Rocket Catch-Up: Six Months

Even though Rocket will be seven months old in a couple of days, I think it's important to post her six-month pictures. She's a cutie pie.

Helping the vet

She's gonna be good for the dentist!

Posing with Mom.

My six month old ties and loads better than most grownup horses!

This last picture was taken BY ME!!! I went up to Virginia for my sister's wedding (pics will show up on here eventually, when we get them back) and so I drove up to my parents' place to see her ladyship myself. I got to snuggle her and hang out with her for a couple of hours. It was great. She's sweet and friendly and she looks great. I mean, no six month old looks perfect, but she looks strong and healthy to me. It was good to see her and I wish I had her around all the time.

Turning Corners

I think Lex just wanted to tell me to get to bloggin' again and she'd start behaving. That's my best theory.

The little mare has been F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. this week. Happy, forward, relaxed. If she has a moment of tension here or there, it melts as soon as I ask her to do something (transition, turn, circle, change direction, go over a pole on the ground). She's very smart and therefore gets bored easily, so I've got to stay on my toes, but man has she been a pleasure to ride lately. My vet came out and said she looks amazing and totally sound, so all systems are go for confident training. I'm not just riding her to see what kind of weird behavior she's going to throw at me now. I'm riding her to get something accomplished. Right now that thing is rhythm.

What changed? I really don't know, to be honest. Maybe I just had to ride her through all that stuff. Maybe she's in heat now and it's diestrus that pisses her off, the opposite of other horses. I think, though, that L. Williams was right, and this is a training issue - which means that, against all odds, I trained her through something effectively. Huh.

I'm hoping to get her re-started over jumps sometime in the next 30 days. She's fit enough, no doubt about that. She's a thoroughbred, she's got tons of air capacity, and she was carrying impressive muscle while on stall rest. I don't, in fact, want to get her much fitter at all before we start jumping, because I need to be in better shape than she's in. Between now and jumping time, I want her to have a better understanding of contact and I want us to be cantering consistently. We cantered so the vet could see the other day - the first time I've cantered her since our first lesson with Chris wayyyyy back when - and she was great. She seemed to enjoy herself. We had no steering, but, eh, details. It was a delight. I could not stop grinning.

It's gonna happen. We will get into the jumper ring eventually. Later today, though, we're just gonna work on relaxing in the trot.

Horses, man. Whether I'm having a good day or a bad day almost entirely depends on Lex. I know y'all know what that feels like.

Sunshine Award

Thanks again to L. Williams for the Sunshine Award tag!

1. Mares or Geldings?: Mares, my current issues with Lex aside. I don't think it's related to her being a mare. I've ridden enough geldings to know that they're not always happy sunshine and rainbows either. I can't really tell you why I have this slight mare preference, but there 'tis. At the end of the day, though, I like a horse who leaves the rails up the best.
2. English or Western?: English, always. Sorry not sorry.
3. Do you prefer younger or older horses?: Both! I love young horses because I love green horses, and I really enjoy the training process. I hope to always have a young horse to work with. I also love old horses because they're often over the young-horse drama, they can be more predictable, and they can be great for teaching on. Mileage varies, of course. I LOVE LOVE LOVE really old horses, the retirees. It's satisfying to give a generous horse a great retirement, like my mom is doing for my old guy, Ink, who is almost THIRTY THREE. 
4. Have you trained a horse from ground zero?: Yup! And will be doing so again with Ms. Rocket. But my real love is retraining OTTBs.
5. Do you prefer riding or groundwork?: Depends. Good groundwork often makes for a better ride. There is nothing in the world I love more than jumping, even on days when things aren't going well. But seeing a horse's ground manners and handleability improve is incredibly rewarding, especially in a boarding situation where other people also have to deal with the horse. No one wants the naughty horse in the barn that everyone hates dealing with, right?
6. Do you board your horse or keep it at home?: I've done both, but right now I'm boarding. Lex lives at a cute little boarding barn, it's low-key and safe. Rocket and Ink live with my mom, but since I don't live there I don't keep them home, I guess. Duchess lives at the riding school, which is definitely not at home but isn't really boarding either. 
7. Do you use all natural products or commercial?: Whatever works, but "natural" products rarely do and often cost a lot more money. I don't use a lot of products anyway, to be honest. A curry comb and a good diet is the best way to keep a horse looking sparkly. Fly spray is about it, and I don't even use as much of that as a lot of people do for whatever reason.
8. All tacked up or bareback?: Tacked up. I like goofing off sometimes, but mostly I'm down to business when I ride. I don't have any horses I can ride bareback right now anyway.
9. Equestrian model?: I'm assuming this means role model! I really look up to my trainer, Chris. My friend Dorrie is this remarkable adult amateur who could ride circles around me and always has nice, happy horses. I used to work with an eventing trainer named Mary Schwenkter, who I love and admire deeply as a horsewoman. As far as famous people: Vladimir Littauer, Bill Steinkrauss, Frank Chapot, Bert de Nemethy. You know, the old school blokes. Sinead Halpin seems like a classy lady.
10. What's your one main goal while being in the horse world?:  I don't have one main goal. "Being the best rider I can possibly be while centralizing the welfare of my horses" comes close enough, I guess, but isn't that what pretty much everyone says? I want to be a very good jumper rider, if I'll never achieve greatness, and I'd love to do that with thoroughbreds, who are my favorites.

Horses are Hard

Hey, y'all. I'm sorry I'm the worst at this. Thanks to L. Williams for nominating me for the Sunshine Award, though, which is great because it prompted me to come back here and get to writing! I'll answer the questions in the next post, I promise.

I think one of the reasons I took a blogging hiatus, besides being incredibly busy with trying to finish my doctorate, is because things with Lex are super tough right now. I'm enjoying reading everyone else's stories about how they get to ride their horses and teach them new things and learn and go to horse shows and jump, but it's also making me kind of sad. Life with this little lady is an uphill battle and I haven't figured out how to level that hill.

The good news is, I'm back in the tack!

The bad news is, she's back to her dragon lady ways. She isn't lame - not that I can see, or that my trainer or anyone else whose opinions I respect can find. And it isn't a mare heat cycle thing, because she's a dragon all the time, and not just when she's in heat. I'll try to get someone to take a video of the ride, but basically what happens is, I lunge her and she's fine both directions at the walk and trot. No problems, sound and happy horse. Then I get on and we walk, and she's fine. Then we start trotting, and she pins her ears and throws her head up in the air and makes a fuss for awhile. After ten or fifteen minutes of that off and on, she calms down, stretches, relaxes, and is happy.

She isn't hot. She's actually kind of lazy. She'll break back down to the walk (I usually let her take a few walk steps - bad trainer, but I'm trying to feel for a physical problem) and she never offers to canter. I certainly haven't asked for a canter, either. If I can't crack the trot, cantering isn't happening. I think, in my heart of hearts, that this is a training issue. But I also feel a responsibility to make sure she isn't uncomfortable or in pain. Soooo the vet is coming back out tomorrow. A very knowledgeable friend thinks that maybe she has ovarian cysts or something, so I think we'll end up palpating her and maybe doing an ultrasound. But if it's ovarian cysts, why would she work out of the cranky attitude? Also, she really is not spooky at all. I rode her two days ago and the ring was full of scary things, like a lunge line blowing around on a jump standard and a jump that blew over right when we were trotting by. She didn't care a-tall. I love that about her.

Lex is also still fun to be around in the barn, and she looks FANTASTIC. She really does. My trainer can't shut up about how great she looks. I could pull her out of her stall and take her to HITS and she'd fit right in. I'm proud of how great she looks, because it means I'm doing a good job grooming her and keeping up with her nutrition. She loves to be groomed, too. Anything that feels like admiration to her, she'll take, especially in carrot form.

I snagged someone and had them take a couple pictures of her the other day because she's looking so good. Of course, there's no winter coat to be found. Even in Florida, it gets chilly enough at night that they need a sheet of some kind if they don't get fuzzy.

I love this.

Her Shinyness.

And a couple from the outtake reel. 

Gimme that nose!

Pay no attention to the shadow of our lovely helper.

Being around Lex is actually really fun if you're not riding her.

So that's the Lex news. Hopefully there will be something that looks like an answer after the vet sees her tomorrow.

I haven't been riding Zephyr. He got kicked in the chest and that needs to heal. There are other reasons, too, having to do with my relationship with his owner, but I'm not going to get into that. I am looking forward to climbing back on the monster soon. I think he misses having a job. He's harassing the poor girls who work there whenever they go out to catch a different horse. He could probably stand to be lunged a little, at least.

Aaaaaand I gotta hit publish so I can go to work. I will continue with updates and Sunshine Award loveliness tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and I will try to be a better blog human!

Zephyr and the Barrels

I had a really fantastic lesson on Zephyr today. I will never stop smiling.

I mean, he ran out on the barrels every time. Ran riiiiiiiiiiiight out. Lost his power steering, showed absolutely no "let's go cross country" bravery. But that's okay, because everything else was great. Let's back up.

We started out with the usual walk and trot warm up, and then Chris set up one ground pole up the center line, and then two, and then the second one became a crossrail and then a tiny vertical. Zeph trotted right down the middle every time. I stayed defensive and a little behind every time, but C and I agree that this is the safest place to be on a green horse like him.

Then we cantered the tiny vertical like a million times and he was really, really good. I was so pleased that we were able to canter well enough to jump out of it. When Chris put the barrels behind the vertical Zephyr said "fuck you all." We eventually got him to jump the vertical without the barrels, but the barrels themselves will have to wait for another day. I did my best, was as tenacious as possible, but sometimes that isn't enough. I don't feel discouraged. We'll get him there. I just think he hasn't realized jumping is fun yet, so he doesn't want to be brave. And maybe he never will be? We will see. In the meantime, he's learning and I'm getting good practice in for Lex, whose natural instincts are better than Zephyr's.

Here's the good news, though: Chris, who is not effusive with his praise, could not shut up about how Zephyr looks like a different horse than he did a month ago. He said Zephyr has more natural balance and is much more forward and responsive. I was grinning from ear to ear for like two hours.

Best. Day. Ever.

Overnight Turnout is Magic

You guys! Lex is doing SO GREAT! I can hardly contain my excitement. She's back on overnight turnout with her buddies, we're scaling back the Reserpine to the point that she's barely on any at all, and we're doing tacked up in-hand work. Mostly just walking over courses of ground poles in the ring, but my friend Dale is going to come teach us some cool stuff to keep things fresh and interesting. I think, however, that it will be only a few days or maybe a week before RIDING TIME. It'll just be at the walk for short periods, but I am so excited.

And to be honest, I'm relieved that I'm excited. I've seen her explode a few times now, and my arm knows what can happen when she lets those back legs fly. But I really don't think I'm in for any histrionics under saddle. She seems happy to be getting back to work. Today she even seemed to want to stay in the ring and play.

Zephyr is also doing wonderfully. We're taking a lesson with C tomorrow, so I'll try to be a good kid and recap it. We've mostly been doing flatwork, focusing on having him moving forward off my leg and doing some light leg yielding. I throw in a crossrail here and there and he always does as I ask, although I'm not sure he's got an enthusiasm for jumping yet. I'm really thrilled to say that his canter is coming along great. We can get both leads first try and canter circles in both directions. Until about a week ago, the right lead rarely happened. I have been working hard on gaining more control over his shoulders and hind quarters. Sometimes that means he has to be counter bent in the neck so that he doesn't pop his outside shoulder in. He's such a big horse, he's a lot to keep together, but he is doing so well with stretching into the contact and relaxing. He's starting to build some neck muscles, too. I love this guy. I hope he doesn't get sold soon.

Jethro, I'm sorry to say, is lame, and has to go back where we found him. Ugh. I'll miss him, he's as cute and sweet as they come. I hope he finds a nice home as a trail horse or a companion.

Overall, things are pretty good with the horses. I can't wait to have my horse back in work, but I'm definitely keeping busy. Have any of you done in-hand training and what did you do?

Two, Four and a Half, Ten

It's been an exciting couple of days around here.

Today has been exactly two months since Lex's surgery. This was supposed to be the day I got back on her, and that clearly wasn't happening. But it was a great day for us nonetheless, because I finally turned her out. She had been doing pretty well in the round pen, although she had another I'M FREE bucking spree, at which point, I decided enough was enough. I called my vet and we decided to turn her out today with a nice old quarter horse gentleman named JR. I made sure they had a brand new round bale. Lex was SO. FREAKING. HAPPY. to be outside. She nosed with JR, she rolled in the mud (and rolled, and rolled, and rolled). She ate huge mouthfuls of hay, she walked around, rolled some more, and then was like, "heyyyyy... I could... buck?" And JR pinned his ears at her: "You're embarrassing yourself." She stopped, hung her head, and went back to the hay. Consider me the present of the JR fan club. Things were going so well that I got permission from the vet to leave her out for the day and to just put her on an AM turnout routine. In a week or two, she can go back out overnight. When that's been going well for... who knows? A few days? A week? We'll see if we can get back to riding. I hope she thinks it's fun, like she did when I started her under saddle and she was so good all the time. I think she just needs time to be outside and be happy and we'll be okay.

Yesterday marked roughly four and a half months since Rocket was born, and was a big day for her. She was weaned! It went about as well as weaning can go. Mom has decided to sell Rocket's dam, Somara, which is the right decision. So the trainer she is sending Somara to for the sale came and picked her up. He also worked with Rocket a little before he went, and he really liked her. Who wouldn't? She's fabulous. Rocket was upset, of course, but this is how horses work. She'll be fine, if she isn't already, and I'm guessing she is. We're getting closer to her being a real grown-up horse!

It has been ten days since my kick to the arm. It's getting better, but not at the speed at which I'd hoped. The bruises are pretty and the swelling is going down, and I can tack up and ride horses now. But it's painful enough that I wonder if there is a hairline fracture in there. I suppose we'll just have to see where it goes from here.

I'm going to try to get pictures of all these horses soon. Zephyr, Jethro, Mira, and Veronica are all doing well, and I hope to have updates about them in just a couple days.