Tomorrow

It begins.

Course walk went well, including the one with champagne. It's a fairly straightforward course, with a few things that could make Royal all bug-eyed. I'll have to be aware of those, but he's been jumping so well lately, maybe I won't have to worry. We'll see. I took pictures of all the jumps, will post them later.

For now, the trailer is packed, Royal is fit, and I am PUMPED. No matter what happens, this will be a great learning experience for us.

Who's excited? Me!

Preperations

Steepleview is this weekend! I'm a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Currently, I have just finished packing my show clothes and cleaning all my tack so I can put them in the trailer tomorrow. That way they're all ready to go Saturday and all I have to do is get me and Royal there. Luckily, my ride times are late so I don't have to get up early. Dressage is at 12:57 and cross-country is 2:54. So, I should be there by 11:00 and I have plenty of time to go to the farm and get Royal all braided up before heading out.

The last couple of weeks, we've been training like there's no tomorrow and Royal is doing great. All our jumping sessions have been fantastic and he's getting the whole dressage thing down. Still wants to go above the bit if he gets tense, but is get a lot better at relaxing. And I'm more proactive about not letting him get too tense. I can always give a tiny Suspension Rein or Partial Disengagement and he starts to relax. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of North Run. He even did well with a Soft Feel when the fallen trees were being cut up with chainsaws. Less commotion than that used to make him melt down, so he's made great progress.

I've got all my clothes ready to go. Already had my boots, vest, polo shirt, breeches, helmet, gloves, and socks. I got my jacket and shirt/tie from St. Croix Saddlery, who have really expanded their inventory and I am SO happy about that. Not only was the jacket very nice fitting (which is hard to find. I am apparently indescribably tiny as far as clothes manufacturers are concerned), but I didn't have to buy a shirt and tie. They had this bib/tie combo that you can wear over a t-shirt and stay cool. I love it and it helped me save $30, which is awesome. I look fantastic in it and my stock pin with the royal blue jewel gives it a nice bit of color.

Tomorrow I'll get the trailer all ready and walk my cross-country course in the evening. The facility is hosting a "champagne course walk" and, while I have no idea what that is, I'll be very interested to find out.

This is going to be fun!

North Run Farm Schooling Show

Always with the drama.

Early Saturday morning, I headed out to the farm buzzing with excitement for Royal's and my First Dressage Show Ever. We had parked the trailer in a new spot so I decided to see if I could get it out before I loaded Royal, and it turns out that I couldn't. I cranked the steering wheel all the wheel and still couldn't turn it sharp enough to miss the trees. So I had to go left, drive down to the barn and try to turn around amongst the tree. It started off well, until I scrapped the front of the truck against a telephone pole. Oops. I was able to get the rig turned around and parked it in the driveway. I put some hay in the haynet, got Royal, put his shipping boots on (he wasn't too excited about that), loaded him up, and off we went.

About 2 miles down the road, I hear a "pop". Wondering what was broken, I pulled over, turned on the emergency flashers, and checked the trailer. Everything seemed fine in the trailer (although Royal was kind of confused as to why we were stopping) so I headed back to the truck cab. I then noticed the blinker light hanging out, still blinking just fine. I figured it must have popped out when I hit the telephone pole. But, as it was still working, I kept going.

We arrived at the barn safe and sound. I left Royal in the trailer to check it, then got him out so we could explore. The barn had a nice indoor where the show was taking place, a nice barn, a big outdoor arena with lots of jumps, and many horses that Royal wanted to say "hi" to. I let him trot around the outdoor for a while, then tied him back up at the trailer so I could watch a test. Poor Royal was all by himself, as all the other horses were in the barn. But he coped fine. After watch a beautiful palomino doing a Training Level test, I saddled up Royal and we headed to the outdoor to warm up. He did so EXTREMELY well, so we headed to the barn to wait our turn.

We did Intro Test C and got a 57.000%, which I think is pretty good for a pair of rookies. We started off well, then Royal got a bit frazzled at the first canter circle and took a while to settle down. We got point marked off for being above the bit and tense, but the judge was very encouraging. She said Royal was a nice horse who needs to learn to relax. Which was nothing new, but I still appreciated the feedback. We loaded back up, drove home, and I put the trailer in a different spot. One that will be (hopefully) easier to get out of.

Royal says "Dressagin' is hard work. I need to replenish my calories."

The big thing I took from the experience is that I need to make sure Royal is familiar with the dressage test. He got frazzled because he was confused and had no idea what to expect. So in preparation for Steepleview, we doing the BN Test A every single ride. We've done it three sessions in a row so far and he's starting to get it. And so am I, although I still get somewhat confused. I really want it etched in both our brains so even show nerves can't get it out.

Plus, it's fun to be on the same page. And a lot easier for both horse and rider.

Braiding

...That's what I've been doing this week.

Royal and I are entered in a dressage schooling show tomorrow and it's only two weeks until the Steepleview Horse Trial! I can't believe how fast the summer flew by but now I have a lot of prep work to do.

Like learning how to braid. Other than the fun-n-giggles casual braiding, I've never really braided a horse. And Royal, to my knowledge, has never had to stand for a braiding before. So it was a learning curve for both of us.

The first attempt was a little rough. I used too much water to wet down the hair and had no feel for how much hair to use for each braid. As a result, it looked kind of uneven but okay for a first try.

Halfway done.

All done.

The next day, I tried it again and it looked much better. Not perfect, but the braids were more uniform and pretty. After that, we practiced both the USDF Intro Test C (what we'll be doing at the schooling show) and the USEA Beginner Novice Test A (what we'll be doing at the Steepleview H. T.). He did fairly well, except for his tendency to drop his shoulder while cantering in a circle to the left. I lifted up my inside rein to help him balance himself and eventually he did. And then could canter with my reins in their normal position. It was a good day.

Royal bored with all this picture stuff.

Wednesday, he was acting like he was on the tail end of a mild colic so no riding. Lots of trailer loading and shipping boots practice instead. Today was jumping, which both of us really liked. I put up the cow panels on the oxer for the first time, which Royal wasn't too sure about, but ended up popping over. I aimed him at the fence with a "We are going to jump this jump" laser focus, and he did some wiggling, but still went over. Then it was on to mini-courses like a three-stride line to the oxer and back to the cross-rail. And the oxer to a trotting figure-8 around the line then over the line. Lots of stuff to keep him interested and alert.

Tomorrow should be interesting. It will be my First Dressage Show Ever, and, presumably, Royals' as well. Here's to hoping we have fun!

Bayfield

Sorry for the teaser and running away. I've had a crazy busy week with lots of ups and downs, but no time to blog. But, now that I've taken the GRE (and, if the scoring remains accurate, kicked its ass), I have more time and I can write about our fantastic week up in Bayfield, WI.

Going up to Bayfield (a small town near the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior) has been a tradition for my family for the past 16 years. We always stay at the same place for a week and generally have a good time. But, for a long time, it was kind of boring for me. Swimming, sitting on the beach, and small-scale hiking only hold my interest for so long. So, when we bought the horses 8 years ago, my parents decided to see if we could bring them with. Luckily, there is a stable close by that is used to temporary boarders, and Royal has been to Bayfield every year since then.

This year, we accomplished some great things. Royal traveled well up, settled in nicely, and we had a relaxing few days playing with some dressage and jumping. On Thursday, I put my plan into action. I hooked up the truck and trailer and brought Royal to the beach where we were staying to see if he'd go in the Really Really Really Really Really Big Puddle, a.k.a. Lake Superior.

First, I had to see if he'd even be willing to go near the water, and he was.

Then it was time to put on my shorts and toe-shoes, and try some riding. Royal was skeptical at first.

But after a little patience and approach/retreat, he waded in. And discovered he liked it!

The water was so clear and not as cold as in the past, so he splashed and splashed. I was feeling so confident that I decided to see if he would go around the dock onto the main beach.

He seemed to like that, although he wasn't too sure about the waves on the beach, so we headed back. By this time the battery on the camera was dying, so the pictures weren't that great.

We ended up doing that twice more, with Royal becoming more and more confident with each time. It was a good day.

The next day, my mom came out with me to the stable. I decided to try out the mini-cross-country course in the field to see what Royal thought. And evidently, he's a cross-country machine.

He even powered over the little ditch, probably because I'd been having him jump over that Online all week. By then it was no big deal and he just skipped over it.

All in all, it was a great week and I'm very happy I had the opportunity to take him up there. He seemed to enjoy the experience and I think it was great prep for the Steepleview Event.

Teaser!

Guess what Royal and I did last week?

More to come soon!

Steepleview Schooling Day

Minnesota and Royal always keep life interesting.

When Royal stayed sound with his boot off, you'd think I'd be able to quickly get back into riding and doing other fun things, right? Wrong. The weather took a turn for the insane, with temperatures in the high 90s and ridiculously high humidity. So, any sort of barely strenuous activity was completely out of the question. It would be mid-to-high 80s and humid at 7:00am, and I would feel completely crummy going out. I got some new fans for the barn, which the boys enjoyed immensely. My cat, on the other hand, enjoyed the weather and spent a lot of time lounging on the porch.

The heat wave broke on Thursday and I did some riding/jumping on Friday. It was still quite warm and humid, so I decided to take it easy. Royal was a bundle of excitement, and even tried to take off with me after a jump. A one-rein stop put an end to that nonsense rather quickly and we jumped some more before ending on a nice fluid jump over the purple vertical.

Saturday say thunderstorms for most of the morning, so I mainly focused on cleaning up Royal's mane and ears. He was okay with the mane, but not so crazy about the ears. Which I understood and let him have all the time he needed to get used to it. I didn't clip the whole inside of his ears, just the tufts sticking out, and was able to do it at liberty. I also packed my trailer with most of the stuff I needed, as it started to look full.

My lesson started at 1:00pm on Sunday, so I was able to kind of sleep in and leisurely get out to the farm. I hooked up the truck and trailer on the first try (go me!) and was able to get Royal brushed off before loading him and heading to Steepleview. Royal loaded and traveled well, taking in his surroundings easily.

Royal says "Are we there yet?"

We got there in plenty of time and mostly hung around until we had to meet in the warm-up area, where I made a bunch of big mistakes.

Mistake #1: Not getting to the warm-up area early enough to let Royal get used to the surroundings. There were horses everywhere on the various parts of the cross-country course around the arena, and Royal being who he is, wanted to keep track of them all. Which was impossible and he started to freak out.

Mistake #2: Doing big circles and "going places" before Royal was ready. I had been assigned to be in a group of three other horses and riders at the same level (green bean) and an instructor. The instructor asked us to move our horses out so he could see how the horses were. Which meant big circles around the big warm-up area at a solid trot and canter, which got Royal REALLY revved up. To the point where he could. not. stand. still. And was sweating all over, including around his eyes.

Had I been thinking, I would have explained to the instructor that warming up with frequent transitions and small circles/figure-8s has worked the best for us, and I could do that and stay out the other riders' way. Again, stupid mistake and I had to live with the consequences. Warming up over fences went okay, as the instructor realized asking me to get Royal to boogie might be a bad idea. A single cross-rail, a cross-rail to a vertical, and then a pile of logs all went fairly well. Then we headed to a different part of the course, all of which was beautiful.

The next exercise was a downhill roll-top, which then morphed into the roll-top to a right-hand turn over a bridge, and then into the roll-top to another roll-top a ways away. Royal drifted left to run-out at the second jump, which was my fault. There was another jump there, and I didn't focus enough on the jump I wanted. He got confused and split the difference by going between the jumps. I tried again, focusing hard on the jump I wanted, and he popped over it no problem.

Next was the ditch, which became Royal's nemesis. We've had our conversations about ditches before, and he did okay over the ditch at the Derby Day, but this was a different story. Two of the other horses went before him and they both had cows. Like, prize-winning-bull-at-the-Iowa-State-Fair cows. So when it was our turn, Royal was convinced that there had to be demons in the ditch, and being invisible made them worse. He LAUNCHED over the ditch and I nearly fell off when he bolted and nearly wiped out an innocent bystander. The second attempt had a lot more dithering in front of the ditch, and another gargantuan leap. But this time I was ready for it and threw in another one-rein stop before he got out of hand. The third time was a lot better, although he still over-jumped it.

Then it was on to the banks, which Royal tackled like he's done them all his life. We started with the little 6" bank, then went on the the bigger ones. By now, Royal was starting to settle in and be calmer. After that, we tackled a mini-course of a small log to the bank to a curvy ramp. Royal cantered around that like nothing, soaring over the ramp like he had wings. Then another mini-course of the ramp to a small tiger trap and up the bank. We stuttered up the bank, but escaped unscathed.

And finally, the WATER! Royal hesitated a bit at the entry, but splashed straight through, having a great time. Then we cantered through, splashing everywhere. Next it was time to try banks into water. He was a little suspicious, but dived in. The lesson ended with us jumping off the bank to the water, canter through and out, and over a coop. Fluidly and harmoniously.

We walked back to the trailer, I unsaddled Royal, loaded him up, and we went home. Tired and happy.

It was a good day.

The Boot Is Off

On Wednesday, seeing as Royal was sound and healthy, I took his boot off. I'd been able to keep the hoof covered for two weeks, and it showed. The sole was somewhat squishy and the heels were not looking good. The ground was firm, but not hard and I figured it would be perfect for letting his hoof get back into shape.

And so far it's been good. The sole was hardened right up and the heels look fantastic. And now I have to figure out how to get the rest of him in shape. Three and a half weeks of light work have helped his topline disappear and he's lost some stamina. But now it's supposed to be in the high 90s the rest of the week so I don't know how I'm going to accomplish that before the cross-country clinic on Sunday.

In the meantime, I got a set of shipping boots for Royal and while they look nice, he's not so sure what to think about them.

I let him get used to them in the round pen, and he eventually adjusted to them. No clue how he'll travel with them yet. We'll see next week.

Dr. Silverhoof Goes Bye-Bye

It's the 100th post! And it's mostly good news.

On Sunday, my mother came up to the farm with me to see Royal and what this soaking and wrapping business was all about. I decided to go for a nice short bareback ride in the arena to see how Royal was doing. It turned out that he was doing quite well.

Being followed by my nearly 16-year-old Beagle who has an obsession with following me on horseback. No one understands it and Royal doesn't seem to care.

Royal last got bute on Sunday morning and got his last soak on Monday. By then he was becoming very impatient with the whole thing and I figured he'd been soaked enough. We did another purple wrap that day.

On Tuesday, I had to figure out how I was going to keep a wrap on his hoof without him shredding it. He has the ability to shred through 1/2" of duct tape and imitation Vetrap, although he never got any dirt in the hole. So my barn owner lent me an old soaking boot. We couldn't get it closed enough on top, so we used duct tape. It was ugly, but it kept dirt out, even though he still kept shredding the Vetrap inside it.

I had to wrap above his fetlock in the hopes it would prevent rubs, but the wrap kept falling down. Sigh. But he still doesn't have any rubs and I ordered an Easyboot Rx that I hoped would fit him better. It's made for protecting hooves in turnout and seemed tough enough to withstand Royal. But I had to wait for it to be shipped here, so I kept using wrapping and using the soaking boot. I did some riding with an actual saddle and various gaits on Wednesday and Royal was a dream. Totally sound with no hint of a lameness.

The Rx boot arrived last night, and I had to be at the clinic this morning. I took the boot with me and it got thumbs up from the vet. So I went to the farm afterwards and with the help of the barn owner, got the Rx on Royal's hoof and it fits! It also looks much nicer and more comfortable.

It's just wide enough, so I can't put any Vetrap underneath it. It's got plenty of length so I can hear it moving a bit when Royal moves. Still, it seems like will stay and the top part is soft enough not to rub. I am cautiously optimistic that this will work and we'll have this nonsense behind us after this week. Hopefully, we'll be able to do some jumping and have some fun again!

Dr. Silverhoof's Schedule

It's day five of our soaking/wrapping adventure, and I am ready to tear my hair out. I officially hate hoof abscesses with a passion and wish that they would go the way of the dodo.

But, in the meantime, I've been doing my best to help Royal heal and ensure this crap doesn't happen again. Since I've given up on soaking him in the arena, he's been mostly good. It probably helped that I filled a big drink thermos with warm water from home (the barn doesn't have warm water) and used that for soaking. Royal still isn't too keen on the idea, but he's a lot more willing to tolerate it.

Of course, standing there for 20 minutes is Very Very Boring. I tried getting some hay and feeding it to him during the soaks, but he didn't want to eat it. Probably because there is grass all around us and he would much rather eat that. I don't want to let him do that since he would move his hoof and defeat the purpose of soaking. So, my solution is to feed him mints and/or carrots periodically to keep him happy. I also indulge his licking habit. Royal likes to lick stuff. I don't know why, and he licks everything (me, gloves, coats, gates, fence posts, fans). He gets free access to mineral blocks and a full serving of balanced grain every day, so he probably doesn't have any deficiencies. It's just a "Royal thing".

After he's taken his hoof out at least twice, it's been around 15 minutes. I then put some sugerdine on his hoof, put a diaper or poultice pad on the hoof, wrap it in imitation Vetrap, then duct tape. And Dr. Silverhoof comes back.

On Saturday, it was creme.

There is a glimmer of hope. Yesterday, I took off the wrap to find it all gooey and smelly. There was also a hole in the coronet band, pretty much directly above where we found the original abscess. The edges of the hole were soft, but he didn't seem bothered by me pushing on them or putting sugerdine on the hole. Today, the wrap was mostly dry with a little wet spot at the hole. And the imitation Vetrap was purple. Since tomorrow is July 4, I wanted to do a sort of patriotic theme, but couldn't find any Vetrap like that. So I decided to go with light purple, since that is red, white, and blue all mixed together.

Hoping we're on the road to recovery.

Dr. Sliverhoof

After Royal got better on Sunday, he was lame again on Monday. I called the vet on Tuesday and set up and appointment for the next day, since I really didn't know what was going on. Dr. E came out Wednesday evening, performed a lameness exam and found an abscess on the lateral bar of Royal left front hoof. I had considered an abscess as the cause of the lameness, but didn't think that was the reason. I had always thought of abscesses as making sound horse three-legged lame overnight. But this seems like a small one and Royal is pretty stoic. Dr. E thinks it was caused by Royal stepping on a rock last week in the pasture. He got some "toothpaste-like" pus out of the hoof and told me to soak it in Epsom salts and warm water for 5-7 days, keep it wrapped for 2 weeks, keep Royal turned out and hope the abscess blows out the hoof sometime soon. Hopefully it will resolve quickly.

Unfortunately, the soaking is turning out to be an issue. The vet told me to soak his hoot on the rubber mat in the arena. Royal is most opposed to this idea, to the point where asking him to stand on the mat reduces him to a shaking and sweaty mess. And, when he rockets backwards, he gets dirt all over his hooves, defeating the purpose of soaking it. So, I've decided to soak him outside on the grass. That way, if he steps out of the water pan, he just gets a bit of grass on it. No dirt, no mud, and I can just brush the grass off and put the hoof back in the water. Plus he's more relaxed when he sees other horses and I can give him hay and mints.

After soaking, I have to put a iodine/sugar solution on the sole of the hoof to disinfect it. I then wrap the hoof to protect it. This requires three layers: an absorbent layer (I'm using diapers now, but will use a Animalintex hoof pad tomorrow), a layer of Vetrap, and a final coating of duct tape. That's where the "Dr. Silverhoof" comes in. It turns the hoof silver, which looks kind weird/cool. One horse that used to be at the farm had a tendency to abscess in the summer, so it seemed like he always had duct tape around one of his hooves. I would jokingly call him Mr. Silverhoof, but then switched to Dr. Silverhoof. It sounds more like a James Bond villan, and therefore cooler. So, now, Royal has become Dr. Silverhoof. Dr. E told me to wrap the Vetrap higher than the duct tape, so I always leave a bit poking out. I bought a dozen rolls, all in different colors. Wednesday was red.

Yesterday, I went out after working at the clinic. I was tired, sore, and overheated. The temperature was in the high 90s and very humid, so both Royal and I were cranky. I tried to get him to stand on the mat, but he was vehemently opposed to this idea. At one point, he shot backwards so fast I got a mild rope burn and at another he went sideways and accidentally struck me above my knee, which hurt. He was starting to sweat around his eyes (a MAJOR stress signal) and I figured it was better to soak him outside instead of fighting with him. He was much happier and willing to stand in the pan. The imitation Vetrap that night was navy blue.

Today it was hot (over 100) and humid again, and I just set up the soaking/wrapping outside the barn. Royal stood very well for a long time, but did start to lose patience. The mints helped with that, and we got 15 minutes total of soaking. The wrap was orange, but I couldn't get a good picture of it with my cell phone. It kept showing up white.

At this point, I just have to wait. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pus coming out the hole soon and Royal will be all sound. Right now, he's sound on 2g of bute a day, and I'll try to wean him off it over the next few days. Until then, it's just going to be lots of soaking and wrapping.

Sigh.

Royal Gets Better

So far, so good.

I went back out to the farm last evening to check up on the Fuzz. He met me at the gate of his paddock, all bright-eyed and "cookies?". I asked him to trot around the paddock at liberty, but that was a failure. At first he didn't see the point, and when I finally got him moving out, he ran through a sticky patch of mud and tripped. He caught himself and carried on, but I want to see him trot in a constant circle. I had taken his Parelli halter and lead rope home to wash, so I was stuck with his nylon halter and lead. I used to have a nicer one, but it broke and the barn owners have been kind enough to use an old one to shuffle him back and forth between paddock and pasture. But it looks so ugly on him.

Ew. But he trotted sound in the indoor with no heat in his legs. I didn't know how much was him and how much was the bute he'd gotten at dinner, but I knew it probably wasn't anything serious. 2g of bute can't cover up too many serious issues. I put some liniment on them and put him back in his paddock.

Today, he looked good enough to not need any bute and could go out in the pasture. No heat, but I did find a small amount of swelling between the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon and the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon. It wasn't big and he didn't mind me poking and pinching it. I cold-hosed it for 10 minutes and discovered he developed a small splint on his right front cannon bone. ARGH! Royal, why you do this to me? I pressed on it with all my might and he didn't flinch, so that's a good sign. He had a splint a few years ago, which also didn't pain him, and the vet told me that I do do stuff with him. I just had to keep him booted and make sure he wasn't painful.

Nevertheless, he's getting another week off, although he probably won't be a fan of all the cold-hosing and liniment I will do. He'll just have to get used to it.

Boo-Boo

A.K.A What the f&*k did my horse do to himself?!

We've had so much rain here for a while that it's almost become a cliche to say we've suddenly moved to Seattle. This has meant that the front field where my jumps are has been too wet and muddy to ride in. I had really been hoping to do some jumping to regain my confidence over 2'6" fences, but it had to be put off. But yesterday and today, no rain. It looked like the ground would be okay today, so that's what I planned on doing.

Grooming and tacking Royal up, I noticed he seemed a bit quiet. Which can sometimes happen, where he's subdued when I get him, then perks up as we warm up and ride. But he didn't have any tender spots or seem colicky, so I figured he was okay. On-line warm up was good, riding at the walk fine, but when we started trotting, I knew something was off. I couldn't feel where, but I know something wasn't right. I got off and asked him to circle, and sure enough, he had a head bob on his left front going to the left. It wasn't present circling to the right or on a straight line, but you could see it to the left. I felt a bit of heat in that left front, but he wasn't fussy about me handling it. I tried to give him some bute, which didn't work, and cold-hosed the leg for about 15 minutes. I was successful in giving him banamine, and put him back in his paddock with some hay and his step-brother BJ. The barn owner promised to keep an eye on him for me, and I'll probably go back up there tonight and tomorrow.

At this point I have no idea what it could be. It might be that he was running around in the pasture and tweaked it a little bit and he'll be fine in a little bit. Or, this could be the start of a serious injury that means months or years of rehab. I do know that Royal is a very stoic horse and often doesn't show his injuries until they get pretty bad. Right now, all I can do is wait. I will most likely ask to have one the vets at the clinic come down there with me and take a look at it, no matter what. I just want to know what's going on.

Hopefully, he's okay.

Royal Gets A Quiet Week... And I Don't

After the excitement at Steepleview and with Birchbury being postponed, I decided to give Royal a relaxing week. He's really earned it, and I think letting him have ample time off is good for him mentally and physically. I try to keep our sessions fun and engaging, but it can still be hard stuff. We had a relaxed session on Wednesday, just playing at Liberty in the arena, and with yielding to pressure from Zone 4. He was a champ, as always. Friday was hot and buggy, but we still had fun on the 45 foot line. Today was Freestyle Dressage Test day. I put the bareback pad on and used the hackamore and we did the Intro A & B tests. Lots of fun was had, and the tests aren't too challenging. Turn, stop, go, circle, change direction, circle, change gait, stop. Pretty simple stuff.

I had a mostly exciting week. On Monday, I was at the clinic and one of the appointments was some dog vaccines and blood tests. One of the dogs (a big hound) didn't want his blood drawn and fought like mad. Eventually, it got to the point where the owner was kneeling on the dog, I was holding off the vein, and the vet was drawing the blood. At the last moment, the dog kicked and the needle went through his skin and into my thumb, stopping just below the back of the nail. Do I need to say OW!! I had to keep it wrapped and iced for a while, but other than a puncture wound and a bruise, no damage.

Thursday was another interesting day. The vet and I were called out for the works (check teeth, clean sheath, Coggins test, vaccines) for a Percheron-cross and his new owner. Who's never owned a horse before, and this is a 1400lb. behemoth. He decided he didn't want anything to do with us and he didn't have to. There was no fear in it, only dominance. We ended up having to give enough IM sedation for SIX horses. Oh yeah, this was a tough one. And the worst part is that we were confirming his suspicions about this being a fight, and it's probable that the next time will be worse. The owner said that a trainer was going to work with the horse, but this went beyond cookie-cutter "disobedience". This was a nearly-feral horse that had no respect for humans except as treat dispensers, which is something that is going to take a lot of work.

I hope his owner is up to the task.

Steepleview Derby Day

I really really love Parelli.

I got up at 5am to get ready and on the road to Steepleview. It would be an hour's drive and I was pretty sure it would take a while to get the trailer hooked up and Royal loaded up. I was right: I got to the farm a little after 6 and headed out just before 7. I figured out a neat little trick to line up the ball and hitch, so that didn't take too long. Royal was still skeptical of the trailer, but loaded fairly well. We were on our way, and luckily for both of us, the roads were fairly quiet. Sweetie the truck chugged along with the new trailer and we spent a lot of time on the freeway and one long county road.

We arrived at Steepleview around 8 and I had to leave Royal in the trailer so I could find the check-in tent. After getting my number and course maps, I got Royal out of the trailer and let him move around. Then I had to tie him to the trailer so I could walk my first course, Starter Novice. This course consisted of fences up to 18" in height, with no unusual obstacles (banks, ditches, water), so I figured Royal would have a good time of it. I got back to the trailer, saddled the Fuzz up, and headed to the warm-up area. We were fifth on the course, and once the previous rider finished, trotted out. The first fence was a red-white-and-black stadium cross-rail with a judge in a big hat sitting not too far away. Royal was not too sure of the judges' hat, but walked over the jump. Then it was a series of logs and tiny benches that he made small work of before turning up the bank to another stadium jump. We tried to canter the turn, and the ground evidently was a lot slipperier than I thought as both of Royal's hind legs slipped to the left. He immediately caught himself and we kept going, hopping over another log and the first three jumps in reverse without a hitch. I was worried about the slip, as a similar thing happened to Gogo of Eventing-A-Gogo! in 2009. She injured tendons in both hind legs, and she still has not fully recovered. Fortunately for Royal and me, his legs were cool and tight after our run.

We went back to the trailer, hung out, and then I had to walk my Beginner Novice course. I knew I had made a mistake signing up for it while walking the course. I had been so focused on the unusual obstacles that I neglected to think about the height and width of the jumps. Royal can jump up to 4' easily, but I've only gone to 2'6" a few times and am not as confident as I should be. And these were robust BN fences. I knew I would be doing a lot of mane grabbing during this course. I had a question about how to enter the water for fence 4, so I walked back up to the check-in booth. There I saw a sign with all the SN entries and a "4" next to my name. I asked the person what the 4 meant and she said it meant I got fourth place. I was shocked, but happily took my ribbon.

At the trailer, I met two nice ladies who were so impressed that I was here all by myself and that Royal and I got a ribbon at our first cross-country competition. I had a nice conversation with them and headed back to the warm-up arena. Royal could feel my nerves and was deer-leaping over the jumps, which did not help me at all. I was second on the BN course; the first person fell off. She got back on and finished, but my nerves were starting to fray. We trotted out, had a three spooky jumps and went for the water. He was hesitant, but eventually walked in. I just let him walk, figuring it was better to let him check it out instead of trying to get him to go through it fast. Then it was a big coop and a long turn to the ditch. I prepared myself for a screeching halt... and he hopped right over. I was so elated that I botched the turn to the next jump and had a refusal. Well that totally blew my confidence and we had a refusal at the next two jumps, including a sizable table. We were able to get over the 10 jump, through the water in the opposite direction, back over the coop, and refused the last jump before popping over it again. I know it was probably kind of scary to watch, and it wasn't much more fun to ride. We went back to the trailer, put all my stuff back in, Royal loaded in pretty well, and we went home. All in all, I feel like it was a success, because I learned a ton.

Here's why it made me love the Parelli Program even more:

1. Self-Sufficiency. Parelli really focuses on developing independent horses and riders. I saw a few other loners there, but most had their trainers or helpers with them. Parelli gave me the confidence to do this by myself and the tools with which to accomplish it, both mentally and physically. (Speaking of which, about 1/3 of the way through the BN course where Royal's huge jumps were twanging me off his back, I thought "I love my saddle". It kept catching me and keeping me centered, even through the huge efforts.)

2. Confidence. The fact that Royal and I could even do this is amazing, let alone that we came home with a ribbon. Remember, this is a horse I used to be too scared to ride at a walk in the arena, let alone canter over solid obstacles in a field. Also, I know my confidence has taken a hit, but I know exactly how to regain it. The next thing I have planned is the Birchbury schooling show and I know how to prepare for it.

3. Realism. I have learned how to realize my and my horse's limitations, which is why I am not planning on going to the Roebke Run event. The problem over the BN course was me. When I get nervous, I freeze and shut down. Royal was only responding to my lack of confidence when he refused and that is something I can't rush. If I took the month off and practiced everyday, we might be ready. But that's not realistic, so I'm going to put my horse and my confidence first, and aim for the Steepleview recognized event in September. You can't rush this stuff, and I don't want to go into another event unprepared.

So, all in all, a success in terms of learning and material gains.

Royal with his ribbon.

The New Cave On Wheels or We Haven't Won The Porcupine Game

We all know this was coming.

I sold my other trailer on Wednesday and bought the new one the nest day. It belonged to someone I know and who needed to sell it fast. It's a 1993 Trail-Et two horse straight-load bumper pull with lots of room for Royal. And it looks cool.

I don't have much experience backing up trailers, so last night I watched a bunch of Youtube videos on how to back up trailers. Most helpful was a series by a semi driver who broke it down into little steps that I was saying out loud to myself as I practiced backing in the local high school parking lot this morning. I'm sure I looked like I was nuts, but once I got out to the farm, I was able to back it into its spot with very little trouble. A few more times and I'll get the hang of it.

Royal was less enthusiastic about it. Besides the fact that its new! and weird! and different! which always sets him on edge, he hadn't been in a straight-load in years and the last time didn't end well. To make a long story short, he wiggled out of a 3'x1' escape door while still tied inside the trailer. And he didn't get badly hurt, only had a few scrapes.

I've previously mentioned that Royal had a tendency to turn around in the other trailer, which is just not an option in this one. That had to have made him nervous, since he had to carefully reconsider how to get out. It took about an hour to get all four feet in, with a lot of help from my trusty clicker and carrots. Then we got to the butt bar. Once Royal could stand in there for more than five seconds, I tried fastening the butt bar. I then found out that Royal is not totally respectful of pressure in Zone 4. He respects it in Zone 1 and yields off the halter like nothing, but is willing to blast through pressure in Zone 4. So he would hit the butt bar and lean on it. No panicking, just leaning, waiting for it to open. Then the new guideline became that if I went to unhook the butt bar and he started backing into it, I would walk up to his head, ask him to move forward and start over. He got that message pretty quick, and would wait for me to say "okay" before backing out, but we'll see if it sticks tomorrow when we go to Steepleview.

This is not an ideal situation, or even a very good situation. I would love to leave the trailer in his paddock for a while or just load him everyday for seven days before going anywhere, but that isn't practical right now. We'll just have to muddle through and try to make everything go as well as possible.

Time to Think

I haven't written lately mostly because I've been too busy. I still have plenty of Royal-time and other happenings, but just not the time to write about it.

Since Carriage House went fairly well, I signed us up for a cross-country schooling event this Saturday. The idea is to let Royal encounter "unusual" obstacles, like banks and ditches, in a laid-back setting. I had the idea to tape my clicker to the handle of a crop so I could "click" Royal while riding. I was able to find a cheap yet sturdy crop and, while it looks ugly, it works. I was able to play plenty of Friendly Game with Royal but he still tends to get a bit amped when I carry it. On Sunday, we were doing some jumping and I had two 2'6" fences set up in a four stride line. Royal did it in three. So I was thinking I'd scrap that idea since he'd already be pretty energetic going cross-country anyway, and I didn't want to add to it.

Fast-forward to Wednesday. After a great warm-up, including a Soft Feel at the canter, I created a scary obstacle consisting of a bright blue western saddle blanket draped over a 15" high pole on the Bloks. Royal trotted right up to it... and slammed on the brakes 5 feet away. I was surprised but laughed. We tried again, and he overjumped it by two feet. A couple more passes and he was jumping over it like nothing. So I decided to make it into a "ditch" by laying the blanket under a 9" high pole. For some reason, he still spooked at it, but did hop over. Once he was doing that pretty well, I took the pole away. For some reason, that made him almost melt down completely. He would completely stop any forward motion beyond a certain point, so I eventually got the Clicker Crop out and would tap my leg until he at least tried to go forward. I wasn't trying to make him go over it, just try. He did go over, but it was a scared little deer leap. He wasn't acting like an RBI, just wasn't to keen on getting close to the Blanket of Death.

It took a few sideways leaps before he went straight over it and then it took what felt like ten million Squeeze Games more before he went across it like it was no big deal. And we did end up messing it up.

Luckily, it's washable. But it was so weird how frightening he found the blanket just lying on the ground with nothing above it. So, trekheners and liverpools yes, ditches no. He also got quite a bit of emotional sweat, and was breathing quite hard even though all we did was walk. Much more mental/emotional exertion than physical. I just tried to be as quiet as possible and let him work it out, although I did have to do a few strong one-rein stops when he tried to bolt away from the jump. Hopefully he was able to work out all his demons, although I may attach a savvy string to my saddle on Saturday. That way I can help him out if he gets stuck, but he won't feel threatened.

Royal enjoying a nice roll in the arena after being hosed off.

I also sold the big trailer and got a new used one. Will post pictures of the new ones when I can.