Rides, Hoof Photos, Soreness and Luck

This will be a long post, as I have a lot to cover.

Sofie is starting to get sore. I can tell in little ways, like when she actually puts her ears back when semi-resisting going down a hill (the only way to the valley and the lovely continuation of our trails). She's not lame or anything, but little things about her demeanor and performance just say "OUCH".

I had the first inclination that she might be a little overworked when she bucked in the canter and then veered sharply toward home. But that was at the end of a two-plus-hour ride, so I didn't know if it was just fatigue or if all the work we'd been doing was starting to catch up with her.

I brought my dad out to the barn to take some video of us, since things had been going so well. My plan was to have him take some canter video in the valley, so I could then pull some stills and have some lovely canter shots! Very nice plan, however, we waited just slightly too long to get him out there. I could kinda tell Sofie was not right, after hacking over and doing some more walk work in the valley, but I put her into the trot to see what would happen. Her ears went back, and she started rushing, legs just flying around as she veered back and forth, feeling extremely tight and upset. She broke into the canter of her own accord at least once, and just had trouble getting settled in the trot. It felt, to me, like she knew what I wanted and she really wanted to do what I wanted, but it hurt and she was anxious and a little angry at the same time she was trying so hard to do the right thing.

Since my dad was there, and she wasn't head-bobbing or anything, I rode her in the valley for a little bit (no more than ten or fifteen minutes, I would guess) and coaxed some passable trot work out of her, plus a few canters (a couple that were pretty short-lived, and a couple longer, straight-line canters). She was incredibly good and I think it's a testament to our journey and our time together that she was willing to do that for me.

Once I'd gotten my little bit of canter video, I stopped, petted, hopped off and quickly reviewed it (her canter looks beautiful, even though she's not at her best! What a good girl). Sofie stood rather impatiently, tossing her head a little bit, either due to lingering discomfort, or maybe she just wanted to get moving again. Possibly a combination of the two. I remounted and headed off for the trails. I figured I would just do an easy, walking trail ride, then head back.

The trail ride was lovely, and I stared at the brilliant fall colors with Sofie walking easily along. We headed home through the valley, and she was rushing a bit in the walk, thinking about either going home or cantering. I realized I had neglected to do very much walk work in the valley, and it was bugging me, so I turned her around and did some work on easy walk circles, just trying to get her listening to my aids, not drifting too badly, and I wanted her shoulder aligned properly. It took some work, but she improved in the walk. So I asked her to trot, just to see how she was doing (and to school the trot without cantering, which we had, uh, also neglected to do in the valley!).

From the beginning she was very much improved in the trot. She was trotting steadily without the earlier anticipation and ouchy, pissed off edge. She was doing so well that I got sucked into working on our dressage (of course) and did some turns and circles, with emphasis on getting her shoulder aligned. She had some difficulty in the usual spots (mostly slight downhill slopes) but she did great! She worked happily, too, until I did a few turns in a row down a slope, working on the balance. After a few of those she put her ears back and slowed in the trot, like "Enough." So I did one more turn, got what I wanted, halted, patted her and quit. I was encouraged by her (mostly) cheerful trot work after the longer warm-up, but I had already figured out that I probably needed to scale back our rides even more.

With plans to scale back on our riding, I decided on a trail-only ride. I wanted to practice riding on the road, so we could hopefully find other trails and meet new people (all that good stuff). First, though, I went on a short ride around the perimeter of the property with a girl who recently moved her horse to the equestrian center. She has a rather different riding background and she tells some very interesting stories! I enjoy her company. After we parted ways, I went on with my plan to ride down the road.

Sofie was wiggly at first and a little obnoxious about leaving home. We were both a little tense on the road at first, and I had to hold her in place and keep her from drifting onto (or off) the shoulder. However, she went past two barking dogs in the very first yard without spooking and we kept going without incident. We only had one tiny spook, and a couple times she stopped and stared ahead at something. Once it was because she saw two very large black Labradors. Once I figured out their yard was fenced, I asked her to walk on and she did (I was glad they were inside a fence, otherwise I might’ve turned right around!). The dogs barked, but Sofie was unimpressed (“Uh, they’re inside a fence, who cares?”). The owner of the Labs also commented on how beautiful Sofie was. Team Sofa! I should sell T shirts…

We got to the end of the road, where we wandered past the big “Equestrian Center this way!” sign. I was apprehensive, but I decided to practice crossing the highway. I halted her across from a driveway, and waited for a break in traffic. I was really nervous, but Sofie was so good. She went across the highway with no problems and kept going, down the driveway and into a junky-looking storage yard full of trucks, trailers and scrap metal. She took a look at a couple things but bravely walked on as I looked for a place to ride. There was no one around, and I knew of a trail somewhere in that area, so I was in the mood for exploring. Besides, we were over there now, so why not?

At the edge of the storage yard, I saw a space between the trees, and rode through it. I quickly found an actual trail, the long grass flattened by ATV traffic! The trail was nice and straight, flat, with good footing. Some of it was more wooded and closed in, and then occasionally there was an open area from which I could see the highway. The trail did lack the pristine beauty of the trails near the barn, but it was a refreshing change of scenery and it’s always fun to see something new. I’m pretty sure it was an actual trail, and that I wasn’t just trespassing the whole time, although at one point the trail went right past someone’s house! (Thank goodness they weren’t home! Otherwise, awkward…)

Speaking of awkward, at one point the trail passed this pile of junk - old mattresses, bulletin boards and sheets of metal, all shot up full of holes. On the ground, about five million shells. As we walked through there, I looked around, thinking “Hmm, I’m riding through an area where rednecks come to shoot at things…THIS is smart!” It was kind of funny, really. No rednecks appeared (WIN!) so we kept going, enjoying a brief canter through an open stretch. We followed the trail until it opened up to another road, two miles from the equestrian center. I didn’t feel like going further, so we turned back.

I did a little trotting in the open area. Sofie was rushing and not listening to half halts, so we had to work on that a little. I wound up turning her around, just to test the forward heading away from home. She was VERY wiggly, swinging back and forth, which was a bit obnoxious. I kept her going in that direction until I was satisfied with her straightness, then turned back toward home and worked a little more on trotting (and listening). She was heavy and the straightness wasn’t there, so I decided to do a tiny bit of circling work, just to get her balanced. We found an area with a very slight slope and did several circles in each direction. At first, she was heavy, not listening to my seat and needing a lot of hand. She fell out of balance on the downhill slope and popped her shoulder the wrong way. But after a few repetitions she became light, and maintained her rhythm all around the circle. With inside leg at the right time, and a little support with both the inside and outside rein, she kept a fairly consistent bend around an entire right circle. Happy and pleased, I rewarded her and headed back home, walking the rest of the way. I think it’s good to do little bits of dressage work in different places. I’ve always liked short sessions, and it’s especially important to keep it brief when she’s sore.

We found our way back to the highway, and crossed with no issues. As we started walking up the road to the equestrian center, a car pulled onto the road with two little girls inside. They obviously wanted to see the horse, so their dad stopped the car, I stopped the horse, and they just watched her for a minute. Sofie stood well (though obviously wondering why we were just standing there). They thanked me and drove off, and Sofie and I continued on our way back to the barn. She ignored a barking Cocker Spaniel that ran across the yard toward us (it wouldn’t come within twenty feet of us, though).

When I got back to the barn driveway, I dismounted. My ass was tired, Sofie was tired and I figured I’d walk her the rest of the way. While my “light trail ride” was still a long ride by our standards, it was mostly straight line walk work, so I felt I succeeded in my plan. I also quit when we got back, rather than doing “just a couple trot transitions” and getting sucked into another dressage session.

Sofie had an appointment with Anne, our trimmer, so I rode again the next day. I didn’t have a whole lot of time, so I hacked over to the valley. Sofie was pretty willing, but she did resist going down the semi-steep hill that leads to the valley. Once there, we did a little dressage work, and she was heavy and running on her forehand at first, but willing to move forward. After a few firm half halts, she figured it out and I got some nicely balanced turns out of her. She stayed fairly straight throughout and was nice and willing. I did only one brief canter (she kicked up a little behind but her canter was quite nice) and quit shortly thereafter, happy with her cooperation. We then went on a very short hack before riding back to the barn to meet Anne.

Anne was awesome, as usual, and Sofie’s feet look great! Anne was particularly happy with her frogs, which are more robust than ever since the move. But, she thought Sofie was too fat (she almost always says that) and actually thought she had gained weight since she’d last seen her! I disagree, but I’m not too worried about it. Sofie is in no way obese, and her diet is very reasonable. And reducing the intensity of our rides is definitely a must, as Sofie was clearly uncomfortable and having trouble holding up her back legs. I am very grateful that we have a trimmer who understands Sofie’s issues and is never abusive to her, even when she’s not totally cooperative. It means a lot to me that she is kind to Sofie.


Sofie's left front, side view.


Sofie's toesies!


Sofie and Anne.

And finally, I just want to say that I am grateful for the luck we have, and our time together. We may have our struggles, limitations and worries, but in light of Gogo's pending euthanasia (it may have already happened as I write this) I know I am so fortunate to still be able to ride and spend time with the mare I love. I feel for Andrea in this time, and I sincerely hope she will be able to move forward and continue to inspire and educate us, because we love reading her blog. Gogo was lucky to have such a dedicated horsewoman. It breaks my heart that after all her careful management, and everything she did to help her horse, it didn't work out in the end. I don't know why things happen the way they do, but the best we can do is move forward and try to live (and love) as fully as we can. The lesson I took away from this is to make sure and love my horse, and be kind to her always, because I am lucky to have her. I want to make sure and earn that privilege, from now on.

I am so sorry, Andrea. But I thank you for that lesson.

Listening Skills

We have been really fortunate to have lovely fall weather all this week. Last week, though, we did have a few days of heavy rain, wind and cold. Sofie fared well, and I didn’t have to worry about her being brought in and stuck in a stall. I ventured on a very cold, windy day (with on-and-off rain persisting), and was reminded just how cold this barn can be. The place is a wind tunnel, which makes things nice in summer heat, but in the past I’ve only ridden there in the winter so I know how cold the place gets. The barn itself was warmer than usual, due to body heat from all the horses that had been kept in (including horses that are usually outside, like Vicky’s broodmares and her stallion).

Sofie was outside with five other mares, and they were all in fine spirits. There was plenty of hay right inside the shelters, so they could get out of the wind and stuff their faces, which Sofie was busily doing. She looked rather concerned to be taken away from her hay pile, but I assured her it would still be there when I took her back.

Unsurprisingly she was kind of stiff, and had a little trouble holding her back feet up for cleaning. I did a little massage and got her ready for an arena ride. We walked for a while and worked on our typical stuff (not falling in, etc.). The early trot work went quite well. She had her nose out at first but relaxed and started to round pretty quickly. She felt pretty flowing and even. Unfortunately, the canter work didn’t go so well as she reverted back to tension and rushing. We blew quite a few canter departs, as she just started running in the trot and threw her head straight up in the air in alarm. With some work I did get her to start taking the canter, and once we got one depart she didn’t blow any more departs, except when I tried to get her to pick up the canter in a corner, forgetting I always ask her when she’s going straight. After a few unsuccessful tries I compromised by asking her right after the corner, on the long side, and she picked it up.

After that I didn’t do any more cantering, and I finished up by reestablishing the relaxation and correctness in the trot. At first she was inverting and rushing at times, but then she got the concept (or realized she was tired) and went around in a nice tempo, consistently, definitely round, light and needing hardly any aid to keep her there. She was almost a bit on the slow side, and she was starting to feel just a tiny bit off, which was magnified when she went over trotting poles. I wrapped up the session, massaged and got her ready to go back outside. She was standing a little narrow behind, but she seemed okay until I led her down the aisle. She was noticeably off in her first steps on the concrete, and I was concerned. She did walk out of it, and seemed fine when I turned her out. She went to get a drink and was tracking up normally and looking good, all things considered.

The ride went very well, much better than I would have expected given the cold and wet weather, which usually aggravates her arthritis. If I had it to do over I would probably make that ride a walk/trot ride, as I think we could have accomplished a very nice workout that was easier for her to handle. I probably should not have schooled the canter quite as much, given that it wasn’t working (and there was probably a reason for that). In the end it was an hour ride (a short ride for us at this barn), and I didn’t think it had been too detrimental, but I would have to wait and see.

The next time I went out it was a perfect, beautiful day. The mares were way out in their second field, and Sofie was lying in the sun. She got up as I approached, and seemed happy to see me, turning around to face me and moving a bit closer. She was friendly and sweet and very mellow. In the barn she stood very calmly, even with multiple people and horses around. She picked up her feet well and seemed less stiff.

I was lucky enough to go on a trail ride with three other riders, plus one girl’s boyfriend who rode along on his bike with their two dogs. Sofie was the lead horse most of the time and got lots of exposure to dogs and bikes! She was very good and never spooked, and after a while she even stopped eyeing them apprehensively when they’d suddenly appear. I was very proud of her. It was fun to ride with other people, and hear stuff about their horses and riding backgrounds. I also learned how to find the cliffside trail I rode on one day and haven’t been able to find since. We took a nice route around Vicky’s property and through the woods. Sofie was all excited when we passed through the valley, but the other riders were walking only so we waited to do our cantering.

When the others headed back I wasn’t ready to quit yet, so I said goodbye to them and stayed behind with Sofie. She was good about leaving the other horses, and we set out for the cliffside trail (otherwise known as The Shelf). Now that I knew where it was I really wanted to ride it again.

Sofie was a little reluctant on the initial downhill that leads to The Shelf, but it’s not steep and she seemed to do better as she went along. There were a couple of insubstantial fallen trees, which we skirted or just went over, and then the trail turned from basic logging road to The Shelf. It is truly beautiful, a fairly generous ledge that overlooks a long, steep dropoff on one side, higher ground on the other, with rich forests all around. The fall colors haven’t come in there yet, and it’s still very green, but I intend to go back later this fall. It’s easily one of my favorite trails.

After that I wasn’t quite ready to head back to the valley, so I found a random trail (or semi-trail - it was really more of a footpath) and decided to take it. I figured it might dead-end, but then we could always turn around (and practice actually waiting and LISTENING to me instead of just taking over). It was a nice enough trail, and I enjoyed it, but it did come to an end. I wanted to be methodical about turning around, and plan out our turn, so I backed Sofie up a few steps and then asked her to move her butt over. In theory, she would then have a nice place to make a reasonable (not spine-crunching) turn. However, true to form Sofie decided to Just Take Over. She blew through my aids, walked FORWARD (not even turning around!) and straight into a tree. She wound up with her head up against one tree, and her butt resting on another. Stuck between two trees. “Well, maybe now she’ll actually WAIT and look to me for leadership and to get her out of this,” I thought.

Nuh-uh. Sofie turned slightly, just enough to get herself un-wedged, and kept going forward, straight into two maple saplings! These were not little tiny baby trees, but actual, tall-ish, skinny but not insubstantial TREES! And she literally walked straight into them, flattening them! She kept walking, with the trees now underneath her, until she was all turned around and back on the trail heading home. All this time, I of course had been hauling on her, trying to get her to freaking STOP running into things and running over things and Just Taking Over! None of which she listened to, of course. I finally stopped her and semi-yelled “No! You cannot just take over and bulldoze your way through everything!”

After which I sat there for a second, on my now-stationary horse, and relented slightly. “Well, you CAN, but you shouldn’t!” I said, and then I let her walk on, shaking my head, laughing a little and petting her because really, what else can you do with such determination and ingenuity? She really is remarkable. Whatever situation I get us into, she gets us out of, crashing through anything in her way, regardless of whether I deem it a reasonable course of action. She is tough, and she always chooses to move forward in a challenging situation.

When we were done crashing out of the woods, we walked back to the valley for some real work. The super-long trail warm-up seemed to have worked well, and she moved into the trot with no real issues. The trot work wasn’t as super-terrific as it had been the previous time we worked in the valley, but it took very little time for me to get her going okay, and she was pretty consistently okay for much of the ride (by okay I mean not too inverted, not flying around and fairly easy to bend or correct, all good things!). We moved into the canter, working on straight (and VERY forward) lines. She went into it well, but was getting a bit too fast and strong, so I opted to do some departs on a circle to get her more collected. So we did more of our bending trot work, which basically involves trying to keep a consistent bend and tempo on slightly uneven ground. It’s difficult for her to balance on even a slight downhill slope, so I’ve been working on helping her learn to control her speed and not throw her shoulder too much. It’s difficult but beneficial, as most of our riding places are not perfectly flat.

So I worked on getting decent trot circles, and when I had her “together” I would ask for the canter. It worked pretty well. She listened well to my canter aid, though she was a bit defensive and upset at first when I asked her on the circle, probably due to having to engage more. Her canters were more collected, though. She was only able to keep the canter for a few strides, but I wasn’t concerned with the duration as much as the response.

After getting several nice canter transitions from her, I asked again, and she bucked once in the canter. I was thrown forward a bit but she didn’t buck again, so I wasn’t further unbalanced. When I put her back into the canter she started pulling and drifting sharply to the right, up the hill toward home. I pulled her head around with the inside rein, and she stopped. I knew she’d had enough, so I put her on a straight line and trotted her. She picked up the canter all on her own, and then I stopped her, got off and led her home.

A lot of my training has focused on getting Sofie listening. I want her to move forward when I ask, but also wait for me and not go rushing off. I have worked to be able to control her movement, and actually put her together for short periods of time. I am pleased to be able to half halt her, get my canter departs and correct her when she drifts or pops her shoulder. I feel she listens a lot better than she did in the past, before I started actively working on these issues.

We train our horses to listen, but often it is equally important to listen to the horse. To hear what they are saying. Riding is difficult, and fascinating, because we cannot communicate with words. Horses can learn certain words, for sure, and even phrases, but for the most part we use our aids. Shifting weight, squeezing (or kicking) legs, a touch on the reins. That is all we have to communicate some pretty complicated stuff. It’s amazing how horses can learn to understand.

Horses don’t have words, so we have to pay attention to their behaviors, their way of being. Sometimes the signs are subtle. Horses can be very brave, and generous. Sometimes they can be going along fine until it becomes too much, and that’s when they kick out, or stop, or bolt. You have to know your horse, and realize when they are trying to communicate something.

In Sofie’s case, she has an underlying, chronic physical condition. She does a lot for me, and sometimes she is so tough that I forget her issues, and I overdo it a bit. It’s hard to balance it sometimes, because I always try to do as much as she is able when she’s sound, both for her health and my enjoyment. There are times when she can do anything, and times when she just breaks down and says “I can’t”. When she’s in pain, she does put her ears back, balk or kick out. If she didn’t do that, I wouldn’t know to stop riding her. She really would break down. But some people don’t seem to get that she has a reason. Some people think she’s just a bitchy mare. They probably think I’m a sucker for going along with it. But sometimes you just have to be strong, and listen to your horse.

This week when she bucked, she immediately stopped when I got off balance. She had no intention of throwing me off. When I kept her moving, a little slow to realize what she was telling me, she tried again, using a different tactic since bucking hadn’t worked. She went forward, too forward, pulling toward home. This was at the end of a ride that lasted at least two hours. She had worked hard for me, and she just got tired and sore. I listened.

Sofie is tough. I’ve been working her pretty hard, exploring all these new trails and doing dressage, which can be strenuous as we try to get it right and get balanced. Sometimes I ride a little too long or hard, not through any malice but just because I get so involved and she’s so willing. She guts it out and hangs in there for me the same way she bulldozes trees on the trail. We still have some work to do before we get it totally right, but I think we’re both doing a good job of listening.

A Great Ride

After our recent progress, I made it out to the barn on a gorgeous fall day. We have been having a lot of rain here, but I was lucky enough to get a good riding day in there. After setting out my stuff I went out to find Sofie, and when I got to the mare field I was amazed. It had been cleaned and dragged, and the old tire feeders had been removed. It looks awesome! After admiring how nice it looked, I slowly realized there were no horses, and I looked around, wondering “Where the heck did Vicky put the horses?” Then I realized they must be in the field directly behind their usual area, so I started off in that direction and I saw where the gate had been opened. As I got closer I saw the mares, way off in the far corner, looking very happy! Sofie looked up and saw me, acknowledging my presence before going back to grazing. When I was within ten feet, she picked her head up again and waited for me. I gave her some hugs and loves before haltering her and heading back to the barn. Of course, the other mares decided to take off and come flying up behind us, but Sofie didn’t get too concerned with their craziness.

The second field is pretty grazed down (the geldings were on it for a while), and it’s so nice for them to have a little more grazing and even more room. They have so much space! I love it!

Sofie was moving fine at the walk, so I groomed and tacked her up, then we headed outside. I was not going anywhere near the indoor on such a fine day! I decided to ride over to my friend Kathy’s place. It is adjacent to Vicky’s property, and she has land with many trails and an outdoor dressage arena, all of which are open to the boarders at the equestrian center. I definitely wanted to ride in the valley behind her house, but first I went on a trail ride in the woods. Sofie was pretty high-energy, definitely thinking about her canter departs! She did listen well, though, backing up very nicely when I had to turn her around to avoid a steep downhill. On the way to the valley I did some back-and-forth leg yielding and walk-trot transitions. She listened well to my seat even when traveling slightly downhill. I did one canter on the trail, and she didn’t quite want to come back to trot! But I had her walk as we reached the valley.

It really is a beautiful area. It’s becoming my new favorite place to ride. There is plenty of open space, with little slopes to help challenge and balance Sofie, and it is bordered by trees, with the occasional tree to ride around. When I first rode through there I thought to myself that it would be a great place for cantering, and we’ve done enough cantering there now that Sofie comes in rarin’ to go! She definitely knows the plan. I actually have to work more on half halting and getting her settled in the trot before cantering, as I don’t want her anticipating or being too crazy.

So we entered the valley, and Sofie immediately took off in a flying trot, head up and ready to go. I brought her back and did some transitions, backing her up before trotting again. It took some half halting to settle her, and for a few minutes she kind of went back and forth between rounding nicely and throwing her head up while rushing forward. But she began to understand, and eventually we were on a circle tracking right, and she was balancing on the slightly varying slope, listening and engaged. She was very round, really reaching down and filling my hands, establishing and maintaining a positive, definite contact. It was like she really got the concept, and she understood that I didn’t want her to just run, I wanted her relaxed and round. She kept her rhythm, not speeding up, and bent from my inside leg, really engaging and rounding through her topline as I asked her to move away from my leg, just slightly, as she went up a small hill.

It was just an awesome feeling. She hasn’t been that engaged in a long time. I felt like she was really understanding me, and I could tell she just looked beautiful. She really can look nice if she’s not tense or unsound! As I rode around on the circle, spewing “Good girl!” pretty much the whole time, I noticed my friend Kathy standing up by her house watching. I think she called out “She looks great!” or something, and I finished up one final circle and then walked Sofie up to say hi to her. I was pleased that someone had actually witnessed us at our best (too often, we look entirely questionable when people are around). We chatted for a bit, and Sofie stood well but occasionally tossed her head, bending her neck low and clearly saying “When can we stop standing around and go CANTER? I was a good girl!!”

Soon we did turn around, and I located the spot where I wanted to pick up the canter. So I circled around, trotted and asked for the canter. Bang on, solid transition and nice canter. We came back to trot, and I did more half halting, and once she was listening reasonably well we picked up the canter again. No hesitation! Once again, we calmed ourselves and then went back to canter. Sofie was quite forward this time, and a bit strong. I attempted to bring her back before we ran out of field, but I had been holding her back a bit too much and she shook her head a little, like “Stop holding me back!” So I eased up, and she made the turn at the end of the field and headed back across the open expanse of grass. I just let her go, and she gradually accelerated to a Sofa gallop. She doesn’t really know how to gallop, a fast canter/hand gallop is about the best she can do. But that’s plenty fast for me, and I enjoyed just riding her full out. She came back to me easily, having gotten that out of her system, and we walked, all forward and snorty ‘cause we went fast. After a breather I finished up with a little more trot work. I always want to end on a controlled, reasonable note. More half halts, and we did some nice trot/walk transitions with a little bending as well. She was good, and I dismounted and led her home. I was so happy with her. I absolutely love her when she works like this. There’s nothing better. We work so hard just building back up to that point after she has time off, and sometimes it’s a little discouraging. But I feel like I know what I’m doing a lot better, and I think the retraining process will be easier in the future. I have a method that works for her, and I have been much more encouraging and supportive as of late. I hope to keep that up. I must keep that up. She does so much for me, even when she is stiff and sore. And when she is feeling good, that’s when it all comes together and we enjoy the hell out of it while it lasts.

Friendship

On Monday I went out to see Sofie after her weekend off, and she was agreeable to coming in. It looks like the mares are getting more hay now, so I have stopped feeding snacks/feeling sorry for her (not that she was being neglected in the first place). She’s standing better in the aisle and not being obnoxious about looking for food, and her latest hock scrape was healing up just fine. She didn’t seem overly stiff, so I pretty much just groomed and tacked up. The sky was rather dark, but I ventured outside anyway, walked her over to the mounting block…aaaannnnd it started raining. So, we turned around and went back inside. I threw down a few poles, pretty much just guessing at the spacing, and got on. I started out with the usual “Excuse me, stay on the rail” reminders as she worked out of her little stiffness. Once she moved out of her slow, creaky warm-up walk, she stretched down nicely and seemed to be moving well over her back. She felt very loose and relaxed, with a little bit of power behind the movement.

After I picked up some slight contact I started working on leg yielding, which has become my new favorite thing to do. She moves over easily tracking left. Sometimes she is a little stiffer tracking right, but she’s learning, and once she gets the idea she can go back and forth quite easily. So I worked on moving her off my leg in the walk, and it went well. She’s not doing a true leg yield yet, as I suspected (I had a ground person there to confirm). There’s no crossover, and she’s not quite straight - she’s leading with her shoulders. I might be overbending her neck just slightly and letting her fall through the outside shoulder, I’m not sure. But, even though it’s not technically “correct” and wouldn’t score well, I feel it is a good training exercise and a positive start, since she is moving off my leg, and she understands the basic concept, which will make things so much easier. And it really improves her suppleness. I could see a few times in the mirror when she was bending beautifully throughout her body. It really is more productive than riding circles, and probably less detrimental to soundness (not to mention, constant circling is BORING). I think it’s great for our connection, as I’m now getting her bent around my leg, rather than “hand riding” mainly with the inside rein. It really is a nice feeling, and maybe if I keep working on it we can eventually do real leg yields! Wouldn’t that be nifty?!

I’ve also been moving her off my leg slightly before asking for the trot, just to help with suppleness and connection. Our trot work was pretty good, somewhat mixed and needing relaxation at times, which I think has something to do with her anticipating the canter. So there was some trotting with her nose stuck out, which was fairly correctable and I managed to get her “Sofa round” at intervals, at least. I practiced moving her off my leg in trot as well, with mild success. I’m happy with any kind of response at this point, since she’s just getting the concept, especially in trot. Everything is harder in trot. I did pretty much no circling, just straight lines, “leg yielding” (add dramatic air quotes there) and serpentines, which were pretty nice. It wasn’t perfect all the time, but we established decent relaxation and lightness.

Of course once I had that I had to work on the canter and pretty much let it all go, but I wanted to see how the canter would be in the indoor. It was actually much improved from where we started with her getting extremely nervous, rushing horribly in the trot and just flying around. She was still a bit unsettled, and the head did come up, but she was so much better. I think we blew maybe one or two departs and I had to just bring her back, but the rest of them were pretty decent. She didn’t quite lift up decisively at the instant I asked like she has been able to do outside, but she took only a few faster steps and her canter quality wasn’t bad. She was a bit fast in the canter, and she tended to break to trot before the corners (probably because she was already rushing and didn’t want to have to turn at that pace, reasonably enough), and her canter-trot transitions were pretty rough. Her head was waaaay up, but she came back to me pretty rapidly, and I was able to get her at least somewhat relaxed and round after each canter, which was all I wanted at this point. She did get a little crooked sometimes on straight lines, but I was able to correct it somewhat with my leg.

I did do one canter to the right, and it was actually the best depart she did all day! It was just super nice, prompt and lifting rather than flattening. Her canter quality was really nice too. She even looked pretty in the mirrors! Wrong lead, of course, but damn, our counter canter is nice. Maybe it’s because of all the suppling work I’ve been doing on the right side?

Towards the end of the ride I did get her to canter through two corners. She was going pretty fast, but reasonably balanced and not leaning in horribly. It’ll be nice when she’s able to canter relaxed corners and circles in there (the arena is so huge, we should be able to circle as large as we need to). She just needs more time to get comfortable with the surface, and not worry about it so much. She’s trying, and I’m very proud of her.

After the canter work, my main goal was to get her to relax again as she was somewhat spastic in the trot - tentatively relaxing and half halting, then speeding up and getting tight because she was over thinking it. I pretty much tried to leave her alone as much as possible, half halting when she got too fast, and rubbing her neck to try and reassure her. It took a bit of repetition, but she eventually relaxed (or realized she was kinda tired) and went around at a trot, at a nice, easy tempo, very round, needing hardly any aids at all to keep her there. I trotted her on both sides and did a few easy turns before stopping and getting off.

I also did some work over the trot poles at random intervals during the ride. I actually got the spacing right for once, and she did very well over them. She was a little wiggly on the approach - poles are not her favorite thing ever. But they did make her use herself and look pretty, so I think we’ll keep using them! She only tripped over them once, near the end - just pure error on her part, she didn’t pick up her feet enough so she about fell on her face. After that she was more careful.

The rain hadn’t really come in, so I took her on a short hack outside. She was bad about heading out - just very drifty and not listening, so she got a few thumps and definite half halts. She got better, though. We enjoyed a nice canter along the fence line and then headed back. She got her face brushed, liniment on her hocks, a brief massage and then she helped me put the poles away and clean up poop. Then I took her back outside. One of her “friends” gave her trouble at the gate, so poor Sofie was caught between a metal gate, a bitchy Mustang and me yelling (at the Mustang, but Sofie still worries). Once I got her successfully inside I took off her halter and went after the Mustang, who actually turned and ran, making me feel quite superior (I have always dealt with bitchy dominant horses this way, and they learn that you Do Not mess with me, which makes things a lot easier).

I went back to Sofie, who seemed grateful that I’d rescued her from her friend (she’s smart enough to realize these things). So she stayed for a few minutes and some hugs before walking off to wait for someone to feed her.

I’m very happy because I feel like I finally managed to train productively and work through issues without becoming overly aggressive or discouraged. The ride was by no means issue-less, but it was full of progress and improvement, which I love. I feel like Sofie and I were friends that day, which is really important to me. I haven’t always been fair to her this year, and the cool thing about her is that she went right back to being my friend when I got my act together. There’s nothing better than feeling like you are friends with your horse, and that friendship can be easily earned. With people, you can try so hard and do everything right for them, and they can still disappoint you. Horses don’t do that. They are not always easy to understand, but once you do understand, progress can be quickly achieved.

And Canter!

It’s almost the end of September (how?!?) and the temperature is dropping. Miss Sofie is starting to get fuzzy, and she still seems to be enjoying all the turnout. I’ve even seen her outside of the shelters during a rainy spell. She’s still managing to remain fleshy on sparse grass and a bale or two a day (shared with five to seven mares). It’s a good situation for her.

She generally is a little stiff when she comes in (one day she was noticeably off when she first hit the concrete, but she soon walked out of it). I haven’t been trail riding her quite as vigorously, as she’s been having trouble on downhill stretches. So I’ve stuck to the flatter trails. Our dressage has been fairly decent. I still need to work on my equitation, as I’m sure I’m slacking off when I’m outside and don’t have mirrors. But I’m making an effort.

I’ve been working more on having her move off my leg, and she’s doing pretty well. I don’t know if we’re doing any true leg yields yet, but she is more responsive to lateral aids than a lot of horses I’ve ridden, so that’s a plus. She’s doing well with backing up, and I also did some counter flexion one ride, which seemed to help. It’s nice to try different things. In addition I’ve been working more on ground manners, particularly moving over when I ask. Sometimes she can become really obsessed with food and forget to pay attention, which makes me mad.


Um, Sofa, you are not exactly starving here, so you do not need to be obsessed with hunting hay wispies on the floor! Thanks in advance.

The most exciting thing we have going on is that we’re cantering again! She kept rushing into her canter departs after the move, and was just generally so anxious about it that I left it alone for a month or so. Then on a recent ride, after working in the indoor for a while, I went out on a short trail ride. The air was brisk and Sofa was energized and in good spirits, so I decided to try asking for the canter. There’s a super nice, wide grassy trail near the barn that I knew would be a good canter place, and so I asked for the canter as she trotted up a slight hill. She did take a few slightly faster trot steps, but then she went into the canter nicely! She did a good job and seemed to enjoy herself. I asked her twice more, once toward the barn, once away from it, and each time her depart was prompter. We then walked back to the barn, very happy.

I’ve been working on it during each ride, and progress is very good. One day we went down into this nice, thinly wooded valley. Sofa was FORWARD. OMG, she was in her OTTB mode and just zooming around. It’s amazing how forward she can be when her arthritis doesn’t keep her down! She can be pretty hot. Of course we weren’t all that polished, but she did listen to me fairly well and some of her departs were nice. It’s just fun when she’s zipping around like that. I finished up with a short trail ride and then some trot work in the valley, trying to get my point across that we do not always canter! It was a LOT of half halts.

The next time I was out I rode her around the perimeter of the property, and she was quite hyped up. Her mind was just not all there, and she was very inverted and rushy. I managed to not remember the previous ride when we were cantering around like crazy, so I was a little annoyed with her for not settling down. I did a little canter work in this circular area carved out of the woods, and it was pretty much all over the place. Some of her departs were okay, other times she rushed off. And in the trot work she was very anticipatory. Once again, a lot of half halts. We ended up back in the front yard, and she was more relaxed there, but I was glad to get that ride out of the way.

The last two rides have been a major improvement. The skies have been overcast, and both times I thought I might get stuck in the indoor, but the rain held off and I was able to have a lovely ride outside. It’s been cool, such nice riding weather. The time before last I hacked her over to the neighbor’s outdoor dressage arena to do some work. She was so much better than the previous time, no crazy rushing at the trot. She was much more reasonable. After a short warm-up I did a little trot work and then started with the canter transitions. Her departs were clearly improving. Except for the occasional rushing off or slight delay, they were really nice. I just did straight lines and worked on her response. I had to work on her anticipating in the trot, which got a little frustrating. Eventually I just let her go forward and she improved. She wasn’t round the whole time by any means, but it still felt much more disciplined and it was a huge improvement.

Afterward I rode her down to the valley, where I did some walk-trot work, as well as some backing and turn on the forehand. Ugh, turn on the forehand was rusty. She wanted to just blow through my aids and not remain in place. I don’t think her mind was totally there. The trot work was pretty decent - some of it was really nice, and other times she wanted to rush or drift or whatever. Eventually I asked her to canter, and she rushed off (she was going down a slight slope, and I don’t think she felt balanced) so I took her back to a walk and got her settled, then put her back into the trot and asked again in a more level spot. That time she nailed it! The transition was so sweet. Big pats for that, and we went on a nice trail ride in the woods before heading back home.

Last ride she looked stiff in the aisle, and had another new scrape on a hock (she loves to get superficial wounds). I gave her a massage and went on a short trail ride to start things off and get her loosened up. She seemed happy to be out there, and was quite forward, but she kept tripping. Her mind was clearly elsewhere, or she just didn’t feel like picking up her feet. I practiced leg yielding on the trail, and she did quite well with it. Eventually I picked up the trot for a bit, and then worked on halting when she was all “Are we gonna canter? I KNOW we’re gonna canter!”

I was going to ride either in the front yard or on the wide grass trail, but as I was heading that way I saw an opening into a field the barn owner is developing. So I went “Hey, why not?” and turned her in that direction. She was kind of distracted by the neighboring horses at first, but I walked her around a little and then asked her to trot. The steering needed a little work, but it wasn’t too bad.

I asked her for the canter heading toward the barn, and she went right into it. I let her stay in the canter for almost the length of the pasture, and it was just freeing to canter across that wide open space. I haven’t cantered her for any real distance in a while, and it was exhilarating. The wind was roaring even! When we got near the end of the field I gave the tiniest half halt and she came back to me instantly. I would’ve loved to do that some more, but the trainer in me felt a balance was required. So I walked her briefly and then asked for the canter going away from the barn. She rushed forward (the only time she did that during the whole ride) so I brought her back and tried again, and that time she took off promptly. She was, however, not straight at all, almost counter bending and drifting away from the fence. I tried to get her to move over and was only slightly successful. She broke to the trot, and I quickly did a refresher on moving OVER.

The low points of the ride were occasional rushing, occasional not moving over and most of all, not going straight! I tried to work on her staying straight on a loose rein, and I don’t know if I’ve been neglecting that aspect or what, but she was just terrible. She just pinball-machines back and forth. It’s a long-standing issue, and it’s one I’d like to correct as it drives me nuts, but I’m not quite sure how to make real progress.

Other than that, the ride was quite good overall. The canter work and moving off my leg were the major high points. I even attempted a canter circle, and I think we actually sorta managed it! I’m sure it wasn’t geometrically correct, and the thing was HUGE, but we actually got some bend and we kept going even though we were bent! She got much better at moving off my leg, and we did some really awesome sweeping turns up and over hills. It felt like she was really engaging and she was nicely round. Her canter departs, except for that one time, were just bang on. She was super prompt and lifted into it like she has in the past. Obviously backing off was the right thing to do.

Toward the end of the ride, I did another away-from-the-barn canter. She went into it so beautifully, then of course she flung her body to the right. But I put my leg on, and she moved over! Like, way over, where she was supposed to be! It was such a response, it just made me so happy because she was getting it! She drifted a couple more times, but each time she moved right off my leg. I was super pleased. After that I did just one more canter transition and then went for a walk around the field. I worked a little more on going straight (grrrr) and then did a little trot work in a far corner. She did a lovely little canter transition from an outside “Okay, turn now!” aid (grin). Eventually I ended it with just a little more trot work. I try to finish up with her listening to me, being round and NOT flying around and over thinking it. She wasn’t perfect, but she had some really nice, round stretchy moments and wasn’t too racy. I was proud of her for working so hard and never being grumpy. Lately she’s been a lot more generous and temperamentally sound than I have. I’ve been getting frustrated at times, and sometimes I allow stress to make bitchy. Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by training her, if I can’t always keep my emotions out of the way. But I think it’s good for her to have boundaries, and I honestly don’t want her racing around all the time. I don’t think that would do us any favors. Of course I should do better, and I should not become frustrated or discouraged when I’m trying to train her, but the beauty of it is that she is always there, and she doesn’t keep an inventory of my mistakes like I do. Whether or not I deserve it, she always gives me a chance. And I’m finding I don’t need everything to be perfect. All I need is to feel moments of progress. Even if we’re still kind of a mess, those moments are the fuel I need to keep going.

Riding Photos 9/7/11

I was able to get some photos of a recent ride. Since my training epiphany that I should be using a lot less hand and a lot less aid, Sofie had been much more relaxed and consistently quite round and responsive. I actually enjoyed watching her in the mirrors when I rode in the indoor! The ride before this I did a lot of transitions, but this ride I mainly trotted after a short warm-up. Sofie was a bit stiff the day these pictures were taken, and she wasn't quite as focused outside. But I was pleasantly surprised (actually thrilled) with the pictures. For not being at her best, she really improved throughout the session.

This ride was basically trot work, with a few transitions, halts and some changes of direction. I did some bending work but very few circles. She wasn't reaching into my hands quite as well as she has been, but I think these pictures show the way I'm trying to ride.

Ignore my equitation. It is abysmal. All I can say for myself is that I do better when I have mirrors! Just look at Sofa, she's a lot prettier than I am in these pictures.




The warmup. She's not really tracking up or using her back yet, but she's "Sofa round" and working out of her stiffness.



Starting to get some semblance of actual dressage-resembling-work.

Sofie says, okay, I'll fall on my forehand if you'll collapse forward...

Beginning to use the correct muscles. This is Sofa round - very much in front of the vertical, but with a relaxed neck and definitely a change from inversion.
Bending.
Sofie stretch!


She's beginning to have a really nice shape to her neck, all on a pretty loose rein.

I like this one. She almost looks like an Andalusian cross, or something! Love the impression of power. Love the loose reins, also.
This is just the ultimate picture. Look at her neck! The positive muscling, and just her whole shape. She's round over her entire topline, using herself properly, and all without heavy contact or a ton of circling. This is voluntary. This is just letting it happen.

Sights Around The Barn

The Barn. It is large. I discovered this when I backed up to take a picture of it.



The indoor. This is pretty much only a corner of it.



The front field where we ride sometimes.



Sofie after a ride.



Dirty, sweaty conformation shot!



Sofa on the run!



Sofie after a bath.