(no subject)
So way to go me, declare intent of posting nearly every day and then move to an apartment with no internet. Winrar. But internet has happened now!
Riding has been unnecessarily stressful, not because of Lola but because of the new dog. :/ He is sort of neurotic, and by that I mean he is crazy. For the past two days I've come home to find his bedding bloody from him trying to get out of his cage. So I have to bring him to the barn, and he is . . . slowly learning to be a barn dog I guess? He stood quietly by the ring tied to a tree while I rode today, anyway, and I was able to let him off the leash for a little so he could play with some of the other dogs at the barn. I mean, he'll get there but it makes riding difficult.
Anyway, so I showed the weekend before last, and Lola sort of had it easy after that since we are going to a 4-day show this weekend. She was lunged in the ropes Wednesday of last week, and then I rode her Thursday. I had to take RD to the vet Friday so I didn't have the chance to ride her but I rode Saturday and Sunday. She had Monday off, and then I rode her today.
Our big thing leading up to this show has been her irrational fear of liverpools. We have been working patiently with them, using a variety of approaches. We have lunged her over them, given her time to think about them, and have lured her over them with food. A few weeks ago it looked like we had hit a plateau: she would go over them eventually, but not after throwing a hissy fit. Then we tried carrots as a reward, and her behavior improved. On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I worked with her on them, always the same routine, but decreasing bits and pieces of it. First, I would lead her into the ring and over the liverpool (I had removed all jump rails). We would cross it several times and I rewarded her for brave/good behavior. Then I would get on and we would walk over it together, again rewarding her good behavior. I would then work her like normal and then give her a break before returning to the liverpool at a trot. If I had help on the ground, we would gradually add rails to it and increase the height of the fence. If not, we would just repeat going over it until she treated it like just another pole on the ground.
Today I decided we weren't going to walk over it, mostly because I didn't want to stress my dog out (I wanted to tie him and have him see that when I'm riding, I don't really go anywhere lol). So I just put it down to an x-rail. Then we worked just like normal on the flat - walk, trot, canter, trot - and then trotted to the x. She was actually really good - sort of jumped it funny but the important part is that she did jump it. We then worked over it a little bit more, and by the end she was just jumping it like any other fence. I was proud and we ended on that note.
Her flatwork is baddddd right now. She needs to go back in draw reins just as a reminder that throwing your head around like a tard is frowned upon. I also want her working more from her hind end - she tends to fall back behind my leg when I don't have pointy spurs on, and I want to change that. I don't want to have to use a spur to get my horse working off my leg, and to an extent she will always just be a horse that needs a spur, but I should not need long pointed spurs just for flatwork. Right now I am working her mostly in long spurs with those black plastic rollers on the end to blunt them and make them more of a gentle reminder than a painful jab. She listens to them when it's convenient, but I'd like her moving mostly off my leg with very little input from the spur.
As far as her general health - FATTY. FAT FAT FAT. Lord almighty, she looks like a tick ready to pop right now. Her coat is slick and glossy and dappled, sure, but I can hardly get what we jokingly refer to as her "fat girl girth" to fasten - much less her "skinny jeans" (her CWD bellyguard girth)! We've cut her feed back to 1/2 scoop, but the damage is being done by turnout and her hay ration. She's turned out 12+ hours/day on good grass, and she gets 4 flakes of alfalfa per day, mostly for her stomach pH balance. Also, we seem to have successfully resolved her ulcers, so the fact that her stomach feels better probably comes into play there too. Ugh, but yes, fatty horse. Weight loss is on her horizon.
She also had a Mysterious Puffy Hock today. I figured I'd ride her and see how (un)sound she was, but she was perfectly fine. The swelling did not go down with work, though, which is sort of weird, so I will be keeping an eye on it. The weirdest part about it is that the swelling is below the joint, so it's almost like she got bitten by something or bumped it. Fingers crossed it's just a little thing, although I was planning on having a leg-check done after this show anyway, so maybe I will have Dr. D take a look at it anyway. She's going to get a couple of light weeks after this show to recoup, and I'm going to call Dr. D and have him come out to re-ultrasound her old hematoma, as well as check out a new windpuff that's shown up on her right knee. If the hock thing is still going on then I will definitely have him check that business out too. Ugh, it's like she turns 10 and all of the sudden she's like 'time to be prone to INJURIES! LET'S DO IT!'. Ah, horses.
Anyway, I will try to update from the horse show but no promises. I am showing in two classes on Thursday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Of course, this is all subject to change, based on how she's doing, etc. I am considering scratching out of the Sunday class, just because I don't want to throw her in the ring with a liverpool (and there will be one) without her really feeling prepared, but I know that's just me whimping out hahaha. She is ready, and we're just going to have to be strong together lol.
Anyway, that got very long and rambly. My b.
Riding has been unnecessarily stressful, not because of Lola but because of the new dog. :/ He is sort of neurotic, and by that I mean he is crazy. For the past two days I've come home to find his bedding bloody from him trying to get out of his cage. So I have to bring him to the barn, and he is . . . slowly learning to be a barn dog I guess? He stood quietly by the ring tied to a tree while I rode today, anyway, and I was able to let him off the leash for a little so he could play with some of the other dogs at the barn. I mean, he'll get there but it makes riding difficult.
Anyway, so I showed the weekend before last, and Lola sort of had it easy after that since we are going to a 4-day show this weekend. She was lunged in the ropes Wednesday of last week, and then I rode her Thursday. I had to take RD to the vet Friday so I didn't have the chance to ride her but I rode Saturday and Sunday. She had Monday off, and then I rode her today.
Our big thing leading up to this show has been her irrational fear of liverpools. We have been working patiently with them, using a variety of approaches. We have lunged her over them, given her time to think about them, and have lured her over them with food. A few weeks ago it looked like we had hit a plateau: she would go over them eventually, but not after throwing a hissy fit. Then we tried carrots as a reward, and her behavior improved. On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I worked with her on them, always the same routine, but decreasing bits and pieces of it. First, I would lead her into the ring and over the liverpool (I had removed all jump rails). We would cross it several times and I rewarded her for brave/good behavior. Then I would get on and we would walk over it together, again rewarding her good behavior. I would then work her like normal and then give her a break before returning to the liverpool at a trot. If I had help on the ground, we would gradually add rails to it and increase the height of the fence. If not, we would just repeat going over it until she treated it like just another pole on the ground.
Today I decided we weren't going to walk over it, mostly because I didn't want to stress my dog out (I wanted to tie him and have him see that when I'm riding, I don't really go anywhere lol). So I just put it down to an x-rail. Then we worked just like normal on the flat - walk, trot, canter, trot - and then trotted to the x. She was actually really good - sort of jumped it funny but the important part is that she did jump it. We then worked over it a little bit more, and by the end she was just jumping it like any other fence. I was proud and we ended on that note.
Her flatwork is baddddd right now. She needs to go back in draw reins just as a reminder that throwing your head around like a tard is frowned upon. I also want her working more from her hind end - she tends to fall back behind my leg when I don't have pointy spurs on, and I want to change that. I don't want to have to use a spur to get my horse working off my leg, and to an extent she will always just be a horse that needs a spur, but I should not need long pointed spurs just for flatwork. Right now I am working her mostly in long spurs with those black plastic rollers on the end to blunt them and make them more of a gentle reminder than a painful jab. She listens to them when it's convenient, but I'd like her moving mostly off my leg with very little input from the spur.
As far as her general health - FATTY. FAT FAT FAT. Lord almighty, she looks like a tick ready to pop right now. Her coat is slick and glossy and dappled, sure, but I can hardly get what we jokingly refer to as her "fat girl girth" to fasten - much less her "skinny jeans" (her CWD bellyguard girth)! We've cut her feed back to 1/2 scoop, but the damage is being done by turnout and her hay ration. She's turned out 12+ hours/day on good grass, and she gets 4 flakes of alfalfa per day, mostly for her stomach pH balance. Also, we seem to have successfully resolved her ulcers, so the fact that her stomach feels better probably comes into play there too. Ugh, but yes, fatty horse. Weight loss is on her horizon.
She also had a Mysterious Puffy Hock today. I figured I'd ride her and see how (un)sound she was, but she was perfectly fine. The swelling did not go down with work, though, which is sort of weird, so I will be keeping an eye on it. The weirdest part about it is that the swelling is below the joint, so it's almost like she got bitten by something or bumped it. Fingers crossed it's just a little thing, although I was planning on having a leg-check done after this show anyway, so maybe I will have Dr. D take a look at it anyway. She's going to get a couple of light weeks after this show to recoup, and I'm going to call Dr. D and have him come out to re-ultrasound her old hematoma, as well as check out a new windpuff that's shown up on her right knee. If the hock thing is still going on then I will definitely have him check that business out too. Ugh, it's like she turns 10 and all of the sudden she's like 'time to be prone to INJURIES! LET'S DO IT!'. Ah, horses.
Anyway, I will try to update from the horse show but no promises. I am showing in two classes on Thursday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Of course, this is all subject to change, based on how she's doing, etc. I am considering scratching out of the Sunday class, just because I don't want to throw her in the ring with a liverpool (and there will be one) without her really feeling prepared, but I know that's just me whimping out hahaha. She is ready, and we're just going to have to be strong together lol.
Anyway, that got very long and rambly. My b.