XC schooling!

By wonders of all things, the venue actually opened the cross country course for schooling after the show. It was perfect timing, because we hadn't gone xc schooling since last year and it is far, so I don't get down here often to do it. It was super wet, and getting wetter as it was raining, but I am so glad we did it.

Our new XC bit, just a little more whoa

Confidence builder

I started out with some really small stuffs, I really wanted to make sure I rebuilt some of my lost confidence but I was worried for nothing. Mia was totally ready to go and apparently solid objects don't bother me. Or my brain had finally reset itself after surviving the stadium round? Either way, things were good.

Warmup!

Trakehner? No problem.

The highlights? Mia was weirdly spooky at the woods until she got a couple of spanks from the crop. Then she got down to business and didn't flinch at a single thing. Up a bank out of water? Easy. Down banks? Good. Down banks into water? Fabulous. Little logs? Big logs? Easy peasy.

Blind landing!

Fun in the water

I am really glad we swapped our bit over to the 4-in-1 because Mia was often questioning my decisions for half halts. And collection. And slowing down. I understand, this IS in fact the first time we are out running for the entire season, but training is training and she can't let herself get so excited that she forgets she HAS training. She still has a job and she still has to apply that knowledge!

All the pretty things! Collection up the hill

Big logs are no big deal

The only thing she had issues with were the "roller coaster" jumps, but we went over them until she got it. They are a set up for a sunken road. There is a jump on top of a hill, you go down the hill, back up a small hill and over another jump. The one set is pretty easy, but the other two are significantly more difficult as they both have a blind landing. Mia didn't care about the blind landing, however she needed a reminder that the downhill ride does not mean faster.

Learning to not run downhill!

Tires are easy

The happiest moment? This picture. The last xc schooling we had in MI had this as a question and Mia was not okay with it. I knew it was just a matter of time, and apparently she has surpassed the confidence needed to question this type of jump. A log on top of a drop. I didn't even show it to her, we trotted up to it and she popped down the jump as if it was NBD. Training and confidence FTW!

Log on a drop? Easy!

We finished up over this huge log, it is UP a hill, and I think it would qualify as a Prelim question because of the hill, but Mia locked onto it after the tire jump and had no cares so we went for it. After an awkward jump, bc newbs, she got it on the 2nd try and we called it a day. We were soaked, she was getting tired, and I had my confidence back. It made me feel much better about the day and our abilities.

So much photo filter required to be able to see through the dark, misty rain

Big ol log on a hill, attempt 1. 2nd attempt wasn't captured

I am hopeful I can go schooling again before the next show, I would LIKE to go to a Training HT but most likely I will do a Novice HT first to confirm our training. I would hate to push either of us too fast, especially since we have done almost no Training level cross country jumps to practice. We will see though, the year is young and I have lots of plans!

Psyching yourself out- a Training CT recap

Before I get into the Training CT recap, I wanted to talk about confidence. And what it is like when you lose it. I am a pretty hardcore person. If I make a decision to do something, I put on my big girl panties and Get. It. Done. I don't have anxiety issues and I am not often nervous. For this show? I was a nervous wreck. Legit nervous. Thursday/Friday/Saturday I had trouble sleeping, I made myself sick on Saturday. I was actually literally shaking on Sunday. I couldn't eat breakfast. I didn't ride effectively in my dressage. And then I figured it out. It clicked. I realized why I was acting this way, when it is so abnormal for me. I had broken my confidence.

Fuzzy video screencaps FTW!

To prep for this show, I went from about 3', which we have been working on for the past few weeks, to 3'3" for one day and then immediately to 3'6". That ride on Wednesday went well, except for the end where she wasn't listening and was running to the jumps. But I was nervous and forced myself over it. And while it ended well, it shook my confidence because she wasn't listening. I figured I would power through like I always do, but apparently I didn't. I was suddenly put off of the large fences, she had knocked down those fences at the end bc she was running, and I think my brain could only see us bringing everything down in a total failure.

At least we looked cute!

So yeah. Sunday was not the show I had hoped. I really didn't ride effectively in dressage. I missed the canter lengthenings we have been working so hard on. I couldn't find my whip so I rode without it, but didn't then keep my inside leg back to keep Mia's haunches behind her. So almost every canter element on the test sheet has a comment about her haunches being in. She had no desire to stretch in our stretchy trot circle, an aspect I expected big points for, and she also didn't want to push during her free walk and instead meandered. Another big points loser. *sigh* The good part? We were sitting in 3rd out of 4 with a 36.4%. Not too shabby considering the state of the rider!

Position love!

 At least it was at this point I realized why I was having the anxiety. And you know what? After I figured it out, I felt so much better. I actually was able to eat, I was able to relax a little, and things were better. Mia warmed up well for stadium, though a bit fast. I actually regretted not getting the bit I tried last year for cross country, which did not help the anxiety that was trying to build. And, in reality? The stadium round went really well. Mia listened, she didn't knock anything over, she mostly collected when I asked, she even went over the triple combination with as much caution as I asked. Wonderful you say! What also happened during stadium? My anxiety made me lose my focus and I ended up off course., went WELL past our fence and had to double back, which gave me 4 jump penalties and 2.5 time penalties. GAH!!!!!!

Last jump of the triple, she was amazing

So we ended up 4th. We would have been a half point from 2nd if I hadn't had my course error, but oh well. Mia was AMAZING and had no idea why the hell I was such a wreck so I am happy. The plan is for ME to go back to 2'11" and then go up to 3'3" and  THEN stay there for several sessions before trying 3'6" again. I need to set myself up for success, mentally, because Mia is totally fine about all of it. She gets today off, and then I am giving myself some serious homework so we can try this again. But that's not all that happened on Sunday....

We are doing this - Oh and we are not hunters

**Edit - I had this set to go up last Thursday, but apparently I scheduled it for THIS Thursday. Oops. So...enjoy!**

Boing!

Our debut in hunter land was good! In that Mia was foot perfect, had zero spook, zero hesitation, was super quiet and happy, and had good rounds. Unfortunately the judge must have been able to tell that we were blatantly not hunters as we placed last in both over fences classes, and 2nd to last in the flat class. But hey, what can I say. I didn't even really clean her, I forgot to clean the trailer rub mark on her butt off before we went in, I didn't pay attention to how the courtesy circle is supposed to be done, I wasn't trying to win. We were literally going to knock rust off of our jumping. And it was a success!

This is not a hunter canter...

Our first round was good, though I biffed the distance on one of the jumps. It was a long spot, Mia waited instead and ended up putting in a half stride. Oh well. She also didn't swap her lead, something she has been doing more and more of since we started working on counter canter. Hmmm....this needs to be addressed. Our second round was actually pretty perfect, save for one lead swap that didn't happen. I was very happy with our second round, and thought if I was going to place, that would be the round! Spoiler alert, I still got last place HAHA!

All the trot

Our flat class I was really happy with too, though it was super obvious that we aren't hunters. In the canter, Mia had this nice, collected canter and everyone else was long and low. Oops... That's okay, it was all for experience and I was actually really happy with how the day went. It was a close show, we were back at the barn by 11a, and the day was good.

This is also not a hunter canter

Then I actually did it, I entered us into the Training level CT for this upcoming Sunday. I have ridden the Novice dressage test and it is easy. I have ridden the Training level test and it is doable. I have ridden some of the Prelim level and it is too hard, Training is the right place to be dressage wise. It's just....intimidating and I keep psyching myself out. This will be the first time to ever show at Training. App and I jumped 3'3" and 3'6" but never at a show. Mia has jumped up to 3'9" (once, a couple of years ago), but this is the first time jumping this big at a show. I have been jumping up to 3' the past few weeks, but this past week I stepped it up. Last week I jumped 3'3" and last night I bumped it up to 3'6". And Mia couldn't have cared. The rider was trying hard to not have a damn anxiety attack. Apparently my lady balls are not as big as they need to be, and while 2'9" doesn't look big, 3'3" looks respectable, it turns out that 3'6" makes me weak-kneed. **Edit-more to come on this**

What did Mia do about it? Nothing. I don't deserve this mare. She couldn't have cared that I was all nervous but riding with determination. She jumped over everything like it was fun, even the bounce combo that was set up. I had a short panel fence at 2'6" and a vertical at 2'9" as a warmup, then an airy vertical with a ground line at 3'3" (moved to 3'6" after a couple laps), a 3'6" gate fence, and another 3'3" vertical with a barrel under it. She never even thought about touching anything until the very end, when she felt that running up to the jumps was a better idea than collecting and compacting to the jumps. Spoiler Alert. It is not. I may need something other than a copper eggbutt if she continues doing this, but I am going to try reminding her more before bitting her up. Fingers crossed?

Kinda a hunter-ish trot?

We have our Training CT to get ready for, cross your fingers we survive!

Operation Fitness - Part 2

Were you curious if I was actually putting up part 2 or if I was simply teasing you? Fear not, I DID have a huge post and I DID break it in half.

Since I need fitness, enter two-point, my old, evil friend. Any guess on who didn't have the stamina to stay in two point for more than a single 3 min trip? *raises hand* Yeah, that would be me. I can't expect Mia to jump 3 foot fences if I can't stay in position, so fitness has become a priority over the past 2 weeks. There has been some good progress too! After the first fitness ride (3x 3 min two point sets), I had legit wobbly knees and was sore for 2 days afterwards. The 2nd time, I pulled a quad muscle that took 2 days and massage to work loose. The third time I had general soreness. Since then? I've been good. Fitness FTW!

Last week it was actually "nice" enough to ride outside (ie mid 30's and super windy), so I set up 3 of the blown over jumps and we did fitness with some 2' - 2'6" jumps. Last night, I rushed to the barn and was able to RIDE OUTSIDE IN THE TWILIGHT! I had a good 30 mins of riding before it was dark and we jumped 2'3-3' jumps. Mia knocked the 3' jump down twice, both times I didn't get the striding right and I wasn't riding aggressively enough. But if I sit, put leg ON, she was absolutely flying over the fences. It was also getting dark and the jump was dark green, so I am not eliminating that as a possible issue either. For a horse that hasn't really jumped anything of height since fall, though, I am tickled at how well she is doing.

It's cold, but we can ride outside at night now. It is darker than the pic makes it appear.

My plan for the April 6 show was thwarted, my plan was go into the first 3 classes since the show starts at 8a and hopefully (since it is a hunter show and they don't list times like eventing) they would be done in time for me to get back to the barn around 10a because the farrier was coming at 10a. Not too bad. But then the barn also scheduled spring shots for April 6 at 9a. So I now have shots and farrier on the same morning as a show? I am talented, but not that talented in managing my time so I am going to pass on that one. BUT I now have a Plan B AND a Plan C.

Free roaming App likes to come say hi

I am doing (will have done by the time this post is up) a "pre show" at that same venue. Mia has never done hunters, and I am not good with hunters, however it gives us an opportunity to show in a very relaxed atmosphere over fences so I am planning on going! And then on Apr 14 there is a show at the horse park (2 hr drive) we go to and I am tentatively planning to enter the Training CT. I KNOW we can go training level in dressage and I think we can go training level in stadium, so it will be a really nice test. I want to go xc schooling at LEAST 2 times before I try going training level in a horse trial. I don't want to set Mia up to fail and there is no real rush. We didn't get out to school a single time last year and I need to fix that for this year. Fingers crossed I can go xc schooling after the show in Apr 14, I want to see how she is!

Operation Fitness - Part 1

I wrote the blog post before realizing I had so much to say, I am breaking it into 2 posts. I surprised even myself! So believe it or not,some posts are coming.

Time to do the thing.

As several bloggers live in the northern states can attest, these last 3 months have been fairly brutal to riding. Stretches of time where the temp doesn't get above the single digits, even longer stretches where it isn't above the teens? Constant freeze/snow/fake thaw has put lots of dampers on real riding, but not all was lost. Mia's dressage is better than it has ever been in her life. Really! And it is only March! If we can stay injury free, we should be able to put down some legit scores by the time summer gets here. It is really odd, people (the weirdos anyway) say that when the dressage "clicks", it can actually be kind of fun. I have been riding dressage for *cough* let's say over 10 years and I have never EVER found that it could be fun. Until lately. I wouldn't call it actual "fun", but we are legitimately not dreading our rides when dressage is up. So odd indeed.

Extended trot? Getting there

I am getting desperate for another dressage lesson, it is coming on 4 months since my last lesson and we make such great progress in lessons. Fingers crossed we can get the instructor here in April and I can get a solid tune up. Our homework from before was counter canter (check, we can do this fairly smoothly now in both directions), extended trot (check, Mia is understanding this MUCH better. Bigger does not always equal faster), canter/walk transitions (mostly there, still needs work), and lengthened canter (check, as long as we keep our bouncy canter, we have a difference in stride). All of this in the grips of icy cold? I am awfully damn happy with our progress.

Balanced canter? We have it!

We have even been playing with Training A and B tests. Last year I had them downloaded but they were a fair disaster when ridden. This year? They almost seem easy, I didn't think I'd ever say that! I have looked at the Prelim tests now and am all "NOPE" so I am definitely in the right spot lol. With our dressage in a good spot, I am starting to refocus on jumping. The issues with my barn are....numerous...and one issue is for whatever reason jumps can't stay out for more than a day when in the indoor. Anything more than a single cavalletti brings complaints so I haven't really bothered with serious jumping this winter. Yes, we have done a lot of work over the cavalletti. Yes, we have jumped the cavalletti ad-nauseam again to reinforce staying balanced over/after the jump, but that has been it. This is now changing.

Extended trot!!!

If I want to jump higher than 2'6", I really need to have a solid two point so I can rely on muscle memory and stamina. I have had....neither lol. Enter Operation Fitness, because we need to start jumping!

Moving along

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post, I forget how nice the blog world can be sometimes when I am away a while. App is doing better on his new drugs, adding the Polyglycan back into the rotation has definitely helped him.  Not to mention the massage (which he gets again next Weds) and the occasional dose of Tylenol. He is doing well enough that we were successfully able to properly trim him last weekend! Sometimes it is the small victories, you know?

Stealing a nap in an empty stall

If you remember, on Jan 26 the farrier was out and he was so extremely sore. On Feb 6, he blew out (what appears to be) a huge abscess in his right front. It was still a little oozy when I went out that night, and while he wasn't 100% sound, he did walk better so I think that issue was playing a part of his discomfort while being (not) trimmed. I guess we should be happy that it was an abscess versus him being uncomfortable enough to consider be put down? *sigh* He has been super cheeky and causing chaos, which means he is definitely feeling better. The barn manager putting his eventing boots on are absolutely helping his fetlock sores heal up, the scabs are almost gone now! Fingers crossed that hair starts growing and we can take the boots off. It's just a wait-and-see game with him, I will certainly put him down in the spring if he isn't comfortable but it looks like maybe he will pull through for one more summer?

App says "Mia does NOT deserve that apple, I need both!"

Mia has been a true badass. She is SUCH a fricken good horse, I really don't deserve her. Despite not being able to run around much due to the frozen tundra, she is still so good under saddle or when free lunging. A couple of weeks ago I free lunged her and she cantered. And cantered. And wouldn't stop. Every time I got her to slow down, she would pick back up and didn't stop until she was almost in a full body sweat. She ended up with 2 coolers and some towels to try to dry off because she was so wet. SMH. Under saddle though? A great horse. I rode bareback at one point and she so politely was telling me she couldn't do it, giving me the head down/shaking she does when she really wants to buck/leap. She didn't, but message received and I helped her focus her energy elsewhere! We also rode in the outdoor arena for the first time in months last weekend and while she couldn't concentrate (omg look there! And there!), she behaved very nicely and gave a beautiful w/t/c. No one else had been in the arena (for weeks? Months?) so we got to make all kinds of pretty tracks. Look at these canter tracks!

Mia's canter prints. So straight, so pretty!

Do you know what is so special about those tracks? Besides the fact they are a cool picture? Look, she isn't riding haunches in when going to the right. The right is her weak side and she is finally keeping her haunches behind her *mostly* by herself! I wasn't sure the day would ever come!

I absolutely love that the pictures

And then this past weekend I rode on the road with someone else. It is funny, I have definately corrupted them. I have taken a strictly indoor-only arena rider and convinced her to 1. ride outside 2. ride outside of an arena 3. ride up/down hills 4. TROT outside of an arena and 5. CANTER outside of an arena. I took it a step further on Sunday and convinced her to canter on the dirt road. There was minimal to no rocks, the road was semi-soft and wet from melting snow, not at all slippery. She was blown away I convinced her and that she actually did it, it is fun watching people's confidence grow. Mia? She cantered a little show canter on a loose rein that I held in one hand. *heart explodes*

When carrots are almost forgotten in the car, App has no hesitation to take them from a passing car.

There is no lessons in sight, but real fitness or riding hasn't been happening here either since the northeast is being pummeled with snow and deep freeze these past couple of months. Fingers crossed we start real riding again shortly because I want to jump and I really have the itch to show. I want to try my hand at training level because I actually think her dressage is there for it and I need to jump to get there. There is a hunter show not too far from me on Apr 6th that I am toying with going to. We are not hunter material, but it would be good practice. Just need to start jumping again to get up to the 2'6 or 3' class. Time to rebuild some lady balls again!

The worst question. When?

It has been a roller coaster ride and this is a really crappy post. It matches my current mood and feelings; scattered, inattentive, and distressed. App has been going downhill since late December, becoming more and more uncomfortable. Every time it gets colder, he has a harder time. He stands with his hooves touching in his front, as he tries to stand on one leg, in addition to often standing with his legs camped far under himself to try to keep weight off of his front legs. I went from wanting to move my horses asap, to now not being sure if I even could move him if I wanted to.

The good thing is that this doesn't happen every day. Or most days. His uncomfortable days are still less than his comfortable days. But it is hard. What do you do when your horse can't get comfortable one day, no matter what drugs you give him, but the next day is happy, chipper, and content to cause trouble where ever he can?

But you have treats right?

I had the vet out to ask this very question. M said that I am doing everything I can and that there isn't more $$ I can throw at him. He is on Buteless Pellets, MSM, Polyglycan, Pentosan, and Equioxx. He can't have bute and Equioxx, only one or the other, so we would have to rotate but she doesn't like bute long term. Neither do I. The only thing she added is 10g (20 pills!!) of Tylenol on his really bad days, but he can only have it 3-4 days a week. She said he actually looks like one of the best 26 year olds she has seen, and it really is too bad he has arthritis because otherwise she would expect him to be around a long time. She saw him on a good day, but said as long as the good days out number bad days, let's try to get him through until spring. She agrees that it wouldn't be humane to put him through another winter. The hope is when the ground thaws and the cold isn't biting, he will be more comfortable and then I will be looking at putting him down in the fall. If he doesn't become comfortable in the spring, I'll put him down much sooner.

Two weeks ago we almost couldn't trim his feet because he couldn't hold his hooves up longer than 45-60 seconds. Eventually we got them "done" by having him in the indoor arena, the softest footing available, but even then was difficult and it wasn't a great job. That was even after waiting an hour after the Tylenol was given. Last Saturday it got super cold again and he was so uncomfortable, he couldn't stand on any foot and be comfortable, constantly shifting front to back, left to right.

He is still happy though

The flip side to that is 2 hours after the farrier left, he made a 100% turn around and was trit-trotting himself around to run away with something he stole from the barn manager. And on Monday, 2 days after he was so uncomfortable, he was demanding that he get attention. Which included shoving himself between me and Mia when I was trying to groom her and then insisted she did NOT deserve the apple I had brought her and that he deserved both apples. He got a quarter of her apple.

So that's the question. The worst question. When? When do I make the call to let him go? He is happy, alert, and content the majority of the time. But his bad days are getting worse. How do you make sure you aren't holding on because you've had them 25 years and you are doing the best for them?

Except for this huge abscess that blew. OUCH!

I had a discussion at the barn in which I advised the owner that if the barn manager continued to allow the freedom and "extras" she is providing App, I will stay. I am willing to make the ordeal to move him, but at this point I am also willing to spend the extra $ to keep him somewhere that he has literal free run of the place. He currently free roams, can go into a stall if he wants and they also put him in the indoor arena at night so he has a very dry, soft place to lay down. I am getting better care for him now than I have since I've been at this barn. The issue is the barn owner is against most of this, and the barn manager has been doing it anyway. The barn owner agreed to let the barn manager keep doing things in order for me to stay, so we will see how it goes.

Fingers crossed it warms up soon and App can at least be pasture sound most of the time again. I don't want to let him go but I know I don't have a choice and it is killing me.