Smoke, Fire, Blah

After the beautiful clear skies of yesterday, I had big plans for today: long run with the dogs, lots of no stirrup work with Cuna, riding in the pelham with two reins, maybe some jumping.

And I woke up to choking smoke, thick as it's ever been. I hate you, range fires. Where did my sky go?


In an effort to keep from puking from smoke inhalation, Cuna and I took a long slow hack in the hills and explored new trails. I rode with both reins and it went ok. It would be nice if I had reins that were somewhat close to the same length, but this is as good as it gets right now. 

It was not as hard as I thought it would be, though admittedly, I mostly just walked and did a tiny bit of trot on gently turning lines.




And then I was off home. Through the smoke. This is actually from this morning; it's worse now. Ugh. 

Engaging the Core

This is the best day ever.

Weather-wise. The rest is kind of sucking.

Anyways!! It was brisk and cool this morning and I even had to put a coat on. The sky was clear and blue, the sun was yellow (it's red when it's smokey) and there was no smoke to be seen. I headed to the arena for a dressage ride, but the BOs decided to water.

No worries. Cuna and I took a nice walk through the hills, looking at the bright blue sky, the golden flora, and listening to the birds sing, all while breathing freely.

When we came back to the arena, we had a mission: work like a proper dressage horse until my biceps can't take it any more.

We started with a cool exercise that a friend told me about. We used a large rectangle in the arena. We trotted the sides, then walked two steps in the corner, then right back to trot. The idea is to keep your hands steady and still and the horse relaxed, but just move them back and forth with your body.

Pelham not used today. Cute pic though.

It worked really, really well. We did it both ways, then mixed it up by doing 10m circles in all the corners and the walk steps on the long sides. Then we did trot/canter transitions on a big circle. I focus really hard on just keeping everything the same, especially my hands, then sitting a couple of strides without activating my seat and making him tense, then asked to canter. It's a work in progress, but it's definitely coming along.

I also noticed when I rode yesterday that my hands were much quieter without stirrups than with. My theory is that my core was more engaged and active, which quieted my upper body. At any rate, my hands were much more effective today and Cuna responded really well.

I rode until my right arm felt like collapsing. I'd really like for Cuna to be a bit lighter, but according to his old owner, this is basically how he goes, plus he's conditioned to be that way through racing, plus he simply isn't built to be light on the forehand. Yes, a sharper bit would probably give me some false lightness, but it's not that big of a deal. I'll get stronger. 

Tomorrow I'm hoping to start working on one of my goals for the fall: riding in the pelham with two reins. Omg! 

Playtime

End of summer sales are the worst. I totally forget about them, and then BOOM!!!! There is cheap stuff every where and I want it all.

Of course, in order to preserve some semblance of honor for the wallet, I find solace in sharing with other tack whores the awesome things I stumble across.

Sometimes that backfires.

One of my favorite fellow 'hos, Me, mentioned that she had something to sell in case I knew of anyone looking. What was it? Oh, just the very breastcollar I've been drooling over for the past two years or so but never gotten around to justifying the cost of. (In case you were wondering, yes, I actually do exercise lots of restraint. You cannot imagine how well Cuna would be dressed if I didn't.)

In a few frenzied facebook messages, I agreed to buy it. When it FINALLY arrived yesterday (after a whole two days in transit), I pranced around the house modelling it because I thought it was so pretty.

Which brings us to the real test: can Cuna wear it? My taste is 180 degrees from what looks good on Cuna. I love big, thick nosebands, fancy padded monocrowns, super pretty detailing and lots of contrast stitching.

Cuna looks stupid in all of that. Give him a simple raised workmanlike bridle with no fluff and he looks like a million bucks.

Cuna is captivated by this problem

Which brings us to today. I brought the breastcollar out to see if it was just me indulging my fantasies about pretty things or if it would actually work for us.

The first fun thing was figuring out how in the world to put it on. I've always had a simple hunting breastcollar, and Steph is very particular about making sure everything is unsnapped before taking the girth off so that if something goes wrong, the breastcollar isn't holding a very expensive saddle on a loose, panicking horse.

So yeah. Um, without a wither strap, this makes tacking up straight amusing since there isn't a clip on the part that connects to the girth. I put the saddle on. I girthed up one side. I slid the breastcollar on the girth, then dropped the pretty elastic on the ground and quickly did up the other side, then put the breastcollar on. Stupid plan. Will try something else next time.



At any rate, I eventually got everything put together. The breastcollar passed test #1: glove holding. I always hang my helmet up near the cross ties with my gloves inside. After Cuna is tacked up, I put my gloves in the breastcollar while I put my hair up and helmet on.

Efficiency of use: check.

Sexy body shot

Next, I checked out how I thought it looked on Cuna. Remember, this breastcollar is pretty and this is the horse that really can't do pretty, especially near his face.

He's held his deep chestnut color really well this summer and the havana/blue doesn't look out of place on him.

So cute.

The details are subtle enough that I can appreciate them without totally drawing attention to themselves in motion.

The elastic straps are a hair on the short side, especially since they'll need to attach to the actual saddle dees instead of my dee savers. Otherwise, there is a chance they'll slide down and THAT my friends, would make me BATTY.

As if I'm not already.

That said, I'm a big fan of clip anyways, and I think the extra inch or two that the clips will add will give us plenty of length.

Ky-oot! 

Next step: go hang out in front of the newly-painted barn and take pictures.

I put on his chocolate fly bonnet because I thought it would complement the rich brown in the breastcollar.

Wrong.

The cream doesn't match the blue and the scallops are just TOO MUCH when combined with the prettiness that is the breastcollar. Functional? Yes. Attractive? Not now.

Much better

So we try again. This time, no bonnet.

I like it much better. I am intentionally using my new bridle because it has nickel hardware. No brass with this beauty.

You might notice that Cuna is also in some of his new fluffy boots. For the first time in several weeks, he was actually sound in boots. Win!

He can totally do it

I only rode lightly today. It was smokey, plus the arena project is super dusty, plus I'd dropped my stirrups and my thighs were screaming at me. Besides, the breastcollar was super clean, despite being lightly used, and I didn't want to gunk it up if I didn't think Cuna could pull it off.

Conclusion: I think as long as it's the only "pretty" thing I put on him, we're good to go. It's just too much for him with the bonnet. That said, he looks smashing in my t-boots and they also have the accented elastic. He can do detail work, just not on his face.

I feel the need to add in some relevant details that will make this post work as a tack review, so here goes:




Basic info:
MSRP: Listed on the fivestartack.com website for $200. Currently available through their sale page for around $130
What I paid: less than that

General description: elastic breastcollar suitable for jumping, dressage, hacking, or just general use. Quality leather on all points of attachment. The strap that goes between the legs is nicely padded. No grab strap on this model--I believe if you buy the non-sale version of this on the official website, it now comes standard with one.

Pros: Super pretty and distinctive looking. Good, strong elastic. I've always steered clear of elastic strap goods because I thought they would stretch too easily and make themselves useless. Not so with this piece. The stitching is well done, the details well thought out.

Cons: It seems like it would be hard to clean. I've never had elastic before, so this is a whole new world for me. The lack of a grab strap means I'm unlikely to take it XC. That said, I bet you money I can round one up on short order if I change my mind.

"hacking"

Today was supposed to be "light hack" day, particularly since the smoke is back with a vengeance. I told myself that Cuna and I would walk around the barn area and maybe wander up a trail.

So I hopped on, let him amble out to the arena, and noticed that the jumps from yesterday were still set up, but a notch or two higher now from the lesson after mine.

About the same time, some clouds rolled in and the wind picked up, starting to blow the smoke away.

And the jumps just looked so inviting.

And of course I need to practice my position in my new, shorter stirrups.

And it wasn't that smokey...

We picked up a canter. I decided to try and improve a few things from yesterday right off the bat. First off, FORWARD. I forget to insist on this, then Cuna worries and accelerates, and then it's chaos. Instead, I moved Cuna into a nice, forward canter, and sent him forward and back a few times to make sure we were where I wanted to be.

Then we did a couple of little patterns. I found some super awkward spots and did my best not to make them worse.

Walk and regroup. The jumps are ok, but I'm not flowing with the motion in between them. I need to find my lines earlier, send him to the jump, and be still.

We try again. Nice, forward canter. See a decent spot to the single vertical and wait for it to come to me. Look right in the air to let Cuna know where we're going and land on the correct lead. Immediately start looking for my line. See a close spot in to the two stride. Settle to that distance, keeping seat near the saddle and body quiet. Jump in, steady one, steady two, smooth jump out.

Perfect.

Nine fences, taller than yesterday, and I feel good about my ride.

Unrelated awesome picture

As we meandered off into the hills, I had some time to reflect. I can't yet say, "I'm going to get close to that jump" or "I want to stand off of that one a bit". I can't control what spot I'm going to get (unless it's a related distance of about 4 strides or less). I can, however, reliably see my stride about 3-5 strides out, depending on the fence. I don't try to change a whole lot yet, because obviously, that's way too late to make any adjustments.

I guess it really doesn't even change my ride yet--basically, I need him coming in on a rhythm and then we settle to the fence. Still, the fact that I can see anything means that my poor, panicked brain is finally starting to slow down and think even when confronted with bigger fences. Winning!

Oh, and how awesome is it that my kick-ass jumping horse then proceeds to hack out of the arena on the buckle through the hills?

Yeah, totally.

A Lesson!

For various reasons, Cuna and I haven't had a lesson since our last show. I was super excited for today, since we were on the schedule.

Then I showed up. The smoke is not so bad today (hooray!!), but the main arena is having it's footing redone this week (hooray!!) and that means super dusty air and constant heavy equipment noise.

I know, I know. First world problem. I will be oh-so-happy this winter when the main arena actually drains properly.

Anyways. Lesson. Here's the arena diagram for today. Red lines are jumps. Because of the equipment noise, Steph would give me a pattern, then just let me keep jumping it until I felt the need for feedback or I noticed her frantic gesturing in an attempt to get my attention.

Unfortunately for all involved, I just could not get my head in the game today. It did not matter how many times she told me a pattern: it just wouldn't stick in my tiny brain. Seriously. It was sad.

Anyways. My legs were waving in the wind, my torso was mirroring, I couldn't ride a straight line to save my life, and Cuna actually had one of the biggest spooks of his life because Steph moved a jump standard (goof head). He in fact relocated all four of his feet and moved his body like a projectile for a whole stride, so it's at least top 5.

So we stopped to regroup. Steph put my stirrups up two holes, and off I went.

This time was better--my body and leg felt rock solid. I kept making stupid decisions and forgetting the patterns. I mean, you wouldn't think two stride line, turn right to the vertical, turn left to the two stride in a repeating pattern would be difficult, but yeah...

Regroup. Again. This time we talked about making decisions sooner and being perpendicular to the face of the jumps.

At this point, a couple of people showed up that Steph needed to talk to. Cuna and I walked and caught our breath, then started up on our own. Two stride away from the barn. See a close distance. Stay soft with seat, but close to the saddle. Close the hand. Boom. Two easy strides. Jump. Around to the right. Look now!! There's the line. Solid with the outside led, aim for the middle. Boom. Turn left, outside aids. Flying change? Ok. A moving distance. Leg on, don't get ahead. Jump. One, two. Jump.

Steph is yelling something. Apparently I am turning the wrong way. Oops. We rode through the pattern one more time, this time making the correct turns. Cuna, Mr I-Don't-Do-Lead-Changes, nailed every change. I rode like I'd actually been on a horse before. We were rocking, albeit over tiny 2'6"ish verticals.

The takeaway:
1) I need to get my head on straight. I'm blaming smoke inhalation+construction chaos for today, but seriously. They weren't hard patterns and I could not keep them in my head.

2) With Izzy, I'd ride straight after a jump, then change the bend and get a lead change. Cuna HATES that ride because he hates losing his balance. Instead, when I focused on riding through the whole turn on a consistent bend without changing his lead, he gave me flying changes. Random, excellent.

3) We can so do this. I am signing us up for the jumper show next month and doing the 2'9" and 3'. I just got the go ahead from Steph, too, so I guess we're committed. Eek!

Novice, here we come!

Weekends

The governor has declared a state of disaster here because of the massive amount of wildfires all around us. Where I live isn't threatened at all, but we've become a smoke repository for the rest of the state as far as I can tall.

I went for a trail ride yesterday with a friend and we walked the whole time because the air was so smokey that none of us wanted to breathe hard.

That haze behind me? Smoke.

It's super dry right now. The fires aren't projected to be contained until October when the rain starts up.

Boot Review Day!!

Since someone's princess horse can under no circumstances wear neoprene boots, I did whaat any responsible tack 'ho would: got him three different kinds of fluffy boots in designer colors. Let's talk about them today.

 Pair #1) Toklat Valena boots. I paid $15, a new pair is about $70 Fellow blogger Rinsie actually found these with me at our local tack store. Unlike the pretty Dover picture, they have black fleece. They are used, and it shows--stitching worn out and even replaced in some places. The exterior material is tough and flexible. The interior seems to be synthetic fleece. It's black, which I think is just tacky on a brown boot. That said, they cost $15.

 Pair #2) Euro Pro Heidi Galloping boots. These I found used online and got them here shipped for $30. A new pair runs around $75. They are in much better condition than pair #1. The fleece is thick and protective and the velcro is great. That said, the exterior color is... eh... pretty light. I knew the velcro would be light colored, but it's almost more caramel than havana, so I don't love them.

 Set #3) Dover Pro Sport Boots. Excellent fellow blogger Me was headed out tack shopping and let me virtually tag along. She picked up a full set of these at the Dover tent sale for $40, which is good Dover sale pricing. The exterior material is very stiff and vinyl-y feeling. It's a great color and the synthetic fleece on the inside provides a great contrast, but my feeling (and information) is that these simply won't hold up the way the others will.


All three of the different types are interesting. I'm the least impressed with the Toklat boots. Admittedly, they are in rough shape, but who makes brown boots with black fleece? Ick. There are pretty light weight, too. It seems like they're going to heat my horse's legs like all of these models are prone to without providing the extra protection from either a stiff exterior or super fluffy fleece.

From a technical standpoint, I really like the heidi boots best. The exterior is giving enough that I don't expect rubs from Mr Princess like I would with a hard shell boot, but it's strong enough to withstand some knocks. The wool backing is super thick and nice, and the velcro is great. I do not love their color, that is for sure.

Sexy body shot

For occasional use, I have to give it to the dover boots. Man, they look classy. They capture the exact look I wanted on Cuna. They may be the cheapest, but they are sexy. You know, new, straight out of the package. Talk to me again in the spring after a winter of use, and we'll see what I think. In the mean time, snag yourself a set of the Heidi boots.

Wearing a hat, man, I'm wearing a hat

Don't worry-I didn't have Me squander a whole trip to Dover just to get me a set of boots. She also snagged a fly bonnet for $8.99. It may not be Cuna's favorite color, but it does the job and looks alright on him.

Ok, it's better than purple anyways. ;-) He definitely appreciated the bug relief it provided.

Fire, Fire Go Away

Due to the ridiculous amount of range fires coupled with the conformation (? topography?) of the area I live in, we are completely inundated with smoke right now. Seriously. It is disgusting--it's like living in a big city, only with lower crime rates.

Of course, the air quality pretty much puts the kibosh on outdoor activity for people who don't want to contract emphysema at age 23 (me). I mean, you *can* do stuff, it's just that you fill both your lungs and those of your horse with noxious gases and feel like puking in about 10 seconds.

Cuna, never one to waste an opportunity, has decided it is an excellent time to come up lame, and frankly, I agree with him. We finished our big show, have a few weeks to the next potential one, and really can't exercise right now anyways. I spend about an hour a day totally babying him, and he just eats it up. Goofus.

We did venture out today for the first time in a week doing more than walk/trot in the arena. The haze had cleared enough to make me feel comfortable with some activity.

Naturally, we hit the hills. Cuna always come out stiff through his back and topline after time off. Riding in the hills lets him work out the stiffness on terrain instead of me fighting with him constantly and everyone is happier.

He was mostly great. Every once in a while, he gave me a funny step, which made me feel like a horrible person for riding at all. Still. He was forward, strong, and even. I trotted him for half a mile or so on a loose rein and he was dead even. At this point, I may actually be projecting lameness onto a tiny trip that Mr Awkward Pants would have had anyways. I am that sort of person.

At the end, we came to our favorite galloping hill. I could see the wall of smoke in the valley rolling our way, but we still had a little time. I let Cuna choose his pace and he ROCKETED up the hill, just short of racehorse gallop.

It did make me feel better. He only goes like that when he feels good. <3 the sensitive old man horse.

The Medicated Horse

Due to his super-sensitive skin and dramatic-princess personality, Cuna has been getting some super special treatment lately. First off, he has this weird funk going on with his hind canons. It's dry, hairless patches, basically. They never seem to get better or worse, but I would really like them to go away.

Kind of like this

When I took him in to the vet, they gave (sold) me a bottle of chlorahexadine shampoo to treat it with and not much explanation beyond "rinse well". I've been washing Cuna's hind legs with this every day or two for the past two weeks, and while his legs are super clean, nothing else seems to be changing.

Hm.

I still have a good half bottle yet, but I'm going to take some pictures of where his legs are now and then a couple of progress shots. My impression is that this shampoo does jack for "random hind leg funk that isn't bothering the horse but is unsightly". At least it was relatively cheap. (I think. It hurt too much to keep looking at that bill to actually read the itemization).



However, if that was all that was going on, I clearly would be dealing with some much less complicated horse! Far be it from me to settle for some low maintenance creature that stays sound all it's life!!

Nope. Since moving into the main barn with it's nice, dry stalls and bed of shavings, Cuna has managed to develop hock sores. Yay! The BO (a long time vet tech) recommended Silvadene, but mentioned that you usually have to get that from a vet. Due to my recent vet bill, I am not in a hue hurry to call them again. Failing that, we went with Eqyss Microtek gel.

It's fairly pricey at around $25 a bottle, but it claims to do what I want, which is heal without burning, soothe the skin, and prevent infection. It also calls for 3x daily application. I can do two, so we'll see how it goes. 

One hock is closing up nicely, but the other is still pretty sensitive. 

However, since I'd already blown the money and have high hopes of not using the entire (good sized) bottle on itty bitty hock sores, I just sort of put it wherever I think Cuna needs soothing. 

Right now, I am putting it on his hind legs (once they are thoroughly rinsed), the rub spot on his shoulder from his flysheet, the healing-up scar on his face, the weird little spot on his back, and of course, on his uber sensitive front legs/tendons where his boot rubs are. It smells nice and doesn't tingle, so worst case scenario, Cuna continues smelling like a beauty parlor. 

We'll see how it goes.

PS I am selling some stuff to get Cuna more stuff. Buy stuff!!! 

Playing with Toys

He is so excited that I went shopping!

 Due to Cuna's unfortunate ability to never again wear neoprene boots and my intense dislike of constantly washing and rerolling polo wraps, we needed to find a solution.

Of course, I already had something in mind. I'd been wanting fluffy brown boots for a while anyways, and now there was a medical excuse to get some!!

I knew there was no way my local tack store would ever stock something useful, so I sent out feelers throughout the internet in search of the best deals available.

Then I went to my local tack store's fall sale.

GUESS WHAT???? Some kind soul had dropped off a pair of front Valena Toklat boots in brown with black fleece. I hate the black fleece and the boots have definitely seen better days, but $15 later, I am not wrapping front polos for a w/t hack. Winning! 

 Cuna models the new toys.

I actually have another used pair of fleece boots headed my way, plus a whole set of new ones and I look forward to comparing all three brands and coming up with the definitive set of fleecy boots.

Notice anything else different?

The local tack store also had a three ring Dr Bristol happy mouth for 40% off. I didn't need on per se, but bits never go on sale. Of course I had to pick one up.

We cantered over three tiny jumps and he was super. Unfortunately, there are a ton of local-enough forest fires right now, and the air quality is so bad that I felt like puking after that teeny workout. Here's to rain or a windstorm or pretty much anything that would break the current weather cycle. It's nasty out there.