoping that this will carry over to Otter when we start jumping again.   A long time ago, I was very correct in my position, but since then I have ridden so many horses that allowed me to get away with being sloppy that it’s been hard for me to be better. 

I am not sure how much I’ll be able to post over the next week or so, we are finally closing on our house this week and will be moving out of the apartment all next weekend since we have to hand in keys on the 31^st.  I will try to post at least a quick update –or maybe I will finish up the content that I had meant to use during my honeymoon and use it now.

wistful and frustrated

While doing my normal internet browsing while drinking my morning coffee Tuesday morning, I clicked through to Eventing Nation.   Reading EN used to be a daily activity for me, but for whatever reason, I just haven’t been as into it recently.  The reason for clicking through Tuesday morning was to watch the Millbrook HT video.

 On my drive to the barn that morning, I reflected on why I have been avoid EN recently, and the Millbrook video helped me to  realize why.  While I have competed some these past 12 months– it has been at schooling schools, and one mini trial.  Watching the video made me long for being at a recognized event.  I love the atmosphere of them – even if I am not competing.  It’s the feeling of seeing or riding a good dressage test, the anticipation and ritual before XC, and the adrenaline that comes while being on course, and the satisfaction of riding a clean stadium round. The mental preparation that happens while braiding before dressage, and making sure every speck of dust is off horse and tack. It’s the technical aspect of walking a XC course the night before and studying the fences and how they will be ridden.  It’s the feeling of screwing studs into shoes, fastening and taping boots, checking for optimum time and setting it into your watch.  It’s like gearing up for battle and I love it.  I even love the aftercare - hosing off with liniment, walking and making sure each standing wrap is perfect.

That was a wet, cold and miserable feeling weekend - but I loved it!

 I know why I haven’t been to events this year, and they are good reasons why – the wedding, building a house, Otter’s issues adjusting to the south, work.  Logically it makes sense that I haven’t gone, but there is a part of me that yearns to be on the road competing – even if just once a month or every other month.  I’m sad that I will not be able to compete, and it’s looking unlikely that I’ll even be able to volunteer during the local HT (Fleur de Leap – please come and support it!)  that will be held in September for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. 

 I know that the summer is the “off” season down here, and that is probably contributing to some of this nostalgia, but even still I know that I won’t be able to compete again until at least October, if not November.  I hate that my current job makes me miss out on so much.  My barn is off XC schooling today, and I’m stuck working, and then all the local shows over the next two months are on my weekends to work also. 

 And now I feel like this post has become super whiny.  I know I am lucky to even have a job, and I am very happy about my marriage and the house we are building.  I’m grateful that while Otter is having issues adjusting, he is getting there slowly – and that my barn has other horses for me to ride in the meantime.  I just miss riding him, and competing him.  He is so much fun to ride XC – even when just schooling. 

 We’ll be back out there, eventually. 

Weekend update

This weekend was my off weekend from work, so I was able to go out to the barn Fri, Sat, and Sun.  I went out later in the afternoon on Friday because of some appointments in the morning - ended up getting there around 3:30/4pm.  When I got there, I noticed that Otter's mister had been switched to just the fan mode on accident, so his stall was a bit warmer than it has been with the mister on.  However, while checking him over, there was a bit of sweat on both shoulders, so he is regaining some sweating function!  He still isn't fully up to par, as he was still breathing quite heavily in his stall.  I gave him a bath and scrubbed his funkiness - it's gotten quite bad with the mister on him all day.  Trying some old school remedies on them - witch hazel/Listerine after the bath then a topping of Gold Bond Medicated body powder to help dry things out.  We used the Gold Bond at a barn I worked at in Georgia, and it worked well then, so hoping it will help me get on top of his nastiness. 

Just a hint, but it's there!

 

Saturday was my first ride on R.  He's a 19 yr old schoolmaster-type TB.  He competed up to second level, but wasn't able to go further because he wasn't able to sustain the collection needed for the upper level work.   It was definitely interesting riding him - all of my various shortcomings were quickly pointed out to me.  For instance, I'm not sure if my right side aids are just that much stronger, or my left side is that much weaker, but R was very insistent on popping his left shoulder out.  It's been a bit of a struggle that I've also had with Otter, but I had thought that it was mostly due to his stiffness - guess I was wrong about that.  We kept the ride pretty short - due to R being out of work for a little while.

 Sunday's ride was a lot better - as long as I rode correctly.  The moment I would lean forward, or look down, he would get heavy.  He's definitely a super cute horse though.  He is like a slightly dopier version of Otter.  I'm looking forward to more rides on him and how they will improve my riding.

Horses of my Christmas past - Part 1 : Mr. Chips

Mr. Chips was the horse that my mom had before I was born.  He was a 14 something hand bay QH. My mom mainly showed him in the small 4-H type hunter ring, but he was a pretty good baby sitter also.  He was the first horse that I ever rode by myself (and also in utero).  At that time we had a few acres, so he lived in our backyard with a few boarder horses (and eventually my pony).  Looking back at the pictures of him, I'm always taken aback for a minute at how almost pony-like he looks, because in my memories, he was always a big horse.  It's funny how time and perspective changes things like that. He was part of my life till I was about 6 or 7 when he crossed the rainbow bridge.

I'm pretty sure that I get my love of horses from Mr. Chips, because when I remember him, I can only remember how sweet and patient he was with me - from my attempts to grooming to the daily rides I demanded.  

Cautiously optimistic

Otter seems to be doing pretty well with his mister fan.  He was a lot cooler when I went out today, and when I took him out of his stall, I think I felt a little bit of sweat starting on his neck and chest.  Baby steps, ya’ll!  I gave him a bath and let him chill in front of the big fan again, then put him back in his stall, since I had to head home to get to work on time. 

 I’m definitely excited, but yet cautious, to think that he might be regaining his normal sweating capabilities again.  Hopefully just being in the cooler air is what he needs.  Still going to continue with our riding ban for a while until it looks like he can handle the weather again.  I would like to see him be okay without the mister before putting the extra stress on his body. 

 One of the other boarders has invited me to ride her second horse, R, while Otter is sidelined.  I’m excited to ride another horse, because I know Otter and I have a sort of codependency thing going on with our various faults, and I’m hoping that riding a different horse will help me correct some of my bad habits.  I’m also glad that at least one of us will still be in shape when Otter is able to be worked again.

 Since I know that ya’ll will get bored reading (and I’ll get bored writing) the repetitiveness of “I went to the barn, bathed Otter, he chilled in front of the fan, then I headed home” that is sure to happen over the next few weeks, I’ve decided to start a series entitled “Horses of Christmas Past” where I will introduce ya’ll to the significant horses that have been in my life.  Part 1 will debut sometime this weekend… So stay tuned!

Not quite A/C, but close

I went out to the barn this afternoon to give Otter another bath and let him chill in front of the big fan for a while, and when I got there, the barn owner said she wanted to try putting a fan mister in front of his window.  The mister was bought by another boarder for her horse when he was having some issues earlier in the summer due to some meds he was on, but since he is off of them now he has been fine with the heat.  Since Otter is still struggling so much, the other boarder approached the BO and said that Otter could use the mister instead.  So I helped the boarder set it up in front of his stall and it is amazing the difference it makes - easily cools down his stall by 10-20 degrees.

I let him get used to that for a while, then turned it off and gave him the bath I had planned on and let him sit in front of the big fan.  When I returned him to his stall, his skin was nice and cool.  I turned the mister back on in hopes to keep his body temp down during the afternoon.

I definitely hope this keeps him cool enough that his body can de-stress and he can start sweating again.

Rough times ahead

I had a hard time writing this post, because there isn’t  much going on with Otter – other than his lack of sweat.  Every time I went out last week, I took a different type of beer (amber, light, hard cider, Guinness), and he doesn’t like any of them.  With the Guinness I actually ended up syringing half of it into his mouth just to get it in his system.  I love him to death, but I hate how picky he is at times.  He’s getting the One A.C. in his grain AM and PM, and thank god he’s eating that.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference.

Beer for my horse

 The sweating that he was doing after rides last week has stopped, and now he will just barely sweat around his mane, and just a hint of sweat under his tack - nothing on his neck or chest.  Even hosing him off before the ride and not doing much doesn’t keep him cool for long.  On Wednesday the barn staff pulled him out of his stall multiple times to be hosed down and placed in front of a fan (since he will rarely stand in front of the one in his stall – preferring to stand against the wall dividing him and his buddy).  After hearing that, I’ve decided that until he starts sweating a decent amount again, we aren’t going to do any more rides.  I had been hoping that the exercise would induce his cooling system to kick back in, but it does not seem to be the case. 

Not a fan of Mich Ultra

 So Thursday morning, I just gave him a good shampooing to see if that would help, and then hung around the barn for a while so I could hose him off again after he had starting getting too warm again.

So not interested in beer

 I am so grateful to my barn staff, whom has been checking on him constantly this week and every time he looks like he is feeling uncomfortable or starts breathing heavier, pulls him out of the stall, hoses him, and lets him sit in front of the high power fan.  I don’t know what I would do without them right now.  I just hope we don’t have to go through months of this.

So please, think sweaty thoughts for Otter.

The sweats, or lack thereof

The past couple of rides I have noticed that Otter hasn't been sweating quite as much as is normal for him - but other than noticing it, I had just attributed it to us not working as much.

Today, however, we warmed up and I noticed he was breathing pretty heavily for the amount we had done.  A quick check showed me that he had not sweated at all yet, so we walked and hung out in the shade a bit, and he started to get a sweat going on his neck and between his legs, and had caught his breath again.  Figuring he was just a little slow to start sweating, we did a little bit more work (and I'm talking 5ish minutes top here), but this time when I took a walk break, he was breathing hard again, veins popping out and was bone dry.  So I immediately hopped off, and looked him over - dry on neck, between front legs, hind legs and minimal sweat under his tack.  *I* was sweating more than he was.

I loosened his girth and noseband and we headed back to the barn.  On the walk back to the barn, he got a bit of a sweat going again, but still not enough to make me comfortable.  I hosed him off to cool him off and then talked to my trainer about it.  We are going to start him on a beer a day (lucky him) and see how that goes and try some One A.C if needed.

So with that in mine - anybody have any tips, tricks or suggestions for horses with anhidrosis issues?  Or for the best way to get the beer into the horse?  Especially for a picky prima donna.. From what I've been reading it's not all that unusual for horses who make such a big climate change to have issues.

Anyways, I'll be stealing one of the hubby's Shiner Bocks on Friday and keeping my fingers crossed that he likes it and it helps him sweat more.

Back in the swing of things

I was able to get out to the barn again on Thursday to ride.  Otter’s leg looked much better than it had on Tuesday, which I was relieved about.  I ended up grooming and tacking up in his stall because of the camp kids getting ready and running around the rest of the barn.  I then headed outside to get away from the crowd in the indoor.

I’m really glad that I stuck around and watched some of the lessons on Tuesday, because it reminded me what some of my positional issues are when riding, and how I *should* be riding and how Otter needs to be responsible for himself at times.   Our last couple of dressage rides have been okay – but definitely not what they should be.  I went into this ride wanting to get a 100% out of me and Otter, and not end it feeling like we just weren’t connecting as in our past few rides. 

So with that in mind, from the beginning, I asked him to be more supple (without playing with my hands too much – using more of my seat and legs to ask him to bend his body) and more forward.  He resisted a bit in the beginning, but then relaxed into a nice walk.  We did the same at the trot and canter.  In the end, we had a much better ride than we have had – He was forward and bendy.  Could have been a bit more relaxed, but maybe next time. 

Cooled him out, cleaned my tack and hung out with the campers for a bit before I had to leave to get my hair cut.  I loved my long hair, but it is way too hot and humid to be dealing with all of that down here.  So now I have a short-ish do. 

Had to work all this weekend, but I’ll be back out at the barn again tomorrow!