Dressage Pony

Izzy was quite good today. We've been playing with the dressage saddle this week, and I think I'm finally getting re-adjusted to it. I'm really enjoying to total security I feel in it and Izzy is super comfortable with it. (I still have my Ansur Classic.) It took me a while to get used to my dressage-length leg again, but it's fun.

I''ve been focusing on sitting up, keeping my thumbs up, and having a straight line from my elbow to the bit. I'm also trying to ride with my reins a little shorter, since I have the dumb habit of keeping my hands in my lap. Izzy is responding really well. She's starting to understand what I want, so every couple of laps around the arena, we have some really nice strides. Then one or the other of us falls apart and it takes a few more laps to get better again.

We finished up by wandering around the property--around the outside of the arena, out through the field, up the hill at the trot a few times, and a few times walking over the little ditch we found. It's really fun, but we're getting to the point where Izzy isn't all that interested in it, either.

Today, I'm excited to move. I'm really, really tired of constantly having to do extra stuff (or being a jerk and saying no) and I'm realizing that the best and easiest possible way to make a break is just to move on. Maybe I'm just crabby, but I'm ready for a change today.
Another old picture, but how cute is that face?

Horse Show Report

We survived. I'm happy about that.

I've been away from the computer all weekend, which is probably just as well.

Our rides were at 7.01 and 7.30 (pm). Cathy rode earliest, at like 5, which meant we had well over an hour to just hang out and look at stuff on our first trailer ride of the year. That was good. Izzy was sparkling clean (even her white sock). We wandered around purposefully, looking fabulous and seeing the sights. Izzy was tense and spooky at first, but it's amazing what a little hand grazing will do to calm things down.

When we were about an hour out from our first ride, I went to tack up. I was thinking that I'd get on, we'd meander around some more, then warm up, do the test, you know... basic stuff. Izzy was thinking PANIC!!!! Don't ask me why. She had a 20 minute long melt down while tied to the trailer. She leaped around, reared, and acted nutty. When I went to try to work with her, she kicked me. (Yeah. Never done that before.)

So I left her. When she would stand still, I'd come talk to her and give her a treat, then walk away again. Finally, she stood still long enough to actually tack up. I didn't just want to hop on after the performance she'd given, so I tried turning her loose in the round pen. That was probably a bad idea because it gave her more time to look around at stuff and since there wasn't even a lunge line, she wasn't focusing at all. I'll have to remember that for next time.

As soon as I got on, I knew I was riding a completely different horse than I was used to. She was on the edge of an explosion. Another shameless Ansur plug: because there is literally almost nothing between myself and Izzy, I can feel her back like well, there isn't a saddle. It keeps me very much in tune with her. I focused on sitting deep in the saddle while walking calmly around the arena. We did a lot of walk/halt transitions to try and get her to listen to my seat. The arena is not really level, so she wouldn't go into the contact on the uphill and then dove into my hands on the downhill. There wasn't a lot I could do, because even when she settled a little, she was still very much on edge.

Apparently, they were running the tests about 15 minutes ahead, so we didn't have much warmup time. When they told me I was next, I took Izzy quietly around the dressage arena while we waited to be called. (Visual note: the dressage arena was marked off in a corner of the much larger arena). She spooked in one corner, but I just sat and let her look at it, and then we went on. The test (Training 1) wasn't great. It also wasn't bad. She was looky. She tried to jump out at one point (I stopped her). We didn't go into our corners and our circles were only semi-round. I wasn't too worried about it. We got all our transitions in the right place. She was no worse than could be expected of a green horse.

After the test, we had a few more minutes until the next one. We worked on the same things we had before, but Izzy was getting upset. Whenever I halted her, she ran backwards. I think she was just making blind associations without really paying any attention to me. Since we've done a lot of halt/back lately, she just did it. I just tried to keep from upsetting her more. I learned from my old girl that in situations like this, I just have to wait for her brain to come back to me and upsetting her will only make it take longer.

I didn't really have her together for the next test, but we went in. Again, we weren't straight on center line and our circles were more oblongs. Still, I couldn't help my ear-to-ear smile as we did our canter circle. She felt amazing. She wasn't really happy, but she was trying her best in this terrifying new environment. Ok, so we didn't have a free walk. Yeah, our contact never improved. Sure, the halt was crooked. I was happy with her, though.

I hopped off as soon as we were out of the arena and we took Izzy and the other horses home. On the drive, I got to look over my tests. The judging seemed fair. We got a few sevens. We got a few fours. We got a lot of fives and sixes. We had some strong comments on the inconsistent contact, which was ok with me. It's something we're working on at home, and I'm aware of the problem. Izzy got sevens on gaits in both tests. I bet she'll get eights next time if I can work on the whole submission issue (we got a 5 for that).

Here's what rankled me. I got a 5 for riding with comments that the test wasn't accurate. That bugged me. Yeah, it wasn't great, but a five? I was in kind of a funk on Saturday. Cathy told me I rode well, but she's not one who dwells on the past and I'm one who tends to read too much into certain things. Yeah. I rode well for someone who's finally back in lessons after years away. Well for someone who can't be expected to do much better. It rankled me. (Not Cathy; just my interpretation of the comments). I wasn't upset with Izzy. She did exactly what could be expected. I just wanted to throw in the towel. It didn't help that my eventer friend and her halfie got a 68% and a 73% to our 55% and 56%. (Of course, they also did intro A and B).

I guess I'm over it. It wasn't as if the judge was a paid professional; she's a local (and very good rider). I'm happy with how Izzy and I did. There were a few things I wish I'd done differently, but I don't know that they would have made a difference. Izzy was nervous at her first show, which is to be expected. I could have pushed harder, sure, but she was already on the edge of an explosion. It was better to just ride her softly through it and make it a pleasant experience for her than to really drill her in hopes of getting a higher score and risking a massive meltdown. Plus, after talking to my eventer friend more, she assured me that Cathy actually said very nice things about my ride while I was out there. She probably just didn't repeat them because I really didn't ask much. I knew what was wrong, and she needed to get back and feed.

;-) Sometimes it sucks when your coach has that much confidence in you.

So, all in all, it was a good experience. Here's the only picture of Izzy from the day:
Yep. Took a picture of her white (shiny white!!) foot with my cell phone. I have pictures of Cathy and my eventer friend riding, but they're still on my camera. I totally forgot to ask someone to take pictures of us when Izzy was having her meltdown.... whoops. Maybe it's just as well. Picture us being awesome, and maybe next time we'll live up to it.

A Half-Assed Attempt at an Interview

Ha! Enjoy my pun as I interview Lee, owner of Pixel the mule and currently featured on the Ansur website in their quest for a new saddle. (The clinic was great and I have a write up coming. I haven't forgotten my Woff fans who want scans, but I only have so many blogging days and lots of awesome topics. Hang in there!)

So, meet Pixel.
Although Pixel has an adorable face, her typing skills aren't super great, so I interviewed her owner, Lee, instead.
Here is a picture of Pixel and a woman I presume is Lee. I'm not sure because I kyped the picture off the ansur website and I've never met Lee in person. Following is our interview.

SB: What is your background with horses/mules?

L & P:I have ridden all my life, literally. My background is Western, working ranch horses and associated events like barrels, etc. I consider myself a darn good hand with young horses, breaking and training. About 15 years ago I found myself able to have horses again after a work/school hiatus, and I wanted to try something different, especially since I didn't have cows to chase around anymore...

My first love was jumping, but eventually I got hooked on dressage. It is the hardest I have worked on horseback in my life!

SB: How did you and Pixel end up together?

L & P: I have always been intrigued by mules but never have even been around them. I got this idea in my head that I wanted a "dressage mule", so I started shopping aided and encouraged by my enabling mother....

You can imagine that not many warmblood mare owners breed to a donkey...so I searched far and wide. Finally I found a WB mule baby in Texas. We met halfway and switched $ and mule in a Wal-Mart parking lot! And the rest is history, as they say.


SB: Why a mule?
L & P: See above. Why not?

SB: What are your goals together?

L & P: I would LOVE to take Pixel to some rated dressage shows one day and really piss off some dressage queens...

But the main thing, I would like to have the experience of training a different kind of equine; I feel that my training methods will work with Pixel despite all the mule folks warnings that they are sooo different. And so far so good! Her response to our methods has been better than I even expected.

SB: Why did you decide to go treeless?

L & P: It was a no-brainer for me; I am an Ansur saddle user from way back, I have had Classic, Konklusion, and Carlton, and now the Excel. Mules are notoriously difficult to fit with saddles, they have a lack of shoulder definition that allows the saddle to slide forward toward the neck (not good); some mules have no withers and a long flat back. I am lucky (I think) and Pixel has a good wither. I have a crupper which I will accustom her to just in case, but so far I haven't had any problems with saddle stability. I thought an Ansur was a logical choice, and I was sure it would work. Hence I bought the Excel. Of course, I use it on all the youngsters and some of the trained horses as well!

SB: Of all the treeless options, why did you settle on Ansur?

L & P: Frankly, it is the one I am familiar with. I have never had a reason to shop elsewhere, though I have seen other options and monitored discussions. Not even an Ansur works for every horse! I keep an open mind. In fact, I use a treed saddle on my big WB dressage horse, after years of Ansur saddles, because I as a rider need more support with him, he is a very difficult horse to ride.

SB: Is there anything you would change about your much-anticipated excel?

L & P: Not so far. I know that when I first sat in it, it felt wide. But that is after my highly structured Custom Advantage. And after a few minutes it feels just fine. I have had it only a short time, and the weather has been ridiculous for riding, esp a teenage mule...

SB: If you and Pixel could have one crazy adventure together anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, what would you do?
L & P: Wow. That is a tough one. Partly because I don't know what she is going to be when she grows up, so how she will do on trails, out with other equines, at shows, away from home, is all a mystery for the future...I can best answer that in a couple of years. I think that we are already on a crazy adventure together! and part of the fun is not knowing where it will take us.

So there you have it! I'm definitely not a mule person, but I do think Pixel is cute and I love irritating the warmblood-only crowd... besides, Pixel has just as much warmblood in her as Izzy does. Think of that.

Rain...

Dressage: French for "make me feel like a bad rider". Courtesy of Shannon.

Thanks for the perspective, everyone. I laughed a lot.

I've been wondering, though. Izzy doesn't feel quite as pushy and forward in my jumping saddle as she did in the dressage. Now, this could easily be because I let her go more forward in the jumping saddle and don't ask for as much and am not aware of how pushy she is OR it could reflect a saddle issue. I'm just kicking this idea around, so bear with me.

The Ansur KonKlusion has a gullet. (Oh, and the website appears to have new pictures. Sweet. So wanting one.) Admittedly, mine is an older model with the older pommel style and the trauma foam system on the bottom may or may not have collapsed. I'd have to get with Jean to figure that one out, and it's hard when it's all done online. So. Izzy has a wither rub. Yes, there are pommel issues with my saddle, but when we used the sheepskin lined pad with a slight lift pad, her spine stayed nice and dry.

Yesterday, I used the Ansur Classic, which is a gulletless model. We incorporated the same padding arrangement and had all the forward/not forward issues. When we were done, her spine looked the same as the rest of her back, as far as moisture was concerned. This could be causing the issue, I guess. Fortunately, regardless of which saddle is causing a problem, the pad on order *should* take care of the issue.

Now that I've laid it all out like this, I've talked myself out of this theory. Izzy loves the classic. It's the first treeless saddle she went in and she's totally fine with it. It's got to be my riding that caused our issues yesterday. The wither rub still needs to be dealt with, but I don't think the forward was a pain issue.

I didn't ride today. I felt exhausted when I got up this morning, then went running and cleaned all the pens (like 20 of them) and Izzy was spooky and silly on the lead. Thankfully, it started raining when I turned her loose to play in the arena, so we just did some groundwork and then I put her away. It's good to get her out like that, though. It's a good basic reinforcement for her and it reminds me of why I like her so much; she really has the most adorable personality. Oh, and when she knows what I want, she usually does try really hard to do it.

Funny story: My sister who's in college is home for spring break this week. Tuesday we went on a day trip together, so I didn't go out to see Izzy for the first time in several weeks. Wednesday I was running a bit behind, so I didn't make it out to feed before my lesson like I usually do. (The horses were still fed; it's just that Cathy did it.) Izzy was slightly miffed with me for not seeing her, so she made me wait a while before she'd come up for the halter. Silly girl. I think she's jealous.

Taking the Good with the Bad

Saturday was lovely. I was at the barn by myself and just enjoying time with Izzy when I noticed something.

White something.

On her spine.

Yes, she has a rub mark. Argh.
There could be multiple causes. She wears a medium weight turnout with a shoulder guard. Those could rub. It did show up recently and we just got a new saddle, which could rub. Here's my theory, though: Izzy has a preference for expensive things. She also changes her mind a lot. When we finally got the saddle issue straightened out (she's a treeless-only kind of girl), I used a front lift pad because conventional saddle wisdom said I should do so to even the pommel and cantle.

She hated it.

I used another foam pad for a couple months. She seemed totally comfortable until I started scoping out one to buy. All of a sudden, she hated that pad, too.

So I tried half pad #3. It's think foam throughout with a slight, slight rise in the front. I'd link to it, but I can't find one at the moment. Anyways. We've been borrowing Cathy's pad all winter long and it was great. She liked it. I liked it. She seems to do best with thin pads because that's how she likes her saddle to fit.

So. While ordering my dressage girth a week or so ago, I bit the bullet and bought myself the half pad we've been borrowing. Guess what? Rub marks!! I'm convinced it's related. We couldn't just use the same pad and be happy.

I know it seems logical that the rub marks came from our new saddle, but I'm convinced they're unrelated. Why? Because I don't have my dressage girth yet, so I've used the saddle on Izzy like 3 times. Also, I have a vague recollection of noticing hairs out of place on her back about a month or so ago. I thought I had just mussed the hair and the scurf was showing through, but I bet it was the beginning of a rub. Sigh.
"Ha! Fooled you. I hated that pad all along."

Izzy is very, very sensitive. I guess we all knew that. I told Cathy my suspicions about the rub on Sunday and she looked at Izzy for me. It took less than a second for her to smile and say, "Yep, just like her Dad." When I complained that I seem to have Cassie's absolutely most sensitive baby, Cathy pointed out that I had chosen Izzy (and technically, I did get my pick of the litter.)

I'm reasonably sure the mark is from the saddle and not the turnout blanket she wears; the mark is a couple inches below the pommel and her sheet doesn't sit there.

The most frustrating thing is that there is no easy way to fix this. With every other problem, Izzy has been extremely vocal about what works and what does not. This? Nothing. No unwillingness or lack of forward under saddle. No special sensitivity in that spot or anywhere else in her back. No indication of any improvement or lack thereof. Nothing. And of course, hair grows very slowly. So, if I fix the problem, hair will slowly, slowly come back. If I do not fix it, hair will slowly, slowly rub off. Huzzah.

The past two days I've ridden Izzy in our fancy, expensive sheepskin-lined pad which I've pulled into the gullet as much as possible. Of course, someone thought it was a good idea to not have sheepskin on the spin, so if it rides down at all, we're back to square one. Cathy recommended a half pad with a wither cut out (I'm thinking this in the 1/2") to use under a regular pad. Or instead of. I guess people do that too.

I'm not really sure what to do. I think a big part of the cause is that the jumping saddle I have is an older model. Ansur has since drastically improved the pommel design, which would be fabulous, I'm sure. Also, super expensive. I guess I could sell both of the saddles I have now and try to buy one jumping saddle used. Or I could sell my current jumping saddle to my eventing buddy (and her no-withered halfie) and try to come up with enough money to buy a newer saddle. (This might be my best option. Jean, what year did the new pommel debut?) In the mean time, we can focus on dressage and I'll just have to jack up my stirrups and pretend it's a jumping saddle...

Any thoughts?

A Little Introduction

I am now the proud owner of one fabulous pony and two Ansur treeless saddles. You can say it. I'm a lucky girl.

Here's my saddle when I first got it yesterday. Note my stylish fleecy penguin blanket stand. I love penguins. The saddle is beautiful and in great shape.
Here is Izzy wearing the saddle after a hard workout. I tried to have Cathy take a couple pictures of us while riding, but they were alternately fuzzy or showing off some of my riding flaws, so you'll have to wait til I have better pictures. (In Cathy's defense, it is ridiculously hard to get good pictures in the doom bubble. The lighting is wonky.)

We had to borrow a girth and I used the leathers from my other Ansur, so they're brown. I really wish I could afford new leathers, a nice girth, and more flexible irons, but that's not really in the cards right now. I have about $100 to find a girth and maybe another dressage pad. I can borrow some irons and leathers and I'm pretending that my bridle actually matches.

The great thing about Ansurs is that Izzy loves them. There's no fitting problems and balkiness when I saddle up. She was very happy in it. She was also having a stupid day, wherein she spooks at absolutely everything and acts like a complete idiot. For whatever reason, I was having a brave day, so I lunged her, then just hopped on. She spooked all over the place at stupid things, and I thought back to the excellent blog post by tango dressage and went, "Hm, I will ride what she's giving me now."

So I did. Izzy would spook and gallop forward. I'd bend her inside and out to soften her. Izzy would spook in place. I'd spank her for getting behind my leg and ride her forward. The great thing was that Izzy was so "up" that she was really forward today. I used that. We didn't take many walk breaks, but we did lots of transitions and work that is hard when she doesn't want to go forward. In my lessons with Cathy, she's been having me give the inside rein and relax my body to get Izzy to settle. I tried this, and after a couple circles, Izzy actually relaxed a bit and quit leaning through my hands constantly. She listened to my seat nicely and gave me a little shoulder-fore while I released my inside hand.

Wow.

So, all in all, we turned a bad day into a good day, all on a fabulous saddle.

Primeval

I guess I forgot to sacrifice to the weather gods. Just last last week, it rained Tuesday night, so we were forced to do a jump-free lesson indoors. Guess what? The same thing happened this week. Fortunately, Cathy went over while I was tacking up and watered the arena so it wouldn't be as dusty.

Unfortunately, while Izzy and I were lunging, Cathy pulled the long, green hose out of the bubble. Izzy almost sat down and said SNAKE!!!! It took us a while to work through being snorty about that.

I rode in Cathy's dressage saddle again, and it felt really good. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that dressage is so much easier with a saddle that's designed for it. (My saddle is due here on Monday!!) The focus of our lesson was on riding from the saddle instead of using my hands, which was excellent. We did a little baby shoulder-fore and leg yields in which I used my hands to soften Izzy only and moved her over from my seat. Once I got back in the hang of it, I could see a definite improvement in her way of going.

Cathy also had me work on controlling my body to regulate Izzy's rhythm. Instead of tensing up and overbending her when she gets quick, I need to pull my shoulders back, keep my seat back, and regulate my rhythm. I tend to let her pull me forward and get in a tug of war. In the canter, I need to hold the outside rein, then soften on the inside to let her go forward and carry herself. We had about 3 strides of lovely self-carriage before she lost her balance.

All in all, it was an excellent lesson and the weather is beautiful outside. I'm just hoping that it's warm enough to dry the arena for tomorrow.

Oh! And while I was cleaning this morning, I realized that I totally forgot to put one blog on my list yesterday, so here it is:

A Work in Progress
Shannon and Spider are into dressage. And good at it. Shannon talks about the challenges of life and horses and gives excellent feedback on dressage issues.

Sorry anyone else I left out...

Blustery

I went out this morning because I clean Fridays. I also feed most of the time, partly because it's easier to clean when the happy horses are eating, but mostly because it makes me feel like some sort of hero. The horses whinny at whoever has the food and are just soooo happy when they finally get their share. I love feeding horses.

However, by the time I finished feeding and cleaning up after all 20 or so of them in deep mud and freezing wind, I decided that it was a good time to feed Izzy treats, then go home and get some stuff done for this weekend. I'm sure she won't mind... too much... :-/

Oh well. In other news, I sold my saddle I was talking about and bought a new one. Izzy now has a complete jumping outfit and a fancy new Ansur Classic Dressage saddle. Ok, it's not new, but it's pretty and new to us. Now we just need a girth and leathers... and a black bridle... and maybe cool flexible irons, too. Haha. One thing at a time.

Funny (non horse) story. I bought the saddle without telling my husband. It's not as big of a deal as it maybe sounds like, because we have separate accounts and jobs, and I paid for it, but still. Money's been tight lately and I could easily see how he might resent something extravagant like a new saddle. I felt guilty, so my house has been completely spotless and laundry is more caught up then ever. I told him yesterday (so within 24 hours of buying it...), and he just kinda laughed. "I guess you should buy more saddles," he said. He really likes the clean house. I really like the idea. ;-)

Lesson Tomorrow!

Yesterday, Izzy was much improved. I turned her loose in the arena for a while, then lunged her, then got on and rode. While she was loose, I'd put some trot poles out at random, so I put her over them pretty regularly just to keep her little brain engaged. After we were done, I turned her out in the front pasture for a while so I could get some stuff done and she could be a horse.

I think that made her happy.

Today, I only had a few minutes to ride and I was trying a friend's saddle to see if it fit me. Accordingly, we didn't do much, but she had several lovely trot/canter/trot transitions. Also, the arena got worked this morning, so it's all soft and fluffy instead of the hard sand/mud mix we had before. Izzy seemed to really like it and she moved a bit better. I don't think she liked the pad I used though, because she was very reluctant to go forward at first. She's a princess; if the saddle isn't perfect, she doesn't want to work.

Anyways, our lesson is set for tomorrow morning. Cathy agreed that if it doesn't rain and Izzy is behaving, we can maybe do a couple teeny tiny little jumps!! So exciting.

Where I'm Thankful for a Naughty Pony

I had a lovely ride this morning. I got Izzy forward, and she stayed soft and balanced almost the whole time. She's still absolutely not allowed to focus both ears on something outside the arena for more than a split second before I change the subject and get her back, and I'm thinking this is something I need to keep. She's a very smart horse and the more engaged she is in what she's doing, the more we both enjoy it. I need to challenge her enough to hold her interest.

It boils down to this: the end result of Izzy rearing the other day is an increased connection between us. Twisted, but true. It's a very aggressive reminder that Izzy is not a horse I can just play around on. She is an athlete, mentally and physically, and I need to respect that by giving her something to do.

Also, while riding today, I realized that my lower right leg is way too loose. I let it slide forward when I post, and then it slaps the saddle... My Ansur is telling on me again. When I focused on keeping my legs underneath me and giving Izzy a little squeeze every time I sat, the problem went away.

Other things:

I cleaned all my tack yesterday and it's gorgeous. I love riding in clean tack. If I had a little more time, I'd probably clean it every day.

Read this post. I stumbled across this blog the other day, and I love what she has to say.

I Love Tbs

Yesterday was a crappy, windy, cold day, but it was above freezing and it had been blowing for two days straight, so the outdoor arena was sort of dry enough to ride in. It's is an amazing opportunity to have access to an indoor, but I sure love being outside.

Anyways. I rode Izzy after turning her out to run in the arena, and she was pretty naughty. She would have been better if I cold have done a bunch of transitions and made her focus, but the footing wasn't that good. I only rode for ten or fifteen minutes, then I out her away.

Finally, I was able to get my old girl out. (I say "my", but she's really not mine, except in our hearts.) She doesn't do the indoor, so I haven't been able to do much with her in the past couple months. I also turned her loose in the arena, then groomed her thoroughly and got on.

She is such a good girl. She isn't as forward into the contact as Izzy. She'll never be a dressage champion. She is, however, smart, sensitive, and athletic. Despite the fact that I hadn't ridden her in a month or two, she still moved forward perfectly off my legs, and stayed balanced under my weight. She's so sensitive that I can just think about halting, and we do.

If I had more money, I think I'd try to do lower-level reining with her. She's catty and sensitive and doesn't like much rein contact. I think she'd love it, and it's probably lower-impact on her joints than jumping or dressage. Unfortunately for her, I don't even know how to put a western saddle on, and I don't think I know anyone who ride western well enough to train her. Oh well. Maybe I'll get a book and see what we can do. She'd probably do fine in a western bridle, but I guess we'll stick to my ansur, so it would be a fun picture.

So, anyone know a good reining training book?

This is Cassie, my old girl, a couple summers ago.

More pictures

I've had computer difficulties that are finally being worked out, so I actually have more pictures today.

This is Izzy earlier this year, modeling her fancy new bridle. Thankfully, the snow is gone now.

She wasn't standing still well, because she wanted to see what I was doing. I had to tie her up to get a decent picture.

Here is my beautiful bridle in the tackroom.

And my beloved saddle.

Izzy and I are really loving that saddle. Now that I tighten the correctly-sized girth enough, it doesn't slip at all, and it is super comfy to sit in. I'm probably not the best person to ask about comfort, though. I get used to anything.

Apparently, Izzy got out this morning and was galloping around wildly. She had to be caught by the girl cleaning. Naughty pony. She was quietly eating by the time I showed up, though.

Ugh

It was 40 f here yesterday, which seemed ridiculously warm. I took advantage of the last day of break to ride. Izzy started out well. We went to the right first to mix things up. he warmed up nicely at the walk, then we started trotting. She was pleasantly forward, and after a few large circles, she offered a lovely canter. So far, so good.

Things started well to the left. Walk was good, trot was going well... just as I thought that we would canter and be done, she threw a massive fit. She was bowing her neck to the left and pushing out her right shoulder into the side of the fence that she usually hates. It was strictly locational; only on one side of the circle did she try. I tried changing my balance. I tried circling right and moving her off the inside, then holding that bend for counter-bending circle left which would have shifted her weight onto her inside shoulder and eliminated the problem. She would have no part of that. I tried keeping my outside rein short to keep her from overbending her neck.

Nothing was working. Sh quit going forward at all and just ran sideways out her right shoulder. She absolutely wouldn't cooperate. I could tell she was mad by the way she flipped her nose and threw herself around. Unfortunately for her, I was just as mad, and I wasn't getting off until she trotted forward around that corner without throwing herself at the fence.

Eventually, she did it. It wasn't perfect, but it was ok. I immediately dropped the reins, patted her, told her she was a good girl, got off, and loosened the girth. I don't know why that was so hard. She's done it hundreds of times before. I don't know what I would do differently if she does that again. I seriously contemplated calling my trainer and asking her to ride Izzy this week while I'm tied up with homework, but she knows us too well for that. If I'm not comfortable on a horse, I doubt she'd just leap blindly aboard. I do want to be there if/when Cathy rides her, though. I learn the most by watching. If I had more free time, I'd have Cathy ride her, than I'd do a lesson on her. Hm...

Izzy is getting her feet done this week, so I'll be out to hold her for that. Maybe I can get Cathy to ride her around the same time and do it all in one trip. I want to see her with someone else up, but I have to balance that against the fact that Izzy likes testing new people to see what she can get away with... Any ideas? Exercises that will help? I'm pretty sure I'm not dealing with a saddle fit/pain issues because of the way she manifested her anger. If the saddle hurts, she immediately stops. Besides, with our ansur, it warms up with her and begins to soften and move better, so the longer we go (to a point) the better it should be.

I want to pull my hair out. That may be related to the homework stress I'm experiencing right now, though.

Forget You Ever Knew That

Due to being stuck in a long boring class last night, I spent about an hour doodling horses. Then I moved on to drawing specific diagrams of Izzy's back and how the saddle sat on it, what pads I was using, and why I was using them. I remembered that she again (sigh) had funny sweat marks yesterday after another frustrating ride. I should probably scan those drawings, if only for amusement's sake.

Anyways, the sweat mark made me think that it must be a saddle problem. She is exhibiting similar behavior to the last time we had saddle trouble. When I drew the diagram, I realized that the funny marks appeared the be under the stirrup bars, and I remembered reading in a tack book that treeless saddles had trouble in pressure reading with pressure in that area. It's a good thing that I didn't have Jean's phone number handy, because I wanted to call someone who knew what I was talking about and ask if that was the problem. (It was 9 here, so probably almost midnight there.)

I didn't have time to go to the tack store this morning, but one of my other diagrams made me think it might be a padding problem. A couple days ago I screwed around with different pads without actually tightening the girth, so I had a pretty good idea of what was available and how it fit Izzy. This morning, then, I pulled out a new pad. I had been using a wedge pad to lift the pommel up off her withers. Today, I tried just a simple foam pad that was even all the way through. It's completely counter intuitive, because we all know that if a treed saddle camps on a horse's wither, it's like the bad news bears moved in to your house and threw a party.

The new pad obviously didn't lift the front as much, so the saddle looked a little different. I was concerned because it gave her back VERY little clearance over the spine, and I thought that once we'd been riding a while, it would sit on her and make her hurt. And of course, you know her reaction to hurt is rear. That's not really my favorite thing about her. I lunged her before I rode (she was wearing blue polos with a matching blue lunge line. So cute!) and she was kind of looky, but really good.

Our ride started out kind of bumpy. She fussed, she didn't want to go forward, and then... she did. I like the new pad better because due to the nature of treeless saddle, I could feel that I was sitting on the wedge, and it interfered with actually feeling Izzy underneath me. The new pad didn't cause that at all. It was almost like riding the gulletless Classic again. I could feel Izzy's back again and she was much better.

Progress is good. She was much happier, and we were back to having the problems we had before she decided not to be happy again. I think we took a couple training steps backwards this past week, but we're ready to go forward again. Of course, now she has a couple days off while I go out of town.

Plan to Move Forward

First off, I finally have some Izzy pictures. I'm sorry it's been so long without them. It's just hard to take pictures of oneself while riding and she's hard to photograph because she won't just stand still and let me walk away. She wants to be in the middle of what's going on.

See? She's so darn cute. Also, what would you call the marking on her face? It's not in any horse book I own. It's too long to be a star, too short to be a stripe... You can't see it, but she has a tiny snip on her upper lip, too.

Here's another picture from the same day:
This was as close as she would come to posing. In this picture, she's wearing a collegiate plain raised snaffle bridle with a full cheek single jointed bit. That's an Ansur KonKlusion saddle with a random girth I borrowed, and a neckstrap in case I feel insecure. She is such a good looking horse.

Here's today. (The previous shots were from a couple weeks ago.) I successfully put on wraps without making her legs look like potatoes, so I left them on. I had just been putting them on and taking them off the past few weeks to get the hang of it. I'm not a fan of nontradition colors in general for dressage/jumping, but my dad got me these years ago as a Christmas present. I figured I should at least learn how to put wraps on properly before I branch out and get some in a more conservative color.

As you can see, I obviously needed conservatively colored wraps for all the formal work we had to do today. Yes, it was bareback day #2. Day #1 was yesterday. It's rained so much that the arena is a total mess. I like to use weather like this to just muck around and work on little things.

And here's Klasi Renee', Izzy's mother and my beloved old OTTB. She's 17, had three gorgeous babies, won just about everything there is to win, and still going strong. She doesn't like having her mane pulled, and at her age, I don't mess with it. She's done enough.
Izzy was Cassie's (her barn name) first baby, then Tristan's Fortune, the gorgeous holsteiner gelding whose video I posted her a month or so ago was the second. Her latest was by an awesome Friesian stallion, a little filly named Natasya. I'll have to take more pictures of all the babies while they're still around.

As for the rest of our problems... I think I'm going to rearrange how I address them. The U Gard that someone (Kate?) recommended is the least expensive, so I figure I'll buy that and give see how it goes. Worst case senario, I'm out $25. I will continue to play with padding once we start riding with a saddle again... probably next week, since I'll be out of town again this weekend visitng my inlaws. The chiro is going to have to wait until next time, which will be much easier on my bank account. Hopefully, it will be more fully recovered from the saddle purchase by then. Still, winter's coming on quickly if the weather's any gauge, so we may be done with any serious riding until spring anyways.

Brand New Saddle

I would post a picture, but, typical of me, I forgot to bring anything like a camera out to the barn with me. Whoops.

Anyways, it came late Thursday night, exactly as described. It's an older Ansur KonKlusion, which is their eventing model. It's treeless, but it does have a gullet of sorts. The new model can be seen here: Here's a picture that the seller sent me:

It's a bit darker right now because I very thoroughly cleaned and oiled it last night before I went to bed. The scuff marks are mostly gone, but some things are just a part of an old saddle and that's why we love them. For those of you who are adamantly opposed to Ansur business practices, this one was actually made in the Peter's Tack era. (For the record: I am neither for nor against their business practices. I just like their saddles.)

It definitely feels different than the Classic I was riding. The Classic looks something like this. A Classic is basically a glorified bareback pad. There is no gullet. You sit on on (or into, I guess) the horse. Horses for the most part seem to really like them. I guess I'm so used to it that I didn't really think about gullets and spine clearance on Ansurs. Here's a picture of my best friend riding Cassie in a Classic:

It was one of Cassie's first rides this spring and my friend hadn't been on in over a year, so they look pretty good considering. The KonKlusion (or KK) has a seat to it and almost a twist. Maybe the newer models do have a twist; I'm not wealthy enough to find out. It's a bit more secure feeling than the Classic, but it sure was different.

At any rate, I'm unfamiliar with gulleted but treeless saddles. When I put the new one on Izzy this morning, it looked like the pommel was going to rub her, so I put a little wedge pad underneath it. That kept the pommel off her withers, but after I'd ridden for a while, the gullet was right down on her. So... I don't know. It wasn't hurting or pinching, because her head goes straight up in the air when something hurts. All Ansur saddles are built on the same basic Flex Core, and the Classic sits on the horse's back directly, so maybe it's ok? Still, it seems like a gulleted saddle ought to have gullet clearance.

If that's true, there are various pads made specifically for this purpose. They're kind of spendy, but maybe I can find one used. You'd be surprised what a little dedicated searching can turn up. ;-) Still, if it's not bothering her, is it a problem? I don't know.

In other training news, the weather changed this weekend while I was gone. That always gets the horses a little excited, and as such, Izzy was pretty distracted when I was riding her. When I asked her to move off my left leg and she wouldn't and then I made her, she threw a fit, complete with a nice buck and a lunge forward. After that, we finished out the day by doing lots of bending left and right with little leg yields. We didn't canter because I want to know more about the saddle issue before going much further.