Cobblestone Schooling Show

We finally went out and did a thing!

OK, actually we went out and did a thing the weekend before as well -- we grabbed a friend and went on a hot AF hunter pace that both ponies were stars for.

But then this Saturday we did another thing and finally went to a show!

no exciting media from the show because i was rolling solo
so here is the state opie was in all last week. simply delightful.

We almost didn't make it to the show at all though. My anxiety (about my general existence, not really anything horse related) was creeping ever upwards all week long and by the time I woke up Saturday I was primed to spiral. 

I left time to gas up my truck before I went to the barn, but it wasn't until I was sitting in the truck in my driveway that I realized I also had to hook up my trailer still--my trailer that is parked next to my truck that I almost drove away without. My brain was STRUGGLING, but I just kept keeping on. Gassed the truck, hooked up to the trailer, got to the barn, realized I'd left my phone at home. Pulled Opie out to bathe and he happily joined me in my menty b and shit all over the wash stall. Loaded the trailer, went back into the barn to grab the horse who was climbing his stall walls (but then proceeded to walk right on the trailer and start eating because doing things is better than thinking about doing things #samesies), and headed back down the road to my house which fortunately is only ten minutes from the barn albeit in the opposite direction of the show. 

With all the things crossed off and my phone in hand for important things like directions and backup in case my truck exploded, my brain finally settled itself down to its normal level of crazy.

in his professional show horse mode the whole time,
well done sir.

Even with our detour, I got there in plenty of time to let Opie chill for twenty minutes before heading over to warm up. He was a little sluggish and tight in the neck to start, but I had a really good ride on Thursday where he started off a hot mess, I panicked that I should have taken another lesson to learn how to ride, I remembered that MB has basically taught us the same lesson for the past two years, and then I applied those skills and fixed all our issues. Before MB left on vacation she gave us a pep talk to do the same thing in warm up, dummy, so we did. And it was almost like I have the skills to troubleshoot on my own, this is such a fun concept for my psycho head!!

I opted for no spurs but yes Mr Tappy, and I am very proud to say that I recognized the canter didn't have enough power so I actually USED Mr Tappy for a quick tap on the butt, and Opie just....went more forward. And gave me the canter I was looking for. WHO IS THIS HORSE?!

We did our SI to renvers once each way at the walk. The tongue came out and flapping at this point, but it did this in our Thursday ride as well. I ignored it--and him--and carried on with the ask and the tongue went back in on its own. At the show I carried on and picked up the trot to do the same thing each way. He remained tense, but the tongue went back in and he did indeed do what I was asking.

That was all we had time for before the ring steward asked if we wanted to go early. It was balls fucking hot out so I agreed and into the indoor we went. As soon as we got in there he started jigging, so I just brought him back to the walk until he stopped and picked up the trot again. We had to repeat this multiple times right up until we got into our final corner before entering the ring. I halted him at that point, did a little left-right flexion that finally got him to take a breath, and in we went.

Guys.

We went in and just rode the test.

Did the movements, didn't panic anywhere, didn't pick a fight anywhere, didn't hold our breaths anywhere. 

We only scored below a 6 in three movements, two of them being coefficients of course. One was for our first TOH that he got too wide behind on (5.5), his R-L change (2.0 because he snuck in a trot step, which I was fine with because it meant he kept his head on and I didn't have to spend half the ring trying to get him back under control), and his L-R change that was clean but he absolutely porpoise leapt into (5.5, "clean but disobedient"). We got 7s on his walk and half passes AND his extended trot though! The last of which I'm stoked about because as soon as I turned him loose across the diagonal I was like, "Okurrrrrr, this is how it's supposed to ride!"

As soon as we finished I told the ring steward we were scratching 3-3 because he could not have done anything better or more relaxed and that has literally been my only goal for his nutty OTTB head for the past eight fucking years. The ring steward was a local trainer and she started laughing and said, "Who would have ever thought you'd say those words? Good job!" Poor Opie. People know, people judge, but people also be out there struggling alongside you. 

only person showing third level, but we'll take it

Opie seemed very confused that he got to go right back to the trailer and get snacks shoved down his throat and kept throwing me side eye. He's not used to being a good boy either lol. 

We ended up with just under a 63% (that 2.0 and fucking up the coefficients knocked down what would have been a really good scoring test otherwise), but the best part was the judge's comment at the end.

This judge is notorious for her low scoring, and she's usually rough on you with her comments, so I'm basically going to retire from dressage forever with these glowing words of affirmation.

All in all, 11/10 show experience. I'm glad my body got us there despite my brain's best attempts to get us out of it. I don't think we have anything else planned until another schooling show in August, but that was my game plan for the year. Schooling, schooling, schooling, please realize you have a brain and the ability to use it for these things that you truly do know how to do. That goes for both me and Opie!

My Nutty Friend

"My nutty friend" is Opie's nickname when I'm trying to give him his words of affirmation as he's getting himself so tightly wound he starts his piaffe button. Anne Gribbons says piaffe cures everything after it. MB has found this to be true as well. Getting to the other side of it is Opie's sticking point.

Over the weekend I dragged poor Hubby out for another round of videoing my tests. We made it through both of them this time, so that was a win! I remembered all of 3-2 this time, but I forgot the stupid reinback in 3-3 which happens prettyyyy much every time I ride it. Who just sticks a reinback in the middle of your trot work? I'm out here trying to mirror each movement as one does in dressage, and sike--quick halt, back, and carry on in the trot like it never happened. Alright, I will. By making it never happen in the first place lol. Which is a shame because it's actually one of Opie's best movements.

Stupid.

Anyway.

Opie felt a little sluggish in 3-2 so I had Hubby go and grab Mr Tappy. He'd felt mature about its existence the past couple rides so I was hoping the threat of it would getting him going a little more. Obviously I can't actually use it, but baby steps.

worked great, he was stoked.
lolololol

He actually kept it together better and longer than I thought he would. He wanted to shoot off as soon as I picked it up, but he reeled it and we started our test okay. The half 10m to half 10m over the centerline in the trot work that he's found tricky in the past started off SO well. As we were riding it, I was telling him he was the best nutty boy ever. And then we had to finish turning left. And he said, "Absolutely not, I do not turn that way, it is impossible." 

But he put all his feet back on the ground and we carried on in a mostly sane fashion. His L-R change, which as you'll recall is his better and easier and cleaner change, was late behind a step because he launched into it. I could feel him building and building as we approached the R-L change so I tried to just sit as quietly as possible and breathe my seat bone over to ask.

You can see it here. Blogger is being a fucker.

Guys, he gave me a CLEAN CHANGE!!

Of course then he lost his shit and I had to just focus on keeping him pointed the right direction, but at least it's proof he can do it! No weird karate kick with the LF first. We have had SO MANY discussions on if he even knows it's physically possible to do a clean change this way or if it's so locked in his head to do it wrong. I didn't get a second to tell him he was the goodest boy because I was trying to defuse his tantrum, but maybe there's hope. I haven't touched them since then. 

he's getting stronger in his med/ext trots

Tuesday I gave him another mental health day, but unlike the last one where I tried stretching for funsies that turned into not so funsies, we set up a few crossrails instead. This turned into a real live mental health day. He enjoyed himself, he listened, he let me carry Mr Tappy the whole ride, just generally a good boy.

also got some pemf

He had yesterday off, but I finally got all his Lyme drugs so he started that last night. This morning, after only two doses in, he let me really get in there while grooming him for the first time in forever and was just generally perkier and less snarky so that's good news. 

MB did a training ride for my lesson this morning because I wanted her help on the dreaded SI. It was a good ride on my end because I didn't have to deal with his nutty shit. The first eighty percent of the lesson was MB trying to sweet talk him and kindly show him the way. Then there was about two percent of her being like, "No, Opie, you HAVE TO TRY AND LISTEN STOP GUESSING" which made Opie Big Mad (as always) so he started piaffing in rage. Then he stopped piaffing and magically got the work we were looking for. 

"no regrets, give me my candies"

The discussion afterwards was the oft repeated "Why do we have to have a meltdown before we can settle down and do the work? Because he's capable. He knows it. He can do it. He just needs to stop trying so hard and let it happen."

Why you gotta be the drama, Opie? Make it easier on all of us, pleaseeeeeeeee!

He'll probably have until Sunday off when we go to a hunter pace because it's supposed to be ungodly hot and humid. We broke the record for the most ever rainfall in a day in the history of ever in Rochester in the space of two hours yesterday so fingers crossed there's still land to pace on.

What We've Been Working On

Because I don't mean to brag, but we actually HAVE been working on things!

I know, I can hardly believe it either.

still plenty of snacking to be had, no one call peta

The shockwave on Sir's SI was definitely the final step he needed to feel completely sound and we've been full send since then. (Well, also the doxy for his Lyme. The compounded powder finally got here today, his pills should be here tomorrow, and then hopefully his omeprazole will be here next week so we can knock that out.)

Feeling good has revived Opie's will to live work, which is good, but it can also be his downfall. In typical Thoroughbred fashion, he has no shortage in work ethic. Also in typical Thoroughbred fashion, it doesn't always get channeled correctly. Hubby came to watch us ride over the weekend and he was like, "You can't fault him for trying." As Opie was anticipating....I don't know, whatever it was that was in his head. He had lots of guesses, and maybe some of them might have been right if he'd waited two seconds to check in with me to see. 

Opie: I'M DOING THE THING!!!!

Me: Okay, but what are you doing?

Opie: I DON'T KNOW, BUT I AM DOING IT TO THE FUCKING MAX!!!

reel it in, sir.

I tried to give him a mental reset day on Wednesday with a plan to do all stretchy work. It was going to be so soft and lovely and he was going to be so appreciative and just float around. Honestly the walk and trot was quite nice. In the canter/canter transitions, we ran into our guessing nemesis. 

He's horrible about the upward transitions. More than anything else, this is his one big flaw for me. He jigs, or he braces, or he lurches, or he shuffles, or he throws his haunches, or--if given a nice loopy rein to try to encourage stretching--he bolts. So on Wednesday, every time he jigged I brought my inside rein to my thigh and we did a little circle. If he bolted into the canter, we came back to the walk. Rinse and repeat 10000x. Eventually it got through to him that if he just chilled out and waited, everything went his way. What a concept, Opie!

Speaking of slowing down, it's a mental game for both of us. He's been so eager to offer me a bigger trot after the shockwave that I of course don't want to shut it down, but when it comes to working on his weak points--aka the shoulder-in--he can't do it if he's blasting around. Physically cannot. But I don't want to set him off and make him mad by bringing it down a level. Earlier this week, I just quit. Because I could tell I was going to make him lose his shit. But today! He was so mature!

Today I set out with the goal of touching on all the lateral work he knows in both trot and canter in short spurts with lots of good boys and lots of redirection. No drilling, get in, get out, but damn it, we're going to meet in the middle and make it correct. That meant a whole lot of half-halting and slowing it down more than we ever would in a test, and sometimes we had to add in our comfort 10m circles to rebalance, but he did it!

he was in a very good mood this morning,
he's probably dying of something.

Also, in big news in today's ride, I carried a whip! MB and I were talking in my lesson last week about how useful it would be if Mr Tappy could reach back and tickle the hind leg in our changes, so I'm attempting to reintroduce him for the hundredth millionth time. He was very aware of it when we started out, but it never touched him and he eventually forgot about it. Good man. 

Speaking of changes, we didn't hit them this ride, but earlier in the week we schooled them. I had to go back to that last lesson again where MB chastised me to not just sit there and cross my fingers they magically happen because I'm afraid he's going to explode if I aid him. For the R-L I finally charged into them and he didn't shuffle or break. He's still doing his kung-fu chop with the LF, but it's a level change so that's a win for him. For his L-R one, he did his hoppy thing he sometimes does where he jumps, jumps, jumps, and then changes. He's not swapping when he's jumping, and the change is clean, I just have to not quit on it and wait him out. That usually scores a 6 when he does it in a test with a comment like, "Slow to develop." Whatever, we'll take it, at least he's not chucking me into the sky.

Lesson Notes 6/5/25

Sorry folks, this one's for me - no fun stories here for you. 

• Pick the shoulders up on a circle with the thigh, push the haunches out.
• Could tell he was really lifting and elevated because I botched the downward transition and his whole frame fell about four inches lol.
• Have to be better/stronger about using the upper leg since he's so reactive to the lower.
• Now that he'll actually let me school the changes instead of anticipating them and overruling anything I say, I have to really ride him forward and think charging into them.
• Make sure the canter is jumping!
• Haunches need to come to the right in the L-R change.
• Move the SHOULDERS not the NECK in SI. He's not a big horse, he's not going to make big angles or big movements -- stop trying to make that happen. 
• Spent half the lesson wasting time in the walk trying to make it a walk so we could do the canter transition. MB: He's not a baby? He's a child. He's like every man. "I can do it myself! ....but only if you hold my hand."

I did hear back from Dr A last night, and Sir was unsurprisingly positive for both chronic and acute Lyme. Doxy and more ulcergard ordered this morning, and hopefully that concludes Opie's medical needs for a hot minute.

Psychic Pt.2

Round One of our animal communicator shenanigans can be read here. 

communing with the unseen is one of opie's
favorite activities

Instead of calling for shits and giggs like last time, I decided I was going to make Kathy earn her voodoo money and actually solve some of Opie's problems. I wanted him to be okay with putting his fly mask on, to explain why he suddenly hates his neck being touched, and if there was I way I could talk him back into his Good Horse body when he goes into his Rage Horse tantrums. 

I'll say right off the bat, I was not impressed with the appointment. The way Kathy works is you schedule a time on her website and call at the allotted time. When I called, she told me she'd have to speak to someone coming to fix her door first...and then stayed on the line with me for nearly five minutes while she bossed this guy around. You're charged for 15 minutes of time when you schedule the appointment, and any time after that is charged an additional fee for up to 30 minutes. So the clock was ticking, although I was more than prepared to argue she'd wasted a third of our appointment doing nothing for me when she could have just called me back when she was free.

Anyway, that kind of set the tone for the whole call. I was annoyed, and she felt distracted and honestly a little curt. But let's get to Opie's complaints and concerns.

He started being weird about his fly mask last summer at the other barn. For whatever reason, he decided he was afraid of it and you'd basically have to corner him in his stall and fling it over his head to get it on him. I'd forgotten about this endearing habit until a month ago when I went to put it on for the first time this year and he went running backwards halfway down the aisle. It's annoying for me, and in a boarding barn that just won't do. I've been working on shoving treats down his throat every day -- if he lowers his head when I lift the fly mask, he gets a candy. Repeat x100. 

Kathy spent a long time chatting with Opie about how lives a zen lifestyle now and he can't hold past incidences against current situations. It was a snooze fest on my end. She did say he liked our current barn, and that the main differences between this one and the last are that "nobody is yelling at him or each other" and "people show up here, nobody showed up when they were supposed to at the last barn". Even Opie picked up on the bad vibes and horrendous management the last barn devolved into.

Apparently the origin of his fly mask phobia is that someone last year approached him too quickly with it and it scared him, and then he got it trouble for being scared. So that's a bummer. Kathy told him that this is a different barn with different people, and while he said no one has ever done anything to him here, "he can't be sure it won't happen again." Because Opie remembers everything and holds a grudge for life, this is facts. 

We did our fly mask treat training again this morning and there was zero difference in how he's been doing so whomp whomp. 

As for his neck grumpiness, she asked if it was the right side only. It's not, it's both sides. So then she changed it to that it was both sides. That was all the feedback I got on that so whomp whomp again. She said he did feel sore on the right at the back before his hip. That's the spot he refuses to not be sore in -- massage, chiro, PEMF, we've done it all. I brought my little red light handheld thing to the barn today and tried that and he was doing BIG yawns and licking so I guess I'll keep going with that. 

just out here demanding everything he can think of

As far as reeling in the crazy, she said that what I was describing doesn't seem like him, that she wasn't getting that vibe from him. Ma'am, I assure you this is not a lie. She asked him when he felt "disorganized in his head" what would bring him back to paying attention. He said "he doesn't need anyone making him circle" which made me legit LOL because in our ride yesterday morning, MB and I were like, "Look at his 10m circles to the left, he can DO THEM!" So yes, Opie, we do need to make you do circles because you suck at them. He also said, "I'm not a baby" and when she suggested walking over ground poles to redirect the crazy he demanded, "WHY." 

But that was all I got out of it. Try walking over some ground poles. 

In conclusion, he's afraid of his fly mask and refuses to change his opinion on that apparently. Who knows why his neck is sore. (Hopefully will hear back from the vet about his Lyme results either tomorrow or Friday.) And the next time he's rearing or throwing himself sideways over whatever imagined slight has entered his head, walk over a pole. 

So not at all worth the money, especially not the extra money I got charged because she talked so much it lasted the full half hour we're allowed. 

Maybe we're getting somewhere?

It's not for lack of trying if not, holy balls.

Friday was Opie's vet appointment, and we spent two and a half hours doing all the things only to eventually settle on my original plan as the best course of action and came out with no concrete answers. It's cool, I love lighting money on fire. It's actually one of the few things I'm good at!

First thing was to obviously put hands on him while I ran through my list for Dr A. He was not sore to palpation anywhere in his SI area which is about par for the course for horses. He was still slightly reactive to the spot where he was sore in his massage and where he had the two ribs out. No reaction to her quick flexions in the aisle.

From there we put him on the longe and he was maybe a little short in the RH and looked not quite so free in the front end, but Dr A has seen him go a ton and we agreed that while he didn't look his one hundred percent, he didn't look horrible either. We talked whether the front end was compensating for the RH (or LH as it has been a bit of an either/or/whole hind end thing), or if it was the front end on its own. 

Over the past couple years we've discussed investigating his neck before as his range of motion in his neck is not the best, but she wanted to start with checking the proximal suspensory as that can show up as a traveling lameness. 

I didn't think this was what we were dealing with for two reasons: it still felt high up to me; and he's had this ultrasounded before when we thought it was his stifle but couldn't find anything there (and then it turned out he'd pulled his groin). But I do trust Dr A's judgement and if it was the proximal suspensory, better to do something about it at the slightest hint of a problem than wait for it to be a real problem and not have a riding horse anymore. Because your girl ain't paying for surgery, I don't have enough money to light that much of it on fire lolz.

Everything looked just fine in there though. Dr A suggested we block the RH starting below the hock to rule it out, but Opie said no fucking thank you so on to the next.

We decided to go ahead with the neck xrays so I could cross them off my list if nothing else. But again, there wasn't anything exciting. Maybe a little disruption at the base of his neck that was hard to see on the xrays, so Dr A offered to ultrasound his facets for free since she already had the machine out. 

he has not been a happy camper the past week
about his neck being touched. the tags were offensive!

And again. All clear.

In the end, we went with my list of all his behaviors and lamenesses the past month(s) and pulled blood for a Lyme test and schockwaved his SI. 

this 2min procedure was $405 lololololol

He had the weekend to live his best Opie life, and then I got back on Monday to see if he was magically an upper level dressage horse so I could justify this four figure vet bill. And actually, he felt much more willing to go forward right off the bat. He let me move him left and right with my leg. AND!!! Guys. He popped a clean R-L change (because he finally let me move his body around without panicking and guessing). 

Bam, mission accomplished. Just ignore that he was then late behind on his "confirmed" L-R change. Still calling it a win.

Today we did a quick ride where he was a little jiggy anticipating the canter transitions (which isn't really anything new), but otherwise spot on. I set him up a little X to play over and he was perfect both ways for that.

looks pissed, was actually just waiting for his candy

We finished hacking out with MB and her (hopefully done!) rehabbing horse who was absolutely, hysterically feral about being released into the wild. For all of Opie's downfalls, he could have cared less about the bucking bronco smashing through the woods with him and strolled along on the buckle stealing snacks. 

He gets tomorrow off because it's supposed to be disgustingly hot and I want him fresh as a daisy for our lesson on Thursday. But that leaves me tomorrow to fill you all in on the animal communicator appointment I had earlier today so stay tuned!