2017 Goals

     I’m honestly not one for making goals with deadlines.  I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions because I try to make any changes that I want as I notice them.  I think it’s especially hard with horses because as soon as you make a goal they’ll get injured or just really struggle with a concept (in Mort's case it's always both).  With all those disclaimers—here are my 2017 goals!

Horse Related:

Show First Level

     Schooling show or recognized
Counter Canter
Simple Changes

Haunches-in

Attend a dressage clinic

     More than one would be great, but we’ll see how that budget goes. 

Train Mort to be quiet for clipping

     This mainly applies to ears.  He’s awful about them and I should work on that. 

Poles

     I want my horse to be able to w/t/c over a pole without falling apart. 

Massage

     I really want to get him checked out by a professional.  He’s so tense with the chiro that I think a massage might be better for him at this point.  I’m at least curious as to what she would have to say.  I conveniently have one who boards where I do, so I need to hit her up. 

Human Related:  

Run Half Marathon

     I ran my first one in October and while I finished I didn’t finish in my goal time so I need round two.

     Also continue running 3-5 days/week with at least one hard and one long. 

Become a better trainer

     More lessons—someone to watch me and keep me honest

     Get better about knowing when to push—just got to experiment and be bolder/more demanding

     Continue riding 4-6 days/week—only way to get better is to keep trying to get better

Start seriously saving for a house/property

     Our lease is up in April and we’re tired of renting.  I’m also for damn sure tired of moving. 

Keep the family life good 

     As with most horse-obsessed folks I need to make sure that not all of my time and our money goes toward the pony stuff.  Balance in life and crap.  Luckily Steven has his own hobbies too so we’re good about doing our own things (yay for not being dependent), but this is something I always need to keep in mind. 

I guess that’s it for now.  I think some will be more difficult than others (and some will be ongoing forever and ever), but overall I’ll definitely achieve some of them (right?).  I’m already regretting writing about his ear clipping and the poles because I am lazy, and I’m not sure about counter canter and the simple changes.  They honestly weren’t on the first draft because they seem far away, but when I think about where we were last December/January it seems more of a possibility. 

A Review of Last Year:  

     Just a short year ago we were working on recovering from an injury, his canter was a hot mess, and he had never been to a horse show.  By March we were showing intro and discovering how well he traveled.  The summer set in to working on his education both in the arena and on trails.  Fall continued with me working harder on my education and things starting to click for Mort.  As much as I know how far we have to go we are still miles ahead of where we were.  Every once in a while I get a feel of the horse that I’m working for--hopefully the trend continues.  Here’s to another year in the horse world (and I guess the regular world too)!

Another Day, Another Ride

     Of course since this past weekend was very cold and even more icy I didn’t get out to the barn.  This meant not only three days off for Mort, but also limited turnout.  He let me know on Monday that it wasn’t his favorite.  I did decide to start with a short lunge and kept it a simple ride.  He moved off my leg some and did the gaits that I asked for so I called it a win.  I could feel the energy bubbling below the surface. 

     Tuesday we had a more in-depth ride with some really satisfying trot work.  He is really catching on to those leg yields even when they come in places he doesn’t expect.  I did some canter each direction that was not very satisfying.  He was either dragging me down on the forehand or he was awfully unbalanced with his head high in the air.  He hung on the inside rein and he fell on that inside shoulder in the left lead.  He burrowed down and fishtailed in the right lead.  It was not ideal.  I just felt like all of the progress we had made last week fell away with just a few days off. 

     While obviously our schedule flew out the window I did still give him Wednesday off so that I could get in a long run.  This week will be spent getting him back right before he gets another few days off when I go home for Christmas.  Horses are fun and training is fun especially when it’s like 15 degrees.  Just keep riding.  

     Thursday I went out to find a fun, swollen scrape that ran behind his left elbow down to between his front legs.  Cleaned it up, gave him some meds and went home.  Hopefully by the time I get back Monday he'll be ready to get back to work...or at least get a lunge if it's still swollen.  Merry Christmas Mort--more time off.  

Let's Make a Schedule

     Mort is sometimes stepping up to put on his big boy panties, so I need to step up as a rider/trainer/hopeless adult amateur and ask him to be a big boy consistently.  I have to consistently ask him for good work if I want him to consistently give it to me.  It seems to be especially important to Mort since he's really into anticipating.  Not only does he anticipate, but he gets offended when I tell him something he doesn't think should come next.  It's a hard horse life.

     Barn manager/trainer/instructor gave me the idea to come up with a schedule of what we will do each day so that I can't use the excuse of Mort seeming tense/nervous/upset/whatever and step down our work to meet him.  He's darn well trained enough by now that sometimes he's going to have to step up his work to meet me.  We're not talking crazy stuff here, just relax in the lateral work and carry his own damn self.

     Obviously not every day can be demanding and educational or both of our brains will crack, so some of these days are easier on him.  However, I will always make sure that he moves off of my leg and carries himself properly for whatever we're working on.  Below I have outlined our schedule and what those different items mean to our training.

Mondays:   Hard work day
     This means that Mort and I come out to play.  I'm talking transitions boot camp (both within and between the gaits).  He's got to move off my leg without complaint and sometimes with more sideways and/or bend than he may think he can handle.  Hard work days should be filled with changes of speed and direction to make him really think about listening to me and waiting for me to tell him what I want next.
     We've done a couple of these days and they've actually gone really well.  They sometimes start off tense, but with all of the activity he can't help but think and listen sometimes which means that the rides turn out fairly well.  They are both physically and mentally hard so once he's really with me I only play a little longer before I let him be done.  Hopefully someday the time it takes for him to be with me will be shorter and the playing can be longer.

Tuesdays:  Pole day
     My least favorite.  He's bad at them, and I'm never going to jump him so my motivation is low.  I know poles are wonderful for so many dressage things, I'm just a lazy turd.  I honestly didn't want this to be a part of our winter, but BM (Barn Manager) made a good point that he needs to be angry about something other than my leg/seat.  He finds so many things offensive that sometimes it'll be good for our relationship to have it be a dumb stick on the ground while I sit up top quietly just asking for forward tempo.  It's important and I know once he's better at poles it'll actually be fun to be able to play with them in our future.

Wednesdays:  Off
     He always gets Wednesdays off.  They're the mornings I wake up at 3:15am to feed and turnout the ponies.  It's also my LSD (long slow distance) day for running.  He gets a day off and I get in better shape.  Win-win.

Thursdays:  Long & Low/Fitness
     This is sorta a mix between a happy relationship building day and muscles.  The hardest part is making sure he still is using himself properly and not just bombing around on his forehand.  Being a dressage horse is rough stuff.  He's usually a very happy with long and low and stays fairly relaxed for me.
     I can also see these days being phased out over the next several months.  I do long and low at the beginning and end of every ride and fitness comes from regular hard rides as well.  I'm thinking someday Thursdays will be a ride where we work on things which we are good at doing and he's happy doing for me.  That's sort of what long & low is right now, someday soon I think it'll easily be more than that.  Thursdays:  Reinforce good stuff

Fridays:  Lunge
     Honestly sometimes Fridays are a second day off, but most of the time I do get out there.  Lunging can be a lot of things for Mort.  Sometimes I let him do long and low and work on that topline.  Sometimes I slap a bit in his mouth and make him work on a million transitions.  Sometimes I play with small circles and big circles.  Ideally we do all of these items.  Since I have a long & low day scheduled in for riding I do tend to go more with difficult items on the lunge--especially canter transitions!
     We also long lined for the first time last month.  I should work on playing with that more in our future because it gives me better feel of him than just lunging but he still doesn't have my body getting in his way at all.  So many things I want us to accomplish.

Saturdays:  Hard Ride
     Same as Mondays--a little bit of everything and a lot of something that seems particularly difficult that day.  Want to scoot into the canter transitions?  We'll work on that. Whatever we're struggling with, we'll do.

Sundays:  Trail/Fitness
     I still think that a lot of his canter woes come from a weak hind end.  Strong hind ends come from lots of things and trotting hills is one of my favorites.  It gets him strong and forward and swing-y to be outside.  We both also get some mental breaks from the arena.

Obviously I ride a horse and not a machine.  He's never going to be perfect (lord knows I'm never going to be perfect), so one still does have to take into account if it's a off day.  But overall I should probably hold his hand less--he's going to be eight soon and I've had him almost a year and a half now.  We need to step up if I want him showing first level next year (or ever).

Blog Hop: 10 Questions

I'm not really sure whether I give credit to the person who I stole it from or who they stole it from, so I'm going to credit Confessions of A Dressage Barbie (http://www.dressagebarbie.com/2016/12/blog-hop-december-10-questions.html?m=1) and if you're interested you can jump over to hers and see who she got it from.

Does your horse need shoes?
When I first got him he was barefoot for a year.  This past summer I opted for front shoes because his feet were wearing down too quickly and he was ouchy on gravel.  I have kept the front shoes on.


What do you think of the barefoot vs. shoe debate?
I think people should shoe or not shoe their horse based on what that horse needs at that time.

I like barefoot only in that I really like the luxury of not ever getting the text "Your horse lost a shoe in turnout today".  Obviously with the answer to the above question though my horse's comfort always comes first.

Favorite season for riding?
Fall for sure.  I love the cooling temperatures and the spunk it tends to bring out in horses.

How many shows do you think you've gone to?
A lot--from a ton of fun shows when I was a kid (from hunter to western and things in between), to both recognized and schooling dressage shows in my more adult life.  

Do you consider yourself a good rider?
Yes, I think that I am generally a good rider.  My equitation can be really good when I'm on a horse who listens really well to the aids.  My equitation is OK when I'm training.  I am definitely not perfect, but I do continue to take lessons and constantly try to improve myself--which I think is the real mark of a good rider/horseperson.

How experienced do you think someone needs to be to own a horse?
I think it depends whether they plan on boarding/taking lessons/learning or keeping the horse at their own home.  I also think that the person caring a lot about listening to other equine professionals is important. So I guess my answer is less about experience and more about the person being willing to seek help when needed.

Of course they should know the basic handling/care/vitals to know when to contact that help.

This horse is tired of its novice owner probably

Have you ever gotten into a fight with your trainer?
No.  I'm an easy-going person so I don't fight easily.  I would only fight with someone if it came down to horse welfare issues--which I have thankfully never encountered with anyone who I have worked with.

Does anyone in your family ride?
My mother had horses growing up and I definitely got most of my care/medical knowledge from her (yay large animal vet techs!).
One of my sisters took lessons for a year in elementary school with me.
I have an aunt who had horses.
Currently I am the only one who actively rides and owns horses.

If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be?  Why?
Every dressage rider's answer:  Valegro
Honestly I'd love to ride a very well trained horse in all of the disciplines to get a taste of each of
them.

  

Who wouldn't want to ride that?

A Boring Lack of Media

Hello world; it's been a while.

I'd make excuses if I cared just a little bit more but I don't. I started this blog to monitor Mort's progress over our time and training together.  I should probably post more to get a better picture, but I find that running and riding win a lot more often than computer time.  I honestly don't even know the last time I cracked open my laptop at home.  It's been months and I have no regrets.  Christmas shopping has forced me to get back onto the computer machine (because I am not a fan of regular shopping) so here I am again.

Mort had a month or three weeks off during the "I think his legs are worse than they are debacle".  The following couple weeks we worked on getting back into some shape and mainly focused on relaxing.  For Mort this meant a lot of long and low trot work and happy trail rides.

Once I started picking him back up, more often than not, he started getting a bit sassy (aka angry).  We've done the pain thing that came up with no real reasons as to why he'd be angry.  After a frustrating ride of trying to convince Mort that he actually had to carry himself  I had two things I wanted to experiment with.  First, I did a ride-swap with friend/trainer/barn owner.  I wanted advice on what she felt in him and what she thought we should work on.  She got to ride my turd-y Mort and I got to ride her sassy Ali.

She said two things that I think really stuck with me.  First, stop letting him get away with stuff.  I am 100% guilty of wanting to find the relaxation and happiness and he's 100% guilty of being a horse and taking advantage of that.  Sometimes in training there will be tension; as long as it's fair and you're sure you aren't actually asking for too much it's the only way to progress.  She is definitely not he first person to tell me this, nor will she be the last.  It's a real struggle for me to know when to push.

Second thing she did almost immediately was some sitting trot.  I had played with that a tiny bit before Mort's time off, but not much.  She said it helped her get better control of him with her seat.  The next day I gave it a go and noticed immediately that my seat would follow his body more often than my seat telling his body where to go.  My bad.  Luckily sitting the trot gives me much more seat control and I could start to remedy that.  Hello moving off of my leg because my seat is enabling that to actually happen.

The other big thing that I wanted to try was some ulcer treatment.  Overall I see him becoming a less sassy and happier horse even when called upon for work.  Being a competition horse (and an OTTB) on an ulcer supplement sure isn't going to hurt him and it's an inexpensive way to ensure that his tummy feels good.

I've had two lessons with Tara since.  We've also been participating in No-Stirrup November religiously so we've done a lot of sitting trot.  He is moving off of my legs much better and definitely more consistently these days.  His trot work is becoming more and more established.  His canter work is slower to progress but I am seeing improvements.  Right now we're working on adjust-ability and shoulder control.  His transitions are still animated but I'm getting more that are round rather than hollow.  I'll take some small improvements.

Mort and I dressage-ing (with puppy dog hands from me of course)

I'd love to get to a couple of clinics this winter and be ready to show in the spring.  We'll see how it goes and how Mr. Mort wants to improve.

Mort's Leg

Hello world, it has been a while.  My bad.

Mort and I trucked along this summer and continued our training having good days and bad.  He was really struggling with tension just right before a transition.  I'd ask, he'd get tense, he'd trot (or whatever I asked) and immediately relax.  Weird and something that seemed to not be improving despite trying to keep everything easy-going and relaxed in our training.

A few weeks ago the vet was coming out to get radiographs on two other horses at the barn, so I decided to sign Mort up.  The plan was to keep an eye on those front fetlocks so that I could monitor his changes over time and just be proactive with injections when the time came.  His radiographs came back with very angry bones.  His sesamoid had prolific bone growth that looked like it was going right near his suspensory ligament.  Our vet was very concerned.  She was going to MU (University of Missouri Vet School) to do an in-depth lameness exam on another horse and said that she would consult with one of the specialists there.  I really appreciate a vet who knows their limits and recommends another vet when the situation calls for it.

We've got some real serious angry bones

I decided to take Mort in to MU to get an ultrasound on his leg.  I wanted to know what the extent of the damage to the suspensory was and make management decisions from there.  I was worried about the damage adding up slowly over time to create one catastrophic event with a bad step one day.  I didn't want it to get to that point, so I wanted to know what his soft tissue looked like right now to at the least get a reference point.

Yesterday was Mort's appointment and it went much, much better than expected.  The specialist had seen much worse and has worked with a lot with OTTBs (including her own).  The ultrasound was very helpful in getting a much better idea of what was happening to him and it was overall full of good news.

I'll start with the bad news:  He is showing signs of synovitis in his fetlock that we didn't see on the radiographs.  However, the good news with this is that it would most likely be manageable with injections.  The very good news was that his suspensory isn't currently being affected poorly by his angry bones (at least not to the extent I was expecting).  The area where it is connected seems to be fairly smooth and happy (unlike the rest of the bone surface).  This news means that I am not only able to continue riding him, but progress in his training.

Obviously this isn't an "all-clear" to ride him like he doesn't have previous injuries or the potential for a lot of problems in the future.  I will have to start injecting the fetlocks to see if that helps his tension and makes him more comfortable.  He cannot be worked in deep footing or be turned out when it's muddy.  I have to watch and monitor him carefully and progress very slowly making sure to not push him too much physically at a time.

Overall great news for Mort and me and our future training toward being a dressage team.  Tonight I get to ride my horse for the first time in several weeks.

A Little Self-Loathing

     Well Mort and I have officially spent a year together.  We celebrated by SO and I going home to visit with my parents (and the old lady pups) and Mort enjoyed a weekend with no work.  We drove back on Monday and I did go out and ride my boy just enough to call it a workout, but nothing special or long. He deserves a trail ride as he's been working really hard for me in the arena lately.

     In the last couple of weeks I have been trying to be very focused in our work.  I feel like we are almost to a breakthrough moment.  Our transitions are getting better and much more consistent--less hollowing out and head tossing.  He is starting to leg yield at the trot.  We're working on lengthening and shortening his stride in the trot.  I am trying to get better control of that outside shoulder in the canter (which is pretty hard stuff).  He has definitely been putting in his all lately.  I love a horse with a good work ethic and Mort has that in spades.

     Yesterday (in the extreme heat and humidity) Mort and I took a short adventure to Leah's arena.  Her husband (thanks Myles!) took several pictures of us working our horses--and those pictures made me sad.  Mort is definitely looking good and we are getting less and less pictures of awkward moments than we used to.  (Please excuse the hobo appearance; it was hot and I didn't feel like tucking my shirt in and wearing a belt...or wearing sleeves)

Lots and lots of trot pictures like this; not so many with his head up in the air

But looking at my position I am concerned and confused at how Mort puts up with me on his back.  I originally learned to ride huntseat, so when I made the switch to full dressage it was a very hard habit to break.  Even when I was schooling and showing some of the upper level stuff I had to think about keeping my upper body back and not going into 'chair seat'.  But several years of thinking of those bad habits and working on not letting myself do them had fixed a lot of it.  I was never perfect (and never will be), but I could look at pictures and videos of myself and not hate what was happening on top of the horse.

I could go on for days about the things that I dislike

     A year of re-training Mort in a cross country saddle has brought all of my bad habits back with a vengeance.  I go into chair seat without even noticing that it should feel wrong.  I fold my upper body into fetal position as soon as any little thing goes wrong.  If I focus on anything other than sitting back (like where Mort is putting his shoulders, if he's tense, if I want him to move off of my leg, etc.) I crumple.  It makes me an ugly rider--but more importantly it means that I am much less effective, balanced, and consistent than I could be.  How do I expect Mort to be balanced and consistent if I'm not doing that for him?  Frustrating.  I need someone to come out and yell at me.  I need no stirrup work.  I need lunge lessons.  I need to focus while I'm riding and not let myself fall into old, crappy habits.

No more slouching

Leaning and looking down only serves to throw us out of balance

     New goal added to our summer list:
          Learn to ride dressage again        

Wish me luck!

     Dressage saddle is officially up for sale.  I like the way it fits Mort; I think that I would love the way that it fits Mort if I got it re-flocked.  I definitely need a 17" seat and not a 16.5.  In a year (or whenever) when I start sitting trot I think it'll be a real problem.  I think it doesn't let me move enough at the canter--not enough swing.  .
     So if anyone is looking:
          16.5" County Competitor with a #4 fit
     If anyone is selling:
          17" County with a #4 fit

The Injury Post

     It has been a while folks.  Mort had some vague and mysterious lameness (always the best kind).  He had a couple weeks off in total.  I had the chiro out as well as the farrier.  Mort now is rocking some new kicks as I decided to put front shoes on him.  I've been back on him for over a week now and he is sound and going well.  During that week back to work, I have been trying out the new dressage saddle!  It fits Mort fairly well; and I think it will fit him very well after a re-flock.  It is a teeny bit too small for me, but I think that it will work for now.

     Last night I typed up my final update for New Vocations.  On July 4th, I will have had Mort for one full year and he will officially be mine.  It is really fun to look back and see how far we have come in our training and how much more fun I get to have with him now that we know each other better.  

Mort's update picture:  I'd love a few more pounds on him (he's on a hay buffet, lots of grain, beet pulp, and alfalfa pellets)

     Since we have no really new and exciting stories I am making the the injury post.  Last October Mort came in from turnout one morning with hamburger meat for legs.  So if you enjoy watching ugly injuries progress then this is the post for you.  If you don't like gross pictures you probably shouldn't continue to read.  

 

View isn't too bad from this angle....

 

But here it gets worse....

 

And then worse:  full hamburger meat

 

Lower leg flap

 

Pony had to be knocked out for stitches 

 

Top stitches didn't hold, but the bottom ones looked good

 

These pictures were a few days after injury I believe

 

Swollen upper legs; we used standing wraps and removed them for his hand-walking

 

Stall rest--lots of stall rest

 

Lots of dying stuff--he was on antibiotics and biozide gel (made into a spray for easier application) 

 

These pictures were probably between about a week into injurgy

 

Further into healing--less swelling but more upset flesh

 

Wound was washed twice a day and he was on two times a day hand walking and grazing

 

Still a lot of dying flesh around the wound, but the wounds themselves looking better

 

This is what was under the standing wraps to keep the flap in place

 

Gross stuff

 

Finally granulation tissue!

 

Bottom flap stuck, but we lost the top

 

These stitches didn't keep either--too much dying flesh around the wounds

 

Things are slowly looking better

 

All of the dead flesh is gone and his flesh is up to good stuff

 

The dark stuff is biozide.  Starting to think about proud flesh prevention

 

Tinier

 

So much smaller.  At this point he was going out for small amounts of time in a small, individual turnout

Our proud flesh treatment.  I have used it once before and I highly recommend it (Equiade http://www.equaide.com/ )

 

Sorry for the poor quality

 

Almost there

 

His little, lonely turnout--and his cute face

 

Started very light riding--power walking to work on keeping scar tissue stretching  

 

At this point I would massage his scar tissue daily and we would do our power walks

 

Small scar, but zero proud flesh issues

     Overall things turned out really well.  Luckily Mort didn't hit anything too vital or long-term.  It took about 2 or 3 months for everything to get back to good.  It also took daily care (and twice daily at the beginning) and lots of patience and of course money because these creatures are not cheap.  I am glad that my boy is back to being completely sound with zero complications from this injury.  Unfortunately horses are injury-prone and things like pain meds and stall rest often lead to more problems.  Fortunately, Mort had a dedicated owner and we had a dedicated barn manager--two things that make injuries a bit easier on the horse.  

     I didn't go too deeply into the care and treatment--if anyone has questions feel free to reach out!  I love brainstorming and sharing what did and didn't work for us. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exciting Happenings (and Late Night Ramblings)

     Hello all,  I actually do have some cool stuff to write about this week.  BUT it's getting late (9:09 to be exact) and I'm tired.  So this post will be some quick and exciting things and someday I may actually do more than that.  No promises though people (or maybe 'person' since it's possible only my mom reads this). 

     First off, I bought a saddle this week! It's a used County Connection.  It seems to be in really good condition and it fit another woman's OTTB, so I went for it.  I honestly got it for such a low price that I think that I could convince the ever-loving husband to let me drop some more cash on re-flocking it to be a little more "custom fitted" for my pony.  I should get it sometime this week and we'll see how Mort feels about it.  I'm excited at least.

     Second exciting thing is that Mort and I went on another adventure this week.  On Tuesday we went to what will be semi-regular dressage lessons for the summer.  I am partially using it as an excuse to school Mort in a new place regularly, but it is also really nice to have someone reminding me about all of the things that I am letting slide.  I think she said something about me not having to perch off of his back at least three times (but he's just come off the track...oh, it's been almost a year now since I've had him).  Also something along the lines of "if you don't ride him like an ex-racehorse he won't act like one".  We also got a good exercise involving yielding out during transitions to help with his tenseness during them.  That was a fun one to play with this week and we had several really good transitions during yesterday's ride because of it (yay Mort!). 

We enjoy right bend a whole lot

 

I enjoy looking down a whole lot (Mort might change colors).  

 

Maintaining connection in both reins is an ongoing project.

 

The face of concentration is strong.   

Smiling faces happen too.  

     Third exciting this is that Mort had his first chiro appointment this week.  He had several ribs out and apparently very messed up withers.  He also was out in his right stifle and his right hock (maybe because racehorses only run one way or something like that).  He had some sore muscles the next couple days so we had a day of walking in the field and he had a day off.  But yesterday we had a wonderful ride with really great right lead canter work.  I don't know if it was the chiro or just a really good ride, but I'll take it either way. 

     Mort also had some ground training yesterday.  He is rather particular about when it's time to clip him.  Sometimes he doesn't even twitch an ear at the process.  Heck, he pretty much fell asleep when I did his chaser clip this past winter.  Yesterday I set up to just trim his bridle path--something we've definitely done before with zero problems in the past. I plugged in and turned on the clippers.  No problem.  I went and grabbed the step stool (which I have used with him before) and we freaked out.  He pulled back and said buh-bye new leather halter; it was nice knowing you.  At least it was the halter and not the cross ties this time--better to break something of mine instead of the barn's. 

     So I took this opportunity to actually work with him on clipper (and step stool) manners.  He has always been weird about his left ear being clipped (aka he does not keep still to let it happen).  I pulled out my cordless crappy ones and some treats and went to town.  At first I set the clippers nearby while running and just offered him a treat when his head was low and he was allowing me to rub his ear area (it took a few minutes to let this happen of course).  By the end of the session he was allowing me to hold the clippers and his ear with my right hand while I rubbed his forehead with my left.  I never actually applied the clippers to his ear, but I was very happy with our progress (and he was very happy with his cookies).  I left my cordless out there to keep working on this regularly until it is a non-issue.

      He has a really strong personality.  If the people around him are acting like something is a big deal it will turn into a big deal.  But if the people around him act like it is no big thing he'll be really brave and accepting (or at least try his very best).  Luckily I tend to fall more into the second category.  I am not a nervous or high-pressure horse person.  I tend to laugh at his 'race trot and fall into canter' transitions instead of getting flustered.  When he spooks I'll just smile and move right along.  Of course this trust in him developed over the last eleven months and will continue to develop during our time together. 
    
     The moral of the story with Mort is that you simply cannot take anything too seriously.  It is the only way to really get along with him.  I remember at our previous barn during his injury recovery the barn owner was telling me how horrible he behaved for cold hosing (along with everything else) and that I would need at least one other person to help me.  I listened to her, but after I had walked and grazed him there was no one immediately available, so I decided to just see how he was if I attempted it alone (other people were on the property, just feeding and riding and such).  I had zero problems.  Yes, he tossed his head and wanted to bite and play at the water.  Yes, those things aren't super polite.  However, if I let him play in the water he never moved his feet.  If I let him have a small outlet instead of trying to control everything, he was happy and more than willing to oblige standing there for fifteen boring minutes.  She wasn't willing to let him have his head so it became a fight every time.  And the more she tried to control him the more he got upset and wanted to get out of there. 

     I'm not saying she was wrong in trying to correct his semi-rude behavior, but that wasn't working for Mort.  You gotta pick your battles and I guess I just care less if he tosses his head some and splashes me a bit.  He's definitely a happier horse because of it (and isn't that the point?).  

     This blog post turned out to be a bit of a rambling of random thoughts.  Maybe you liked it, maybe you didn't.  Now it's much, much later and it is long past time for me to sleep.  I'd say goodnight, but I have no idea when you'll be reading this so...good night, good morning, good afternoon, good day!

Catching Up

Sorry to the five people who read my blog!  I definitely got caught up in the wedding/honeymoon and even though I've been back since Tuesday I have been trying to catch up and this is the first time I've been on my computer since about the 12th.  Today I'll give you all a brief catch-up.

Mort enjoyed his time off so much that the day after I was back he developed a small mysterious lump.  While he wasn't actually lame he also wasn't 100%.  So he enjoyed some cold hosing and lots of extra grazing the last few days.  Yesterday when I went out to see him the swelling was all gone, but the lump has sort of spread out.  I know that doesn't make much sense, but you'd just have to feel it.  Luckily his "off-ness" seems to have gone away with the swelling so today I plan on seeing how a light ride will go.  I'll try to update you sooner than two weeks from now!

 The lump

I'm hoping it continues to go away as we are supposed to be starting dressage lessons with Leah and Ruby this week.  I'm really excited to be able to take Mort out and about to more places and get him more and more used to traveling and different arenas.  I also have an ulterior motive of trying on some of the dressage saddles to see which types may fit him well.  The saddle search is becoming pretty real now that the wedding is all over and we might have money again soon (after that credit card bill is taken care of).  With the saddle search becoming more real I need to try to really sell my old one.  So if anyone is looking for a dressage or jumping saddle.....

Enjoy a few honeymoon pictures as an apology as to what took me so long to get back in gear.

Goats fighting in the road

Eilan Donan Castle 

 

 

Cliffs on the Isle of Skye

Sheep