Mystery Solved, or, I Suck

WELL.

I got on Lex again today, and she was immediately like "I AM A DRAGON AND I KILL EVERYTHING WITH FIRE!" So I sat it out for five minutes, got off, and burst into tears, sure that I had ruined my horse. I walked dejectedly back to the wash rack and Barn Mate S pulled Lex's saddle off and immediately identified a slight swelling on the right side of her back, like she'd been kicked or run into something, or whatever. The right side of her back REALLY hurts, y'all.

I am a dummy. Minus 10 horsemanship points for me.

So, that's what's going on here. It's not the ring, necessarily, although I bet that doesn't help. Something hurt her, and I probably won't be able to figure out what, so now it's just onto treatment. I put some poultice on her back and gave her some Bute, but the little girl doesn't even want to go into the wash rack because she's anticipating the saddle. I'm going to give her a week off, at least, but during that week, we'll go into the wash rack every day and I'll feed her lots of cookies and then let her hand graze. I just hope that whatever this is, she recovers from it and goes back to being happy under saddle. I feel like a monster.

In other news, my boss at the lesson farm just brought in a six year old Friesian/TB cross for me to play around with, so I'm really excited about that. He's very cute and looks a lot like Fynn, the three year old I've worked with a couple times. I will have plenty of horses to ride while Lex is on the mend.

Here is a cute picture, in case anyone needs one. I know I do.

TJ meets my nephew via my mom.

"Paying attention, good. Worrying, bad..."

"...Listening and learning, good. Freaking out, bad."

So said my smart and thoughtful Trainer Chris when I e-mailed him about Lex's recent mood swings. Which, honestly, aren't bad. I'm just trying to figure her out and what makes her tick.

I wrote a few days ago that Lex clearly does not want to go in the ring. I gave her Saturday off to go to the show with Chris, which was rewarding. I ran my ideas for helping her by him, and he thought they sounded reasonable. We watched some pretty "whatever" riding over a very badly-designed course, but I really liked getting the chance to hang out with Chris and Susan. They are smart people who clearly care a lot about animals. Anyway, on Sunday we were able to take a really fun hack with Lovely Barn Mate S and her horse, Izzy, who came from the vet school, just like Lex. S just started Izzy under saddle and she was a very good girl. Lex and I had a lot of fun with them and she was AWESOME. A little fresh and forward, but I love a fresh and forward horse. I'd rather say "okayyyyy let's just settle ourselves down a little" than worry that my horse is being sluggish because she's unhappy. So, YAY for Sunday.

Monday she got the day off again, except to get smooches and treats from her adoring human. Tuesday, though. Whew.

Things started out okay on Tuesday as we walked around in the ring a little. It had been raining all night, so the sand in the horrible ring was really nicely packed. I thought this might be a good day to do a little bit of trotting in the ring and maybe hop over our tiny cross-rail again. NOOOOOPE. The trot started out fine, but as we went along she got more rushy and ear-pinny and got kind of a hitch in her back - all of this is new for her. She was downright unhappy. I brought her back to the walk and she was fine. I took her out of the ring, and she was just weird. S was there to feed, so we took turns jogging her and watching her go, and neither of us could see anything wrong, but things were definitely NQR. I got back on to just walk her around, and she seemed upset. After a short walk around, during which time she relaxed, we stood around and talked to S, who scratched her ears (she LOVES that) and cooed over her. Eventually she looked more like my reasonable, sweet horse.

The mare was not trying to be naughty. She was hurting. I was really bummed out about it, especially because I couldn't figure it out. The good news is, my brilliant, wonderful farrier was coming out to work on Duchess later in the afternoon, so I texted her and she agreed to look at Lex also. She and I went over her with a fine-tooth comb (and she gave me a thorough course in hoof-testing and how to hold the hoof like a real farrier, which was awesome). The mare isn't lame at all, I was relieved to learn. In fact, she trots really beautifully - even in hand, she's got suspension. Soooo fancy!

Here's what I'm thinking:

1. She's sore. She is fine trotting out in the field, but the ring makes her hunchy because it's small and the footing sux. It would be great if the barn owners would drag it every once and again, but even then, I doubt that would fix the problem. Lana The WonderFarrier agrees with me that this is probably behind her weird behavior yesterday. So she got today off (except for smooches, hugs, and a good thirty minutes of hand-grazing) and tomorrow we will hack around the field and take it slow. We're not in a hurry.

2. She could be in heat - I don't know her very well yet, I haven't pinned down her cycles. I didn't notice any other typical signs, but I'll definitely keep observing her carefully.

3. I started the ride with Thinline neoprene boots on. Something in the back of my mind is wondering about whether she hates them/has issues with neoprene. I'll leave them off and see what happens. Even if she doesn't have a neoprene sensitivity, if she was sore and/or in heat AND the boots are annoying her, that could lead to some cranky behavior. I took them off, though, and nothing changed.

4. She's dropped weight. The barn owners stopped feeding the big round bales "now that we have grass" (what grass? It's a sparse, sandy field - they used to have grass, apparently, but there's not much there now) and so I'm gonna up her feed, especially forage, and try to get a little bit of the weight back on. I know I'm a shithead when I haven't been getting enough food. So the pretty girl gets to come in for morning feedings and she is very happy about that!

Today she was in a good mood. My gut says that she's sore and developed a complex about the ring. I'm done with that stupid ring. It sucks because now I don't have a level surface to ride on and I'm gonna have a hard time training a green horse with no flat ground or good footing. I'm bummed out about it.

The good news, though, is that I have had my little girl for two months today!!! I love her so much. Our recent couple of odd rides are nothing. She is a delight to be around, lots of fun to ride, and just brightens my day every day. If we run into some rough patches, well, that's horses, and Chris is just a phone call away. I can't wait for our ride tomorrow.

I rode Duchess today, and she was such a good girl. I am crazy about this horse! She's essentially had over two months off and you'd never know it. Perfect mare. Of course, she's 20, so she's got no excuses to be silly, but she's as forward and happy as ever!

Look at that beautiful face. I am lucky to have these mares!

 Lex stood under a tree and watched the ride! It was hilarious. I wonder if she was confused, or if she was entertained to watch me torture another pony, or if Duchess was giving her pointers about how to train me properly.

Wait... what? Why are you on that horse?

Chillin' like a masked villain.

 I think she looks a little thin in these pictures, especially if you look at her hindquarters. She has a big ribcage, which is deceptive when it comes to weight. I'm not worried, we'll get her a little bit buffed up. Her coat is still glossy.

And speaking of coats, check out this handsome guy! My friend Megan, who lives above K's barn, called me this morning to have me go look at Bubba. He got a hair cut! I am SO relieved. The other day, when Megan and I were bringing the horses in, he was panting. There isn't a lot of shade in his paddock and his coat was bananas, even after I spent all that time shedding him out. He looks like he feels so, so much better now.

And here's a picture of Rocket, just because!

I AM going to get my whole head over this door!

I hope everyone else has been having a good week!

A Quick Gripe

I'm sure I'll have some fun horsey news later today, but right now I'm trying to join the USEF as a non-competing member (liability insurance, y'all, and I'm hoping to upgrade to competing member next year). But even this process is gender-laden. You have to pick a title, for one - I picked "other," and I'm really glad I'm getting my PhD, because soon my title can just be "Dr." and I won't have to deal with the icky Mr./Ms./Mrs./Miss situation. I don't like any of those for myself.

Sidenote: A couple years ago when I was applying for a SunPass so I don't have to stop at every tollbooth and add 45 minutes to a 5-hour drive to Miami, I chose the title Rev. I always appreciate an opportunity for irreverence.

Anyway, I selected "other," which is fine, as Dr. wasn't an option and I don't have that damn dissertation finished anyway. But then I found that you have to select male or female.

AUUUUUUGH WHY.

Is it really that important? And can't they supply an "other" option there, as well? Or even "Prefer Not to Say"? I'll write them an e-mail about it, but for now, I'm just going to have to pick. It's not that I'm caught between them, it's that neither really feels right.

Sidenote 2: You know how you don't have to pick a gender on Facebook? That's because of my AWESOME friend Casey (partner to Wonderful Cori, who took the photos and videos of me riding Lex awhile back). Casey started a campaign to get Facebook to drop the unnecessary gender identification, and it worked. I find this story incredibly empowering.

And while we're on the topic: I noticed that the forms new riders have to fill out at my lesson farm have "mother" and "father" on the entry. Since my boss there is so stinkin' cool, I think I'll ask her about that - maybe "Parent 1" and "Parent 2," since many kids have gay parents, or only one parent, or whatever. I think Boss Lady will be into it when I bring it up, because she is outstanding.

Okay, rant over. I'm gonna go teach lessons now and then see my pretty horse later this evening, so it'll be a good day, gender nonsense aside.

Clear Communication

Part of good riding is listening to what your horse is telling you. Today, Lex said loud and clear, "I do not want to go in that ring."

I started the ride with a few minutes of lunging. She balked at the ring entrance but went in without too much urging on my part. I probably should have skipped the lunging. She behaved, but I could tell that it was a little hard on her, so I called it quits after getting a decent trot each direction. I hopped on, walked one lap of the ring on a loose rein, and then headed for the fields. It was a night and day shift in her attitude. She went from being kinda glum-looking to being delighted to be out riding. She pricked her ears, admired the beautiful egrets that were all over the fields today (oh, Florida, I love you), and enjoyed trotting around. She went from sluggish to sparkly. We hacked all over the place, and I even let her gallop up one hill. I was very careful not to pick up any contact for her to lean into, so she didn't really get going, and came back nicely when I asked her to.

Happy ears!

We even ventured out into the field we haven't spent much time in - the only other time I rode her out there was when we hacked with Susannah and Belle. But she seemed to enjoy the excursion and didn't even mind when we got out of sight of all the other horses (although she DID want to trot back and we had to talk about how I get to pick the gaits).

Saying hi to Baron and Winnie as we cruise by in a power-walk!

Then, after we rode around for awhile, I figured we could just walk back into the ring, maybe do a trot circle or two. We got to the ring, and she balked again. At my light urging, she went in, but broke into a trot. I gently brought her back to a walk, dropped the reins, and just let her stretch out. We did one lap, walked back out, wandered around for a couple more minutes, and I got off.

So the ring thing is a little befuddling in its source, but she couldn't have been more clear about her feelings if she had spoken English. I'm guessing it's that the footing is deep in there and she has to work very hard to stay forward and balanced. In fact, she can't stay balanced well, especially to the right. I'm wondering if she's more freaked out by the lack of balance than she lets on. I think she's actually kind of stoic in some ways: when I first brought her to the farm, she explored and never panicked or anything, but she didn't touch her grain for two days. She also went off her feed when she got her rabies shot, but never acted like she didn't feel good otherwise. So maybe she didn't have anything nasty to say in the moment about how she wasn't enjoying work in the ring, but it's coming up in her resistance today. Or! Maybe she doesn't object to the ring on principle, but she's sore and tired today. That would make sense to me, because she did work hard yesterday, and she's smart enough to know that the ring is where it's hard for her to work.

I'm turning myself inside out to do right by this horse. On the one hand, I'm glad she's telling me what she can and can't do. On the other hand, I'm hoping really hard that she can get to the point where she's happy to work in a ring - maybe a bigger one, with better footing, and with more interesting exercises. We haven't been riding long enough for her to have gotten sour to the whole idea of work yet. It's been about a month of pretty light work. But I think she could get sour, and that is something I desperately want to avoid.

So here is my plan - feel free to chime in with your thoughts:

1. Chris and I already agreed that she would work hard Thursdays and Sundays, and get Mondays off. The other days are for less-hard work. So Thursdays and Sundays, we will do at least 10-15 minutes of real work in the ring and fill out the hour on the grass. That balance may tip towards more ring time on those two days as she gets stronger and more balanced.

2. Mondays off, as planned. I'm also going to give her tomorrow off, because I'm going to check out a horse show with Chris for a couple of hours in the morning, and because she was a very good girl today.

3. On days that aren't Thursdays, Sundays, or Mondays, I'll feel it out. But I'm not only going to ride her in the ring when she's working hard. That won't solve anything. I might do the warmup and cool out walks in the ring, and give her breaks in the ring, and do the conditioning work or whatever it is we're working on that day in the fields. Work in the field, rest in the ring - seems like that could work, right?

4. CARROTS.

Thoughts?

A Big Day for the Little Mare!

Okay, forget everything I said yesterday! Lex is fine and perfect and I think I was just psyching myself out because I was worried about the lesson today, that we'd have to do something Lex wasn't ready for, or something. Well! No need to be concerned. It was excellent.

We rode in the ring today (and I was chastised for not dragging it, but... it ain't my tractor, though I didn't want to make excuses). Chris let me warm her up on a loopy rein but then had me pick up a bit more contact, which she accepted well. Then he would ask me to do things we haven't worked on, like trot lengthenings (NAILED. IT.), sitting trot (confusing to her, because she wasn't sure if we were supposed to walk or not, and I have GOT to work on my sitting trot on Duchess), and four-loop serpentines (great when turning left, a little divey when turning right). She was just so, so, so good. Everything I asked her, she was down for trying and worked to figure out. We haven't worked on trot lengthenings at all, but she got what I wanted right away. She cantered to the left pretty well, and Chris said my position was "very correct," which was nice to hear! We tried cantering to the right later, and she fell out of it pretty soon. Clearly, this is her less-balanced direction.

Chris wanted to focus on making the ride positive and rhythmic, and he said he loves serpentines because they include a bunch of different elements, like turns, straight lines, and direction changes. While we were working on some ring figures, like the serpentines and figure-8s, he dropped some rails and standards over the fence into the ring, and the WonderMare didn't bat an eye. She is so good. I love having a non-spooky horse. First, he set up a single rail on the ground between two standards. She definitely peeked hard at it the first time, but stepped over it well. She did it even better the second time, so then he added another rail. I posted through twice to work on keeping the rhythm, and then he asked me to go through in two point a couple times. She was like, "Shall I canter away, then?" the first time, and the second time she realized she didn't have to do that at all. Smartey!

Then he put one rail in a cup, and she was like, "hmmm, better slow down," but she jumped it! Second time, she just stepped over it. She wasn't going to any extra effort, that's for sure!

And then.... A REAL LIVE CROSS-RAIL!!

My little girl's first jump!

I am so proud of her. She didn't rush at it, she just asked, "How do I do that?" and took some time to figure it out. I never thought jumping a tiny little x would be so exhilarating, but it was Lex's first jump in what I hope is a long and happy career.

After the lesson, I told Chris that I wasn't expecting to get that far today, and he said, "I kept looking for signs of resistance from her, but I didn't see any!"

I'm so proud of her, I could cry.

Tomorrow we'll probably just do some relaxing stuff because she worked really hard today. Chris (and his wife, who came along, and who is just a lovely person and a very knowledgeable horsewoman) really liked Lex. Who wouldn't?

After I turned her out, she did a lovely job getting herself all covered in sand. I'd given her a bath this morning so I'm glad she waited to do this until after the lesson!

I'm completely worn out so I'm going to go collapse in a happy heap. Anyone else remember their first jump on their horse?

In Which I am Goldilocks

Well, a failed Goldilocks, because I can't seem to get to "just right."

Let me back up: When it comes to my own health and well-being, I'm like, "Whatevs, it's probably fine." But when it comes to my horses, I'm an enormous worrier. I can never believe that things are going to be fine. This morning was Panic About Lex Time.

First, she seemed a little quiet yesterday, as I said. Then this morning, when I went out to feed the horses, she didn't come up. She always comes up, even though she doesn't get fed. I got the other horses in, quietly freaking out, and then marched out into the field to find her. There she was, eating grass, looking just fine. I brought her up and groomed her, and she just looked kind of dull on the cross-ties. I decided to scrap lunging and ring work and just hack around the field, and she did great. She had to be gently convinced to trot, but once we got through a couple transitions, she found a nice rhythm and enjoyed stretching again. She definitely seemed happier riding than she had while tacking up, and she ate her soaked hay cubes just fine.

I don't know. I am a worrier, and part of me thinks it's impossible that I get to keep this awesome horse. I've felt like this with pretty much every animal I've ever acquired. When I got my Italian greyhound, Eddie, six years ago, I couldn't handle being away from him for more than a couple hours. I was sure something would go horribly wrong, but he's just fine. He's lying next to me right now. After I get Ella the WonderLab, I convinced myself that this horrible woman in my apartment complex was going to call animal control because Ella barked at her, and that she'd be taken away. I am paranoid to death about my cats running out the door. I know I need to relax. If Lex was being a hot-headed fizz-machine, I'd also be worried about that. Where is "just right"?

I don't know her well yet - it hasn't even been two months. Maybe she gets quieter in the heat, or maybe she thinks tacking up is beyond boring, or maybe she needs a change in routine. Or maybe this is just who she is! We have a lesson tomorrow with Chris, so we'll see what he has to say.

I just want her to be happy.

In other news: HAPPY ONE-MONTH BIRTHDAY, ROCKET!!!!! Mom sent me some cute pictures.

Sun-bathin'

awwwwwwwwwwwww

She is getting SO TALL!

Mom's vet and farrier saw her yesterday and both thought she looks great, but that she doesn't need grain at the moment because she's growing so fast, and we don't want her to grow too fast. They think she'll be over 17hh when she's mature, so that'll be interesting! Mom reports that she's been an excellent student and handled her first de-worming like a pro. What a good baby.

Send calming thoughts my way, please! I'll try to channel my tendencies to worry in another direction. Like maybe my stupid dissertation, which would probably love any attention I could give it.

A Three-Horse Day!

Today was really cool because I got to ride three horses and they were all great.

Lex continued with her nose-to-the-ground Western-pleasure-realness trotting today, but we managed to stay on the rail better. I also shortened my stirrups a hole and I think that helped me stay balanced. Well enough that I was able to take this picture of what it looks like from atop Lex.

Her shoulder looks huge!

That's not even as steep as her neck got, it's just the best picture I was able to get while also posting, staying on rail, etc. I had a neck strap on, but it slid down her neck around her head, and I was afraid she was going to step on it, so I had to take it off mid-ride. She seemed pretty psyched to trot like that, and then we went on a walk around the field on the buckle. She was walking pretty slow. I think she really wants to do what I want, and she thinks what I want is for her to stretch in the trot (because I do! I always tell her she's a good girl) and she thinks a walk around the field is for taking our time (agreed). Part of the hack goes by the road (which you can hear but not see), and some big rattly truck went by and she didn't even flick an ear. It is SO nice to ride a non-spooky horse. Today she was so quiet I was almost worried.

Then I made the irresponsible decision to go ride a couple horses at the lesson barn. It was the perfect day for it, because it wasn't hot and the ring was empty. I wanted to try out one of the school horses and spend more time with Finn.

Pedro wasn't signed up for any lessons today, so I snagged him out of the field to jump around a little.

LOOK AT THAT FACE!

Pedro is a delight. He used to be a track pony, so he's bombproof, but he's also a little bit of a challenge. Reportedly he has trouble picking up his leads, but I got them with no problem, so maybe he was just being extra clever today. He's got a very long back so he's hard to collect and he's not especially supple, but we all have our flaws. We trotted over a couple of tiny jumps to get the feel for each other, and then cantered one jump, and that went well, so we did another, and then just did a whole course. The biggest jumps in the ring were probably about 3'. I was a little nervous (again, gotta get my eye up! It is crazy to me that 3' jumps look big!) but I just pointed his ears between the standards and didn't get in the way, and he was a saint about it. When we were done, I realized my heart was racing. I loved getting to bop around on him, and I need to keep jumping nice horses like him so I can get the feel for it again.

Looooooong neck compared to Lex!

 Then I messed with Mr. Finn, who is such a silly horse. He's kind of all beauty, no brains. Well, potential beauty - he's three, and definitely has some filling out to do, but he's got a gorgeous head and I see no reason why he won't be a stunner.

This is him, I believe last year.

He was a good boy while I was on him and one of the farm assistants led us around, but I think he needs to learn his ground manners better before I keep getting on him. He's a wiggle worm on the crossties (and he STOMPED my foot today, ouch), but I think that's partly because he has such horrendous rain rot that it hurts to be curried. The next time I work with him, I'm just gonna do groundwork and lunging and stuff like that until I feel like he's got more respect and attention. He's also way too treat-motivated. I think he'll be a very nice horse when he's finished.

All right, I'm beat and I have to feed those silly horses in the morning, so off I go. If you have tips for dealing with a sweet-but-dumb three-year-old warmblood, leave them in the comments, please! :)