Summary of the last two weeks

Last week went pretty well riding-wise. We did some basic flatwork western-style on Monday, including a little cantering and a trot pole, lunge work on Tuesday, English walk-trot flatwork Wednesday.

Why do I have to work in the mud?

Charlie seems less stiff overall each day, which is good, but his feet have been bothering him with this soft wet ground. I've been treating them with Farrier's Fix and thrush medication on his front right (it's a pretty minor case, and my farrier cut away most of it when he was here, but Charlie is still tender on that foot). I plan on getting some Farrier Barrier, as recommended by my farrier, soon to hopefully help with the moisture issue.

My jury rigged bareback pad with a butt strap to encourage tucking worked surprisingly well

I've also been able to isolate a small problem spot along Charlie's ribs on the right, right around the girth area, that is definitely sore. His right side has always been touchy, but previous physicals didn't show anything. I'm thinking he may have gotten himself kicked at some point in the past month or so and is still healing. I wouldn't put it past him. Or maybe he sleeps on that side more than the left and gets achey. The vet is coming next week for spring shots and I'll make sure to mention it to him.

April 2014 conformation. Not horrible for having the whole winter off.

The highlight of last week, though, was definitely trail riding next to a couple of deer. We came across them after exploring the back field, and though the two deer shot out from behind a brush pile not ten feet from us, startling both myself and Charlie, no one took off for the hills.

The initial staredown

Actually, we calmly watched each other for maybe a minute before Charlie and I decided to continue down the trail. We had to walk directly toward the deer to go home, and they sidestepped a few paces but weren't really spooked, opting to parallel our path and study us instead, ears flicking and nostrils going crazy. At one point they let us get within ten feet or so. I'm sure they were trying to figure out what that weird growth was on Charlie's back. It was kind of surreal to get that close without them running away, and I'm not used to a horse that is this ok with deer!

Unlike last week, this week was kind of a loss. Upon returning from vacation it has been nothing but rainy and miserable outside. I managed to squeeze in one ride yesterday in the middle of a light drizzle, but that was it.

Misty, rainy mess

Charlie has become extremely good at standing while I work around him

Working it out

Over the past two weeks I've been easing back into riding with Charlie. If you remember, he'd been somewhat off and I was worried about saddle fit or him having played a little too rough outside with his friends, basically got myself all worked up that he's either hurt or that my saddle is broken, yada yada yada....

What? A growing, healing boy needs sustenance!

But I want to ride my horse, darn it, and all I can see every day is his neck and topline - which I worked so hard to start building up - wasting away even over just the last month (seriously, how can all that hard work disappear so fast???). So I said screw it. I want to ride. And you know what? It's actually been going ok. 

When I flex you can still see my muscles...

Looking back, Charlie started acting out right around when I was finally getting him to start using himself correctly. And then I gave up the basics in favor of doing some fun stuff. This makes me think 1) he didn't like how tired he got when I asked him to actually work, 2) he was sore from using his back and neck in new ways, and 3) I was too eager to do fun things like jump and gallop and neglected to continue to properly condition him because, well, it's boring to just trot trot trot....

So my new goal is to keep Charlie busy, changing it up each day so that both he and I don't get bored, but making sure to focus on some core strengthening too: open lunging, stretching(!), long lines with my new surcingle (thanks, Emily!), and of course some riding.

Long lines one day...

Fun round pen open lunging and playing with tarps another...

Yay! Finally a ride!

Loving the side reins right now!

Definitely going to be doing more of this.

This time my focus is on making everything quality. I'm going to really work to get Charlie long and low for extended periods, correcting him if he starts to hollow out. After all this is a barn, not a zoo; no giraffes allowed. Hopefully it will be something that starts to feel natural to Charlie and after awhile I won't have to work so hard at it. I've never had a horse this long-bodied before and difficult to package.

I think the side reins are going to be my new best friend. After just five minutes with them earlier this week, Charlie's back was lifting, his neck was softening, and we had some glorious slobber going on (only a horse person would be excited about that). Plus Charlie knows open lunging really well, so I can work him in the side reins in the round pen without a line.

He licked a lot of it off but we do have slobber! Success!

I do think there is something up with Charlie's right side, maybe a rib out of place, since he's still more sensitive than usual about being brushed over there, but since I don't have the money to have a chiro out right now I've decided to just try to work it out the best I can with stretching on the ground and from the saddle.

Luckily Charlie tolerates stretching and will let me do all kinds of pulling, pushing, prodding. And he loves carrot stretches. Anything for food. I think I could make him roll over like a dog if I really tried...

Mine!

Aaaaaannd gotcha!

Sneaky carrot, hiding way down there.

Hopefully this renewed focus and determination will last so I can enjoy much more saddle time with a happy, comfortable horse :)

A rare sight: everyone at the barn together, enjoying a ride

Work, work, work

Not much is new to report with Charlie as for the past couple of weeks my life has been pretty centered around my job, leaving limited time and energy for the barn. The veterinary hospital where I work has been going through a lot of changes recently, adding several new staff members and additional services (including late night and weekend ER services). As Client Service Team Lead that leaves a lot of the front end training on my shoulders which, with a practice that is already very busy, is a bit stressful. Additionally, I have been working on completely revamping their website to coincide with all of these changes so that kept me busy as well, both at work and at home, in order to get everything up and running in time.

In horsey news Charlie has started his spring shed, a little later than everyone else it seems, and all the horses at the barn are definitely feeling the coming of springtime and enjoying a renewed sense of energy with the warmer weather over the past few days. Wednesday was the first truly nice day we've had in awhile and all the horses were certainly looking forward to getting out in the sunshine. Every one of them gave me a hard time at turnout, even the usually calmer ones. Charlie was no exception; he was literally dancing in place in his stall he was so excited. Not behavior I'd normally be proud of, but I was proud in that he did not let his excitement take over and bowl me over to barrel out the door. Instead he was able to listen and keep himself in check long enough to take a few breaths and regain control, and then he lowered his head to walk out calmly (well, calmly enough. I still had to use a chain). Once I turned him out he had a good roll and then squealed and kicked his heels up so high I thought he would crack his back.

I opted not to push my luck and try riding the crazy devil that day. Instead we did a short lunge session where I just asked for walk-trot transitions. I expected some wild and crazy buck sessions but surprisingly, despite some grunting, he listened well. After we had accomplished several decent transitions he was licking his lips and lowering his head so we called it a day. I believe not every session is about how long you work, and I wasn't interested in pushing him far enough to initiate a fight.

Actually, I haven't really been riding Charlie all that much (although it's making me a little crazy). I'm slightly concerned because he's been getting girthy, biting at the saddle when I tack up as well as when I brush him (particularly on the right side) and if I do get on and ride for a little while he often will try to bite at my feet. I don't know whether it is discomfort or just obstinance, so I have a call in to Dr. Katz for a chiropractic evaluation and saddle fitting. If all turns out ok then I will push through the tantrums and treat his outbursts as purely behavioral things but, if not, then there's no point in riding until he's feeling more comfortable. We'll see what the Doc says. Hopefully he can come out within the next week.

We Ride Again!

I RODE MY HORSE!!! :)

And I mean for real. I had gotten on Charlie this weekend for the first time in a couple of months, but all I did was walk around to cool him down after a crazy lunge session, so that doesn't really count. Then I rode on Monday (about 50:50 in terms of lunge:ride time) and he was full of it. I think he was sore from all his shenanigans over the weekend (see video 1), but since it wasn't exactly the "proud mom moment" my excitement was dashed (and the videos didn't process quickly enough) so I held off on posting....

I'm not going to lie, today was not uneventful - we didn't do more than walk and trot around - but boy was I proud (of both of us), and what a change from just this weekend! Here is a brief overview:

3/3/13 This is what happens when you go on vacation and give your green TB two weeks off:

3/4/13 We worked through that this weekend and by Monday I had a "semi" rideable horse (please ignore my abysmal not-yet-in-riding-shape posture, especially during the rearing episode around 0:18...):

After a bit of work:

3/6/13 By Wednesday, I was determined to ride and really push through Charlie's quirks and antics. Yes, he is horrible at turns and my defensive position really needs some work but, hey!, we are riding!

Night and Day

Hello again after the blizzard! It was a bit of a chilly weekend for us (about 48 in the house by our best guess) and we mostly stayed cooped up by the fire trying to conserve heat. Dan's brother lives just down the road in town and had rigged a car battery to provide heat to his house (and he's on city water), so we escaped there for a little bit on Saturday once the snow slowed down to take showers, warm up and charge our phones. We finally got power back on Sunday afternoon.

The barn was luckier than us and was actually up and running, at least water and electricity-wise, by Saturday morning. Sunday, once the snow stopped and the sun came out, everyone spent the day digging themselves out. By Monday the weather had shifted to a gross soaking rain...all day....which managed to get rid of a lot of the snow (plus) but also make it pretty slushy and icy over what was left (definite negative). Luckily Tuesday was warm again and sunny, in the 40s, so what had iced overnight melted away, leaving behind only about 6-8 inches of remaining snow.

This whole cycle made turnout really limited, essentially nothing between Friday and Tuesday until they could snowblow paths out to the paddocks, so I expected that when I finally made it out to see Charlie on Wednesday morning he would be really amped up and I'd be in for a spectacular show. Quite the opposite. Night and day! That's the best way to describe the change in Charlie's behavior. I chalk a lot of it up to the Vitacalm, which he's been on for about a week now, although I was seeing progress before so at least a small portion must be due to us getting to know each other and learning to work together. Anyway, there's not much more to say right now other than I am very happy as I am starting to see the old Charlie that I met that very first day back in October. I now have a horse with a brain, and that I can work with :) I hope to be posting actual riding pictures very soon!

Trying to get February's conformation shot...

A bit better...hoping to be working under saddle very soon to fill out that topline

Kisses for the good boy :)

Very happy :)

Lunging Success

Little by little over the past week or so I've started adding more "extras" to my groundwork with Charlie in an attempt to slowly keep adding one more potential "meltdown-maker" to the mix until we are ready to actually ride together. It's been going really well. He's pretty comfortable leaving my space alone now and will not run into the center of the circle when lunging. He also has gotten exponentially better at lowering his head and allowing his person to lead, walking calmly alongside. This past weekend I finally added tack to the mix :)

I reaaallly wish I could say that I have ridden him but I haven't...yet...I really want to but I keep reminding myself that it will be better in the end if I lay a good foundation and really make sure he 100% responds the way I want to various pressures and experiences. That first day I tacked him up as if we were going to ride but with the intention of just seeing how he responded to having a saddle on his back again. Charlie was not impressed with the stirrups bouncing on his sides or the fact that I was asking for all kinds of transitions and making him work so he did let out a few good bucks. I just continued working him through it figuring he has to get used to it at some point. Every time he got fed up or frustrated and tried to buck or rear I stayed calm, applied strong downward pressure to the line (but leading in the direction I wanted him to go) and drove him forward. Then, if he did what I asked, I laid off. My idea was if he is moving forward then he can't be stopping or going up so let's make forward the only way "out". Also, every time he acted up I made him work; when he was good I allowed him to rest. He caught on pretty quick, especially since I also focused on tightening the circle every time he sped up or acted up and expanded it when he was good. He hated that part. It was a trying session for both of us but by the end there was a LOT of lip licking and head lowering. For the first time I felt these tactics that I've been trying to implement all along actually worked and sunk in. Success! :)

Then yesterday Charlie was a DREAM! Maybe not compared to a perfectly trained show horse but boy was it a 180 from what he was just a few weeks ago. For the first time he walked, trotted and cantered on an easy circle without freaking out and he listened to every command to either speed up or slow down calmly and without complaint. At no point was he rocketing around me like a crazy horse or was his trot infringing on my personal space. Previously, when asked to "whoa", Charlie would plow on like he had no clue I was there and it would be a battle to move his hind end out and get him to turn in and stop (and when he did he'd come rushing right into the center of the circle on top of me). Not yesterday.

He did buck/kick out twice, but nothing outrageous. I think that was mostly because I was working him in his new quarter sheet to get him used to it (so chic by the way! Thanks Kate!) and there was a buckle that rattled and smacked him in the butt when he picked up the canter. I ended up stopping after only 20 minutes or so of work because I was just so proud and happy with the progress and how good he was being; I wanted to end on a good note. I really hope that this might mark a turnaround for us and we can start making some real progress. I have also started him on Vitacalm, which will hopefully help take some of the edge off so he has an easier time focusing and allow me to get back in the saddle a little sooner.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get a pretty decent Nor'easter over here in Rhode Island - to the tune of 1-2+ feet of snow. I stopped by the barn after work today to check in on Charlie and make sure he was ready to weather the storm since there's a good chance I may not see him for a couple of days. Good thing I got those snow shoes!

Snow? What snow?