Hindsight

Despite being saddleless, things with TC continue to go well. I am super stoked to be moving forward with things. We just finished the second full week we've been working on the new postural stuff and I'm so happy with how he's looking. I posted a WW last week about his chest but I'm really excited to see the changes in how he looks undersaddle too. 

We've done a ton of work on posture in the last year and the whole time, I've been feeling like I've had to fight his natural tendencies. I figured that was fine because he just isn't built all that well for the sport, he's built to pull a cart. But now it just feels like he's slotting into this really great place that both of us agree is good for him. I love that feeling and TC's even gotten a little better attitude about everything. 

Slow work in this posture for two years ought to
do it!

He's been kind of snarky in the cross ties for a while, which is unlike him. I wasn't sure what it was, since he's always so excited to see me and pitches a fit if he's left in his stall (like if I ride Sunny first or have some stuff to do before I get to him). His snarkiness has always been mostly playful and it's been typical of him to do that when he's had bodywork done. So I figured he was just annoyed that I did his PT exercises every day. But now he's starting to calm down the snarkiness, so that's been great. I think we worked through a lot of stuff in his body this year and we are finally getting somewhere with it, between the new direction we are taking and the fact that he's now over a full week into hind gut ulcer treatment. 

Thoughts of "why didn't I figure this out earlier" are obviously haunting me, but I'm super happy with what we've got going on now. It gives me a lot of hope for the future. It's just going to take time. It takes two years to build a solid physical foundation so I keep reminding myself that it might take longer than I'm hoping and that this is okay. 

Good things take time! Like turning this bolter into
a horse I ride bareback all the time

We learn things with every horse that we wish we'd learned earlier, much earlier. All of what I've learned with TC has made me a better horse person and I know that if I somehow found the money to clone Rico (I super want to clone Rico lol if I could, I would), I'd approach baby Rico's training in a completely different way because of what both he and TC taught me. So while I can kick myself all day long about TC, I could do the same thing about Rico and I made a rule for myself that I wouldn't do that. 

Rico is a happy, healthy horse who I did my damn best with every single day I rode him with the knowledge I had at the time. I made so many mistakes on him and unfortunately he paid for a lot of them. So did TC, so did every horse who has ever been ridden by a human ever. Our sport is so unique and I don't think other sports have the same kind of... I guess guilt? that we can develop when we look back on our athletic career over the years. Sometimes it's overwhelming to think that if I'd started TC with the knowledge I had now, he might be a happy, comfortable PSG (or higher) horse. 

One mistake I made was not realizing that
TC's bolting as a young horse was
actually balting hahahaha

All I know, and all I can know, is that every day with TC, I did my damn best with the knowledge I had at the time. And now I get to redo a lot of what I've done with him and with all of my other horses. But I think I'd rather look back in time and cringe a bit, knowing that I've learned so much over the years, than look back in time and be impressed by myself, as that would mean I'm not learning and challenging myself with new ideas. I could say the same thing about my teaching pre and post Mary Wanless. If we don't look back and feel a little "yikes" maybe we aren't challenging ourselves enough. 

Or at least, that's what I'm going to tell myself!

Womp Womp

Last week I was very excited to buy my not entirely perfect saddle. But then TC said no thanks. Whyyyy TC??? 

Bareback saddle

The saddle fitter came out early on Friday morning. TC hadn't had all of his breakfast yet (I normally ride him a little later after he's done eating), I didn't have time to do his exercises, he had a day off the day before, it was kind of cold... 

We fit the saddle to him and I got on and immediately felt like something was up with him. But again, there was a lot of things that could have been causing him to be iffy. When we picked up trot, TC was a bit balky and with his balks/props, he shifted the saddle pretty aggressively forward. I did get him trotting but it didn't feel so great. 

We stopped and the fitter changed the fit so that it would be more stable, we moved it back into position and I hopped back on. TC was still acting a bit funny, but by this point the saddle fitter had moved to the rail just inside the arena. TC is the *weirdest* about people watching him, and for some reason people standing on the rail are doubly weird. So TC was a bit tricky to get going, but now he was less balky and more just trying to low key mow down the saddle fitter (or run up to him and stop??? What is his deal?) when we were on that side. 

Saddle

I decided to just move forward and ride him in it later in the day and the next morning. I really can't focus with saddle fitters around, I've learned this about myself in this process. We went back to the barn and discussed pricing but I explained that TC was iffy in it so I'd be letting him know. The saddle was a tiny bit more expensive than we originally discussed but it was fine. 

Because he hadn't done much in the morning, I went to get breakfast, had a job interview, then got him out again over lunch. With no distractions and riding him at his normal time and in his normal way, I was hoping he'd be better. We still had the additional variable of him being ridden earlier in the day though. But I figured if he was good in it, that would be good enough for me. If he wasn't good in it, then I'd ride in it again on Saturday. 

He said maybe... he wasn't terrible in it but man he was not great. He needed a lot more coaxing to get forward than he has recently. Remember how I put down my whip last week? Yeahhhhh. 

Bareback saddle

Saturday morning I headed out to the barn feeling iffy about it. I decided that if he went perfectly in it, I'd ride in it again on Sunday and then buy it. If he didn't, I'd probably just pass on the saddle. 

Unfortunately on Saturday, he wasn't great in the saddle. He wasn't bad, but I couldn't settle into that easy trot we had all last week after the clinic. I also noticed the saddle was kind of hitting me in the butt as I sat down, which was not so good. 

I swapped to the bareback saddle and he was better, not perfect, but much better. We found a nice swingy trot and I felt like I could shorten and lengthen my reins and he'd just shorten and lengthen his frame vs coming against me at all. 

Bareback saddle

At this point with the changes after the clinic, I'm pushing out all of our lessons and shows until the spring anyway. My hope initially with this saddle was to snag it now and be able to be back to work and show ready in January or February. Now I'm hoping to be back to regular work by then and then go back to showing maybe in April or May. So as frustrating it is to have found such a great saddle and then have it not work out... it's honestly fine. 

My plan is to hold off for a couple of months. I'll try saddles if I can find them, but I want to just focus on rehabbing TC's posture (man this is becoming just what I do with this horse ugh) and take the pressure off of myself and him this winter. I might not even move him, as we can do a lot of this stuff on the road when the arena is too wet to ride. But we'll see. 

Then once it's apparent that this stuff is working and he's getting ready to go back to normal dressage, I can figure out a saddle situation. By then, I'm hoping his topline will have recovered enough to fit him to a saddle. And maybe some of the issues we are having fitting him will be gone (like would a saddle slide forward into his shoulder if his longitimus dorsi muscle were properly developed? not sure!). So, kind of a bummer, but it'll be fine. I once again need to refocus my energy from dressage/showing/lessons and into posture work. 

Saddle

The good news is that since the clinic, his body has genuinely felt the best it's felt in years. He's always given me this weird feeling in his body that he's just not 100% comfortable. Never enough to make me really worry about him (and all vets/chiros/etc have pronounced him very sound and comfortable), he's always been in the 80-95% range. I always blamed it on his breeding and that I'm asking him to do a sport he isn't bred for (and that was backed up by vets and trainers). But he now feels just so solidly comfortable in his body. So I'm really hopeful that he'll continue to improve. This feels different than everything else I've tried!

Along these lines, we are officially signed up for a clinic with the clinician from two weeks ago in November! Just four weeks to go. And maybe she'll have some insight on what saddle would be appropriate to put him in and when. 

Skeptical Pony

So TC, Sunny, and I have been on this adventure of trying to figure out how to apply the things I learned from the clinic I audited a week ago. 

It's so funny to see the difference between Sunny and TC in how they handle new things. I mean, none of this is new information since we saw it a year ago at the bombproofing clinics. TC sees a new thing as something to investigate and throw himself at. Sunny sees new things as things to quietly pretend don't exist until he's forced to admit he hates them. 

He looks way fancier in pictures lol

So when I told TC that I was completely changing up the way we did things, he was totally on board. He immediately threw himself into it and was thankful that the work seemed easier for him to do. He let me work on his shoulders and only on Wednesday, day three of the work, did he let me know he was body sore. 

Still, TC has been super on board with the new protocol and hasn't said no yet. But he almost never says no to anything, sometimes to his own detriment. 

Sunny, on the other hand, gave me sad pony eyes when I worked on his shoulders a bit. Then when I asked him to change the status quo undersaddle, he said absolutely not. 

Now, I can definitely *make* Sunny do things that I can't with TC, given that I am maybe 8% of TC's bodyweight while Sunny is probably a little more than half the size of him. But I have been trying not to do that to him since I can't imagine how unnerving it is. Sometimes when I lean over to open the gate he shifts his weight in a way that TC doesn't. 

But he was quite resistant to something that should be relatively easy at the walk, so I did help him find his balance point on the left foreleg after I abducted it. Just momentarily to see if I could convince him it was a superior way of moving. He was a little concerned at first but wow the balance change made a huge difference. 

Keeping him upright while tracking right has been
really hard for him, especially in canter

In the truck on the way home from the clinic, Kate and I discussed horses with uneven pectorals. She suggested that swapping leads in front of a fence could be the horse shifting their weight to engage the stronger pectoral. I mentioned that every time Sunny has exploded after a fence, it's been when he's swapped in front of the fence from the right lead to the left or he's been on the right lead and sproinged over the fence to swap onto the left lead and then explode. 

When riding him on the flat on Monday, I could feel the difference between the pectorals. He is very confident shifting his weight from the left to the right, which suggests the left pectoral is stronger. This would make sense because cantering on the right lead, he leans inward. Coming to a fence, if he's leaning too much, I bet he'd be frustrated and think to swap leads. 

In addition, that stronger left pectoral will stand him up over the right shoulder, but the weaker right pectoral would not be able to stand him up over the left shoulder. Is it just that he happens to be weaker on the right pectoral? Probably not. His left shoulder is rotated inward and likely stuck there. He can't abduct the left front leg easily. If his left shoulder is rotated and stuck, he's probably interfering with his neck there. 

Pony has always had some neck issues, silicosis
is no fun for him, but with work he's been way
more comfortable in a dressage posture, but his
tendency is to curl

The clinician talked a lot about horses being stung by their poor biomechanics, getting a zing when the neck gets pinched by the shoulders or when there's a twist in their hind end. I'm thinking that Sunny will get a sting in his neck (which is already weakened due to silicosis) and that may cause him to shift his weight and explode after fences.

With some work manually on his left shoulder and then utilizing both the exercises I learned at the clinic and some of my own ideas as a dressage trainer, I was able to get him to shift his weight. He was not pleased, as I said earlier, but he's getting a little more willing to trust me. With that weight shift, every single fence was relaxed and easy. The distances were just there, he never swapped leads or launched over the fences. 

He also just seems freer in his movement. He's not a particularly free mover. He rides rather baroque in his movement and has very little swing over his back or oscillation in his neck. The more I think about how that all ties in, the more convinced I become that his left shoulder has been pinching inward on his neck for quite some time. The lack of oscillation, well, freezing his neck has helped him avoid the pinching feeling. The lack of swing through his back can be explained that way too. I'm super curious if I'll find more swing and more oscillation with this work, and if he may end up riding a little less baroque over time??

Helping him figure out how to shift his weight, you
can see how comfortable he is weighting his right front

I'm excited to have him to play with right now too. He makes me appreciate TC's willingness to try new things for me. But he also makes me excited to see how I can help him out a bit more. He's always been this really great trail and grandchildren pony... until he isn't. He's got a good explosion that is rather unnerving. I'm hoping that those explosions are just due to him being stung by his left shoulder. The way he acts during them is pretty telling, given that he usually flings himself to the left. 

Hopefully I can help him with that and he'll become a happier, sounder, pain free pony! 

WW: The Difference a Week Makes

There was one week between the two photos below. I actually forgot it was only a week, I posted on IG that it was two weeks. It has not been two weeks, it has been one week. 

He started getting manual work on his shoulders done before work (just following a basic massage book, I ordered a fancier massage book), I backed him off to just walking and trotting for 30 minutes as we rework his posture, and he's four days into hind gut ulcer treatment. 

One week ago

Yesterday

Sooooo I don't think this horse is base narrow conformationally. 

Covering Bases

One of the things that I enjoyed so much about the clinic I keep going on about was how much it encompassed. It wasn't just a riding clinic, it was a bodywork clinic too. And horse care was a big subject too. So we'd learn about where horses had bodywork issues and then how to address them undersaddle, but also how nutrition may play a role in that as well. 

The first horse was really cool, a totally different type from TC so I initially wasn't sure how much I'd learn. But as the horse was led around, I noticed that he and TC had similar hind legs in the swing phase of the walk. TC has had this weird thing going on in his hind end this last year and a half. Both of my vets think he's totally sound, and he is, but there's a way he swings his legs under him that are different from other horses. 

I'm so excited about this

A few minutes into working on the horse, the clinician and the organizer agreed that the horse probably had hind gut ulcers. The organizer then just kind of explained some of the signs. The way the horse moved behind, tracking left the horse appeared to be in a better balance but wasn't as rideable, it was hard to get the horse to bend (especially right), the horse had had foregut ulcers and was treated with omeprazole... signs of ulcers without having foregut ulcers (anymore). 

That's TC. That's all TC. We treated for stomach ulcers with omeprazole a year ago and he didn't change enough for me to feel like that was what was going on. But what about hind gut ulcers? Maybe he's had those all along? Or since the omeprazole?

I wasn't the only one thinking these things listening to them talk, Kate and I were gripping each others' arms while listening. Like that's TC! 

The idea of doing another expensive ulcer treatment with no way of knowing if it's worth it sounded like a bad time. I spent a large amount of money on 30 days of omeprazole last year... but I spoke with the organizer and the treatment is insanely affordable (Abler) in comparison to gastroguard. I ordered 60 days of treatment for $400, which included paying a little extra to have it last week. I figure I want him done with the treatment by December 1st just in case we move barns for the winter. 

Still struggling with the psoas brachiocephalicus
relationship to the right, and that's where his neck
pain is, the right side around C5-C6

The organizer also recommended an herbal gut supplement (TummyBCalm). The treatment for the ulcers is ideally given 3-4x/day at 6-8 hour increments. That's definitely somewhat more possible with TC being at the ranch because he can get at least two treatments a fair amount of time apart and I can probably do the third treatment midday depending on my work schedule. But there will be some time overnight where the treatment isn't working. The treatment only works for 6-8 hours. But she said that the gut supplement would help keep the ulcers from reforming too aggressively when the medication wears off. That plus a diet change (which TC is already on lol) helps most of her horses recover quickly and effectively. 

I figure there's no harm in treating him. The organizer says she does it with a lot of new horses coming into her barn. It's not as expensive as the gastroguard so that's a big win. And at this point it's less than what I pay a month for lessons and I didn't take any lessons in September! It's good to cover all my bases, I think we're on the right path but I will kick myself if we discover later that he's had hind gut ulcers and I didn't treat them the first moment I thought of it. 

I'll be getting more media this week hopefully!

It could explain why I didn't see a huge change after the stomach ulcer treatment, his coat has been better but it's not perfect yet, he's still not got a great topline on him... all of that could be easily explained by the fact that he's always had a little courser hair (his legs are super wiry, it's the friesian, the stallion I rode years ago never had a super soft coat) and that he's not actually been taught to engage his pecs to carry himself in a way that WILL build his topline... but it also could be that he has hind gut ulcers! So we'll see. I don't know what to hope for but it can't hurt to try!

Winter Musings

Luckily for us, fire season has been relatively chill. We are at the beginning of October and I've been able to keep TC in work. That's great! But fire season could absolutely pick up and ruin our fall and winter as I rehab TC's lungs. Fingers crossed that won't be the case. But either way, I'm wanting to keep riding through the winter given how things are going. 

But, without a covered arena, I've been trying to figure out what to do about the winter. The ranch will remain livable for TC, he'll have at least his 50 foot paddock off of his stall (12x12) and porch (12x12) and then he'll have the sacrifice pasture (probably another 50 feet out and 50 feet wide) when it's not too muddy. It's mostly how to keep him in work when it's raining. 

TC's paddock, this whole pad is mud free in the
winter!

The arena will hold up to some rain, but it gets sloppy quick and doesn't dry out too quickly. I don't mind riding in slop but not the whole winter. Plus, I don't have the gear to ride WHEN it's raining. I could certainly acquire rain clothes but I dunno, I'm not super interested in riding when it's pouring rain onto me. Plus I'll have just bought a new saddle. 

We are not scheduled to get a ton of rain, but I also don't want to assume that I'll be able to ride all winter and then realize too late that I should have made arrangements. 

These are my current options: 

Find a Haul In Barn

There are covered arenas in the area that I could probably haul into. The pros of this are obviously that TC can stay at home in his giant paddock and when it's not raining, it'll be great. If we end up traveling this winter (unsure if that will happen), it's easy to just take off and let him hang in his pasture with excellent care and a lot of room to roam around. 

The downside is that I'll have to haul to a barn and back to ride and wow doing that when working, that's going to be tough. I'm worried that we'll have a long storm that takes the ranch arena out of commission and I won't be able to make the time to haul him out. 

Move to Kate's Barn

Kate's new barn is great, TC and I have been there a few times and they have a huge covered arena. The paddocks will not be the size of what he has at the ranch, but it'll be just for the winter. The barn is the same distance from my house as the ranch, so that's helpful. My mom also said that she might want to put Sunny over there for a rider in Kate's program (or me if I can keep riding him with my new job) to keep going and for her to ride through the winter so she can get a head start on riding him next year. So that'd be cool to be able to ride together there. 

Downsides, I don't really see any other than having to share a covered arena and having TC in a smaller space. I don't know what spaces are available yet so it's hard to know what that is going to be like. I don't know how small of a paddock I'd be willing to put him in. We'll see! 

No matter what, we lose these trails to the rain
in the winter, boo!

Move to Local Trainer's Barn

Local trainer's barn is only 20 minutes from my house. They have an amazing covered arena and even have hills where we can climb in the winter. That's huge because TC's stifle usually gets iffy over the winter because we can't do any hill work on the trails. There's also local trainer! I could take two lessons a week and we would be so much better off! 

The major downside is that the paddocks are small and there aren't many of them. Most of the horses are in box stalls and turned out for a few hours a day. If we couldn't get a paddock, there's no way I'd put him through that. They do have a gelding pasture but I don't know how muddy those get and if it's just temporary, it seems silly to try to put him in a pasture. 

Buy a Giant Tarp

I've literally thought about investing in an arena tarp for the ranch. One of the barns in the area has had luck with theirs. I haven't looked into this to see how much it would cost or what the logistics would be. But this would be the ideal situation. Tarp the arena during storms and give him a day or two off when it's the worst rain. Then just roll the tarp off the arena to ride in it right after the rain. I've contacted a company for a quote just in case. It'll probably prove to be too expensive and too tedious but it sounds like the best of all worlds to me. 

By the way, covering the arena is not an option with permits and costs and things. I wish! 

Local trainer's arena is soooo nice, such good footing
and mirrors too!

I've ruled out all the other barns in the area just because they either have long waitlists for stalls with paddocks or they don't have good footing in their covered arenas. So we'll see what ends up happening! I need to contact both barns to see what paddocks they have. I'm thinking of moving him just for January and February. It usually doesn't rain here until mid December and the first few rains don't do much to the arena footing so it's no big deal. 

Part of me hopes that we will have a mild winter so I don't have to move him, but most of me hopes to get drenched because we are in a terrible drought. 

2021 Q3 Goals Review and Q4 Goals

Another quarter in this obnoxious year down and just one more to go. I don't even remember my goals for this quarter so hopefully I kept them fairly light! 

One of my very favorite things I did this quarter!

Q3 Goals

TC

- stay sane and sound

yep!

- continue enjoying the ranch or move somewhere closer

he's been loving the ranch so we haven't moved yet!

- when we have a saddle, work on TC's fitness

he's definitely in better shape now, having that month with the saddle helped a lot, as did the smoke mostly staying away

- when we have a saddle, start taking lessons and maybe find a trainer to work with regularly

we took four lessons this quarter! I think I've made a decision on who to ride with regularly but we'll see how that holds through this new stuff I've learned

- when we have a saddle, trail ride off the property!

ah we didn't get to do that, I prioritized hauling for lessons

- when we have a saddle, rebuild TC's connection and collection

definitely getting better this last week

Another favorite thing I did!

My Riding

- continue doing my best until a saddle comes along

TC has stayed in pretty regular work, which is great without a saddle and during fire season!

- when we have a saddle, work to build fitness in the dressage tack again

I had just started sitting the trot when I went to the clinic and now I'm going to post for a while longer, but I've been working hard on my core on Sunny!

- when we have a saddle, work on my biomechanics with a biomechanics trainer

haven't gotten to work with her just yet, hopefully this winter! 

- continue jumping with Kate! 

Kate went through a giant barn change and then little Flounder had a bout of pigeon fever (the external kind, he's fine) so we haven't worked together lately, hopefully this will change very soon! I've been jumping Sunny a lot and practicing what she's taught me so hopefully I'll be well practiced

- work on my breathing, especially over fences

definitely been working on that

- work on using my core over fences more effectively

I think this is getting better!

- maybe school cross country?

I did! Kate's barn did a cross country camp and TC, Flounder, and I went down for it

Had so much fun with this guy too

Teaching

- get my student her Silver medal???

yes!!!

- pass ratings, do well at shows, everything else

yes!!!

- reduce teaching this fall when students go to school

I'm now clientless except for my clinics, it's been really nice

Msc

- continue enjoying the house

yes!

- continue enjoying the garden!

yes!

- stick to the gym plan

I set my bar pretty low but I've been really consistent this month so that's good!

- potentially see the doctor about my insomnia but I'm waiting to get on the SO's insurance in November so it may have to wait until then

turns out that when you're insanely burnt out, insomnia is part of that, I am no longer insanely burnt out so I am now sleeping well for the first time in a very long time!

- visit a few friends I haven't seen in a while

I got to see L but then my life blew up a bit so I haven't been able to see as many friends lately, boo

- maybe find a new job (ideally this fall or next spring but if the right one comes along, I wouldn't say no to earlier!)

not yet, I've had some promising interviews though

I just love this horse, he's so funny

This quarter coming up is so up in the air. I mean, this whole year has been up in the air. But we'll see how things go! Hopefully next year I can have some better goals. I think this year has just been a year of learning. I guess at least I like learning. 

TC

- stay sane and sound

- buy a saddle???

- rebuild strength using what we learned at the clinic

- haul to the trail facility at least a couple of times

- find a trainer to ride with at least semi regularly

- have fun at the working equitation clinic

- participate in the next bodywork/riding clinic

My Riding

- work on my core strength

- work on my biomechanics

- start regular jumping lessons again!

- when I get a new job, work toward solidifying my riding schedule to fit in a second horse

Msc

- keep on keeping on with the gym 

- find a new job (hopefully!) 

- settle into a new routine with the new job

- hopefully see family members for the holidays! 

- spend more time with friends

These two! 

Fingers crossed I can knock some of those out. I'd honestly take failing most of them except TC staying sound and me getting a new job.