Trust, Confidence, and Courage

Part of our not-so-subtle transition from "I swear we'll jump something someday" to just straight dressage queens was prompted by a dressage clinic in which the instructor kept asking me if Courage was jumping a lot. He wasn't and I told her that. But. When I asked for clarification, she said that until he really learned to draw his hocks under him as a default instead of going inverted, jumping was just going to exacerbate the problems we were dealing with. 

That makes sense to me--I'm working to counteract the effect of six years of racing on a naturally tight horse. Whenever he feels pressure, he defaults to the rigid, inverted frame he used to run away with people, which creates body soreness and a vicious cycle of tension.

So we totally stopped jumping. We were going in to winter anyways and I hate setting jumps inside. A few months back, I tried lunging him over poles and it was a total train wreck. He's never been the best at them (championship aside) and he was spinning and spooking and leaping and running inverted and all kinds of things that weren't helpful.

But the other day, he was acting wild while we tacked up (ugh means leaping day) so I figured I might as well give him something to leap over and see how it went. Best case scenario, he'd look slightly less crazy because he was leaping things that actually existed. Worst case, well, that would involve getting fried and prancy and bad things and let's not think about it, but I'm getting more confident in my ability to read him. If it went poorly, I could just pull the poles out and pretend they never existed.

An interesting thing happened:

Right?

I mean, these are all obviously varying degrees of fails and trust me when I say he was wild enough that I had to hold on to the line with both hands for the worst of the fails or you'd have video and they'd be even funnier.

But.

He's not just leaping and flailing and checking out. He's staying engaged with me and trying different ways of going over the poles.

That makes me excited.

It's not even really about the pole. It's about his willingness to trust me and try new things, especially things that have historically been very hard for him. Mentally and physically leaving is his default and after almost a year and a half of solid work, we have we made strides in changing that.

so attractive

This is a new chapter for us.

PS there are a few more days to submit your entry to our fail contest!!

Teach Me Tuesday: Supplements

I give the whole supplement industry a healthy dose of side eye with an occasional addition of mare glare.

I mean, it's completely unregulated and as a general rule IF (a big if) the stuff you think you're paying for is even in the bucket, the odds of there being any research whatsoever that said ingredient is even bio-available to the horse in that particular form is something like zero. Don't even get me started on the other vagaries like assuming you have the correct ingredient in the supplement in the correct dose and it is bio-available to the horse, HOW THE HELL DOES IT GET TO THE JOINT? Like. Do horses actually eat glucosamine and then the body is like "hey don't need this here but let's fedex it to the right hock STAT?" Or you know. Does it just get peed out. Because that seems more obvious.

he's clearly suffering

And if you need hyaluronic acid in a joint, does feeding an HA supplement help at all or do you need to feed things that make HA or (light bulb) would you be money ahead just injecting in the first place?

Cough. So yeah. Not a supplement feeder here.

But I started Courage on cheap ass feedstore magnesium a month or so ago.

And I'm not saying I believe in it.

But he has been turning right pretty reliably and seems less sore through his shoulders and is more more tractable about certain things, which is interesting.

Possibly just correlations. Still interesting.

So tell me. Where do you stand on supplements? What do you feed and why?

Top 4 Things I Hate About My OTTB

I posted before about how thoroughbreds aren't for everyone and caught a lot of flak. Apparently I learned nothing from that, so here we go again. Here are the top 4 things I hate about my OTTB.

1) His weight.

For real. My friends are all like "my horse won't gain weight waaaaah" and spend hours trying to figure out how to fit the maximum number of calories into every time crumb of grain. I mean, they buy supplements and concoctions and obsess together and bond over it.

And I'm just over here like "maybe I should cut his alfalfa back a little because homeboy is a fatty."

2) His tail. 

I'm a pretty low maintenance kind of girl. I use cheap shampoo on myself. I don't have "products" beyond that.

Courage has a tail so long and so thick that I use three products to wash/condition it and it takes me a solid hour just to work stuff into that thick, luxurious tail of his. I mean, yeah it's gorgeous, but it's so much work.

3) His face.

Right? I mean, I JUST WROTE yet another bridle post because his face is so damn pretty that I can never decide what looks best on him. I have a revolving door of beautiful tack because I'm always in pursuit of "the one" for him, but he's such an attractive horse that it's hard to tell...

I mean, if he was just a stupid plug with a plain face, he could wear any old thing and look his best.

4) His personality.

Seriously. You can never "just ride" this horse. He's interactive and expressive on the ground. He has opinionz about everything. Even once I get in the saddle, everything with this horse is trust and partnership.

Forget mindless drilling. Either you learn to work with him or he gets you off. Period.

The struggle is real.

Share Your Fail Contest!

Despite a strangely-persistent rumor to the contrary, Courage and I fail A LOT. At all the things. I think I do a pretty good job documenting that via social media, and Alyssa is the queen of capturing our greatest fails in images.

not wearing boots

not turning right

not doing ground poles

still not doing poles

not trotting by the wall

just not

definitely not

who can forget this particular not?

not how you jump oxers

not this either

But why should I have all the fun? I SHOULDN'T. I should have more. So. Starting today, I'm running a social media fail contest. Here's how to enter:

1) Post your favorite fail photo on instagram, hashtag it #sprinklerbandits and tag me (@sprinklerbandits). Include the text: "SprinklerBandits Blog fail contest" (or whatever I write up and post on the image)(this image is hopefully already up, but if not, it will be shortly. Check my account.)

2) If you don't have instagram (no judging--I don't twitter), just email me the picture via the blog email (sprinklerbandits at gmail dot com).  

All submissions due by 3/18/16 at midnight with the winner announced 3/21/16. 

Winner of what, you ask? OH YEAH. I HAVE A PRIZE. 

Alyssa is not only the queen of photography, but also of hilarious custom cartoon drawing. Winner receives one (1) custom cartoon headshot drawing of the horse of their choice. Winner will be chosen by the mighty ruling force of the internet, aka Lindsey, Alyssa, and I will eat delicious food, laugh hysterically, and pick one submission. In case you want to know who to bribe. 

ARE YOU EXCITED IM SO EXCITED

Oh yes: I have one super obvious rule: The photo must either be taken by you or of you and used with the full consent of the photographer or model. NO STEALING. 

Teddy's Tack Trunk/Leistner Brushes Review

Here's a thing about Courage: he hates brushing.

Always has.

So when Amanda was like "omg new brushes so amazing" I was like "lulz bitchez" and moved on. But then I was getting all weird and sappy about Courage and Amanda was like "I swear it's real" and I got poking around Teddy's Tack Trunk website.

I wanted one brush to try out.

But a brush is like $20 and shipping is like $6 and there's a coupon code available on the site that offers 10% off orders $50 and over. And free shipping if your order is over $60.

So I carefully perused the softest and most picky-horse-approved brushes, piled 3 of them into my cart, added a tail brush, then got my 10% off (which made the tail brush free) and free shipping (which made my tack ho heart happy). It was Friday at like 1pm. I hemmed and hawed and screwed around and finally hit order around 3pm Mountain Time. On Friday.

The brushes were on my doorstep when I came home from work Monday afternoon.

Prinze is the dual colored one facing up.

Really people. You have got to try that.

But of course, outstanding customer service was only part one of this order. Part two: would Courage let the brushes anywhere near his precious princess self?

He's old enough to know better than to try to kick me, usually. He still lifts his hind legs (I won't smack him if the leg is on the other side of his body from me), grinds his teeth, savagely attacks the wall, twitches, and generally attacks abused. Before you call me a monster, keep in mind that he gets "groomed" with one semi-approved plastic curry to get the worst of the mud off (and is blanketed to prvent major mud) plus one specially-purchased soft brush that skims off the dust. The whole "routine" took under 60 seconds, and his reactions are actually less extreme than they used to be.

After knocking off the mud, I busted out our new brushes. First we used the Prinze natural body brush. The very-unassuming website description says this "Horse grooming brush, medium bristle texture, made of 100% pure horse hair and a lifted double edge of natural bristles. Lacquered beech wood body and durable leather strap."

That doesn't seem like much. It's pretty much the nicer version of the brush I already had, right?

old brush. $8.99 at the feed store.

WRONG.

The bristles are super soft and giving, with just enough resistance to really lift the dirt out of the coat. (Courage is body clipped--obviously these brushes cannot actually reach through intense winter yak hair). What's more magical, this brush did all that with far less actual pressure on the brush than my cheaper brush with longer bristles took.

Which meant that Courage stood there and kind of flicked his ears like "I should hate this but I don't quite".

omg who knew goats were soft?

Then I pulled out the goat hair brush. The website description is this:
Extremely soft and luxurious horse grooming brush made of long and thick, 100% pure goat hair with beech wood handle and a durable leather strap.

Let me tell you, they are DEAD SERIOUS about the luxurious thing. This brush is possibly softer than my sheepskin grooming mitt. It's amazing. I started using it to lift the traces of dust left behind on Courage's coat and OMG YOU GUYS.

He couldn't believe it either.

Seriously. For the first time in the years I have been with this horse, he just stood there and let me brush him. He dropped his poll below his withers. His body relaxed. Of course, when I stopped to take a picture, he twisted around like WTF WAS THAT and I got the above picture instead.

size comparison

I also got the goat hair face brush because I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. It's the same as the big brush, but easier to use on faces. It seemed rather extravagant, but it got me free shipping.

It gave me the same bizarre experience as the goat hair body brush. Courage got tense when I got near his face, but then... nothing... he didn't quite relax into it yet, but instead giraffing it up and trying to get away, he just stood there. THAT'S HUGE. Seriously.

The goat brush was so soft and magical that I'm pretty sure angels were singing and I just kept using it and his coat started glowing.

I mean. The reason we get by with so little grooming in general is that this horse has fantastic nutrition and good coat genetics, but like. Omg. There is a whole 'nother level of shine that we're unlocking right now.

I got Courage out and worked him, then let him much hay in his stall and (get this!!) (omg!!) groomed him again while he was eating. HE WAS EATING LOOSE AND I WAS BRUSHING HIM.

That has never happened before. Usually if I even try, he leaves the stall.

Color. Me. Impressed. These brushes are phenomenal, the customer service is amazing, and wow. You have to try this stuff. And Teddy's Tack Trunk didn't even give me a kick back for saying that. (I am the worst at free shit. Otoh, all my opinions are completely my own.)

PS Those discounts were valid as of when I ordered. Looks like the current threshold is $75.

#1 Trainer-Choosing Criteria

My trainer legitimately likes my horse, which is a little weird considering what he's done to her.

She seen him pretty well at his worst in terms of not wanting to cooperate, not handling pressure, not trusting people, and not being easy to deal with. He's one of those horses that gives you every reason in the world to dislike him.

I mean, the day he moved in, she basically had to transform the run on his stall into an electrified elephant pen because he both fought over the fence with his friends AND chewed their tails off under it. Then he decided to be uncatchable in turnout. While doing that, he actually got grounded from group turnout TWICE on account of trying to kill people when they came to catch his buddies (and the tail eating thing). He bites. He gets weird injuries. He sometimes decides not to participate in questionable practices like "getting on the trailer" or "standing in the wash rack". He can't be ridden during beginner lessons.

He's flunked out of multiple trainers' programs because he is simply not an easy horse. I think the general sentiment was "dude just get something EASIER this isn't worth it".

early capriole?

But she still likes him.

And I'm realizing just how important that is.

When he's at his worst, she's at her best. She's kind and patient and did I mention patient? She's not pushing him to do anything on a schedule. She just accepts the horse we have any given day and quietly talks to him on whatever level he can handle. A lot of trainers can "deal with him", but very few see what we work through and still think he's worth the time and effort. And by very few, I think she's one of two three and the other one has a vested interest in our success.

And to me, this makes all the difference in the world. I can't help myself. I like the little guy. I feel like he's worth taking my time on. I feel like we were brought together for a reason. The more we build trust in each other, the more I realize what a cool horse he's really capable of being.

Getting here has been a long and involved process. It's one thing for me to say "yeah he's difficult, but I like him" to someone who believes in both of us.

It's a whole different thing to say it to someone who thinks I'm wasting my time. They see the challenges. They see the time and money and effort and heartbreak I've sunk into a horse that doesn't always look like he's going to give anything back. They make the rational analysis that I'd be better served by another horse who required less and gave more.

plus we're cute

If that's the person I'm looking to for counsel when I'm at my lowest and I'm struggling with how much I put in to a horse to still not be able to do basic things, then of course they're going to tell me to try something else.

And that's why it's so important to me to ride with people who not only believe in me as a rider, but people who genuinely like and understand my horse. With a horse like Courage, that SEVERELY limits the number of people I can train with. I hope that eventually, he'll be more rideable and we'll have more options.

all princess all the time

In the mean time, I'm just so glad that Courage has finally met someone just as patient as he is FABULOUS.

Teach Me Tuesday: Volunteering

only one of these is paid to be there

It's no secret that most horse organizations are run through 95% volunteer labor. Some organizations require that participants put in some hours to make things work together--others rely on sheer goodwill of the community.

What do you do about this? Do you volunteer at shows? Work behind the scenes with leadership? Pay your dues and rides a bunch of horses at shows to make them worth putting on?

Help a Sister Out: Bridles!

I'm half-heartedly bridle shopping (am I ever not?) but I'm not 100% sure what I'd be looking for if I'm actually looking. All I can say is a friend just got a Jerry's Harness bridle and I'm OBSESSED but that is a LOT of money to spend on a bridle annnnnnnd for someone who goes through tack as fast as I do, I'm not sure it's a good idea. 

So let's look at what I have current headshots of Courage wearing and see what looks best. I'm breaking it down by category, because to the surprise of no one, I have a TON of these pictures.

Non-traditional Dressage bridles (aka either not show legal or definitely not a current trend):

figure eight bridle

Frankenbridle

PS of Sweden Bridle

retro rolled bridle

In this category, all but the PS of Sweden are technically "legal", but none are current looks you see in the show ring. I adore the Frankenbridle, but it's brown and I really feel brown dressage tack mutes a bay, despite being totally fine with brown jump tack. (In fact, I hate black jump tack. Being a tack ho is complicated.) 

Next up: White padded bridles. I don't know how I feel about these. I love them on some horses (Totilas, Valegro), but less so on others. I had one many moons ago for my mare and I got bored of it rather quickly. That said, the look is growing on me again and it's totally on trend now and I could get a nicer one than I had before (Bobby's, gag). 

retro semi rolled brown with white padding

Almost frankened-black with white padding

Patent and rolled accents

Admittedly, the white is a bitch to clean, but I'm a one horse ammy with a bridle fetish. I'm kind of enchanted with the look. 

Brown Bridles I could get in black:

These are show legal (or would be with a standard modification) and I have or have had them. 

micklem bridle

Ovation bridle

PS of Sweden Flat Out bridle

The Micklem is a funny bridle. It actually works well enough on Courage's facial shape, but he doesn't particularly need it's function and I'd rather have something that makes him look less finicky. Let's face it: he's finicky enough about literally everything else.

I really like the narrow cheeks for his tiny head on the ovation and the PS is just fun. Basic, but useful. 

Traditional dressage look: these bridles are pretty standard for the show ring. 

Real Antares

fake Dy'on

red barn

All of these are shown with the flash on, which is pretty unrealistic for us. That said, the flash is most definitely removable and I'm not bothered by the flash tab because I do occasionally throw one on. Browbands are of course interchangeable. 

What what do you think? What's the best look for a little blaze-faced bay horse aiming for his first recognized dressage show?

Horses As Characters: Why Courage is Darkwing Duck

Austen started this off with a bang, then Marissa jumped in. And what can I say? As another blogger with a horse sporting a larger-than-life personality, I had to try it too.

I hope this isn't too 90s for most of you, but Courage really reminds me of the infamous Darkwing Duck. From his bloated self image to his dashing persona, the similarities are just striking.

This is how Courage sees himself:

 And this is him when he remembers to actually go to work:

 Then he realizes he might not have to do what I'm asking.

 And gets all mouthy to me.

 RAWR SUPER COURAGE

 Of course, his "let's get dangerous" catch phrase is absolutely perfect.

 But it's hard to take him seriously when he looks like this.

 Besides, any more his threats are more this:

 But he never fails to approach a lady with 100% confidence.

It just fits. I probably need to get him a purple cape.