Changing the bend, work in progress - and "that's not me"

 Remy and I had a very good 'school week' - he is more and more consistent. We had one day where he came out a bit stiff and feeling stuck (it was an early lesson and he hadn't been turned out yet). Roz pulled a really good exercise (one of so many) out from under her mask: Half-pass, change the bend to leg yield, then change the bend again to half-pass - and voila: a nice and supple Remy!

We also found that changing the bridles help a lot with getting him more 'up' and 'through'. One day he goes in his snaffle, the next in the double. Then he has a day of long lining, and then back to being ridden each day in a different combination. The goal is to improve his carriage while keeping a very soft feel in the reins.

As I type this there is lots of activity outside the window: Trucks and heavy machinery making a ruckus. What we thought would never happen is actually happening - Our outdoor arena is getting redone! Yay! Today it's the grading, then laser leveling, drainage, and finally the footing. We are going with 2NS medium, sub-angular sand. JP is on the way to the gravel pit right now to get sand samples. Depth of  footing 1.5 to 1.75 inches. Roz had a super point (as always): The sand that gets delivered is usually wet, so once it dries it fluffs up and gets deeper. Footing too deep is a recipe for tendon injuries. 

Finally: Work in progress!

On a 'family note'- we adopted Bella, a 12 year old Vizla mix. The poor old girl had been abandoned twice. She and Ziggy are getting along very well and Bella is a very good girl. Unfortunately, though, Bella has a 'leaky problem'. Our job today: trying to get a urine sample for the vet. Never a dull moment...

Bella smiles as Ziggy looks a bit suspicious at the lady from the rescue
 (she had a very loud voice)

This cartoon is too funny and cute - and Michael thought it fits me to a 'T':

Nope, that's not me: I kept them both :-)

Sitting in the right spot again - and keeping the focus

 Today it was saddle adjustment day for both Remy and Chambord. Last time Luanne worked on the saddles was in the winter, before we left for Florida. So in the meantime, both boys' bodies have changed: Remy needed the tree widened, Chambord narrowed. It instantly made a difference to my seat, I no longer had to scoot around to find the 'sweet spot' to sit in. Before the adjustment I felt the saddle was placing me behind the movement, and thus also impeding Remy's range of motion. Luanne worked her magic - and we were in the right spot again. Yay! 

While these saddle adjustments seems expensive to a lot of people, it is just as important as regular veterinary care (vaccinations, etc) IMO. With an ill fitting saddle at best you mess up your position, at worst you hurt or even damage the horse. And the only other option then is to buy a new saddle. While people say "oh well, we re-did the flocking, so now it fits" - most of the time this is just a band aid. The most important part is the fit of the tree. 

So now Remy and Chambord have more bounce in their steps - and JP and I need to keep up with that. We should get our adjustments also, and in JP's case, he does: he has an appointment with his chiropractor. 

It was a very busy day at the barn, which challenged our respective attention spans quite a bit. First the saddle fitting, then Remy saw his school bus (trailer) showing up, and he probably thought it was already weekend. And then of course he had to make sure his best bud Chambord noticed him. Plus people and horses were walking in and out of the arena, a horse cantering around us... all things that are major distractions for us. So while we might not have worked on the more challenging movements, we met a challenge nevertheless in that we both kept our focus. Sometimes, training is done without any training!

I love this - und
Stephanie, das ist fuer Dich :-) 

Finally Fun with Changes - and I'll take that compliment!

 Remy has been a very good student recently. We finally can play with flying changes and have fun! Both he and I had some 'legacy issues' to overcome, but with the help of Roz it's become a different ballgame. Changes (luckily!) are easy for Remy, but we had to go way back to the drawing board for a while to get the correct canter with enough 'spring' to get on the right path. 

Today we've been trying a new weymouth bit, a "Neue Schule Thoroughbred". It's thinner and lighter than the Herm. Sprenger I've been using, and straight. Also, we know that Remy has sensitivity on his bars, and this bit promises to alleviate bar pressure. I felt Remy taking a much better connection, so hopefully that continues. The bit is a rental, so we have two weeks to see if it's a keeper (at those prices, rentals first a the way to go). 

Chambord has been a bit troublesome, in that he expressed his opinion about being uncomfortable by unseating JP. That is highly unusual for him, and we noted that Chambord was dragging his left hind toe through the sand, not using the leg and stepping under. I suspected arthritis in his hock (Chambord is 16), and the vet exam yesterday confirmed it with the x-rays. Not super serious, luckily, but enough to decide to get his hocks injected. First time in all my years of horse owning! I always prefer the non-invasive route first, and I'm no fan of "he's not going well, let's inject him", but in this case, it was warranted. 

Next steps for both Remy and Chambord: Saddle fitting session tomorrow. No wonder I get my clothes from the bargain bin :-). 

With all the scary news and negativity I felt we needed something uplifting - and when I saw this poster I knew I had to have it for the bathroom:

I take a compliment anyway I'll get it :-)