This Week's Highlight Reel (And Introducing Grace)

Another crazy week has come and gone.

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For starter's, Booger's owner was away on business this week, and left Mike in charge of taking care of the critters (four horses, two dogs, a cat, and eight sheep). I went over there with him each day, and rode Booger for three of them. When I wasn't riding and Mike was working, I spent time spoiling the dogs. Benny was particularly happy to have me cuddle with him.

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On Tuesday, I went back to work with Mishka and the little boy across the street. Mishka's owner picked up where I left off and has been giving the little boy pony rides between our lessons. The pony is getting so good at being patient and tolerant. The little boy is learning to halter and bridle her, and he sort of mashes her ears in the process. If an adult did that, she'd probably fuss, but with the little boy, she just stands patiently with her head at his height and waits it out. He picks her feet, tightens her girth, and brushes her all on his own.

This week, the saddle, bareback pad, and big mounting block finally arrived. I brought a set of my own reins for the side pull bridle.

I was impressed when the little boy managed to climb on Mishka all by himself. Mishka's owner taught him to lean across her back and give her a thump first, like I'd been doing. I was grinning when I watched him do it, and laughing when the pony reached around for her treat after he did.

After a few laps around the indoor on a line, I started to teach the little boy the basics of steering. He's over-eager and sort of pulled on her face a few times, but that's precisely why Mishka is bitless for now. After a few tries, he figured out how to be more gentle, and she learned that it's best not to over react. I had them practice making a lap around one end of the arena, with increasing slack in the lead line. Then I unclipped them for their maiden solo voyage. I'll admit, I held my breath while they piloted around the arena for the first time without me. I know horses, but I'm not very familiar with children and it makes me overanxious.

As a funny aside, we went to Bryce's mom's house over Christmas, and someone handed me Bryce's nephew while they went out to set up his surprise present. The nephew is almost three years old, and he was running around before they placed him on my lap. When it came time to put him down, however, I had a moment of panic. Logically, I'd seen the child running around, but I wasn't sure I could actually put him on the ground. I sort of tested him like I would test the footing on a frozen pond before committing to setting him down.

My thought process was, "Can I put it down on the floor like that?"

Pro tip: if you're going to deal with kids, it's probably a good idea to figure out their gender and stop calling them "it".

But back to Mishka and her little boy...

They did just fine moseying around the arena on their own. It will take practice and repetition, but there were no mishaps and they managed to make several circuits around their 20m oval before the pony's patience started to run out.

I continue to get email updates on their progress during the week, and I smile every time. I think they're going to be quite a pair in the future.

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My Wednesday got off to a late start. Gunner's owner messaged me just as I was about to leave for their lesson. Gunner had come in for the farrier with a swollen leg. He wasn't favoring it, but it was hot and Gunner wanted no part of having it touched. We cancelled our lesson just to be safe. Since then, the swelling has gone down and Gunner is sound, so we should resume our regular schedule this week.

Instead, I went out and rode Booger. It was the first time I'd had her in the saddle in a while, and she was being very good. We did a lot of cantering and a little bit of jumping.

I'm still struggling with the correct bridle solution for her. Despite having her teeth done and regular chiro, she seems to resent the bit lately. I measured her mouth, so I know I'm using the correct size. I've tried a few different options, and she liked the loose ring best. This week, I triple checked the way it was sitting in her mouth, and no problems. I've tried a few settings on the bridle and it makes no difference.

Booger is happy as a clam just wearing the bridle, but when I ride, she plays with her mouth the entire time. It doesn't matter if I ride her in a contact or on the buckle, she is constantly moving her mouth. She doesn't brace or pull or try to get her tongue over the bit. She just sort of opens and closes her jaw in a rhythmic motion the entire time I'm on her. In photos, it looks like she's gaping her mouth the entire time, but she isn't. I even tried taking the reins off the bridle entirely and she did the same thing, so I know it's not my hands doing the damage. On the ground? Mouth completely still. If I ride her without a bit, she doesn't fuss at all.

At this point, I have tried full cheek, d-ring, loose ring, egg butt, single jointed, double jointed, French link, and oval piece, fat, skinny, copper, sweet mouth, and a roller (because those were what was laying around the barn). She goes best in the fat loose ring with the oval piece, and for a long time, she wasn't fussing with it. When I open her mouth and look, the bit doesn't crowd her mouth, she has ample room for her tongue, nothing is loose or hanging, and her tongue is sitting quietly with the bit resting over it. I am not about to be the person that just cranks a flash on her to keep her mouth shut. I look around at all the other horses I work with and fit bits to, and they're all going around happily with quiet, relaxed mouths, and I wonder if I'm  missing some key piece of the puzzle with Booger.

I honestly think she prefers no bit, and reading this post by Sari at Mulography has me getting more serious about finding the right bit-less option. I ride Booger in the rope halter pretty regularly, so I know I don't need a bit for basic functions (go, stop, turn, walk, trot, canter, jump), but I'd like a little more finesse than what the rope halter gives me. Booger is not showing and it doesn't matter how 'trained' she gets, so the pressure to do more than hack around in a halter is coming from me and me alone. Still, I'm not satisfied with just the rope halter, and the bit thing has me stumped.

My plan is to get my s-hack back from Lynn and put it on Booger's bridle. The solution may be as simple as that.

(Wow, that turned into a tangent!)

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From there, I was off to Cara's for a lesson with Cam. Ian was off at a doctor's appointment, so Cam took his slot as well as hers. Cam has been really working on riding both horses every day and has posted pictures of their homework online. I love her work ethic, and it means we can keep forging ahead in our lessons.

We had a long lesson with Slang. Cam didn't want to go through all the effort of swapping horses halfway through, and I don't blame her. We did half the lesson working on dressage, specifically introducing stretchy trot. Cam did some of the best trot work she's done to date with Slang. He has finally unlocked his 'forward' button, and it has made everything else fall into place. He is softer, stronger, and more in tune with Cam's leg. We even got some really nice free walk during this lesson.

We did some jumping exercises during the second half of our lesson. Slang's confidence is almost back to where it was before he backslid a few weeks ago, and we tested the boundaries a little bit. Cam rode beautifully and the results were lovely.

Hannah was floating around the barn that night and I took advantage of her being there. She'd cancelled her Friday lesson because of a conflict with IEA. Since she was at the barn anyway, we did her lesson on Wednesday night. Kal seems to have recovered from his minor lameness, and his leg was cold and tight. We kept it to walk/trot only just to be safe, but we had a very productive lesson anyway. We did a lot of turns on the forehand and then leg yields along the wall.

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Thursday was gray and dreary, but warm. I took advantage of Mike being at Booger's barn and had him take some pictures during my ride. I rode her in the rope halter and she seemed happy with the change. We did a lot of cantering, and she's starting to feel stronger in her hind end. I really do think some of her gait issues stem from the fact that she's half MFT.

Booger and I did some light jumping that day as well. I warmed her up over the cross rail and the stacked cavaletti, then took her over the little vertical a few times. I had Mike come out to take some pictures, and promptly made Booger channel her inner Ozzy on our first attempt. We were coming to the vertical at a trot. At the last minute, Booger tried to canter it. With the rope halter, I didn't have the finesse to stop her from sneaking in that last stride, and she ran out of room and chipped in. She cleared the fence with minimal effort anyway, and the jump felt fine, but I laughed pretty hard when I saw the photo.

Thankfully, our next attempt was much better.

I love her tail. She has so much fun jumping.

After that, I did the cross rail a few more times. Booger was feeling good and apparently very proud of herself. She was pretty sassy on some of our landings. I had to laugh. She doesn't try to unseat me, but she crow hops in celebration sometimes. You can see me patting her as we bounce around.

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From there, Mike and I drove out to PA for Wink's lesson. Wink's owner had had a rough day at the office, and I think Wink knew he had to be on his best behavior. We went on to have a really good lesson, and I think it served as therapy for Wink's owner. It's a shame it's January and everything is a mud pit right now, because Wink was going really nicely for his owner and the light was lovely. Even photoshop can't make him look clean right now.

We finished off our lesson with some jumping and Wink's owner was being confident and relaxed. We don't do a whole lot of jumping (western saddle and all that) but it was too tempting to resist. I asked Wink's owner how she felt about jumping the coop, and she beamed. This is a rider who was afraid to trot on a loose rein when we started, so this confidence was awesome! She approached boldly and Wink popped over the coop smoothly and effortlessly. He has the most comfortable jump I've ever ridden, and puts in just enough oomph to get over the fence. He'll never been a show jumper, but he's super safe to teach jumping basics on. I am sharing this photo as a victory, and am not interested in critique. We know what we have to work on, but Wink's owner was safe and secure over the fence, and Wink is as honest as the day is long.

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That night I was up late with internet drama. I started out cranky because of a thread on ECTRA that brought up reminders of why I am no longer a member of that organization. I might do an entire post on that subject. Just being involved in the conversation got me seeing red all over again. Then I made the mistake of posting my thoughts about the German shepherd getting dipped in the wave pool on the set of A Dog's Purpose. That blew up in ways I couldn't have imagined. I might do a post on that too.  Do I really want to open the blog up for drama? Am I that bored? I'm not sure.

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On Friday, Mike and I started the day by driving down to a new client that I haven't introduced yet. The horse's name is Grace, and she is a five year old TWH mare. Apparently, Grace had some complications at birth and that's how she earned her name.

She was passed around a bit in the south, eventually landing with someone in Kentucky who put some training on her. It's not clear how long Grace was in training (30, 60, 90 days?) or what was done with her in that time.

Grace's current owner, who boards at Rusty's barn, picked her up at the end of the summer with hopes of using her as a trail horse. She rode her a handful of times (or maybe only once?) and really had her hands full. Plus, Grace had a tendency to pace. Rusty's owner mentioned that I helped get Rusty gaiting nicely, and gave Grace's owner my contact info.

Rusty's barn is outside of my driving radius, and I charge extra to go there. Originally, Grace's owner had Rusty's owner contact me to ask if I'd be able to give them a discount if they lessoned back to back. I love Rusty and his owner, and I did consider it for a hot second. I am really bad about charging what I need to charge for my services. Honestly, if I could play with the ponies and help people out of the goodness of my heart, I would totally do it. Unfortunately, I have bills to pay and my own ponies would starve if I did that. I discussed it with Mike, who is much more business-minded than I am. In the end, I told Rusty's owner that I couldn't lower my rate for the following reasons:

• By the time I drive down there, give two lessons, discuss the lessons, and drive home, I've used up six hours of my day. That's the entire day! I need to make a full paycheck to do that.
• In the time it would take me to do that, I could give four lessons locally.
• If one lesson cancels, do I charge the other one double?
• What are the chances of Rusty's owner and Grace's owner being able to get on the same schedule consistently.

I worried about not getting the new client and I worried about not being able to help the horse. I constantly have to remind myself that there are plenty of good trainers around and that it is not my job to help every single horse that comes into my peripheral vision. I'm a professional (I still don't really consider myself one) and I need to get paid for my services.

In the end, I got the client anyway. Apparently, I come highly recommended (a phrase that always makes me a little giddy) and Grace's owner had heard several good things about me from everyone at the barn. Good for me!

I did an evaluation on Grace before Christmas. Her owner is a sane, polite, and friendly woman who I liked right away. She basically wants me to fix the horse and hand it back to her, and I think I surprise her with the amount of explaining I do as I work with Grace. That's just the way I am, and I can't physically seem to not talk about what I'm doing as I'm doing it (those of you who are 2700 words into reading this post probably aren't surprised). 

Grace was in her stall when I arrived, munching on a pile of hay and looking content. I took one look at the horse and asked, "What are you feeding her?"

"Not a lot," her owner replied. She went on to tell me that Grace gets grass hay (not quite free choice) and no grain. She's in a part of NJ with sandy soil and poor grass quality, and I found out the mare is turned out almost 24/7. 

"Have you had bloodwork done on her?" I followed up.

"No, why?"

Grace was obese, and not just in your typical easy keeper kind of way. Her neck was cresty and she had a deep crease down her back.  She had fat pockets over her shoulders, back, and haunches. There was fat deposited around her teats. Her supraorbital fossa (the indentation above the horse's eye) was bulging. Even her eyelids looked fat. It is rare that I think a horse is an 8 on the Henneke scale, but this mare definitely was! (I would have rated her a 9, but I have actually seen fatter horses.) Given that the mare was barely being fed and is young and still growing, the whole picture screamed 'metabolic issue' at me. I talked to Grace's owner about IR and EPSSM, neither of which she'd heard of before. 

I told her, "I am not a vet so I can't diagnose a horse, but if this mare was at my house, I would be having a conversation with my vet. There may be a medical reason that she can't lose weight."

We went on with the evaluation.

The first thing I did is ask her owner to get a plain eggbutt snaffle for her bridle. She had a wide selection of leverage bits, none of which gave me the option to work the mare with a direct contact without being very unfair. 

I started off with my basic ground work assessment. Could I move Grace's haunches, head/neck, and shoulders? Did she seem spooky or reactive? How were her ground manners in general? The mare picked up on bending in a few minutes. I got her haunches moving, but it took quite a bit of coaxing. The shoulders were sticky, but that's typical in a green horse (and even some not-so-green horses). She definitely wasn't spooky. In fact, her default seemed to be to just stand there unless I absolutely insisted. Over all, the mare seemed pretty sluggish. She wasn't really focused on me, but she wasn't reactive or (I suspected) particularly athletic. She was very good about being handled (grooming, feet, tying, saddle, bridle). 

I shrugged and got on. Grace stood stock still at the mounting block, and I found out her owner had paid someone to teach her that skill specifically. Good. My pet peeve is horses who move off when you mount.

Grace and I got about three steps at the walk before it became very apparent that the mare doesn't have anything more than super basic training under saddle. She walked a few steps then sped up. When I picked up the reins to ask her to stay at a walk, she braced, flung her head, and started pacing faster and faster. When I picked up one rein to circle her with hopes of slowing down, she bucked. After that, she alternated between planting her feet and not wanting to move, and flinging her head and kicking out. As I said, she's not exactly an Olympic athlete, so I had no problem sitting through her tantrum, but it wasn't productive.

I told her owner, "Can I sit this? Yes. Do I want to? Not particularly. Is it productive? Not at all."

So we went back to ground work. Now Grace was pissed. She cooperated on the ground for about two more minutes, and then made it very clear that her quarter was up and she did not want to work any more. She tried ignoring me (doesn't work). Then she tried pulling away from me, and her owner admitted the mare had gotten away from her during a failed lunging session, and she hadn't tried to do it again. That didn't work either, and Grace grew increasingly cranky. I was asking for one nice circle on the lunge line, followed by a nice "stop and come to neutral". Instead, Grace barged in at me (nope), bolted around me (I still wouldn't go away), and then tried kicking at me (I don't think so). In a final fit of frustration, she reared up and struck at me with a front foot (that went over like a pregnant pole vaulter). 

Eventually, Grace figured out that the antics wouldn't work and she should maybe just maybe try what the annoying human was asking for. I moved her haunches around, got her walking politely on a circle around me, and then put her away. The good news was that she didn't seem to hold a grudge at all, and went back to being pleasant and polite as soon as we left the ring.

I explained that a metabolic issue could cause a poor attitude as well. If I was so fat I couldn't breathe, I wouldn't want to work either.

The end result was that Grace's owner called the vet for a follow up appointment. Grace's owner was apologetic to me for calling the vet instead of scheduling another lesson. I assured her that I would much rather get the horse squared away medically before wasting anyone's time or money. I wish everyone would rule out medical problems before throwing a "problem" horse into training.

As it turns out, I was right to have the vet out for Grace. Blood work revealed that her thyroid wasn't working. The vet put her on medication. Already, she has lost a significant amount of weight. (That's right, these photos are after she lost weight.)

I went back out Friday for our second session.

I started Grace on the ground in just a bridle. I wasn't sure I'd be riding her and I didn't want her to damage her saddle if she threw a tantrum.

The session started well enough with some bending and a little bit of yielding the hindquarters. When I stopped to explain something I was doing, Grace politely approached me and snuggled up to my ear while I talked.

From there, things got a bit theatrical. I was simply working on sending Grace out on a circle, and then asking her to walk, then whoa. Grace went out on the circle very nicely, but the second she got out there, she'd start to go faster and faster. If I tried to stop her, she protested... loudly.

There is a donkey named Donk (but I call him Mr. BaDONKa Donk) turned out next to the arena. Apparently he had opinions on my training techniques and took this time to voice them. I had to stop talking because nobody could hear me over him.

Some jackass telling me how to do my job.

Check him out in the background here.

There were a few times when things got a little sketchy out there...

Check out my face.

...but eventually, Grace started to get the point of the exercise.

Moving over more politely.

We took a break at one point to see if I could find a smaller space to work in. I was getting quite a work out and took the opportunity to shed my jacket.

We regrouped and I put Grace on a shorter line so she couldn't pull away from me. The problem then became that she crowded me instead. The solution to that was simple. I just  held my stick out in front of me. If she came too close, she prodded herself in the ribs. It did not take long for her to figure out that it wasn't worth getting in my space. I may not be the world's #1 Parelli fan, but I do love a good old fashioned "carrot stick".

Calmly moving out of my space. Nice cross over behind.

Slowly, but surely, I worked Grace out to the end of my rope. Something clicked and she maintained her even, relaxed walk.

I switched Grace back to her rope halter to see if I could maintain the same level of communication and relaxation without a bit. (Going back to that article from earlier. I want to be able to do everything without a bit before I even get on the horse.)

Grace stayed nice and relaxed. I even had slack in the rope as I asked her to change directions back and forth. When I asked Grace to gait, she did so softly, without rushing off, and I was able to bring her right back down to a halt afterwards.

We'll work our way up to a longer line and then a standard lunge line in a few sessions.

At this point, I shrugged again and decided to hop on. I wanted to see if the relaxation would stick under saddle. Grace hadn't worn a saddle since her evaluation, so I did give her a few more circles with it on just to make sure we wouldn't have a problem.

Once again, Grace stood stock still while I climbed on board. We went on to have a very nice walk on a loose rein. There was no rushing, head tossing, or bucking, and I had both steering and brakes.

It was starting to drizzle and the forecast called for downpours any minute. Plus we were going on an hour of work already. I kept the ride short, making it my goal to ride all the way around the big ring. In the process, Grace offered a beautiful, relaxed gait for a few steps. She was being very polite and correct so I let her have it. When she relaxes, her gait is simply lovely. There is much hope!

The difference between the last ride and this one was amazing. Grace still gave me some sass on the ground, but she came out of it much faster, and once I was mounted, she was on her best behavior. I think if she's in regular work, she'll come together quickly, and I suspect the  medication is making her feel physically better, which helps with her attitude. I am hoping to get her really solid in the ring over the next two months so that I can put some trail miles on her for her owner in the spring.

My experience with Tennessee Walkers has been overwhelmingly positive in the past, and I suspect Grace will not disappoint. She is a sweet horse who is not spooky, but is not half asleep either. I think that once she learns that we don't want to torment her with hard work, she'll play along nicely. I suspect that with a lot of relaxation and a little bit of collection, she'll have a wonderful running walk in no time.

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After a quick lunch break, we were off to Cara's again, where Helen had her weekly lesson on Spirit. Hannah was at IEA and I gave Angel the week off, so we were in and out of there pretty quickly. Helen and Spirit had a great lesson. We are working on 20m circles at the canter. Spirit has an enormous stride and never did dressage before. That combined with a small arena with mediocre footing makes it hard for her to keep her balance on the turns. Helen has been working hard at getting Spirit's shoulder out and keeping her forward, and they're coming together nicely. In the mean time, Spirit has learned that halting on the center line is fun and easy, and Helen gets her square and soft nine times out of ten. Their free walk is also starting to look amazing. It's a shame that Spirit is not the horse Helen will be showing because they are putting all the elements together and would probably do really well together!

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And just like that, it was the weekend. It has been rainy (but at least it's warm) and we've been laying low, not doing a whole lot.

We were very good about our workout all week. I'm getting ready to do a one-month recap (next weekend). It's tedious and I don't enjoy lifting, but I am starting to actually see results, which is encouraging. My little supporting muscles are coming in, so I can start lifting more with my bigger muscle groups. I'm also starting to get some definition in my arms and back. I am getting used to doing cardio regularly again, and once I get through the first 20 minutes, I sort of get into a zone. Our bikes have heart rate monitors built in, so I can set goals for myself that way. This week, I worked up to seventy minutes, keeping my heart rate around 140 for the duration (and then I went into beast mode for the last four minutes). 

Julio is starting to understand that work out time is not dog time. He used to get really concerned about the noises we make when we work out. We had to lock him out of the room when we lifted or pedaled because he would try to "help". Nowadays, I tell him to sit on the couch and he stays there. Lately, he has started chewing his bone when we lift. He does frog legs on the carpet and tips his head back to chew. I joke that he's doing his jaw muscle work out.

Herbie, on the other hand, does not care one bit what is going on with us, and takes the opportunity to hog all the blankets on the couch.

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Yesterday, Mike and I said goodbye to his truck. I touched on this earlier. A few months ago, one of the brake lines blew out when we were about to get hay. Thankfully, it happened in the driveway and there was no damage done. We've been pumping thousands of dollars into this truck over the last several years to keep it running. The truck has great sentimental value since it belonged to Mike's late dad (whose birthday was Friday). We cannot afford payments on a new truck right now (or even a used one, honestly) and it was easier to pump money into repairs on the existing truck here and there. We really only use the truck to get hay and pick up lumber. When Mike was plowing, he used the truck to get in and out of work instead of bringing a plow truck home. We had the truck towed to the dealership on New Year's. The dealership called to tell us they wouldn't do the repairs because they were more than the truck was worth in supplies alone. The truck needs new brake lines (which have to be special-made since the truck is so old), calipers, pads, and rotors. Even if we got all that done, the truck is so rusted out that something else would probably go almost immediately afterwards. The cost to get the truck on the road again was nearly $4000. Even if we did the work ourselves, it would come to over two grand. It's just not worth it.

Mike did not want to see the truck end up in the junk yard, and after a couple weeks of looking, he found it a home at The Farm. We had the truck towed there yesterday. In the process, Mike cleaned out all the documents in the glove compartment. That included the original window sticker with the sale price (less than half of what a comparable truck would cost today), and a permit for Island Beach State Park that his dad had gotten. (This is something Mike and I always talked about doing with the truck as well.)

It was a sad day and the end of an era.

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On the way home, we decided to a couple grab-n-go type Geocaches. They were on our way and were simple magnetic microcaches on some road signs. One of them took us down one of my favorite local roads, which includes trails that I rode with Ozzy in years past.

The fog was really rolling in by then, and the farm was blanketed in thick, gray mist by the time we got home. It was eerie and beautiful. I took some pictures to try to capture the atmosphere, but didn't really do it justice.

We spent the rest of the day watching TV, drinking wine/bourbon, and snuggling down on the living room floor. (We've been "camping" again.)

Today, Mike is working on a tack trunk while I blog. We'll be running errands later (groceries, mailing some final thank yous for our wedding, going to the bank, picking up dog treats) and then we'll probably start a puzzle. It is definitely our slow time of year, and I am not complaining. Quiet weekends give us a chance to recharge for the daily grind. 

(If you read all that, you get a cookie.)