Two for one - or when it rains it pours

Remy's cough and snotty nose came back, just when I thought we were over it. Then on Tuesday while Jim, our farrier, was trimming Remy JP called from the barn "we have a small problem". I hustled down to meet them and immediately saw a lot of blood on the floor. WTH?? Jim said he nicked what he thinks is a canker sore (small, shallow ulcer) at Remy's heel, and that this area is full of blood vessels and therefore bleeds a lot. As I had already called Crystal, our vet, about the cough I now had to add the foot issue.

There are two ways to look at this: Either "When it rains it pours" or "Two for one" = One barn call: Two issues. I try to keep a positive spin on it and stick to the "Two for one". At least both issues run concurrently, so Remy is off not for one reason, but two. Hopefully by next week we are back into the swing of things. Bummer is that we were scheduled to ride with Jan this weekend, and I was looking very much forward to it. Alas, there will be a next time - and by then we can work on tempis (nothing like a stretch target).

Luckily Crystal was able to come quickly, and Remy ended up with oral antibiotics for the respiratory infection, and treatments for his heel. Three days of antibiotics wrapped around the wound, then Dry Cow*, and then cross our fingers that the area doesn't need to be cauterized.

Good thing Remy is not pulling the usual guy thing - none of the "Help me I'm dying because I have a cold" shenanigans. It will be tough to wean him off the applesauce, though. As soon as he sees me coming with it (I mix the antibiotics in it) he starts to salivate. What is applesauce for Remy is Henri Bardouin for JP (hmm, lets see, what could I mix into this???).


*ToMORROW Dry Cow is Cephapirin Benzathine, used for cows with mammary inflammation. It comes in syringes for intra-mammary application, and is great to treat thrush.

Some good deeds indeed get punished - and a delightful book for instructors

As the saying goes "No good deed goes unpunished"... it's not as harsh as this but unfortunately, my volunteer work at DHP has made it possible for some "uninvited visitors" to ride home with me. I'm talking about a virus that causes upper respiratory infections in horses. When I noticed that one of the horses at camp had a snotty nose I made sure not to come in contact with him. As soon as I got home every day I ditched my clothes and disinfected my boots, but it seems it wasn't enough.

Remy came down with a snotty nose and a cough so heavy that it shook me almost out of the saddle. An emergency run to the pharmacy to pick up not one but two thermometers (check out the ones from Vicks, they are super easy to use, flexible and are bulb-shaped with clear and quick read outs). No temp, good appetite, but the rest... Gesundheit, Remy! I called Crystal (our vet) and she recommended R&R for Remy. She said it's like with humans, it has to take its course.  Remy says, Sure a few days on the couch with extra coddling is just what the doctor ordered!

This week at DHP has been more of a challenge, the kids were younger (Third to Fifth Grade), so the attention was not always easy to keep. Especially yesterday it was a bit of a struggle as the kids had to write thank you letters to the Mayor and City Council, and then fill out several pages of questionnaires. There was quite a bit of whining involved "I don't want to", "This is stupid", and I couldn't just say what I would tell adults: "Suck it up and do it". I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when this was done. Also, personally, my hackles went up when someone tried to order me around in a not so polite way. Obviously, in certain situations my "sucking up" is not so good either.

I do love teaching riding and horsemanship to the children. Seeing the big smile after a milestone, like the first time riding without being led, or trotting, is precious. I've been trying to make the exercises more diverse and fun, and luckily I found the most delightful book published in Britain. It has child friendly explanations and fun exercises, so I will use it at camp ... and at home ... for the one with the inner child that never listens...

"Let him make mistakes" - and "Do the hula"

Our lesson with Maryal started much more chill, this time we didn't get lost and were on time. Maryal -with her eagle eyes and laser focus- jumped right into getting me back on the correct way. Basically, I am still too controlling (hmm???) and "he doesn't need to be micro-managed" (another hmm??).

This is food for thought, because at work I am the opposite, I explain the job at hand and then give people the freedom to do it without breathing down their necks. Why can't I do it with Remy? Guess the truth is I trust the people reporting to me but I don't trust Remy completely. He should have the freedom to make mistakes, and then it's my job to correct him, which then creates a learning experience.

And then Maryal wanted me to "do the hula" - What??? Well, my hips are tight, and in order to get more swing in the canter Maryal suggested I think of the hula and move my hips, so that during a right lead canter my hips swing a bit to the left. OK, I can do this - as long as you don't ask me to wear a grass skirt!

Simultaneous 180° spins - aka spooks - and good thing we had coffee

After the boys displayed some crankiness on our Friday trailride due to pesky deer flies and other nuisances of the blood sucking kind we decided to head out early this morning. In the house only the dogs showed excitement at the prospect of a 7 a.m. breakfast on a Sunday.

It was well worth it, the trails through the woods were beautiful. The biggest challenge for JP was to keep Chambord from working his way from snack to snack. The heat and high humidity put the grass in some areas right to the horses' nose. That's just perfect there for me!, Chambord says.

Up on small hill in front of us JP noticed a beautiful white-tailed buck (Weisswedelhirsch to you Germans, Cerf de Virginie for the French) right next to the trail. Usually the boys are good with deer, so we didn't worry much about it. Well, obviously neither Remy nor Chambord had finished their coffee this morning: Once the buck decided to exit stage left both of them woke up and simultaneously executed fast but beautiful 180° spins.

Luckily, both JP and I had had ample coffee this morning, so we stuck to the saddle. We were very happy that both boys stopped right after their respective spins and remained calm. Saumur would have said "Gee, that's it, I'm so outta here!". Actually, a few years back that's exactly what happened, Chambord and Saumur got startled by a crying fawn stuck at a fence. That time JP and I simultaneously hit the ground. While Chambord stared rather perplexedly at JP "What are you doing on the ground? You are supposed to be on my back!" Saumur ran after the fawn (it had freed itself from the fence the moment we hit the dirt). It took me awhile to catch my runaway steed.

After their 'wake-up call' this morning Chambord and Remy were as chill as ever. They didn't even flinch when a hawk carrying his breakfast (a mouse) flew right over us. I briefly considered rescuing the mouse, but alas, even if it feels sometimes like Remy is flying - today he stayed earth-bound (whew): Good news for the hawk: he didn't have to give up his breakfast!

Some days things just click - and volunteering improves my riding

This week we have high school students at the DHP (Detroit Horse Power) summer camp. Initially I wasn't sure what to expect, there is a lot of 'angst' going around about dealing with teenagers. Well, the kids this week are amazing: Interested, respectful, willing to learn, and just fun to be around.

I found out that it's much easier for me dealing with teenagers than the younger kids. Teenagers I just treat like adults, with the smaller kids I sometimes don't know if I bring things across right. Live and learn!

Again, this work is giving me so much respect for teachers (school and riding), I never really thought about it. In high school I was mostly bored out of my mind and thus became quite the truant. Not sure how I managed to graduate with good grades...

After three days off it was time for the boys to get back to work. Luckily both Chambord (after some initial reluctance) and Remy jumped right in. I had a super lesson on Remy today, he was with me, I had moments where I felt like screaming "YES!!" because he was collected, light in the bridle, round underneath me. And -yay- we got clean and forward changes, finishing with canter on the center line to halt. I am counting eins, zwei, drei (vier: change). Interestingly, I still count in German, it doesn't matter where I am.

My volunteer job teaching the beginners at DHP has me review the basics. Today I did the 'General Safety' portion, explaining how horses perceive things, their vision, the difference between fight and flight animals, how to safely work around horses, and a myriad of other things. When it came to riding I had the students do exercises to improve their position, and also get a feel for the movement of the horse (i.e. close the eyes to feel the movement). I try to encourage effort and praise improvement.

All this is actually helping my own riding, I am more conscious of things that I might otherwise take for granted. Just the other day Judy reminded me that "Remy wants praise way more than cookies" (I forgot to tell him "good boy" and stroke his neck when he did a good job - and yes, Remy thrives on praise).

To summarize: My volunteer job has me revisit the basics, which makes me focus better on my riding position. I am reminded to show appreciation for my equine partner's efforts, as well as our teacher's (who seems to prefer German chocolate and Madeleines over praise *smile*). All this puts me in a great mood, so JP is happy = Win-Win all around!

A busy, rewarding and educational weekend

No time to get bored: On Friday JP and I picked up 60 bales of Hay that Minde donated to Horses Haven (an equine rescue organization in Howell) for the horses at the Detroit Horse Power camps. Horses Haven had volunteered four of their residents to the DHP summer program. We packed the hay into our trailer and delivered it to Horses Haven, where a nice volunteer helped us unload and stack.

Another helpful volunteer offered to show us around, and we met two Morgans: Pete, a 33 (!) year old veteran of "Been there done that" and Ebony, a pretty but quite defensive black mare. Good thing our barn is full, because Horses Haven has about 68 resident horses, donkeys, miniature horses, and mules. Quite frankly, we were surprised how well everything looked, neat, clean and well taken care of. That is not easy for such a large farm managed primarily with volunteers.

Saturday we attended a Barn Fire Safety Seminar that was given by two fire chiefs. It was super informative and I took copious notes for an article for the Morgan Dressage Association. I will also post a summary on this blog. Basically, we learned you cannot stop a barn fire once it's started - the only thing you can do is trying to prevent it!

Sunday I met Glenda at the White Horse Inn for a lovely brunch and then we went to audit the Bettina Drummond clinic. I had ridden in one clinic with her about 15 years ago with Saumur, and after she had called him a "cart horse" and wondered why -as a German- I didn't have a "more suitable horse" I was not too enchanted with her. However, quite a few serious horse people I respect swear by her, so it was time to re-visit. I have to say I really liked what I saw. Glenda, being the more academic of the two of us, also was very much taken by Bettina's teachings. Perhaps I will one day screw up the courage to show up with Remy at one of her clinics, as I think she is great with the riders position and the aids. Remy is by no means "cart horse" (neither is Saumur!) but he is not her favorite breed either (Lusitano). So, we'll see.

Today I've got unexpected time off because the thunderstorms and heavy rains curtailed the camp activities. I might even have to cancel my lesson with Judy today as I don't want to take unnecessary risks trailering. Bummer.

On the bright side, it gives me time to go dishwasher shopping - ours broke a couple of weeks ago and while JP has been taken on the "dish duties" I think it's time to put a professional in charge again - no offense, JP!
'

Some days the highlight is keeping calm while getting run away with

It was just a normal day today, Remy warmed up nicely and we had some good canter work when suddenly things fell apart. I shouldn't say suddenly, though, because I felt it coming on. We were in a canter half-pass across the arena when I sensed Remy tensing up due to a noise outside, his back got tight, and whoosh! he bolted straight ahead, cut the corner (a big no, no in Judy land) and took off down the long side. Stupid me, I should have done a one rein stop, but I was too busy trying to get his head up - and well, yes, staying on.

At the end of the long (and we are talking 60 meters long!) side I got his head turned to the wall and we came to a stop. Luckily without a bucking fit or other shenanigans. Remy is not a bucker, anyway, his thing is to spin and/or bolt. Neither of course is an endearing quality. Luckily Judy was right there to remind me to get him back to work, and we finished quite nicely.

My "proud moment" was that this time my legs didn't get all rubbery and I was able to  just shrug it off, kept calm and moved on. That is huge progress!

Neither Judy nor I could figure out what had set Remy off, it was as if his brain had just decided "I'm outta here", but once he had it out of his system he was his old sweet and kind self. And here they say women are unpredictable!

From Detroit Horsepower to Cow Working - all in a week's work

It's nice to know that some people miss it when I don't update my blog by sending me reminders. Sorry for the tardiness, it was a very busy week and quite frankly I was too tired at night to fire up the laptop.

It was my first week as volunteer at Detroit Horsepower (www.detroithorsepower.org) and I loved it. The elementary school kids were adorable, and the structured program is right up my alley. Initially it did push my comfort zone a bit, having never had any experience with children. But it all fell quickly into place. The morning meetings before the students arrived were a big help, we had detailed and written instructions waiting for us, as well as time for Q&A. I will write more details about the program in the next weeks (this week is an off-week due to the holiday). Let me just say I have a whole new admiration for teachers!

One experience stood out for me, though. A little girl took me aside and said she didn't want to ride a "Boy Horse". When I asked her why she said "all boys are mean" and that's why she only wanted a "Girl Horse".  This was a very good opportunity to talk about that a) not all boys are mean and b) she is a very strong girl that with the right preparation can handle difficult situations. I don't know who was happier when she sat on the "Boy Horse", the girl or I!

Friday through Sunday JP, Chambord, Remy and I did the "Horsemanship with Cows Clinic" with Brent Graef. Remy and I had done it last year (Remy even wrote an article about it), and so this time we had JP and Chambord joining us. I was a bit worried about Chambord, with him things are very clear cut: He either likes it and plays nice or he hates it and is outta here - sort of like his owner *grin*). Luckily it turned out that Chambord remembered his roots and cow sense. His French-American Cowboy didn't have any cowboy roots to draw on but he apparently has cow sense and decided he liked it - so both stayed (or perhaps they were just afraid of the "wrath of Birgit" if they would have bowed out... nah!).

Remy was a good sport, he was fine with the cattle. This year there was no Norman to distract him (last year Norman the steer was undertaking some amorous endeavors that Remy found offensive). However, when faced with cattle in front of him and horses behind him Remy still got rattled - and it netted me a "nice seat!" compliment from the rider next to me when Remy spun around.

Brent was working with me (seems I needed it more than Remy) and asked me to imagine that I have a ball full of water in my upper chest and then let the water flow through my body. Yes, I do carry all the tension in my upper torso and shoulders, I've done that probably all my working life. The good thing was that when Remy got rattled and spun he didn't run off, he centered himself. Another key element is for me to keep a much lighter contact in the reins. Brent demonstrated it with holding my hand, and then gripping it, to show the difference. And yes, when I get worried I automatically grip, which in turn gets Remy worried... ah... and so the circle commences.

We had fun with our fellow riders at the dinners each evening. It is so nice meeting people from all different walks of life with the common goal of improving their horsemanship and be better partners to their horses.

Brent's parting words to me were "Remember to let the water flow through" to which I deadpanned: "Yes, I will, but I'll try not to pee in my pants!"