First of all...

...it's amazing how easy and clean this horse's changes are when he's doing something he considers fun: i.e. not dressage.

That clean change can also be seen during jumping courses, performed either automatically or with the barest shifting of weight.

In a big open arena, coming across the diagonal, trying to hit a general area? No, siree.

too bad you're so good at the fancy prancing, you sneaky shit.

I was hoping for some impressive media of Dopie turning barrels like a boss on Sunday, but instead he came out in complete game night rage monster mode. I could barely control his psycho ass, and ended the ride by getting off, hitting the deck gasping for air, and with a sore back today.

regrets nothing very very little

The problems started with tack: I was in Hubby's too small, horrifically hard western saddle that instantly makes my seat bones bruise while it constricts all the blood in my lower extremities. I was also driving my loaner vehicle while my car is getting fixed so I didn't have the key to my locked trailer where my western bridle lives which meant I borrowed BM's horrible, horrible too long and too soft reins.

But really the root of it was that Opie just wanted to go fast.

The arena was only about 85% dry so he'd snatch the reins and then slip behind occasionally and nearly fall over. He was also blowing out through his shoulder so when we came off the barrel, his head was turned in, but his shoulder was galloping in the opposite/wrong direction.

I thought he would be easier to train on barrels than Bobby because he's smaller and cattier, but it's working to my disadvantage. He's like Gumby. You wrangle one part and another one goes shooting off in a different direction. Also he is very fast.

I made him do some trotting of the pattern and figure eights between the two side by side barrels to try to cool his jets, but every time he set down to run, he literally set down and launched which fucking destroyed my back.

He'll get there with time--and a bigger bit, his tie down, and a new saddle for me. I've trained all my OTTBs I've owned in the past to barrels, and since show season is going to end up as who knows what, we've got pleeentyyy of time to fuck around with all the things!

Intro to Barrels

Good news, Opie's heel pain was nothing more than a tiny abscess that resolved overnight with hoof packing.

v small

Despite being due, Farrier didn't trim him when she pulled his shoes to leave enough foot for him to chip off as he pleased during the transition. He hind feet, however, have always been bare and they really needed to be done. The abscess was in a bit of overgrown flare so I rasped that down once it came out. His front feet are chunking off where his clips were so he doesn't need a trim right now--at least not one that I can't do by myself.

I pulled off a pus-filled diaper the morning after treating it, threw him outside with his friends for the day, and then came back in the afternoon to soak it and repack and rewrap it. The next morning he was sound as a dime (on his naked fronts, too!) so we took to the outdoor to finally play with our newly acquired barrels.

We started off walking and trotting the pattern L-R-R. I figured since his L-R lead change is better, this would be easier for him. When we moved on to the canter, he wasn't interested in the lead change at all so I just brought him back to the trot to change the lead.

The first few times, he went through the motions until I let him loose after the last barrel. Then I turned him loose into the first barrel and his little gaming pony brain LIT UP. "Fuck yeah, do the things fast! My favorite!"

He kept swapping over to the left lead coming off the last barrel to run home, so I finally reversed the pattern to R-L-L. He was much happier with this and even started throwing in a front lead change. I only did that twice so we could be done because I didn't want to do too much with his feets.

Hopefully I'll be able to bring Hubby out to the barn this weekend for video. The evil neighbor reported the barn to the cops for running a lesson program. Nevermind that there hasn't been a lesson here in a month. BM is conflicted on how she wants to regulate moving forward. What a miserable asshole. (The neighbor obviously, not BM).

All the recognized dressage shows in the area have been cancelled through the end of the year, so we've got no pressure for this year now. Good thing I never paid my USEF and USDF memeberships!

The most Meh of rides

This morning I had plans to make up for a pretty meh ride on Sunday with the acquisition of two more plastic fifty gallon drums from Hubby that would give us enough barrels to do real fake barrel racing with.

Spoiler alert: Dopie was off in the LH so he got to frolic in the indoor with his friends for an hour before getting his foot wrapped for what I suspect/hope is a brewing abscess, and then being locked in his stall with a giant hay net. BM said he was running the fence line like a fool yesterday afternoon while she was riding Mo though, so hopefully he didn't so something super stupid like pull a butt muscle or blow out a tendon.

that booty has work to do

In better news, he got his shoes pulled last Tuesday and seems to be adjusting as well as expected. Farrier said he has pretty flat feet, but aside from being a titch tender it hasn't seem to have effected him much.

Sunday was my first real ride on him since he went barefoot. The outdoor was finally dry enough that Hubby gave it a quick drag while I gave Dopie some breakfast and got him tacked up. He actually didn't feel sore in his feet during the ride, but he did feel wonky to the left the whole time. Not lame, but...just wonky. That was before his naughtiness in the pasture, so I'm hoping that lends more credence to an abscess starting to show its head. He's never had one since I've owned him so I don't know what that looks like in him yet.

casual warm up struttin'

He warmed up well at the posting trot, and while I feel like my posture is improving while posting it's still not where it should be. Ugh, better cave and start back in on the sit up routine. The worst.

His back wasn't there in the sitting trot. I also promptly got fixated on reeling his head and neck in instead of focusing on a longer neck that brings the poll up naturally. Apparently four days off was all it took for that goal to get lost. Once the horse is sound again, I'll remind myself again.

I didn't realize it at the time, but watching back on video I was overbending his head on the circles. I tried a couple of half passes, and those were leading with the haunches. Bleh. The whole ride was just bleh.

trying to wake him up in the canter. unsuccessfully.

Hopefully whatever issue he's got going on in the LH resolves quickly. While I'm eager to work (forever) more on the sitting trot, and play some more with the double, I really want to introduce some barrel work. #dopiedoesgaming is going to be the cutest thing yet.

Hello Otto

otto ain't nothing but a thing

I scheduled another Saturday ride to get some more media before Hubby officially gets swallowed alive by the spring season. I wanted some dressage media, but honestly the thought of yet another basic w/t/c in the indoor made me want die.

That's doubtlessly selfish since a lot of people aren't even allowed to go out and see their horse right now, but even with essentially cutting my riding days in half, I'm struggling so much with motivation. I knew I was going to have to shorten my show season way up anyway--both because Poor and because my truck only has so many lives left--but I still had something to plan towards. My first show was going to be in June, but who knows when the world will reopen at this point. It's left me in a bit of a flail-ful mindset.

opie says, same. 

Anyway, I decided I would pull the double out again and ride in the outdoor. Sort of a change up at least. Only the outdoor was still under water. Fucking New York.

I warmed Opie up on a long rein while Hubby talked with BM (from the other side of the ring #socialdistancing), and then he went to get the camera so I picked up the curb rein for the first time for real. Opie worked the bits a little bit every now and then, but he never chomped or gaped his mouth. He's totally okay with the two bits, seemingly more so than his simple single snaffle. Whatevs, homie.

He got Sunday off, and then I rode in it again this morning. Aside from the lack of chomping the double brings, he's also light and round right off the bat. While chipping away at our sitting trot--coming along nicely!--I've recently added to my list to make sure that his neck stays long. He likes to curl it in or up, either works for him. Both are gross.

We didn't do much on Saturday since it was his first time being asked to do actual work with Otto, but I was able to hit some SI:

And the dreaded medium trot:

That was really the only time we ran into bit trouble. He'd start to get fast and heavy, and then fall on to his forehand and basically fall onto the bits which upset him. He'd throw his head, but that was the extent of it. We finished with a couple of good-for-him attempts, and then wrapped up with some stretchy trot.

go go dopie go!

We also touched on the flying changes in the middle of the ride, but the canter was never there because I was rushing it so none of them were clean or good. Not even a little bit.

This morning he had a good warm up before we moved on to 2-2. He was good for that as well. He was actually too responsive to my seat for the canter to walk transitions and was too abrupt into them, and he wanted to get a little spastic (as always) in the second counter canter movement, but other than that no complaints.

He gets vaccinated tomorrow and we're going to try to pull his shoes to see if he can be a barefoot horse. If he can't, no problem, we'll just put them back on. But if he can, yay, checkbook!