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 :-) 

Pulling "No Stirrup November" ahead - and some unusual hitchhikers

 Not sure who came up with it but in a lot of barns (especially H/J) "No Stirrup November" is a tradition. Like it says - it means riding without stirrups. This definitely helps the rider's seat, but one has to be careful, as an unbalanced rider can be very stressful and unsettling for the horse. 

It's not often that Remy and I are on our own, when we are at Down Under Stables we usually have lessons with Roz, and at home we mainly go on trailrides. Our outdoor arena rework has become the 'never ending story - and is a 'Trauerspiel' (lit. 'sad play' = tragedy). We've been trying for almost a year now to get a contractor to rework the arena, grading, drainage, new footing. Shouldn't be that hard, right? Well, let me tell you, it is! And that takes into account that we didn't even negotiate pricing with the contractors, we accepted the bids. Still, either no shows, or the equivalent of 'manana' - in our case: "definitely next month". 

So Remy is at DUS, even without lessons, until tomorrow. It was actually a very good opportunity to see how we can work on our own. Remy is currently on his 'best boy behavior', so I thought I'll give it a whirl and ride him without stirrups in trot and canter - what fun! 

I'm driving through Kensington Park several times a day, as it's basically the main artery to go anywhere for us. The Sandhill Crane population is quite large, and those guys are very curious and not afraid of people. When I slowed down for them they walked right up to my car, seemingly looking for a ride (or more likely, food).

I sent the photo to Michael on WhatsApp. Here is our the conversation:

Me: Those two were looking to hitch a ride with me today

Michael: Why didn't you take them, you used to hitchhike quite a bit as a teenager*.

Me: Yes, but I was house trained - LOL!

*I 'famously' got picked up by Emil one night at 3 a.m. when I was 16, needless to say that put a serious hold on my outings

"Post - but don't post" - and making up for Remy on the trails

 Remy has been a very good student this week. Yesterday's long lining session was super. And Roz noted (of course) my problem: not enough outside rein. And it was the outside rein that had wrapped around my leg when we had the accident. Interesting - and a tough learning experience!

We have been working on getting Remy's frame more closed, with a higher neck carriage ("up and out"), and lots of transitions within the gaits. I was flummoxed to note that Remy is "taking me" forward when I canter in two-point or do posting trot. He slows down when I'm sitting. Alas, my darn tight back again. Years and years of being told -or yelled at- to "use your back!" are sometimes rearing their ugly head. In order for me to get a lighter feel Roz had a good exercise "Think of posting but then don't post", and that really did the trick. Remy's canter has improved significantly, and it's a joy now to feel the fluidity and have him take me (as opposed to me having to push him along). 

On the home front, Chambord is a bit lonely without Remy. Saumur and Teddy stick together, and are not much into rough play. So Ziggy and I have to fill in as trail buddies.

Ziggy and I "Huff and Puff" filling in for Remy. Chambord says, it's only fair!

A different take on potty training - having fun with pole work

 This week JP went to Ikea and came back with a stack of children's potties - and we don't even have children! 

Great find at Ikea

I love doing pole exercises with the boys, and these potties are perfect as support. They elevate the poles just enough, prevent them from rolling, are easy to clean, and inexpensive. Riding over poles is a good motivational tool for horse and rider. The horse learns to look where it's going, lift the legs, and utilizes core muscles. The job of the rider is not to disturb the horse, aim at the middle of the poles, and think about various exercises (I do like the "110 pole work exercises" from "Listening to the horse"). 

One of two poles are enough to start. Guidelines for distance between poles:

Walk: Approx. 0.60m to 0.80m 

Trot: Approx. 1m to 1.30m

Canter: Approx. 2.8m to 3.5m

PVC poles decorated with tape from an equestrian supply catalog

Glueck gehabt - a very scary experience

On Friday I decided to long rein Remy in our outdoor arena while JP went to his lesson with Lisa. I thought it would be good exercise, and as Remy had been calm under saddle in the previous days I didn't foresee any issues.

Well, something set him off and he ripped the reins out of my hands and bolted. Unfortunately, one of the reins got wrapped around my left leg (the one I had broken before) and I ended up being dragged by a bolting horse. Honestly, I thought "this is it". Luckily, "mein Schutzengel machte Ueberstunden" (my guardian angel worked overtime"): The rein caught on the wooden deck in the arena and broke, thus freeing me. Remy ran back to the barn and I limped behind him. To my big surprise he was fine, and looked at me like "what just happened?". 

As I texted Roz, at least we know his tendon is holding up. As for me, I'm pretty bruised and sore, but fine. Just quite shaken at the thought of what could have happened.

So, yesterday I hiked up these big girl pants and rode him. This time, we did have our 'safety blanket' (Chambord and JP) with us. All went well, we even ventured into to the woods. Today we are completely rained out, tomorrow we restart our lessons with Roz. Cross my fingers that my guardian angel is quitting his/her job anytime soon!

Life saver: The long rein broke