A Few Firsts

These last few weeks  has been full of activities on many spectrums  but a theme has emerged it seems.

The spring weather has been absolutely unbelievable which meant that Glacier Park was calling me.  It was time to step out for my FIRST Glacier hike of the season,and as always, it never disappoints. 0 Atleast once a year, I hike this hike.It's just a thing most of the locals must do.  It isn't a terribly long trek so a good one to get the season started with. I was suprised at how LITTLE snow there was . It seemed more like July snow rather than April/May levels. Nonetheless, the Glacier lilies and a variety of other wildflowers were putting on a good show.

 

First hike=> FIRST gear Malfunction

I have never owned a pair of  real "hiking" shoes before, never really saw the need for them. A retired pair of sneakers was always hanging around and always seemed to work in the past, although, I did recall having some issues last summer.  
Given the level of pain I was experiencing this time around,  and considering I plan to do plenty more hikes this season, I figured it was time to throw out the holey, worn out sneakers and  get something that supports my foot more appropriately. I begrudgingly went and found a new pair of actual hiking shoes. My FIRST ever set of bonified hiking shoes.

I opted for these, because they seemed to give the most cushion to my mid foot area (my problem area) and they seemed to have the best arch support.

I will feel so "Official" now out on the trail...I have plans to try them out this weekend.

With the first hike of the season out of the way, it was onto some other horse related firsts (Yay, right?)

Otto's FIRST saddling

We started with a review of last fall's lesson  , in case he forgot..which of course he didn't .

 A simple rope around the barrel to mimic the feel of  a girth.

"yeah, ok.. can I chew on it?"

"why you be pulling on me"?

And then to walk with rope , while having a little upward tension put on the rope while walking..



We moved on to this, which was also a review of last fall. A blanket pad and the rope mock "girth"

not sure about this..

always looking at the camera when he should be paying attention to class

 "I am too sexy for my blanket.. too sexy for me blanket."...

From here we moved onto placing the saddle on and and off several times, with out the girth and just moving him around in the same way, while holding the off side stirrup up so it wouldn't bother him.

Baby steps.. baby steps..

This procession was over the course of a few different sessions.  When it came to the actual saddling session, my hubby decided to do it while I was riding Brego, therefore I have no pics to share... :(
You will have to take my word for it ,  but it went about the same.. at first a little concerned and eventually walking around with his head down..

Jumping firsts

I have had 4 lessons  now with my new trainer.  We had kind of a break through a couple weeks ago. We have jumped our FIRST big REAL fence, a 2'3 Oxer.

As it turns out, Brego only jumps in really cute form when the fences get bigger..
As much as I like my cross rail and small vertical comfort zone , it was time to move on because apparently,  you can make a horse like Brego develop less than desirable jumping  habits if you spend too much time jumping smallish fences.........like jumping flat= bad

So, my comfort zone is being challenged..  Not only have we taken a  step towards bigger fences but we have CANTERED our FIRST jump.  Brego's  thing is to rush and get "chargey" when we approach from a trot, but to our surprise, he didn't seem to do that in a canter. He  surprised all of us  but time will tell if it was just "beginners" carefulness or if he is going to maintain that way.  That was a great discovery since we have mostly been trotting in , landing in a canter, asking for trot again, and then taking the next fence...

In spite of all this good stuff happening, we have still been fighting with saddle fit for Brego.  You might recall this post about the jumping saddle dilemma?

Remember that borrowed saddle I thought was working out great????.

I LOVE the saddle. Brego.. not so much.

Its comfortable for me. I feel super secure in it and it puts my leg in a really good position. However, it is NOT working for Brego.  He started in with Head tossing, hollowing back, pinning of ears, swishing of tail, and once he even kicked out when I asked him for a canter. The crazy thing is that to look at the fit, it really doesn't appear to be bad fitting. Atleast not bad enough to warrant the big reactions I was seeing in Brego. (and we ruled out all other options like teeth, or soreness somewhere else)  There were no overly obvious signs of bad fitting like too much rocker or too much tightness in the shoulders. The only thing I did notice was the the hair was "scruffed" the wrong way behind his shoulders after a ride and there were slightly drier areas than the rest of the sweat pattern but nothing that screamed. "THIS SADDLE IS HURTING YOUR HORSE".Brego didn't even react if I palpated the area.
 In the long run, we concluded we probably had a "Princess and the Pea "situation here and that it was obviously causing him some discomfort , thus hindering our progression for sure. For now, I am back to riding in my Close contact because I know it fits him. Besides the fact that  I feel like I am going to tip over the front of it, Brego is much happier.. and we can carry on...as for me, I can get by for now.

.....but long term its not the best solution and since we are talking about firsts.. I have this coming......My FIRST All Purpose jumping type saddle.

The saddle is coming as a trial . Historically , I always disliked a deeper seat for jumping but after experiencing the difference with my friends all purpose,  I have come to my senses. Considering  I am also doing a fair amount of flat/dressage work with Brego, it just made the most sense to try going this route.

It's fully adjustable in the gullet and it has this other really cool feature in the panel design that supposedly eliminates the part of the panel that restricts the shoulder movement. I am optimistic this will be a good option for the princess.

This particular saddle brand actually has a sister brand that is what I was originally planning to try, but they had no trial models available. The two models are identical except the sister brand is partial leather and partial synthetic , and offered a lower price point whereas the one I have coming is all leather.  (and a much higher price point) I am sure there is a marketing scheme in here somewhere.

Send out the more expensive leather model , rider will fall in love and just have to have it.. 

The silver lining here is that until I get a more supportive saddle that works for both Brego and I , fear of being launched over a fence head first in this damn saddle has developed one hell of a strong leg position which makes my trainer super happy.

There might be a few more FIRSTS coming our way . Originally,  I wanted to hold off even posting this until I could include those things as well,   but that could be two weeks away before I know for sure.. and it  could all come unraveled between now and then so while I  can't won't give any spoiler alerts as it might jinx things , I can tell you it should be exciting...so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is a photo I like to just stare at.. because he is developing so darn nicely..and I don't have barn blindness. nope.. not me..

Endurance Reflections- Closing the Chapter

Sometimes, before you move forward, you have to take a look at where you have been ,  how you got to where you are today and what it all means.

I have to tell you, I previously wrote this long post that reflected on what this Endurance journey has been about for me,  my reasons for not meeting the goals I once set out to meet , the various derailments along the way and  blah blah blah.. but the more I read the draft, the more I thought.. Why does all that crap matter? It's all documented here on this damn blog anyways.  My readers already know. Why rehash this thing? 

So instead, I opted to make this short and sweet as possible.

I haven't been an AERC member since 2012 and that was also the last time I did any competitive rides. (Holy cow, has it really been that long?)  Just that fact alone speaks volumes. 
Since 2008, I have been chasing the sport with little success of ever meeting my goal to ride a 50 or a 100. I was able to complete several LD's all of which were fun, challenging and rewarding, but longer distances have remained just out of reach. Endurance has been like writing that novel that I keep saying 

......................."someday I will finish this thing"

Eight years and still not a single 50 , much less a 100 miler.  Pathetic! 

I know there are other endurance riders out there that have to balance all the same things I do. I know I am not unique. Lots of you have those things called full time jobs, a home and property to maintain, other horses, other interests, family, and everyday life and yet, so many of you seem to  somehow manage to train , attend rides and continue to enjoy  the sport. 
Honestly I don't know how but I would listen if someone wanted to let me on their secret. 

What I kept running into was that the training schedule to condition left NO TIME for anything else because I was too busy catching up on EVERYTHING else that stacked up when I was riding, like errands, laundry, lawn and garden upkeep, housecleaning, etc and when I did get to a point where I thought my horse might be ready.. the closest ride was a full day's drive away.

Logistics alone tell my story.

All the work and time to get ready for a ride that was at the very least a 5 hour  (more  often times an 8-10hr)  trailer ride away, (mucho fuel costs) , then.. 

• Find someone to stay at the house to farm sit for the weekend, (another $40 per day)
• Take at least 1 or 2 vacation days just to travel to ride and get home 
•  Entrance fees to attend the ride 
• Food expenses 
• Sometimes a Kennel stay for the dogs depending on the ride , another $35 per day

(*the hubby could stay home, negating the need for a house sitter,  but I don't like to go that far from home hauling horses alone.. Just kind of a thing for me) 

I wondered... Is this really what it takes??? How is this fun?? This feels like a second job that doesn't pay very well. 

 In the end, I realized it was a path I wasn't enjoying. I wasn't able to compete,  much less find enough time to condition to get myself ready to compete. 

I realized that there two things that would  have to change in order to revisit the sport in any seriousness and neither of those are changing at this point.

1. Work- get to where I only work part time (maybe in the next 5 years if I stay on track) 
2. Relocate - find a place that allows more months of riding weather and maybe somewhere that allows me to have more convenient access to trails, like close by home (not dirt roads either). 

So there you have it,  it's time to close the Endurance Chapter.. for now.. 

The only caveat to that is riding someone else's already conditioned horse if they need a rider, then I would be happy to help. I am leaving but I am not leaving the sport mad. 

Forging Ahead

The next chapter is this jumping thing. I have been dabbling in the jumping for a couple of years but only halfheartedly because I didn't really have a horse for it. I bought Otto as a future prospect  and I couldn't afford yet another horse that would allow me to ride now. Not with four of them already in the pasture. 
Finally, I just decided I was going to ride the horse we had that had the best potential, Brego,  and see if I could make it work.  As it turns out, it's working. I am having fun. I can ride 2-3 times a week at home for an hour and get something accomplished and not be running my tail off. If I decide to compete again, there are any number of shows and events close by to keep me occupied. 

I finally found a local trainer that I am clicking with and just locked myself into a committed lesson package for the next 10 weeks. We already started and she has us doing things I never thought we would get done , like jumping our first  2'3 Oxer !!  Our first lesson was hard work and we were both a sweaty mess by the end of it but it was a blast. I am totally hooked.

I don't know where this adventure is taking us but I am enjoying the ride. Better yet,  I am no longer stressing myself out over getting enough ride time or traveling for hours to a competition just to make it feel like my time training was worth something. 

In closing

To my readers , those ones that might still be following along on this blog, Thank you  for your commitment. There are many other blogs out there that are much more interesting and better written than mine will ever be but  I have truly enjoyed getting to meet  you all (virtually) and have enjoyed your comments more than you know.  Going forward, I won't have much to share that has anything to do with Endurance related ride stories. You might see the occasional  trail ride post as I will still be getting out for those . More than likely  I will do a few posts on this jumping thing, or maybe I will just start a whole new Blog about that journey. (Not sure yet.)  Either way, I hope you all continue to check in every so often !  I will continue to live vicariously through all your ride stories until the time comes when I can get back to endurance myself.

Happy Trails! 

Jumping Gymnastics

Gosh, this post took me all week to put together .. So much to say , so little time.  I had to get all the photos that help "make " the post  more interesting , off my phone and that was too much of a time intensive task that I just frankly didn't have time for until very late into the night . and well.. finally , here it is.. for what it's worth.

This past weekend, last weekend...we decided to get out of town for a quick trip to our friends place in the Bitteroot Valley.
(This is the same friend who started helping with some jumping lessons over Easter weekend )

The trip was for me to get two days of continued jumping lessons and the hubby was planning to do a practice session with a fellow horseback archer. Deciding to actually go was going to have to be a last minute decision  because of several potential Trip killers  that were pending.

The first ,and most important was that Otto had to NOT be showing any swelling or symptoms of the looming infection from his castration. ( I know, it seems like this has been going on FOREVER... because it has been..)
Based on my last conversation with my vet, we were pretty sure we would be hauling him in for surgery after his 3 week round of antibiotics. Last week  was the  first full  week Otto was completely off of them. All during that week,  I  was  waiting to see if he was going to swell up , indicating his infection didn't resolve,  which ultimately meant we weren't going to be going on any trips anywhere.

By last  Thursday there was no swelling. That was good. I decided however, if we were going to be gone ,  I was taking Otto with me regardless. I just knew if I left him home, and I was gone, his sheath area would explode. (how's that for Murphy's law reasoning?)

Besides, a 3 hour trailer ride for a 2 year old ??? why the hell not. He may as well get used to this long trailer ride business.  Afterall, he made it here from Missouri without incident.  It was time to see how he handled going to a new place as a 2 year old.

The second potential " trip-canceler" ( now I am making up words) was just finding someone to watch the horses at home and the cat. This is ALWAYS such a hassle.. seriously.. For those of you that board your horses, be thankful if for no other reason that you always have someone lined up to keep an eye on your horse ! We have to pay people to do that..and it's hard to find someone when you need them.  As for the dogs, we were taking them with.   (One of the may joys of having a fear aggressive German Shepherd is that you can't just leave her with most people because she won't let anyone in the house or let anyone else near her on her territory)  It further complicates matters for us.

As it turned out my neighbor happily agreed to feed the two remaining horses we were planning to leave home and my parents were willing to come by on Sunday to check the cat.  I  had no excuse not to go.  

Saturday morning, we managed to get ourselves, the horses and the dogs loaded up. Getting this crew packed up and out the door feels like an Act of Congress but we managed and we were on the road by 9 am for our 3 hour trek southward. We arrived in Missoula to take a quick bathroom stop for the dogs and we saw this!

I looked to see if there was an actual tour bus rig parked anywhere that housed said country music start, but if there was, it was well hidden and we had to get down the road.

My husband said, "what were you going to do if you found the tour bus anyways?"

Well duh.. I was going to go march over there ,  knock on the door and ask for a photo and a autograph!!! what else would a girl do???

That conversation morphed into other weird discussions about country music stars , that I will spare you from here ,  that kept me occupied and fully entertained for the hour remaining to reach our destination.

We arrived about 1:00 to our "home away from home"  . The plan was to grab some lunch and spend a few hours that afternoon riding and then off to a BBQ.

Once we arrived, the dogs quickly went about terrorizing the fenced-in Jack Russels, causing all kinds of rucus. They love being at this place because it's a ranch and they can run like wild children, ride in ranch trucks and 4 wheelers,  chase field mice and terrorize the neighborhood without running the risk of getting hit by a vehicle. I love it because I can be a bad dog mom and let them do all those things and no harm no foul.. (exept for one of the resident chickens  ( another story, keep reading)

I unloaded Brego and Tom went to unload Otto.

I gave T specific instructions to back Otto out of the trailer, and he ofcourse gladly obliged like the good hubby he is. I wanted him to back Otto out because he is getting too darn big and can't quite make the turn easily , atleast not without risking him bumping his head.   I thought we had backed Otto out before or I never would have suggested it because this was definitely NOT the time to get into a training opportunity. Well if we had back him out before,  Otto seemed to think this was all new  and awful and he wasn't the least bit interested in being a willing participant in this nonsense.

An hour and  half later, we FINALLY got Otto backed out of the trailer.

So, what took sooooo long???
 Well, the first thing I wanted to say was that I wasn't losing my marbles. Otto had in fact backed out of the trailer before when we took him to the vet the last time . Only during that time, I recalled that he did bang his nose. It wasn't a huge deal at the time. (which is why I probably totally forgot that detail)  He didn't scramble or get stuck or anything terrible and traumatizing.  He just kind of ran into the wall as he made the turn around. All I can figure is that he must have remembered it as not something he wanted to experience again.
Or maybe he figured out that the last time he tried this backing out thing, he came home missing parts of his anatomy:) !!

Anyways, once we started the process of asking him to back out, the wrong thing to have done at this point would have been to quit and just revert to turning him around. All it would have accomplished was teach him that all he has to do is resist and he gets what he wants.

He really really wanted to turn around and I have to tell you , I really really wanted to let him do just that.. to give in more  and be done with the whole damn thing because I knew time ticking..

But, I also knew if I gave in, it would mean more issues next time I asked him to back out.  I was having a huge internal struggle on this  but eventually I knew hanging in there, being persistant and PATIENT would make life easier for him long term.

** A note about training horses here.  FOLLOW THROUGH IS SO DAMN IMPORTANT and this was a good example.  When it comes to training horses , I don't typically want to give unsolicited advice but I will say that it never fails to amaze me how people create problems for their horse when they don't follow through on something. My point is if you start something, you better be prepared to finish it with a postive outcome . You may not always get the exact response your looking for but you need to make it successful for the horse, somehow, someway. Throw away your plans and  your watch and get on horse time. Be there to support your horse because in the end it's will pay back dividends.

We didn't really plan this unloading to be an issue and the tight time schedule certaintly didn't alot for it  ( We were planning to be riding by 3:00 , done by 5:00 and headed to  BBQ) but there we were and we had to follow it through or risk it being a bigger issue later.  The crazy thing is that Otto stepped down atleast 2 times with a hind foot right away, so he knew where the ground was.  He just  couldn't get it sorted out to back his front feet up. He has been backed multiple times in a halter on the level ground but  I suppose it's awkward and scary  for a young uncoordinated horse to manage their front feet while their back feet are at level lower.

 Otto never got to ugly about things. He just locked up.. mentally and physically because he just didn't think he could do what we wanted him to.

He stepped out 1 hind foot, then 2 hind feet , and then he would step  back in.. and this repeated itself multiple times .   He had to sort it out.  Eventually, he did . Timing of praise was huge so he knew when he did what was being asked.

long story short, I was glad it was over and we probably should have loaded him right back in and done it again right then and there but I just felt like he  didn't need any more stress for the day. He did what was asked and left it there.

We finally got saddled and riding by 4:00 .

Saturday evening Day 1

 Goal -Pick up with the trot poles, revisit the 3 fence bounce combination, (which we have spent the last two weeks practicing) and build to 4 fences.

* * The ultimate goal of  gymnastics, or aka grid work,  is to build in rhythm and balance. Bounce combinations help to develop an eye and my jumping position. The fences are kept small in order to keep it low stress so the rider and the horse. 

After staring with 4 trot poles to 3 crossrails, we went through effortlessly 3 times,  Brego  was like
"Yeah, I got this, just get out of my way and let me go" So we moved onto 4 fences .

Looking at the combination from the last fence. The approach was on the other end with 4 trot poles. This is the 4 fence set up. Baby tiny fences at this point because we are building confidence and cadence for both horse and rider.

Brego gets very bold and eager coming into the line over the trot poles. We worked alot on settling him in the approach without over using the inside rein as we approached.

coming in a little fast.. 

We focused on my hands ( have a bad habit of breaking my wrists) and asking him to land on the left lead as he lands from the last fence. This is easier said than done because I have to be looking left and putting just a little more weight in my left stirrup by the time we are going over the 2nd fence.  Brego much prefers his right lead on landing. We ended the session getting 3 really good landings into a left lead canter and transitioned into a relaxed walk on  a loose rein each time. Quiet is the goal.

Jump Brego Jump!

Day 2 

We built from the 4 fence to a 5 fence . Brego is a careful horse and when we came down the line and he saw the 5th fence, he hesitated as if to say..

"what?? I swear there was no fence here before, where did this come from?"

... but he jumped it with an little extra encouragement from my leg and after that first "WTH" moment he had , he was jumping through beautifully.

AUTO PILOT = SUPER fun!

Then we removed the 4th fence and left a ground pole as a marker creating a 3 fence bounce to a one stride.  We left a ground pole where the 4th cross rail used to be as a marker to help the Brego with the striding.  X = a fence, I = a ground pole

I   I   I   I      X    X    X       I       X

So basically the Rhythm is this:

4 trot poles- jump- jump- jump- one canter stride (18 feet) , jump.
 Land on left lead. Canter away , come down to the walk.. Easy Peasy right??

 We don't always get the correct lead but that is all part of practicing.

That progressed into taking the 2nd cross rail down so now we had a fence, a ground pole, a fence, a ground pole and a fence.

I  I   I    I     X       I      X        I       X

4 trot poles , bounce, canter stride, jump, canter stride, jump...

It was really cool to feel him find a pace, and leave the ground at the exact time he is supposed to.
Eventually the big thing was that we built to a vertical as the final fence.

Here we come. 

Whee!

I had an absolute blast and Brego is proving to be a pretty good little jumping pony.

Sunday afternoon came too quickly and it was time to load up and go home. One last adventure awaited us.

I was busy getting  everything packed up and thought the dogs were with T.  As I came out of the house, I heard alot of noise coming from the hen house. Someone was either laying the Golden Egg and was really excited,  or something was wrong.  I  saw  black feathers everywhere near the truck and chicken yard. Maybe another Racoon or Fox attack??

Nope..

I looked up to see Xena exiting the chicken yard as I approached, her tail between her legs and high stepping it for the truck.

Oh no....

Indeed,  Xena  had found some entertainment.
I was a bit shocked a Xena to be honest because she had been to this place so many other times in the past and never paid any attention to the chickens. In fact, I think she was afraid of them.  Apparently , she got curious, or brave , or something.. because she indeed got one.

I ran over to find the victim and the hen was cowered in a corner, but alive.  I must have interrupted just in time but she looked pretty bad.. alot like this..

A little while later, we saw the rooster come out from some hiding place. So much for protecting his flock.. Coward..

It was a tiring weekend. It was about 7 pm by the time we rolled into our driveway.

When we unloaded the horses.. Otto backed out.. He was slow and unsure,  but he did it .. and it only took about 5 minutes!

Guess sticking it out the day before was worth the effort!

I hope to hit the trails a little with Brego this weekend and take a break from the arena. He has done well and hopefully I am good enough to keep him progressing!

Otto Turns Two!

Otto turned two yesterday. He looks older. doesn't he??. He is maturing and has filled out in his body but he has a long ways to go. I really want those legs to put on a lot more bone , but that usually tends to be more noticeable after 3 years old.  He is tall and those canon bones.. good grief... I sure hope he grows into them.  He must be pushing 15.1 hands maybe?? I suppose I should stick him and get an accurate height one of these days. I am a little afraid to know...but I would like him to stop getting taller anytime..

Unfortunately, my plans to celebrate his birthday didn't quite work out like I had hoped. I had grandiose ideas of making some kind of carrot cake for him and and a horse sized birthday hat and taking some photos. The weather was nice enough Saturday morning so instead of being a good horse mom, I chose to be a good dog mom instead. I took advantage of the decent weather window that I knew wouldn't last , and loaded up  the dogs and hubby for a hike. I felt motivated to climb some hills and get an outdoor workout .  All of the Spartan racers were out hill training as well. Been there , done that.. One Spartan race was enough for me!

By the time we finished our hike and then our errands, it was late afternoon when we finally made it home. We talked about loading up the horses for a quick trail ride since we have not been out once yet this spring,  but with the wind the way it was, we opted against it.  This time of year, there is still a lot of blow-down occurring in the forested trails we ride in. Not worth the risk of a tree coming down on us! So, riding plans went bust.

Sunday came, Otto's big day  and in the end , Otto had to settle for a quick grooming session during the 10 minute window between snow storms when the wind actually settled to 20 mph gusts instead of 35 and the sun sort of popped out for a few moments.  He got a few peppermint snacks and seemed perfectly content with the abbreviated celebration. Mostly he just wanted to be turned out to his pasture. Fine with me.. it was damn cold and miserable out...

During the process of getting him turned out, we had one eventful moment to commemorate his 2 year old birthday.  When my hubby was leading him through a gate ,the wind gusted, jerking it out his hand and sent the gate  swinging so that it smacked Otto right in the butt. Otto let out a big double barrel kick, clearly pissed... Oops.The hubby lead Otto back through the gate a couple of times , to let him see that the gate wasn't going to always do that scary thing from now on, every time he was led through a gate. Otto was fine and walked back through the gate with no issues .  It's the first of many "unplanned" experiences he will have to learn to deal with I guess and I was glad it didn't fluster him.

We spent the rest of the day visiting with my parents who stopped by , which was treat because my mom just got back from Seattle earlier last week. She is healing from her last , and hopefully final surgery.  I just hope that I am half as strong and mentally tough as her , considering what she has been through. It has been hard to see her go through all of this.

Considering the weather was awful, it was a good day to finish up some indoor projects . We decided to use up the remaining elk meat in the freezer to make more fresh sausage. The process took about 6 hours of trimming, mixing, measuring, grinding, stuffing and packaging but in the end , we have over 30 lbs of fresh sausage packed and in the freezer.

It was a full weekend, in spite of no riding. Next weekend.. riding will be priority!

Happy Trails!

Vacation over

This past week absolutely flew by. I can't believe I have to log into my computer tomorrow morning and get back into work mode. Ughh.. The first half of the week , we didn't get much accomplished because the hubby was sick after getting what I had the week before , and I was still recovering.. and .. still still recovering. Will this virus ever give up?

Actually, I think we are mostly back to ourselves , sans an unrelenting cough and some mild congestion. We finally managed to get a few things done  on the "to-do" list starting last Wednesday in spite of Mother Nature having  personality issues. Out to-do list was alot of fits and starts. We did manage to get the paddocks all scraped out with the help of a friends tractor and I was in charge of harrowing the pasture with a 4 wheeler. . It took me two days to get that task done because my hands and toes would get so cold in spite of gloves. I could only go for about an hour and then have to come back in to warm up.

Nonetheless  it got done. The pasture is harrowed and the paddocks are clean and tidy prior to fly season. I even managed to get the north pasture reseeded.

Wednesday I had my second lesson with a new trainer I am trying out for jumping. It  was a group lesson that consisted of a group of 2, me and one other young very green rider so it wasn't really very helpful to me. I haven't decided yet if I will continue to use this trainer. Its a bit early to tell. I like some of the feedback I am getting from her but some of the other feedback she is giving is leaving me scratching my head a bit.  I might give it a few more times before I decide, just to give her a fair shake.

By Friday , friends arrived for the weekend and it was time to spend two days getting some intense instruction from said friend for me and Brego over fences. She spent several years eventing and agreed to come for the weekend for some lessons.  I felt honored to have so much of her time all to myself and all I had to do was feed her for the weekend. I had to ride in some unruly weather , including "gropple" (it's a real weather term.. go ahead look it up) . We did the riding lesson version of "twoadays" , a morning and afternoon session both days. Aside from the fact that my legs are really tired tonight ,  I got more out of those 4 sessions than I have gotten from any trainer I have worked with for the last couple of years.  Not too many good trainers here unfortunately. Brego and I worked on cadence , rhythym at the canter and introduced him to some gymnastics. He did a great job. Its not easy to be bringing along a green horse over fences and also to be working on getting yourself better at the same time , but Brego is being so incredibly good. It's coming together.

I hate training alone so it was really nice to have someone there to help me with some things I was struggling with .  As far as the saddle issue, I think I mostly resolved it , surprisingly with a wither relief pad , which was a total fluke. I thought I would just try to switch out and add the wither relief pad under my saddle to see if it helped, not really thinking it would. Well, it worked. It gave the back of the saddle just enough lift to balance it out.I rode in it and it really made a big difference but I still felt like it was harder than it should be to stay in position. Likely, that would correct with more time in the saddle practicing without stirrups. Maybe. The question of whether a new saddle would help the issue was still a real possibility.

Fortunately, my friend brought along her old eventing saddle which is an AP saddle,  just to try out and give me something to compare to. It has ALOT more leg support, and a deeper seat than I am used to riding in over fences but I thought it couldn't hurt to try it. To my surprise, it fit Brego relatively well with enough shoulder room which is his biggest issue.   Right away, it was amazing how much more secure I felt in it and suddenly, I wasn't fighting my leg position. I felt really solid in it and Brego didn't seem to be having any trouble in it . In fact, he was almost feeling like he was better because I was more balanced. My friend was nice enough to leave it with me for the time being so I can use it for now.

Just for comparison, here are a couple of random photos of the two saddles, my Close Contact Collegiate (top photo) and the County Eventer AP (bottom ) I am now trying out for a while.  It probably makes sense to find a saddle that I feel more secure in. The close contact has no knee rolls and the seat itself is pretty narrow and flat  but darn,  I still love that classic look of the CC.

I thought the AP was going to make it harder for me to get into jump position because of the deeper seat, but it didn't. It literally put me right where I needed to be. Can't deny that.  

Let the saddle hunt begin. (sigh)

I will keep my eye out for a used one  like the one I am tryng but they can tend to be pretty pricey. I might need some time to save up enough to get one, even used. I ran across a Duett jumping saddle online for a really great price. I already own one Duett Companion Trail saddle and it is by far my favorite saddle I have ever owned. I can only assume that their jumping saddle model is just as nice. I am considering it.

If anyone wants to twist my arm, the Collegiate is probably going to go up for sale. (insert sad face) Contact me via email for details if anyone is interested. It's  really a nice saddle but just not the right fit for me. I am 5'5 but the length is too short for even my short legs. My thigh is 21" inches long, if that gives any frame of reference.

Progress that we made over fences this weekend.

The big thing was cantering to a fence. We had previously only trotted into a fence and could not seem to get enough impulsion to land and canter off, to approach the next fence.

• Ground poles to cross rail to canter depart out of fence, on the correct lead- I have to remember to weight up the stirrup a  little more to the side I want the lead for, as well as put a little feel on that rein as well. If I want to come out of the fence on a left lead, then left stirrup and left rein. Seems simple but I was so focused on staying balanced I would forget this. It got a lot easier once I was in a more supportive saddle and I wasn't working quite so hard to stay balanced. 
• Canter to a combination and maintain a steady rhythm. So once I land and the correct lead, to get Brego to canter at a steady pace coming into the next fence. He did really good at this, once we got out lead figured out. 
• Ground poles to a bounce- This is one of my favorite exercise to do over fences because it teaches the horse and the rider when to leave the ground and how to maintain a rhythm. We worked up to a three fence bounce, which I never thought we would be able to do.  Brego fumbled only slightly the first time through , and then after that, he had it figured out and went through like he had been doing it for years. 

It seems we are off to a pretty good start over fences. Brego is better than I thought and I am getting more confident in him and and myself each time. 

So what about Endurance???? I haven't forgotten. It's just that trails aren't really clear yet.  I would like to attend an LD ride in September with Brego. I think I should be able to have him ready for something like that in between jumping. I was invited by a friend to ride her horse in a June ride. I am planning to do it,  It would be my first 50. I didn't really see my first 50 being on someone else's horse but honestly, just being  able to experience a 50 is worth it. It's been a long time goal. 

Back to work tomorrow. Signing off for some sleep.

Otto Post Surgery Update and other stuff

Sometimes, life  hands you lemons and it's just that. No lemonade to be made . You just deal with it the best you can and keep going because what else can you do?

Last week a family member had a medical emergency following a surgery that required transport to Seattle and another surgery. That makes 4 surgeries all total to fix what should have been one surgery. It scared the holy shit out of all us. Its been difficult. We have all been on pins and needles but hopefully we are past the worst of it now.  Having worked in the healthcare industry for 20 years  I know some of the nightmare stories out there , but what happened to my family member is just beyond acceptable. I really think that it will have to be life threatening before I opt for any kind of surgery to repair crucial body parts.. and even then I might hesitate after seeing what has happened, the mistakes made, the complications due to miscommunications, etc. Ok, enuf about that.

The weather turned back to a wintery mix of cold rain in the valley and snow in the mountains this past week,  which is probably just as well because I ended up flat on my back with the flu. I was never so thankful for a job where I don't have to leave the house because I literally couldn't leave the couch for three days. I was able to atleast work a few hours a day and not eat into my sick bank too badly. It was almost as bad as the H flu experience I had last June, but not quite. Today is the first day I feel like I can be in an upright position for more than just a few minutes. It 's amazing how walking to the laundry room to throw a load of laundry in was enough to completely wipe me out for the next hour.

Ok, so to get to the main reason I was posting. I didn't really anticipate writing this post because Otto has done very well, no issues since his castration in spite of his complication. Then yesterday I noticed , in my feverish haze, that he looked a bit more swollen than I had seen him look at all throughout this entire healing process. I lunged him and it seemed to be better later in the day. This morning, his sheath was twice it's normal size and he didn't want me putting my hands any where near him. My vet was nice enough to swing by on his way through to another appointment.

We thought we were out of the woods but more than likely because of the additional digging around and the area where the vein was stitched, he's  got an infection brewing up in there.. so he is back on another round of antibiotics. If that doesn't work, the vet will have to go in and remove the knot.

I really hope it doesn't come down to that.. but I guess I will just prepare for the worst.
Next week I am on vacation and will hopefully be feeling well enough to get some riding time in, get my jumps set up in the outdoor arena, and start repainting my rails. I also ended up getting a great deal on some additional rails so I will have another 20 rails  to paint. That should be enough to set up a pretty nice gymnastic jump sequence that I can start working on.

That is ofcourse, if I can ride in my saddle. For whatever reason, the jump saddle that I bought last year and thoouugghht fit me and Brego is suddenly driving me crazy. It's putting me too far in the back seat. It's like I posting up out of a hole. I guess when I think back, I was kind of having that trouble last year but I thought it was just me, like a weakness in my position . But,  then I saw a couple of pictures taken at the recent jump clinic.  My leg really is too far out in front of me and the maddening thing is that no matter how hard I try, I can't get my leg under me.  No pad is going to fix that. The problem , I think, is that my thigh length is too long for the saddle, (not that I have long legs) which means I need a bigger seat size. I  can't even begin to think about this right now because the thought of saddle shopping again makes me want to turn green.
I really, really really loved my little Collegiate Apprentice (designed and stamped by Tad Coffin even!) I found because it was almost the same saddle I grew up riding in, plus I got a really good buy on it. Guess I am going to have to figure out what is going to fit me right and try to eventually sell this one.  Ofcourse my ideal saddle is either a Tad Coffin or a Antares.. neither of which I have the budget for!

So all in all, it seems Life is complicated, busy, and unpredictable these days for us.  We have other potential hurdles we are going to be facing in the next couple of months that could really complicate things for us. It's too soon to know anything yet but I can say that it's a hurdle I will welcome in spite of the difficulties it might create.

We had initially planned to take a road trip south for next week (spring break for us) but it isn't going to happen. We just couldn't quite make it all come together with everything going on so , sadly the trip is cancelled. That is twice we have planned that trip and twice we have had to cancel. Spring break will instead be busy with lots of farm cleanup, house painting projects and maybe some fun with friends and family too.

As usual, we will just make things work the way the cards are dealt to us.. one way or the other.

I kissed him

I came running in the house the other night happy.. no.... overjoyed. 

First, early in the day, my new Field boots arrived from UPS and as I opened the box, I dreaded what awaited. 20 minutes of struggling to get them on. However, I was proved wrong.  They were a  PERFECT fit. No struggling, grunting, sweating or cursing trying to get them over my weird shaped guppy calves. They will need some break in but my legs won't go numb atelast. 

Later in the day, it was time to catch up Otto, and lunge him a bit. 

The mud is back in full force around here but the ice is gone so I slogged out to go get him . 

Haltering the monster has required a skill of precision and speed to avoid him grabbing it in his little lips. He is pretty fast. Well, on this day, he just let me halter him, like a normal horse. He DIDN'T TRY TO BITE AT IT , ME OR ANYTHING ELSE! Not once.

I rubbed on his face and just enjoyed the moment. He seemed so relaxed and appreciating the attention as opposed to his usual gaminess. I would even go as far as to say he was sweet. 

I was happy, I just kissed him right on the nose.. 

Yep, planted a big one on him and he didn't even mind.. 

Lovee my new improved baby horse...