Adventures in Trail Riding

     Yesterday afternoon Mort and I headed out of the confines of the arena.  I wanted a fun, relaxing ride that was mentally easy but still had some purpose physically.  Luckily I board at a barn that has a really great system of trails.  Mort and I spent a good hour exploring some of those.  I love dressage and the challenges it brings, but there is something really freeing about riding a game horse in the woods.

     Mort has gotten better and better about being a trail horse.  Yesterday we explored new trails alone for the first time--places he and I had both never been.  He spent about 95% of the time boldly marching forward while on the buckle.  His ears were pricked the whole time and he listened to my voice and seat to help him navigate some of the steeper stuff.  Overall I think we both had a really good time and I was really proud of him.

     Now, you may be wondering about the 5% of the time when he wasn't being a perfect pony.  Even if you aren't, I'm gonna tell you about it.  Mort thinks that the water in the woods is made of acid.  There is a small stream that we cross on our regular trail that he usually doesn't worry about too much.  We walked by a couple puddles on the way into the woods that he went by with minimal issues--usually as long as I don't try to make him walk through the water he'll go around easily.  On our way out of the woods (the same way we took in so we had passed these puddles already) he had a little melt-down.  I'm not sure if they just surprised him as we turned the corner or if he didn't notice the path around them, but he shot backwards up the hill several steps before I got a handle on him.  Then came the project of getting him around the puddles.

     Once Mr. Mort gets into his spooked frame of mind it can take a minute to bring him back down to reality (reality being that the puddles aren't made of acid).  The approach that works best with him (and most horses--I realize I didn't come up with this method) is to put on pressure, but as soon as he takes even a half step let it off.  It breaks down what I want into two very simple options--forward gets release and backwards gets legs on.  Now, since he's a Mort, sometimes his mind takes a few seconds to catch up.  We had a few more backward runs up the hill and two rear-and-spin-away situations.  Eventually, I got him pointed to the path around the puddle and he leaped over it.  I let him know that forward was good, but I didn't want that to be the final answer.  We walked back into the woods and he only rushed by it.  Finally, our fourth time by it, he walked politely, albeit tensely.

     This whole process probably only took about ten minutes.  Instead of putting a damper on the otherwise successful and easy trail ride, I actually look at it with pride and affection.  Obviously we ended with him walking by it so that's a 'win'.  More importantly, this showed how we're learning to trust each other.  When I first got him his spooks were dramatic, and I didn't trust him enough to work through the issues.  I spent more than one attempted trail ride walking him from the ground.  I'm willing to stay on him and he's willing to come back from the brink of terror (acid water and all that).
     He's got a while to go before I stamp him beginner friendly, but he's a horse that I trust and that's not always a list that he's been on.  It's not that he's ever been truly awful, but I don't trust horses until I've known them a while (if they prove trustworthy).  I guess the moral of the story is that I'm glad our partnership is doing well.  He often comes up to me when I go out to catch him.  He always greets me with pricked ears when I say 'hello' in his stall.  And now he is learning to trust me to get us through the scary stuff instead of choosing to cut and run.  This got a little gushy--deal with it.

Working on Our Issues

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog front lately.  Mort and I have been working hard on being more even laterally.  He, like most horses favors a side and it is really hard for us to find ‘inside leg to outside hand’ while tracking left.  This is made even worse by that direction being my worse direction—with a left hand that doesn’t like letting go and a seat bone that prefers to hover.  As much as Mort and I have progressed in our training, I know that without getting better at this half-pass and flying changes (and everything) are going to be near impossible.  So we’ve been in boot camp for working on this issue. 

                We were getting to the point where he was relaxed in most of our work—to the point of being lazy (Mort is not a hot weather horse).  While this is great, when he’s relaxed I tend to let him be duller off of my aids.  Pretty much all of his transitions have slowed and happen a stride or two after I ask.  So while we’re working on being more even and through I’m also trying to work on him really jumping off of my aids.  I’ve got to find a balance of relaxing enough that we can enjoy each other when we’re not dressage-ing (trail rides and hacking with friends), but still alert enough that I’m not having to nag him all of the time.  Ask, tell, demand and a ton of different types of transitions. 

                With all of this going on Mort and I hadn’t had a really nice ride since the show.  We’d had good moments of course, but no ride where we were in sync and really understanding each other.  Thankfully yesterday that finally happened.  He still had some issues with pushing into the right rein and I still had issues sitting evenly on my seat, but overall it was a great ride.  He felt mainly uphill, his trot work was swinging, and I could turn him from his shoulders!  I also finally at least kept my hands really even which he clearly appreciated.  I’m sure we’re not done with the issues, but it was good to finally really see the light-bulbs going on. 

                Today the plan is to play in the field and on the trails.  We’ve been working so hard in the arena that I think we both need a break.  I’ll probably start him in the arena just enough to make him straight in the contact then go out and relax.  It’s supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny so the shade of the trails will feel great!

Enjoy some media from the show!  

Courtesy of Leah Strid Photography (http://www.dressagebarbie.com/)

Horse Show Re-cap

So, Mort and I showed this past weekend.  It was filled with both good and bad things but not a lot in between. 

The Good:

This was Mort’s first show alone.  He’s been to two clinics alone, but we got stalls for those.  Saturday he tied quietly to the trailer and was 100% trustworthy munching hay. 

He warmed-up lovely.  He had some energy, but still had half-halts and was very attentive to me.  The warm-up was outside and it was both hot and very windy; in spite of these conditions he came to play. 

He’s really starting to understand lengthenings.  He’s still uneven in the trot and they can’t be considered a medium yet, but he is understanding the task. 

He was not dumpy and on the forehand in the canter lengthens like he was last show. 

Our second test was better than our first. 

I actually had to really ride him.  This is good for me, because sometimes I forget to be proactive while I’m riding tests. 

The Bad:

Tension and looking were very prevalent in both of our tests.  For some reason Mort decided that he didn’t like the indoor.  He was very hard to focus, especially near any of the open doors or near the judge. 

Much of our trot work was very tight over the topline and his stride was about two inches long. 

He was against my hands a lot (because I was rudely asking him to not gawk at everything). 

I definitely ‘lost’ him a few times.  He spooked a few times at the judge’s table.  He spooked at a poop pile along the rail (he always complains about having to step in poop). 

Inconsistent was our middle name.  We did have good moments in with the bad, but they were all mixed in every few strides. 

The Reality:

I have a horse who I can throw in a trailer and hop on with no lunging.  In spite of a lot of tension, we still pulled a 64% and a 65% our second time showing first level.  I should have planned to get there over the lunch break and walked him in the show arena (I thought we’d be fine because we didn’t have any problems here last year).  He’s a horse, and even though we walked up to the judge with loose reins and talked to her after the first test the judge was still terrifying every time we passed in the second test. 

These disappointments are frustrating.  It’s embarrassing to show up and not look like I’ve put in the time and effort that showing requires.  It’s no fun to get someplace new and look like you’re asking too much of your horse.  But in the end of the day horses are horses.  Mort is a good boy and this was only our fourth show together over the last 1.75 years.  He gave me solid work outside and stayed with me as best as his brain would allow inside.  That’s all I can ask and I’ll continue to work on building our trust and focus slowly at home.  

Plugging Away

     I haven't had much to say for a minute.  It's not to mean that I haven't been playing with my favorite four-legged guy, I just haven't felt that we've had anything spectacular (or awful) to write about.

     It was rainy for a good two weeks--Mort got stuck inside a lot.  Only the indoor was available which meant a lot of arena-sharing (and I'm a selfish dressage human who wants to do more than ride along the rail).  Mort kept his sanity and I held in my frustrations.  We worked on the things that we always work on plus a few newer items.

     I want him more "inside leg to outside hand" especially tracking left.  I want less tension in the canter transitions.  We've played with some poles--something he really is getting good with.  We've started walk to canter transitions.  I've ridden bareback a few times.  Now that the rain has stopped we've hit the trails a couple times.  He lost a shoe; we found the shoe.

     Every ride I work hard to push him in some way but maintain a happy, relaxed horse who continues to improve and expand his comfort zone.  Mort is really getting to be a fun, adjustable horse and I'm enjoying our journey together, but that's not always exciting blog fodder.

     We have another schooling show this weekend.  I'm signed up for First 1 and First 2.  I'd potentially like to push for a bit more flash in his gaits.  I need to ask for more stretch in the stretchy trot and more angle in the leg yields.  It is a facility that we have only been to one other time (the same schooling show last year), but it was a nice organization with a fun show.  Hopefully Mort brings some of his firecracker personality, but only enough to get pretty gaits and not enough to get too expressive in those canter transitions.

2017 Goals 2.0

     I looked back at my 2017 goals post and since I’ve knocked off several I feel like I need to reassess and potentially add more and modify others.  I may end up being more of a “Quarterly Goals” type of person rather than “Yearly”.  We’ll see how Mort and I handle these!

Horse Related:

Show First Level

     Schooling show or recognized 

     I think the updated goal will be to show first at a recognized show.
Counter Canter

     This is still a goal, but updated to make it more complicated.  I want his counter canter to be adjustable and uphill. 
Simple Changes

     Also in this are walk to canter and canter to walk transitions. 

Haunches-in

     We’re starting our work on this.  He’s starting to understand it at the walk.  Goal will be to have it at w/t/c within the year. 

Attend a dressage clinic

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

     I’ve gone to two so far this year.  I’d like to do about four over the whole year.   

Train Mort to be quiet for clipping

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

     I’ve been working on this and will continue to.  He’s getting better, but still really worries about the left ear. 

Poles

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

     We’re getting better.   He can now tackle a single pole on the ground w/t/c—add raised poles and three in a row.

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. 

     Done—he likes massage and I will continue to utilize it. 

Flying Changes

     I want to introduce these to him and then back off and not play with them again until we’re really established in second level work and wanting to move to third.

Medium Gaits

     I want to really get a medium (maybe even extended) trot and canter versus just lengthens. 

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

     Demand more only when I think it will be successful OR when he needs it for balance/schooling

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

     Ride more effectively—sitting up with a strong core. 

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. 

Show Recap

Mort and I debuted together at training level and first level this weekend.  He broke both of his maidens with a 70% and 67%.  My goals for this show were to see where we were in show situations, so him doing that well was above and beyond.  My other two goals were to play with big, fun movement in training level.  And I wanted, calm and obedient in first level.  I should have come up with tougher goals—and I’m sure I will next time—because I think we accomplished those well enough. 

When I hopped on for our first warm-up I definitely had more horse under me than at home.  My original warm-up plan was to rev him up enough to be ‘fancy’ in training level.  I quickly decided that re-installing the half halt was probably more in line with what we needed to work on.  We did some big trot work and a handful of canter transitions.  He finally settled enough that he would walk on a loose rein for me (unless someone walked by or another horse started talking) it was pretty much time to show. 

Mort gave me some really good connection and powered well from behind.  I probably could have pushed for more, but I think I would have gotten some tension with it.  I was pretty happy with our trot work.  He didn’t stretch down for our stretchy trot circle as well as at home, but I think part of it was my fault for being too defensive in my riding.  Our walk work was acceptable, though I want more in the free walk.  I know that he has an awesome swingy walk in him, I’ve just got to find a way to release it during a test.  Our canter work was fair; I got a fun comment of “unfortunate canter depart’ which I cannot disagree with at all.  I am happy with how he stayed with me and had some reasonable bend in the left lead.  We pulled a 70% which I was pleasantly surprised with. 

The second warm-up plan was to get some of that extra energy out so that his little brain could get back in his head, but I think I pushed too far.  He was awesome for me in the warm-up and we had a couple of really fun lengthenings in both trot and canter.  He was really in the bridle and moving off of my legs well.  But a combination of me over-shooting the warm-up by about five minutes and the show falling behind schedule by a little over five minutes (there was a loose horse) we had a good ten minutes to kill with loose rein walking.  Obviously this wasn’t ideal, but Mr. Mort was game enough anyway when it came to test time. 

I rode mainly sitting trot in our first level test, which helped keep him more with me.  The lengthen trots were mediocre, noticeable but nothing special.  I felt like I had about a year and a half for our leg yields since I’m used to asking for a lot more steepness at home.  This left us with what felt like not a lot of angle—definitely go straight longer next time.  Our walk work was about the same quality as it was in the other test.  The canter got no “unfortunate” comments.  He was with me and listening.  The lengthens were on the forehand and the transition back to working canter was a muddled along in the corner.  He also wanted to step around in the halt, but did settle to be square finally.  We earned a 67% in this test which I was of course happy with as well. 

Overall I think this show went really well.  Mort showed me where he was mentally and physically.  I got a better idea of what type of warm-up that I need and what items we need to keep working on.  Watching the videos and paying attention to my riding was a bit painful.  Since Mort was such a handful at first, I went into defensive riding mode, which means super crouched forward with my upper body.  Strangely this doesn’t help keep him off of his forehand or think half halt.  I need to focus more on my riding and it will definitely be a goal for our next show. 

Stay tuned for some updated goals.  

Alternative Therapies

Disclaimer:  These are my opinions and experiences.  I am not a vet.  I have conducted no studies.  These opinions and experiences may/will change over time. 

I know that there are a lot of different opinions on “body work” or “alternative medicine” out there in the horse world.  I definitely don’t think that all of the options are good for all of the horses.  There are a few therapies that I am not personally impressed with, but I think several of these therapies do show some real results.  I have personal experience with chiro, acupuncture, and massage (all for my horses, never had any of these on myself), so those are the three that I will be discussing.  

We had an amazing vet back in Indiana.  She was well-versed in traditional medicine and some of the alternative medicines.  She was practical and would discuss the pros and cons of the options she knew.  We utilized her for chiro twice (when Fred slipped in the trailer and messed up his hip) and acupuncture once. 

I know chiro is quite controversial as to whether it does anything at all.  I have seen horses change for the better and worse after a chiro appointment, so I think that it does do something, but that it’s not always the best option.  It helped Fred get back to normal, but it isn’t a good option for Mort (at least right now).  Mort’s first appointment caused him to become lame.  I believe this stemmed from him (probably) never having one before and his tension.  He is a sensitive fellow and finds chiro very offensive.  You can see him resisting it all and when that’s happening I don’t find chiro a good option at all.  Best case scenario it does nothing, but it can cause more problems as it did in Mort.  I will admit that I called the chiropractor back out and he helped fix the lameness that the original work caused. 

For tense horses who may have a lot of ‘misalignments’ I think chiro can be risky/not helpful.  Too much change at once can cause issues to any horse.  Tension can cause chiro to be ineffective.  I may try it again for Mort if I’m struggling with something, but it probably won’t be my first choice at this time.  

The acupuncture was really interesting to me, though I fully admit I probably haven’t researched it enough to make a real opinion.  Fred was colicing so we called our vet out.  We did traditional treatments, and while we were waiting she suggested we try acupuncture.  You could visibly see most of the tension leave his body once she started sticking him. 

After Fred was better the vet started pulling out the needles, but a few hadn’t ‘let go’.  Weird.  The vet explained (and let me feel) how the needles went in and out.  Essentially you start them in the correct place and they sorta get sucked in to where they need to go.  Then they stay there until they get released.  She left with a few needles still in Fred with instructions for me to test them every once in a while.  When they were ready they would slide right out.  And they did.  It was so cool, even though I don’t know why that happens.  One in the base of his neck was particularly slow to let go, but once it did slip on out it had two large kinks in it.  Apparently he had some issues there that needed to work themselves out.  

I don’t know enough about the methods or theories behind acupuncture.  I don’t know that it did anything that the traditional medicines wouldn’t do.  Fred reacted positively.  It was really cool.  I’d probably try it again, but it’s clearly not something that I use often as I haven’t used it since. 

The go-to therapy that I think works best for Mort is massage.  I’m not sure this one is controversial as I think everyone enjoys a good shoulder rub, and deep tissue massage is a very common therapy for people.  Since Mort is so sensitive it did take him a couple times before he ‘got’ the concept of massage, but he really seems to enjoy them now.  He gives visible releases (yawning, licking and chewing, glazed eyes, etc.).  His most recent massage he even started really leaning into her hands with his hind end to make sure she was getting where he wanted.  To me, there is no doubt that he enjoys it. 

I believe massage is positive in many ways.  It gives my sensitive, active horse a time to chill and relax.  I ask him for hard work and his muscling has changed tremendously and it will continue to change.  The only way this is happening is through some sore, worked muscles.  I will continue to utilize massage therapy for Mort.