One more layer - and he gets an "A+" for his performance

All the boys were due for dental check ups, so up drove the Vetmobil and delivered Dr. Crystal with assistant and tools. It took me a long time to get comfortable with a vet using power tools, as in the early years there were plenty of horror stories about things gone wrong. It is so much more horse friendly, though, especially in the hands of a skilled and caring vet. We are lucky to have found just the right person.


Both Remy and Chambord had sharp edges and needed the ridges adjusted. Oh, how sweet it is to say "I was right!" as indeed Remy had the sharp edges on the left side where I felt the bit getting 'caught'. So we peeled away the last layer - and really, Remy, trust me: You are in perfect health!


Once Teddy heard the power tools getting into gear he decided he wanted no part of this. So what does the little stinker do? He shows all the signs of colic: Laying down, rolling, looking at his belly, not wanting to eat. Of course, with the expert right there, Teddy got checked out immediately.


Guess what: This pony is one smart cookie - all his vitals were perfectly fine. Once the tools were turned off and he was back out with Saumur life was good again. Teddy gets an "A+" for his performance. I didn't have the heart tell him that all his acting efforts were for nil, as he didn't need any dental work in the first place --

Peeling the onion Part 2 - and "We can do everything, except.."

The final part of peeling the onion - aka getting to the crux the matter: Vet Exam. Remy hasn't had a thorough soundness test since the pre-purchase exam in Montana. Of course, he's up to date on everything, but soundness was never an issue so there was just no need to dig. Remy is currently getting a lot of "FTMs" (Frequent Trailer Miles) as I took him to Judy's for the exam.


Good news: All is well! Aside from some slight sensitivity in his right hind flexor tendon everything checked out just fine. The recommendation is to cold hose after work, or use ice boots.


Judy mentioned to me afterwards that she suspects that Remy just can't handle the pressure of the work, and that is the reason for his spooks/spins. She might have a point, if that's the case he needs a different program.


Somehow the situation reminds me of a saying we have in my hometown, Stuttgart. Stuttgart is known for its inventive people, and some of the most well known companies like Mercedes and Porsche are headquartered there. The people in the area speak "Schwaebisch" (Swabian), a southern German dialect, and are often made fun of exactly due to that dialect. Well, the good Swabians are full of pride and created the slogan:


"Wir koennen alles ausser Hochdeutsch" ("We can do everything, except speak standard German").


Remy currently says: "Ich kann alles, ausser auf Dressur Turnieren ruhig bleiben" ("I can do everything, except staying chill at dressage shows")!

Peeling the onion Part 1 - and bring on the fireworks

Busy schedule for Remy: Luanne, the saddle fitter, met us at Brandt's yesterday morning to check if the saddle causes the soreness. The trip to Brandt was a bit of a nail biter: We ran into a myriad of detours, road closings, and ended up smack downtown Ann Arbor.


Luanne measured Remy's back and found the crux of the matter: His shoulder angle has changed from 55 to 67 in the six months since last fitting. The more developed shoulders pushed my weight onto is lumbar region - hence the sore spots. Good news: It can be fixed - temporarily on my current saddle, long term either the bottom of my saddle needs to be replaced to accommodate a smaller area, or I need a new saddle. Sigh! But, it's like good shoes: Fit and function are crucial. OK, maybe not the best analogy, at least when it comes to my shoes looks overrule function more often than not.


From saddle fitting to police horse work: We strapped on his riot gear and off he went, through fireworks and gunshot sounds. What a brave boy!




JP makes sure that the hairdo is perfect!



"You almost got him a Porsche" - and bumps in the road

All was well during our lesson until Judy asked me to collect Remy more before the flying change. We were on the short diagonal going towards Judy, she clucked... and Remy spun and bolted. I hung on by a hair. After some deep breaths we continued, and it happened again - this time no clucking involved.


There were no seemingly obvious triggers, aside from more collection - and that can do it. I half-joked with Judy that she almost got JP his Porsche (JP has been lusting after a 911 ever since he sold the last one eons ago). Meaning: My life insurance would have provided the funds for his dream car. Hmm!?!


Without joking, something is clearly 'off'. That is so not Remy, especially as he had been working really well. We suspect he is hurting somewhere, which wouldn't be a surprise given how rough he sometimes plays with his buds, and also given the increase in load on his hindquarters.


So, next step is an appointment with Anke, an Equine Therapist with lots of tools in her tool box (massage, structural alignment, Laser, etc.). Leaving no stone unturned I also scheduled a physical with our vet.


We'll figure out what's going on - hopefully it doesn't turn out that Remy just wanted to help JP getting his 911!

Loving my stay-cation - making the best of it

It's a perfect week for stay-cation, lovely summer days, and yay! finally some rain last night. We had our neighbors Ed and Angie over for dinner last night and while sitting outside watching the fireflies darting around us we all agreed that we live in a perfect place.


Staying home is not entirely voluntary, though: Max, our Viszla, is north of 13 (very old for a large dog) and he suffers from doggie dementia and therefore is pretty much incontinent. We are lucky to have a tiled sunroom, so -while no fun- cleaning is fairly easy. Max still loves to go for runs, and seems cheerful, so as long as he is happy we'll just adapt.


Being home gives me more bonding time with Remy, and our daily trailrides are fun. The partnership is still a work in progress, and hopefully we will soon get to where any outside influences no longer rattle us. Until then - no competitions. I had asked Judy if she wanted to show Remy in some 3rd level classes and was initially pretty much taken aback by her firm rebuke. "What, he is not good enough for you??" immediately crossed my mind. But then Judy explained that while I am doing all the riding it would not be fair to Remy to switch. She softened the (perceived) blow by saying I have him going really well and that he trusts me more. Ok then, fair enough.


Speaking of fair:  JP didn't need cookies after the soccer game yesterday, but I had a piece of Josef's Frucht-Torte: The better team won - and JP also had a chunk of Torte anyway. (And really, the guy that scored both goals for France has a German last name, so there, everyone wins!).

Playtime in the Huron River - and get the cookies out

We got an early start today in order to beat the heat and deer flies. It's been a long time since we went "a l'autre cote" (the other side) of the trails. That meant the horses had to navigate a steep descent in order to get to the trails, which they did with aplomb, Remy being the fearless leader. It was absolutely beautiful this morning. Granted, the deer flies were out in full force, but with the hoods and plenty of spray it was manageable.


We followed the trail over a bridge and into the Huron River, where Chambord had an absolute blast. He's like a little kid splashing in the water, and if he can get everyone else soaking wet: Success. Remy had to test the waters first (I almost ended up on his neck, the way he dove down with his nose), but then he was ready to go for a swim.


What an awesome start to the day. My "teenager" JP was full of himself, cantering off so quickly that Remy had to put the afterburners on as he for sure didn't want to be left behind Chambord.


On the last bend home though Chambord realized that this ride was way more than his usual bargain: Serious OT (overtime)! That required several additional cookies for him to perk up again.


That reminds me that I better get the cookies out for JP: Soccer semi-final European championship game Germany vs. France this afternoon. On second thought - forget the cookies, he'll need something far stronger after the German win :-)!

Playtime in the Huron River - and get the cookies out

We got an early start today in order to beat the heat and deer flies. It's been a long time since we went "a l'autre cote" (the other side) of the trails. That meant the horses had to navigate a steep descent in order to get to the trails, which they did with aplomb, Remy being the fearless leader. It was absolutely beautiful this morning. Granted, the deer flies were out in full force, but with the hoods and plenty of spray it was manageable.


We followed the trail over a bridge and into the Huron River, where Chambord had an absolute blast. He's like a little kid splashing in the water, and if he can everyone else soaking wet: Success. Remy had to test the waters first (I almost ended up on his neck, the way he dove down with his nose), but then he was ready to go for a swim.


What an awesome start to the day. My "teenager" JP was full of himself, cantering off so quickly that Remy had to put the afterburners in as he for sure didn't want to be left behind Chambord.


On the last bend home though Chambord realized that this ride was way more than his usual bargain: Serious OT (overtime)! That required several additional cookies for him to perk up again.


That reminds me that I better get the cookies out for JP: Soccer semi-final world cup game Germany vs. France this afternoon. On second thought - forget the cookies, he'll need something far stronger after the German win :-)!

Note to self: Change your shirts - and "he likes his duvet"

Last night I paid for yesterday's ride in hot and sweaty conditions: My entire back muscles seized up, and I couldn't sleep because of the pain. Entirely my fault though: I had brought dry shirt to the barn to change out of my wet and sweaty one, but then decided I could live with the wet one on back for the ride home home. That wouldn't have been bad in itself (honestly, I was convinced I didn't smell!) but having the AC going at 'max.' did the trick. Ouch! Like Emil (my dad) always says: "Wer nicht hoeren kann muss fuehlen" (those who don't listen must feel). And right he is: I knew better than sitting in a wet shirt in a cold car - and my muscles sure made me feel the consequences.


Today I had another good ride, our canter half-passes are improving quite nicely. Judy got after me not to turn to early when going straight on the center line - as in half-pass from wall to centerline, then going straight and turn on the short side. It was funny because Remy could see his 'school bus' (our trailer) from the arena, and I could almost hear him say "Can I go home now, can I??".


Home we went, and as I finished the stalls JP materialized after me, checking my handiwork (I mean, get real, man, haven't your learned yet that I hate that??). But no, he brings another bag of shavings with the explanation "... but Remy likes his duvet!".  Quite frankly, I had no smart retort to this one.

Wow, he listened - and I'll be skipping the ice cream

Back to school for Remy and me today. I have this week off, which is a bit strange - I am not used to having TIME on my hands.


Remy had yesterday off while JP and I checked out the new Penguin conservation center at the Detroit Zoo. It was fun walking in the tunnel while the Penguins were swimming all around us.


So, today Remy and I went back to work with Judy. Amazingly, Remy went right down to business, was relaxed, none of his usual "Monday morning griping". And the absolute kicker: He gave me clean changes both leads on the first try! I was so surprised that all I could say was "Wow, he listened!". Remy listened to my aids and did what I asked when I asked - what else could I ask for?(OK, that sounds corny, I admit). The gist of it: I was thrilled.


However, instead of risking getting queasy again from super rich ice cream I opted this time to celebrate the "German way": With a nice cold beer (OK, technically the beer was Czech, but close enough).

Boyz in hoodz (and helmet) make for a great trailride

JP and I decided on a morning trialride today - and it was just perfect in Kensington: Sunshine, temps in the low 70s, light breeze.


Even though it's been way too dry recently this hasn't deterred the deer flies from coming out in full force. Mr. Sensitive (Chambord) gets especially bothered, no matter how heavy we douse him in fly spray. So I got both of them fly masks designed to be used for riding, appropriately named "Quiet Ride". They really do the trick on keeping the pesky flies away from sensitive ears and faces (I don't spray their faces, it's too dangerous).


No hoodz for us, we donned our helmets, put on plenty of all natural fly spray, and off we went - having a blast cantering side by side up a hill.

A very good student - and the sound of an asthmatic cow or top tennis player?

Today I opted for performance over vanity - which meant riding in indoor. Usually Remy is less tolerant of being asked to work hard on the second day. That manifests itself in spooks, like he is saying "thanks, I'm good, that's enough now". So I decided to make it a bit easier on us and use the better footing in the indoor.


Well, apparently yesterday didn't tire Remy out because this morning he was observed playing hard and fast with Bo, the ex-race horse that shares his paddock. To my surprise Remy was a super student, he put his nose to work -so to speak- and didn't object to being pushed. And Jan pushed us hard, rightfully so. I have a tendency to accept "good enough" which in reality isn't really good enough (I only do that with Remy, interestingly, at work I get quite crabby when people opt for "good enough").


In order to get Remy more supple and round Jan had us to lots of serpentines, always focusing on forward and the correct bend. Shoulder-ins and haunches-ins prepared us for really good half-passes.
In the canter Jan asked for medium on the 20m circle, with clear transitions within the gait.


While I was super happy with Remy I was embarrassed about the 'background noise' I produced.  I just can't get enough air into my lungs in the indoor arena. I wasn't wearing my mask, so I was breathing hard - I sounded like an "old asthmatic cow" (that term comes from my dad, who has breathing trouble due to heart issues). I'd rather liken it to some of the tennis players - at least they are winning with the heavy breathing.


But whatever the sounds, most importantly Remy and I worked as a team - and that's all that counts!


Regarding sounds, though, while I am writing this I am listening to Rufus Wainwright and a 1500 person choir singing Hallelujah in an abandoned power plant in Toronto. Check this out:
http://torontolife.com/culture/music/watch-rufus-wainwright-and-a-1500-person-choir-sing-hallelujah-in-an-abandoned-power-plant/


(No asthmatic cow there). It's beautiful and touches me deeply.

Cow working followed by dressage lessons with an Olympian

From cow working to dressage lessons with an Olympian. Never a dull moment for Remy and me!


I knew from past experience that Jan is demanding and there is not time for dawdling or idle chit chat, which is perfectly fine by me. At that lesson rate the seconds are expensive. But today was more exhaustive than usual, mainly due to the footing. I opted to ride outside, we had rain the morning but the footing looked good and I was told by other people it rode well. My vanity made the decision easy, inside I would have had to wear the face mask.


Well, pride goes before a fall... or in this case it's vanity... Remy felt pretty stuck, almost like riding through molasses. My little man worked his hind quarters off, that's for sure. Jan got after me about my shoulders and right hand (ugh, like last time), and he had us do a ton of canter-trot transitions with the focus of being prompt and using the engine. Our shoulder-ins, haunches-ins, and half-passes were getting pretty good, but I hated the fact that I had to push Remy that hard.


I'm proud of Remy, he didn't whine, tried his darndest, didn't spook when Jan came into his space, and stayed relax. That is all I can ask for.


In terms of work-out, though: Three hours of a cow-working clinic is less exhausting than 45 min. with an Olympian. Now where did I put the Motrin??