Spring Rides

We're deep into spring here in Missouri. We've even had a taste of some 80+ degree days. The sun is out pretty regularly and sometimes when there is a chance of rain it doesn't actually rain! But, when it does rain, it only takes a couple days of sunshine to be able to ride again. Thank the Lord, because things were getting hard there for a minute. So, both Blue and Mort are getting into more of a routine with riding. I've been getting Blue worked 2-3 days/week and Mort has been ridden 4 days/week the last few weeks. It's still not quite as much as I want, but it is spring and rain will happen. (And my durn arena can't get done until it's really, really dry and the dump trucks can drive out on the grass.) Blue's rides are pretty simple, as they are mostly for fun and fitness. We do a bunch of walk at the beginning. We do some gaiting for a little while with a few short breaks. Then we do some more walk work at the end to cool down. I play with changes of direction and speed within the gait. I collect him up and let him go on a loose rein (as long as he's stretching forward and down). He gets a treat when I bridle, mount, and after I get off so I think he's happy enough to get some fitness in. Mort's rides have been slowly chipping away at the basics to bring us both back into shape. And I'm feeling improvement on both ends. He's getting sharper with my aids and softening up that topline as he gets stronger. It's a slow process, and we won't be back to where we were last fall for a little bit, but I'm still happy. He feels sound and strong and hasn't complained about upping the work load. But in the most exciting news, I think I'm getting better. It's hard to get this old body to try new things, but Mort is the best teacher. We have always struggled with a soft connection in his left jaw. And while we're still far from even, things seem to be shaping up. I'm forcing myself to experiment with different things. We saw good improvement when I stopped staring at my hands. That is a really ingrained habit for me, so it's not fully fixed but I'm trying. Obviously, every instructor ever tells you to look up but I suck. Part two is that in my efforts to weight my left seat bone, because Mort's crookedness throws me off to the other side, I just started leaning that way and collapsing the left side of my body. Weirdly, that was not the answer. Now I focus on it at the walk and maintain it in the upward transition. It's a lot easier for me to feel and keep, rather than try to find again. Of course, I'll want to get better at finding it in case it gets lost, but this is a start to help develop the feel at least. Part three is my darn left hand. It is definitely part of the culprit of Mort's left jaw problems. Though at this point, I'm not really sure which came first--chicken or egg. But, I get stuck in a rut of trying to soften and coerce him to go where I want by opening my left hand (no wrong) and positioning it down (wrong). So I get an almost straight elbow on that side and then just have my hand and wrist to work with. But the really hard part is that it FEELS like my hands are even, in spite of my left hand being lower than my right. I'm not sure why this didn't click earlier in life, but it clicked in yesterday's ride. I basically have to ride in a way that feels like my left hand is an inch or two above my right (it's not, my brain is just dumb). I got some amazing connection to the left after I figured that out. Mort was probably so relieved for me to finally understand. It will take a really long time for that to become habit and feel normal, but hopefully I can keep it up. While I hate that I didn't ride nearly as much this winter as I had hoped, there is always something positive about coming back to the basics. Not only does Mort's training improve because strong basics are the building blocks for everything. But I get to improve by experimenting with myself. Mort lets me know when I finally get it right by making things immediately easier. He would really make a great school horse for a more intermediate/advanced rider. He's as honest as the day is long. He'll tell on you for doing things wrong, but he'll immediately show off when you do things correctly. So for now we have a lot of transitions. Lots of changes of direction. Lots of bend and counter bend. Lots of stretching down. Some leg yields. A little bit of shoulder-in. I'm playing with more lateral work at the walk and I hope that comes back quickly in the other gaits as well. Oh, and we have a lesson scheduled this weekend, weather permitting! FINALLY.

Property Management

With keeping the boys at home comes all of the amazing-ness of 24/7 turnout and not having to feed much hay in the summers. But, as anyone who has kept horses knows, they are hard on pastures. They eat their favorite parts down to nothing while the more mature grasses get tough and ignored. Eventually this leads to the roots of their favorite grasses getting weak and dying. It also leads to weeds. They are heavy and run around tearing up any wet ground. So, in order to combat these issues I have three pastures and a dry lot. I get to control where they eat and give their favorite spots times of rest and re-growth. Of course, there are complications with this as well. Right now, I only have one run-in area for them--and that's in the dry lot. The lot opens to the 1st pasture, so when it's in rotation things are easy. But otherwise, that means I watch the weather like a hawk and move the boys accordingly. I want them on as close to 24/7 turnout and grazing as possible but I also don't want them caught out in a bad storm or tearing up my ground if it's extremely wet. But, I have outlined my basic rotation schedule down below. The 3rd pasture (which isn't even fenced yet, but should be this summer if all goes to plan) will have hay cut off of it before we graze it. That is a very common practice here in Missouri. The hay will go to the farmer who cuts it as he does round bales which I'm not interested in. But, in exchange he fertilized the hay field and my pastures this spring for "free". It's a great system for me as we don't yet have a tractor to do that sort of maintenance that the pastures require. I want the first and last growing months of the year to give the 1st pasture a rest. It's the pasture that they winter in, which means it needs the most TLC. I think next year will bring some inter-seeding in the higher traffic areas and the areas that we cleared on the fence line, but we should still have plenty of grass for the boys this summer. In total, I've got just about 7 acres which is plenty for two horses. January-March: 1st pasture & lot April: Fertilize pastures 2nd pasture Easing into 24/7 grazing as weather allows May: 1st pasture 24/7 turnout for Mort with Blue in the lot at night June: Mow beginning of month 2nd pasture 24/7 turnout as Blue's face allows July: 1st & 2nd pasture Days will be in 1st pasture with access to shed and fan Nights will be in 2nd pasture Days where it is 90+ they will be locked in lot August: Mow beginning/mid-month 1st & 2nd pasture Days will be in 1st pasture with access to shed and fan Nights will be in 2nd pasture Days where it is 90+ they will be locked in lot September: 3rd pasture October: 2nd & 3rd pasture November: 1st & 2nd pasture December: 1st pasture & lot

Down a Rabbit Hole

So, Mort has decided to stop cleaning up his feed. I'm not sure if it's because he's eating so much grass now. I'm not sure if he doesn't like the bug supplement. He's been on it for several summers, but he's on a different feed this summer that may not cover the flavor as much? It could be that he was fighting some gas colic with all the weather changes and lush grass. After going down several rabbit holes and talking with my vet and horse friends (and the internet), I've decided to change up his feed situation. He's shiny and acting normal. I've ridden him. He's active and attentive to life around him. He's pooping and peeing normally (though there was a day where I thought even his peeing was weird). Overall I guess he seems fine. I'd like a teeny bit more weight on him, but he's in no way embarrassing, just not quite dressage horse fit. I never really loved the SafeChoice, but it was available locally and had protein and starch and sugar levels I was happy with. However, I was unhappy with the fat levels so he had rice bran added back in for that. Then over the years his supplement list has gotten longer and longer. He started off with a hoof supplement. Then we had his ulcer issues a couple years ago. Then I had a stifle issue last summer. Over the years we've gotten to where I may need a support group called "supplements anonymous". The new feed has Stride 101 in it which is supposed to support hooves, hindgut and his skin and coat. The feed itself also has pro and prebiotics. That adding to the fact that I should theoretically need to feed a good bit less of it makes me feel good about his tummy and digestion. So I started looking into reducing some of his supplements as well! So here is a breakdown of what Mort is currently on: SafeChoice Special Care 3/4 of a scoop twice a day Protein - 14% Fiber - 17% Starch - 10% Fat - 7% Sugar - 3% Nutrena Empower Boost (rice bran): 1/4 scoop twice a day to add some fat into his diet that the Special Care was missing Protein - 12% Fiber - 8% Starch - 22% Fat - 22% Sugar - 4% SmartCombo Pellets (Skin/coat, hindgut, hooves, joint) G.U.T. (ulcer support) SmartBug-Off (he and Blue are on this April-September) And here is what I'm going to transition Mort to over the next month or so: Bluebonnet Intensify Omega Force: 1/2 scoop twice a day (I will need to weigh it to get a more accurate estimate on what he needs) Protein - 12% Fiber - 12% Starch - 10% Fat - 12% Sugar - 5% No rice bran G.U.T SmartBug-Off Equithrive Original Joint (one of the joint supplements that has scientific research behind it) His feed will go from $19/bag to $34/bag, so we're looking at $.38/lb versus $.68/lb. But I won't be buying rice bran and I'll be able to feed less of the feed itself. So we'll see how the costs shake out in the long run. And I'll also be saving about $20/month on supplements while adding a much nicer joint supplement versus the one he is currently on within the SmartCombo. So, that is a win there. I figured it was as good of a time as any to make some of these changes. We're not travelling or showing in the near future. He's got grass to help with any caloric or GI issues this may cause (hopefully none).