Road Work Ahead

Continuing my plan to make road riding a smaller deal, I rode Sofie out late in the afternoon last week. The weather was being mildly threatening so I walked her a tiny bit in the yard and then went past the mailbox and onto the road. She seemed quite calm, so I figured we could get right to it before possibly being rained on.

There was no activity on the road, and we were both pretty relaxed and nonchalant. We got to the end of the road with no issues, and I decided to push it a little and take the next step on our road work improvement plan. I kept her going and turned onto the next road, which is just a short, straight road before the highway. I had avoided it because the shoulder looked pretty much nonexistent, and I don’t like the sensation of riding on pavement. It’s just a less inviting road than the one we usually ride on. But I was ready to try it.

I discovered, pleasantly enough, that the shoulder was actually sufficient enough to ride on (it helps that Sofie’s base narrow). We didn’t really have wiggle room, but at least we weren’t on pavement. I could tell that Sofie was nervous, but she was really being good for me.

We got a good way down the road before she started to get really edgy. It wasn’t so much being within sight of the highway that bothered her (she gave it a look, but it didn’t stop her in her tracks or anything). The houses are closer together (and closer to the road) on this road, and I think that was a little intimidating for her. She started giving the houses a hard look, and then she went into her “stop and stare” routine. I got her to go forward a little at a time, but she was really rigid and preoccupied with something ahead. I realized there were two kids playing in their yard (throwing a Frisbee and shrieking). Sofie doesn’t really approve of kids, and she definitely does not approve of people in yards (that’s our main issue, not traffic or anything). So I sat there on her, trying to figure out the best way to handle this. I decided not to try to get her past the house with the kids (possibly leading to a major freakout), so, satisfied that she had at least paid attention to me and gone further than she wanted to, I carefully turned her around. Of course, she immediately got really anxious and tried to rush home, so I had to pull quite a bit on the outside rein to keep her from taking off. It was a little tense getting back down that road, but fortunately she did listen to my (shall we say “pronounced”) rein aids and she did not go faster than a jiggy trot/walk. I released when I could but I had to hold her back most of the way. Fortunately she’s gotten more comfortable with contact and I can actually hold her back when I need to without her getting angry.

Once we turned onto our road, she was fine, and I let out the reins and patted her a lot. We made it back and did a little sitting trot in the yard, then quit for the night. I’m proud of us for being able to go further and cope with scary eeeevil playing children (well, I’m not sure how well she coped, but she didn’t kill me so WIN!) and while we are definitely NOT ready to ride down the highway or anything, I think we’ll continue working on this.

The next time I went out it was raining, the yard was squishy, and I figured I had already made enough divots in the barn owner’s yard (as evidenced by her super tactful, way-too-nice hints to that effect). So, back to the indoor it was. Blargh. I was really not thrilled to have to put us back in the box, but it turned out to be a good opportunity to figure some stuff out. Sometimes arena rides are good for that.

Sofie was on a bit of a tear that day and even though I free schooled her she still had too much energy. As a result she wasn’t into flexing, and when I tried to move her off my leg she just went faster. I felt like I was fighting with her, and it seemed like we had absolutely nothing. The only good thing was that she picked up the canter with minimal resentment. I was getting myself into a bad place mentally when my mom showed up. I complained that I couldn’t get her to move off my leg, and she commented that I should try it in walk first. Then she left, and after I thought about it for a minute I brought Sofie down to a walk and tried to teach her how to leg yield. She got it in no time and was moving off my leg in both directions, no problem. I was delighted to have moved past negativity and actually achieved something. By the end of the ride I’d gotten Sofie to move off my leg in all three gaits.

Next time we rode the ground was still a bit too soft, and although the sun was out, the wind was brutal, so we returned to the indoor. I felt like I had been overusing my hands a bit, so I decided to keep my hands quiet and communicate more with leg aids. Sofie, being a smart mare, had really figured out the leg yielding thing, so instead of trying to mess with flexion I just turned her with leg aids and let my hands stay quiet. She did really well with this, and I worked on using leg for turning as well as moving over (both onto and off the rail). I was actually able to move her all the way from the centerline to the rail. I don’t know if we were doing a correct leg yield at any point, but I think there was some crossing over. She wasn’t quite straight, but she lead with her front end, which I think is fairly acceptable at this stage.

At the trot she was quite soft and relaxed, and moved off my leg when I asked her to. She went along in a nice, long frame, and she pretty much went to the contact. I didn’t do any canter work, I just focused on softness and leg yielding. I also was able to ride without stirrups the entire 45 minutes which pleased me. It was just a very nice, relaxed, satisfying ride.

When we ventured back out into the yard I tried to retain some of that feeling, and mainly use my legs for steering. Sofie was more inverted outside, but she wasn’t too bad. I didn’t have to use my hands overly much, and she listened well to my leg which really helped keep her drifting in check. She felt pretty straight much of the time. She seemed in a good mood that day and I really enjoyed our ride.

I asked her to canter several times, and she listened great, only needing a touch of whip once. She only bucked once and her attitude was greatly improved. She was quite responsive and willing. It was so nice! It’s great to have the confidence to ask for the canter, and she’s finally starting to let go of her bad attitude.

I had thought about chickening out and not going on the road, but when I was done in the yard I decided to ride down the road after all. But I turned right at the end of the driveway instead of left, which is the way I usually go. I thought it would be good practice to ride her in a place she’d never seen before, and I wanted to try something new. Sofie was a little apprehensive once we left the border of the yard behind and she had a brief startle (which really helped me stay calm) but we got past the first house without incident (that’s another reason I hadn’t gone that way before…another boarder had a bad experience when she rode past that house and a dog started barking and jumping against the door, but the dog didn’t make a peep when we rode past). She was really good as we went further, although I could tell she was a little like “This isn’t where we ride. Are you sure about this?”

The road wasn’t too bad to ride on, and the shoulder was decent. We went a good ways down before I elected to turn around. I could hear guys working on a car up ahead and they weren’t easily visible due to thick tree growth. What with Sofie’s propensity to wig out at people in yards, I didn’t feel like riding her through a freakout on our first time down that part of the road. In the future I know I will have to deal, but I want to get a little more road mileage first.

The ride back was uneventful. Once back in the yard I congratulated us on another accomplishment. All the variety made those rides very fulfilling and I’m glad we’ve been able to expand our trails. I hope to keep doing so. It makes our time together much more interesting, and “interesting” is kind of our thing.

Things That Prevent Me From Blogging

I have been critically short on time for a while now, and my blogging has declined due to many commitments and distractions (some pictured above). What writing time I have has been devoted to my novel lately, as ideas are flowing and my brain has unlocked, leading to real progress on that front.

Sofie is fine. She is a source of comfort and enjoyment, always there when I need her. Whether she gives me sweetness or attitude I enjoy her company.

Her hematoma remained for so long that we had the vet out to lance it, but on the day he came out it had finally started to go down on its own (what timing). I guess she didn’t want him to have to poke a hole in her. It’s gone away completely now.

After close to five months of uninterrupted riding, Sofie started to look stiff in her hocks. She was having a harder time under saddle and looked uncomfortable when she trotted, so I decided to give her some time off. I hand walked her outside and incorporated groundwork, which we needed a bit of a refresher on. I didn’t mind the downtime and she stayed cheerful throughout. It wasn’t a bad flare-up; after only a little over a week I went out to catch her and she was in a mood. She turned her butt to me, so I smacked her with the halter and she proceeded to walk all the way to the end of the field. When I caught up to her she still didn’t want to be caught, so I started moving her around. She cantered with no issues, and even whipped around (at a canter) and nailed one of her mare friends in the side. Clearly she was mad that I kept pursuing her and decided to take it out on Jessie. I decided that if she could do all that she could definitely handle being ridden!

I was able to ride three times last week. Our bending skills are a little rusty but overall we’re not doing too badly. The first day I rode Sofie had lots of energy. I started out in the indoor for a few minutes as she seemed a little spazzy, and she was pretty inverted in the walk. When we started trotting she felt pretty nice, and she popped into a nice little canter (tracking right, too) all on her own. So I asked her to canter once, and she did it with her usual complaints (a little bouncing around and rrrrrr). She really wanted to go outside, and kept drifting toward the open gate as if magnetically drawn. I was not at all convinced we weren’t about to have an “interesting” ride, but I wasn’t about to stay inside any longer so we headed out. Sofie was quite good outside, even with her energy and enthusiasm. She seemed happy to be out, and apart from quite a few unplanned canters, she listened well. I was pleased that she never got really strong, and even when she went into the canter, I never felt like she was running off. We finished up the ride by going down the trail, where I included some trot work. She picked up the canter once, and when she broke to a trot I asked her to canter again. She went into it with no issues. It was definitely not a “polished” ride, but I had a lot of fun with it and I think Sofie did too.

The next day I returned to see how she was doing. Sofie was slightly off, nothing major, so I rode again. I think she was a little sore, as she was grumpy about trotting, so we did mostly walk work. We didn’t accomplish anything exceptional, but she got exercised, I got to ride, and we got to practice working with distractions. The barn owner was working on loading her horse, which makes Sofie anxious. I rode her within sight of the trailer and worked on turns to keep her more focused. Sofie tensed up a few times but she stayed with me.

The next time I rode the barn owner wound up loading her horse again, and Sofie was a little spazzed out about it. We actually had a couple spooks, and she was on edge for most of the ride. So we had a few unplanned canters, but we held it together pretty well.

After working in the yard for a while I decided to try riding down the road. I had been really nervous about riding on the road, and I’d been waiting for the perfect time when Sofie was calm, there were no foreseeable distractions, and it was 90 degrees, but I just decided to go for it. Our first road ride of the year went very well. It was a Saturday, so people were home and dogs were out, but we had no mishaps. There was a man watering his lawn by the first house we passed, and I knew Sofie has a thing about water spraying (at least, she doesn’t like oscillating sprinklers and you can’t bathe her with the hose). I was not ready to deal with her potentially being stupid, so I asked her to counterbend so she was looking the other way. I was dubious that it would work, but it totally did, so that was nice. The man with the hose also noticed us and told his dog to stay, which was nice also. We only went to the second house and then I turned around, figuring it was a good start. On the way back I let her look at the man with the hose, and she didn’t even care. I guess ten foot stream of water = okay, spinning water that makes a ch ch ch sound = not okay. Hmm.

Today I got to the barn at around 11, and I only had about and hour and a half before I had to get somewhere else. I really wanted to ride, so to save time I just brought her in, gave her a quick brushing, cleaned her feet and then tacked her up. I did not free school, and I fully expected her to be a leetle crazy but figured I’d just deal. Sofie looked really thrilled to be getting ready to ride again, but I didn’t take her overwhelmingly “meh” demeanor personally.

My prediction of high energy levels turned out to be right on. She was pretty full of it! She was not listening terribly well to rein aids and her walk was quite forward, almost a little rushy at times. I tried to work on softening her up but I wasn’t really getting anywhere, so I started my trot work to try and let some energy out. I first asked for the trot in one of her “grumpy places” in the yard, and when she gave me attitude I tapped her with the whip, which prompted her to pick up the canter. She did that twice in succession. I didn’t really mind, because her canter was nice, she didn’t buck, and at least she picked it up in response to something I did, instead of just because she felt like it. Progress!

After that we bombed around for a while, not listening too well but not being completely out of control or anything. She took off a few times (at a quickish canter, which is about as fast as a Sofa goes) but I didn’t fear for my life, and what’s really nice is even when I was having to pull on her, she didn’t get mad and fling her head or kick out like she used to. I had to do a fair amount of hand riding, which I don’t love having to do, but it’s nice that she’s able to tolerate that now. I used to just kind of let her go and then softly bring her back, and now I can actually hold her back somewhat. She did listen to my half halts really well at least some of the time (she did a lot of breaking into the trot, and I was able to bring her back with just seat a few times), so although it was a bit of a wild ride, we did have good moments. And I’m not afraid of her anymore, which just makes things so much easier.

I had hoped to ask her for the canter outside, and I did do that. I asked her to pick up the canter heading away from the barn, and I reinforced with a tap right away when she started to give me attitude. She picked it up pretty nicely, with just a couple bucks, and she maintained it well. I still need to work on confirming the canter (I still need to work on a LOT), but it’s a start! I’m looking forward to doing more canter work this year on my terms!

After all that I knew I needed to get her to calm down a little. I worked on just walking for a bit, but she still had too much energy. She wasn’t really bending either, so I decided to try and do some trot circles. I started out tracking right and Sofie quickly remembered how to bend and lower her head. She even did a pretty good job of not falling in, and she was so nice and relaxed! It’s nice to know she still has it in her. Our left circle was pretty rough at first (she was thinking about cantering) but eventually I got at least a partial circle that was round and properly bent.

With that accomplished I briefly debated whether I should ride down the road again. I wanted to, but I figured I would need to have a death wish to do it when Sofie was so high-energy. But it was Monday morning, so there would be no distractions at least…in the end I just went for it. Sofie was very good. She thought about being stupid a few times (the worst being at the beginning of the road ride, and it was fairly minor) but she stayed nice and straight throughout most of the ride and she cooperated very well with my wishes. She was really amazingly good considering how snazzy and wired she had been in the yard. She was actually quite relaxed on the road at times! I pushed us both and went all the way down the road. Sofie got a bit wiggly towards the end but didn’t pull anything obnoxious. I was really proud of us both.

I didn’t make it a goal because I wasn’t sure if I was up to it, but I’d like to get us more comfortable on the road this year. Sofie is pretty good on the road (she’s never done anything really drastic that I couldn’t handle, even when something really got to her) but she’s not what I’d consider super reliable. I also need to expand my confidence, because I’d really like to expand our trail options. And I’ve realized that if I want her to be better on the road, I need to try and ride her there every time, until it’s no big deal. One road ride every few weeks isn’t going to make her more reliable. So I went down the road these last two times to prove to myself that I could. And every time I’m able to ride Sofie when she’s spazzy or energetic or whatever, I build confidence that I can handle whatever happens. I’ve come a really long way, and while we still have a lot of work to do, I’m confident that we are headed a good way.

Riding, bonding, hematoma

Wow. It's been crazy busy for me, and I have little hope that will change. Last weekend I was out of town at a model horse show (it went awesome) and now I'm kind of catching up on all the stuff that didn't get done while I *gasp* went away for THREE WHOLE DAYS.

I just have time for a quick update today. I feel bad that I haven't been updating this blog at all; I've just been pulled in different directions. Basically, all is well with the Sofa. Quite good, in fact. My rides have been somewhat infrequent, and I've been doing lighter rides as she's still off in her front end, but we've been getting outside and enjoying ourselves. We got some snow again, so we rode in the snow last time. I haven't been doing much in the way of dressage, just a little work on flexion and submission.

I feel like she has really matured in our under saddle work. She's just listening so much better, and we really have a dialogue going much of the time. It's very nice to feel like I've made an improvement happen.

The vet came out to do shots a week ago and he examined her weird chest swelling and drew fluid. I wasn't able to be there when he came out, but I talked with him the following day. According to him, it was a hematoma due to some sort of trauma. I told him about how she ran into the barn wall like two years ago, and he said this was a new injury (really, Sofa?). He showed me the fluid that is in there (it looks like watered down blood, basically) and said that it should heal up on its own, but if it got bigger he would need to lance it. I asked him what we should do if it stayed the same size (since it had been relatively the same size for two weeks) and he said if it didn't go down in a week to have him out to do something about it. It didn't go down, and we asked him to come out when he was out of farm calls, which was yesterday. I wasn't able to be there again, but apparently he said it was healing fine and didn't need to be cut open. Maybe it went down, or something. I haven't seen her (or it) since Monday, so I will be interested to see what it looks like now.

Recently Sofie's been quite the love, which is somewhat surprising but really nice. She looks happy to see me and be around me, and she's just been a total sweetheart. I recently discovered that she will follow me around the arena. She will walk and trot right with me, which is absolutely adorable (and probably somewhat unsafe, but who cares). She just sticks right by me and does whatever I do. It's really sweet. The only issues are my not being in shape (a little trotting and I'm about ready to die) and one night when I played with her and then brought her into the aisle, she was so into following me that she lost her ability to "stay". So when I went behind her to get something, she turned right around to stay with me. We had to work a little on "staying" again after that. She's really smart, and I think if I don't overdo the following, she'll retain her ability to stay. I must balance all her many talents!

I had the opportunity to hang with her in her stall, and she seemed really content. I hadn't seen her in her stall this year when she wasn't having a bad heat cycle, so it was nice to see that she's still happy when she's confined. She just seems really happy right now. I'm not sure why, but I'm happy that she's happy.

Mystery Lump, Relaxed Rides

We rode outside again on Saturday, another nice day. I didn’t free school since Sofie was chill, and I didn’t wind up regretting that move. The people across the street were having roofing materials or something delivered, so there was truck activity and other interesting things happening. I walked Sofie around a little and showed her what was going on, but she didn’t care and actually refused to even look at the commotion. Typically, the bigger the thing, the less it bothers her. She’s far more likely to spook at “little” things, like a person gardening in their yard,, or disembodied hoofies under a door in the indoor (eep!).

She was moving fine, but I chose not to work on the canter since I still don’t have access to sufficient dry areas in the yard yet. There are still isolated squishy places, so my real work areas are somewhat limited. It’s still better than the indoor, though.

Since the ground conditions weren’t conducive to canter work, I decided to do slower work and focus on relaxation instead. We had a good ride, and other than one unauthorized canter, she listened very well. I felt like we had a nice connection for the most part, and she stayed relaxed without over thinking things. It was nice to have relaxation out in the yard, and just work on simple, slower concepts. She totally ignored the activity across the street and was quite mellow. It was very nice indeed.

After the ride was over, during our customary Sofa massage I discovered a lump under her chest, down in between her front legs. It was just a firm swelling, about the width and length of my hand or maybe a little larger. It wasn’t hot, it wasn’t hairless and it was not painful. Believe me, I poked and prodded and squeezed that thing to see if it was painful, and I got no reaction. I was somewhat mystified as to what it could be, and I even checked out the other mares’ chest areas to make sure this wasn’t just a normal part of chest musculature that I had somehow never noticed before. The other mares were smooth and flat in that area, so Sofa definitely had something weird going on.

I notified the barn owner about the mystery swelling and returned on Monday, anxious to see if the swelling had gotten any bigger. I was concerned about it enlarging and potentially interfering with her ability to move. I could see the lump when I walked up to her, and at first glance it appeared to be taking over her chest a bit, but it turned out to be the way she was standing. The edema was the same size it had been and it still wasn’t bothering her, thankfully.

It was a damp day and the footing was slick outside, so we were confined to the indoor. I free schooled Sofie before the ride and she burned off some energy, cantering and doing her Arab Trot. She was actually rather spooky, so I picked up my stirrups at the beginning of the ride. Of course, once I was on her back she relaxed and went to work just fine (I think her “spookiness” was just her blowing off some steam). I got involved, though, and never thought to drop my stirrups. Ah well.

She didn’t anticipate the trot when I picked up the reins, and once I asked for the trot, she moved out very forward early on in the ride. She felt happy and free, and it was fun to feel that energy in the stagnant indoor. She was bobbling pretty noticeably to the left (not surprising, considering the dampness factor) and falling in a bit to the left as well. She did have a couple sticky moments when I asked her to transition to the trot on a serpentine, facing the arena wall. She did pick up the trot, she just got a little cranky and reluctant. Something to work on, I suppose. I worked in some halts and did a couple spins on the forehand. Turns out, we can do those on a loose rein now…

Sofie did break to the trot a few times, but she paid attention very well through the beginning and end of the ride. We didn’t do anything too amazing, but I enjoyed myself and we both got our exercise.

I didn’t get out again ‘til Thursday, and I found her edema unchanged. We’re almost certain it’s fluid buildup. I’m not sure what it’s from, but it doesn’t seem like an abscess, and definitely not a tumor, which is good. The vet is coming to do shots on the 13th, so we’ll have him look at it then, if it’s still there. For now it doesn’t seem to be bothering her, and I’m willing to bet it’s just another weird Sofa thing.

Sofie’s been in a pretty good mood as of late. She’s been content in the aisle, her appetite has been good (she’s back on a half dose of her senior ultra mega joint supplement with no apparent stomach irritation), and she’s been a good mare. The last time I went to catch her she walked a short distance away from me, so I went to pet one of the other mares. That did not sit well with Sofa, and she stared at me the entire time. When I went back to her she didn’t move away again.

For this latest ride we returned to the outside, determined not to be stuck in the indoor. I am SO ready for the yard to dry out. Right now the areas that are really rideable are somewhat limited, and every time we ride out there we wind up making holes. I’m hoping they’ll go down as the ground hardens, otherwise I’ll have to go fill them in…

Sofie wasn’t bobbling very much, but we stuck to slower speeds in deference to the ground conditions. It’s good for us to do slower work out there, since one of the things we needed to work on was not rushing and listening to me. I think we’re doing very well with that.

I hadn’t free schooled and Sofie seemed a little energetic, so we hit the trail during our warm-up. We did another big spook at the bunny in the woods (damn bunny! LOL) and were a little high-headed and “keen” to say the least, but we held it together. It helped that we had some interesting footing to go through. I ventured out farther on the trail, and snowmelt made things rather wet and wild. Sofie negotiated it quite well, scrambling up on banks to avoid the worst of it and sloshing through. I just had to watch my knees when she drifted out toward the woods. Once we turned back and found dry ground again I asked her to trot, and she stayed quite calm.

Back in the yard we returned to our dressage. I mostly focused on keeping things calm and quiet, and tried to avoid tromping on squishy areas. Sofie listened very well, with only a little anticipation mid-ride. Heading away from the barn, her drifting did get a little obnoxious, but we’re working on it. She did get a little sulky a couple times in the trot, probably due to her slight unsoundness. Her front end wasn’t bad that day, but I was feeling a possible little “something” behind, and a couple times when she sank down into the footing I heard a pop. Afterward her stifle was clicking a bit when she shifted, possibly due to her scrambling through the sloppy trail conditions. I’m not worried about it…she’s Sofa, and it is not unusual for her to be slightly unsound. As long as we can do stuff, I’m happy.

Other than those few minor issues, it was definitely a good ride. She was responsive, relaxed and she put up with me even when I accidentally trotted her through a squishy place, causing her to sink in with every step. Her transitions were prompt and nice, and she hardly inverted at all. I was really happy with how she trusted my hands. Her head stayed nice and low, reaching into the contact. Her frame is still an “open” frame, but I love how she’s initiating contact on a slightly long rein. It’s definitely a positive change, and I think she looks and feels beautiful with an “open” frame. Feeling what I feel when I ride her, and seeing it reinforced on video, makes me feel proud and pleased. And we've had more than four months of uninterrupted riding, which is certainly something worth celebrating!

Taking It Outside

Sofamare has become catchable again after her short-lived rebellion. Even after I caught her and took her directly to the waiting veterinarian for her vaccinations (which involves twitching her, as she tends to drag people down the aisle when she sees a needle), she remained catchable. Last time I went to grab her she kind of gave me the grumpy face, and I waited to see if she would walk off. She just stood there, sniffed me, checked me over and stood there some more. Then I had to mess with the halter (it was all twisted) so she waited some more. Grumpy faces aside, I think we're doing alright.

Our last two rides have been outside, and it looks like we'll get out again today before some questionable weather moves in. But before that, we rode once in the indoor on kind of a bitter, cold day. She did well at the walk and trot, and her head carriage was nice for the most part. If I kept a slightly long rein, she stretched into the contact nicely on her own. When I tried to pick her up a bit more, she got a little inverted and didn't quite want to soften, but we worked on that a little. I love her nice, long and semi-low frame, and I'm very happy when she establishes the contact on her own.

She wasn't really off at all in front, so I decided to try the canter again. She picked it up without too much drama (ears back and some hesitation) to the left. She drifted in towards the end of the long side and seemed to be compensating a bit for her shoulder (or whatever it is that has been bothering her, front end wise) but it wasn't a bad canter. She didn't want to pick it up tracking right, but on my second "ask" she picked it up without bucking and maintained it well. After that I worked on getting the trot and walk nice again. She was anticipating a little, but we managed to work through it. It's something we need to practice.

The next ride, we ventured outside. It was a nice day but we proceeded to have a not very good ride. She was rather off in front, which I think contributed to her drifting and not wanting to bend or be round. She wasn't being bad or resisting, she just seemed to be having trouble going round and moving properly. I'm still not sure what her front end issue is. It seems somewhat intermittent, and it doesn't get worse towards the end of a ride. I wish we had a good, reputable equine massage therapist up here. We pretty much only have access to unlicensed people who are a bit...special. If you know what I mean.

Our last ride was much better. I didn't free school beforehand, since she seemed pretty dead calm. Of course as soon as I got her outside, she became very "keen". I was slightly apprehensive about getting on her, but I got her parked at the mounting block and she stood well. She walked around fine and we managed to hold it together pretty well through most of the ride. She was moving much better and seemed rather happy and perky. I opted for more straight lines and worked in different parts of the yard, and she followed my direction well. We did some really nice trot-walk transitions in the early part of the ride. I’ve been impressed with her responsiveness lately. We’ve certainly improved our downward transitional ability!

Out in the yard, she hasn’t been as round as I can sometimes get her in the indoor, but she hasn’t been too terribly inverted, and I think overall she’s improved since I started working on getting her round. She can get a little stiff in her jaw when she’s outside, but we haven’t had too many issues with that. I’m still waiting for the yard to dry out in places, and when it does I’ll have more room to work in some turns and figures, which help with the bending and flexion.

Right now I’ve been doing my circle work in the main flat area in the yard. There’s quite a bit of room there, and I can do a huuuuge circle or even work in some serpentines. I was riding her down there at a trot, when she decided she needed to canter and took off straight up a hill. Just the thing to do when you’re sore in the front end, right? Sofie stumbled a bit in front near the top of the hill, and came back to a trot. I turned her around and went back to what I’d been doing, but apparently she hadn’t gotten it out of her system because she attempted to canter back up the hill. This time I pulled her back to a trot (with some difficulty…hello, concrete mouth) and with some well placed half halts and downward transitions I managed to get her to listen a little better. We still had a few disputes (and one brief canter on a circle…OMG, I love her canter when she‘s bending. It‘s so nice and collected…). Fireball was really in the mood for cantering that day. It’s kind of fun when she gets a little hot, as long as it stays manageable. I like her energy and her sassiness, what can I say?

After her unauthorized canter bonanza, Sofie was a bit anticipatory, and it took a little work to convince her to just walk. After some repetition, she understood and we finished up with a little walk on contact and then a nice, relaxed walk on a long rein. I dropped my stirrups for the cooldown, and we both enjoyed just chillin’. It was a nice way to end the ride.

The next time I saw Sofie she looked a little stiff, maybe because of her insistence on cantering hills. I free schooled her briefly to see how she was moving, and she didn’t look her best but she didn’t look terrible either. Sofa was in a good mood, and she wasn’t giving me the grumpy face, which was nice. I got us ready to ride and we headed outside. She was quite alert once we got out there, but she stood very nicely at the mounting block and even waited for me to find my stirrups (how kind of you, Sofamare!).

She wasn’t really very “off”, just slightly more so than the last ride. She was still pretty willing but a little resistant here and there. It was a mixed ride, with some very nice moments and some disputes. Near the beginning, when I picked up the reins in the walk I could tell she wanted to trot, but she kept walking. I was really proud of her. Then when we started trotting, things got a little interesting. Fireball was apparently still present, and she picked up the canter first over by the barn. It was quite nice and not too out of control, so I let her canter a little ways before bringing her back to the trot with my seat. After that, I worked her in the large flat area, and she tried to canter up her new favorite hill again. I kept her on the circle, and she broke to a trot. Soon she threw in another canter, this time getting a little strong and fast. She was heading in the direction of the snow fence (I dunno why) and I when I asked her to stop taking me for a ride, she got mad, throwing her head and bouncing a little. Once she was down to a walk I adjusted the reins and we regrouped. She continued to be a little weird throughout the ride, trying to break into the canter at times and getting a little pissy here and there. She wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t our most polished ride by any means. On the positive side, I’m able to deal with her little outbursts now, and I had expected some drama once we got outside. I knew we needed to work on our little control issues, and so far she’s been better than I thought she’d be.

Once again, we had some issues with her not wanting to walk, but we worked through them and she was walking relaxed at the end. We even went on our first trail ride of the year! The trail still has some snow here and there, but it’s not too deep and quite a bit of it has melted down to bare ground. We had a great time on the trail. We didn't go too far (there was more snow further down) but we did do a giant spook at a rabbit (OMG they're rabid, you know) and we went through a HUGE puddle that encompassed the entire width of the trail. Experienced trail horse that she is, she tiptoed around the less-deep edge on the way through, and then we had to turn right around and walk back through it again. The second time she went right down the middle, head low, putting her feet down carefully. At one point she stopped and started pawing at the water, and I, seeming to remember reading something about horses pawing at water crossings before attempting to go down and roll, went "NO way!" and urged her onward.

I'm going out again today, and we'll see how the beast is. Maybe if she's not too sore in her front end, I'll work a little on the canter on my terms. Wow, really, I have those? I also have some video that I'll try to get posted somewhere in here, but I make no promises. I have a model horse show that I'm leaving for in two weeks, as well as all the usual things clamoring for my attention (goats, sheep, baby animals, my television shows, etc.).

Transition Time

As always, Sofie differs by the day. Our last two rides have been strong, and certainly promising. I’ve been able to walk up to her and catch her two out of the last three times, which is an improvement. There is still some attitude I’m detecting there, and I’m not sure what to make of it, but I know my usual strategy of getting upset and taking it personally is not effective, so I’m working on adjusting my own attitude and finding the positive (or at least the non-dreadful side). I do tend to seek out the worst-case scenario and embrace it lovingly, which is something I’m working on. She has certainly been grumpy before, and we eventually moved past it. There have also been fleeting times when she was totally willing and happy and not having any issues (there really have been, I swear). So I know what she’s capable of, which is why I tend to look for an actual cause rather than sticking a negative label on her fuzzy, two-tone butt.

She’s been making such progress under saddle, which is partly why this is so confounding. Sofie is really learning and moving in the right direction, and she seems pretty happy to work for me. I guess whatever issue she’s having is just presenting itself in a different way this time around. I’m very happy to be having good rides, but it does make me question things when I show up and she doesn’t want to come in. It makes me think I’ve done something wrong, even when our rides point to something else entirely. It’s confusing.

When I went to grab Sofa before our second to last ride I found her lying down in a hay pile (and filthy mud…the hay pile wasn’t big enough. Woops.), so I walked over to see how she would react. When I reached her she stood up, I petted her for a bit and she didn’t walk away. She seemed happy to see me, so I had hope that maybe her cranky phase was over. I cleaned her up a little and put the mounting block outside, as the weather was still nice that day. We were mainly confined to the driveway (I did walk her on the high ground in the yard, but the grass went squish, squish, squish with every step so we had to tread lightly to avoid making holes everywhere), but being outside was still way preferable to the dingy arena.

We did our usual work and were able to adapt to the footing and limited space quite well. She never bobbled, even on the hardest part of the driveway, and she took a nice contact at the trot most times. She bent well and didn’t waver too much when I asked her to go straight away from the barn. Her walk was good, and she didn’t anticipate the trot. She also listened well during the downward transitions. The driveway wasn’t conducive to figures, but as I was trotting her around I did have her do a ten meter right half circle on a slope, just to see how she would do. She was round and bending really well. It was no trouble for her at all. It really showed her progress with bending to the right. I like to keep my figures big, but I think it’s good to throw in smaller turns every so often to test her balance and keep things interesting.

We both had fun on our driveway ride. It was nice to do something different. Sofie seemed happy the whole time. Afterward I led her out to eat a little grass. Sofie had been eagerly looking at the disgusting, old grass that had melted out, and I finally had time for a little hand-grazing.

The next day I came out to find her walking away from me again, which was upsetting. I think the reason I’ve been struggling with this is because I consider Sofie a friend, and she has been there for me when friends haven’t. So I took it a little hard.

Once I got her tacked up I led her into the indoor and decided to set up a couple poles. I hadn’t worked her over poles in forever, but I wanted to do something different to make the arena a little less blah, so I put Sofa in park and grabbed a pole. She seemed interested, and abandoned her stationary position to follow me as I dragged a pole out into the arena. Once I found the right spot I set it down and led her back to the pole heap, where I “parked” her again and got another pole. She followed me again looking very adorable and not at all pissed off at my presence. I guess she is a girl, so she has every right to change her mind every five seconds...

I mounted up, leaving my feet out of the stirrups. It was nice to get back to no-stirrups work. I've been riding outside so much that my no-stirrup work had kind of fallen away, since I'm not confident enough to go without outside yet. Something I need to work on. Anyway, after our obligatory walk-around time I picked up the reins, did a little suppling to prevent anticipation, and asked her to trot. She went around to the right with nice energy, and I felt a good, positive connection going on. It was just one of those rides where everything was pretty easy, and it seemed like we knew what we were doing. I was able to keep her on the rail, and we had a nice dialogue going. After I asked her to walk I felt the exertion of going back to no stirrups, but I still felt balanced without them.

She was bobbling to the left at a trot, so we didn't do to much in that direction. She was much rounder, though, and not all tense and inverted. Our downward transitions were much better, and I felt like I had half halts, which have been harder to do without stirrups. She had plenty of energy at the walk and did not anticipate the trot. Our rein backs were a little relucant and wobbly but not bad. And the pole work proved rather fun. She didn't pick up her feet quite enough over the larger pole, but she was much more willing to actually go over the poles than she has been in the past. She used to hate pole work, and this time she didn't seem to have an issue with it.

All in all, it was a very productive ride. She is so much rounder than she ever has been, it's pretty great. She's really learned a lot in a short time. Riding without stirrups is the best thing I've ever done. I'm so much better off now as a rider. I have built strength and balance, and I feel totally comfortable without stirrups now at the walk and trot. Sofie is learning how to be round and taking steps toward a better balance, which she has needed for a long time. All very good things.

Her resistance to being caught is not great, but I'm finding it's not the end of the world. I don't consider myself entirely blameless or anything, but I also can't beat myself up for not being perfect. This phase may be due in part to my asking her for more. She may not be entirely on board, and maybe she would rather hang out with her friends than come in and work. It's spring, and everybody's in transition. Things have changed, in more ways than one. The work is a little harder, but she needs the work. She's moving in a much more beneficial way now. I've started praising her more, which I needed to do, and maybe that will help over time. All I can do is enjoy what goes well, and try not to get too focused on what goes badly. Maybe it's not the end of the world if she doesn't want to come in some days. Maybe it's just another thing we need to work through.

Looking Up?

Last post left off with me wondering what was up with Sofie’s sudden, negative attitude towards coming in. This continued on into Saturday. When I went to catch her she only moved about five feet away, though it seemed like that had less to do with her accepting my presence and more to do with her understanding that if she didn’t let me catch her I would make her work, and then catch her anyway. The look on her face was really disheartening. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look that unhappy to see me. Sofie is not an enthusiastic, golden retriever-ish horse by nature, and she is prone to unenthused, slightly grumpy faces, but usually when I go out to catch her she seems relatively happy to see me. This new development was rather depressing for me, especially after my recent post in which I wrote about how "our relationship is the most important thing, gotta preserve the relationship, be friends, etc. etc.". It just kind of sucked because I felt like we were friends, and then all of a sudden my horse seemed to pretty much hate me. Yeah...obviously something went wrong.

Once I got her in the aisle I went to work pulling loose hairs out of her, then worked on massaging/stretching her hopes that it would help take some of the nastiness out of her expression and make her feel better. I noticed while I had her in the aisle that her left stifle seemed to be clicking when she shifted that leg. It sounded like something was out of alignment for sure, although it didn't seem to be be bothering her. She was able to pick up both hind legs for me to clean her feet, it just seemed like it was taking a little extra effort for her to shift that leg. She wasn't really off in motion, either, so I went ahead and tacked her up.

I had decided to ride in the indoor since everything was really squishy outside, plus I was hearing thunder. I had just gotten her in the indoor and was in the process of tightening her girth when the rain started pouring. Sofie got scared and started walking off, so I grabbed the reins and walked with her. I just led her around and rubbed her neck occasionally until she relaxed enough to stop and stand while I tightened her girth. Then I walked her a little more. She was still tense, but I figured I'd get on and just ride. She stood at the mounting block and I put my feet in the stirrups (I'm not that brave) and let her walk on. We were both really nervous (all my muscles were wobbling) and we both spooked at something (she spooked at a scary door, and I spooked at her spooking), but I took some deep breaths and used the time-honored neck rubbing technique to help her relax. She walked until I told her to trot, and she started out in a nice, long frame at the trot, reaching into the contact really nicely. I was super happy with that. We went on to have a good ride, nothing fancy, but we did fairly decent walk and trot work in both directions, and we weren't horribly inverted. I was glad I was able to deal with her being tense (it's always good practice for if we ever go somewhere, I figure). For me to be able to walk her around like that and then get on without being afraid is a huge accomplishment. And I was proud of her for trusting me and listening to me when she was nervous. Regardless of our recent issues, I had hope that things might improve after that ride.

To be continued...when I have time!