Oh, DANG.

Dudes. Got my ride times for Sunday today. Dressage? 12:10. 12:10?! Daaaang. I don't think I've ever had a test start that late. Then it's a long three hour wait until Stadium at 2:56 and xcountry twenty minutes later. Hubby will be happy. He's in a wedding Saturday that doesn't even start until 4:30 and he has to make the three hour drive home from NY that same night. Still, that means we won't be back at the barn until 6:30 at the earliest. Last time we were home around the time I'll be heading out to the xcountry course!

bobby's "this is not a good idea" look.

Wednesday I went on the previously scheduled trail ride. As I was brushing Mr Magee's face (his favorite thing in the whole entire world), I noticed a pink spot on the left side of the corner of his mouth. I poked around a bit and found a tiny sore/rub there. I checked all around the rest of his mouth and didn't find anything else, so I figured it had to be a bit rub. I smeared some Tri-care on it and dug out a pair of clip-on reins from the tack room to hook to my halter. Of course, the first ones I grabbed were pencil-thin and ten feet long. If I wasn't holding them with an iron grip of death in the palm of my hand, they would slide about a foot through my fingers before I could wrestle control back.


We went out and did thirty five minutes of walking and five minutes of trotting. I didn't plan on doing anything crazy, and we didn't--just lots of walking up and down hills. Bobby kept glancing back at me and shooting me the "This is not a good idea, mother" look. He usually gives me this look when I ask him to go down a giant hill, or to cross water or other scary things. It's not a "Fuck you, crazy lady" look. It's more of a "I just want you to know that I disapprove of your decision making skills" look. Sometimes we argue about who the brains of the operation is.

bm's baby beagle taking a siesta.
awwwwwwwwwww.

Today was a jump school. Fences ranged from xrails to a 3' oxer. I warmed him up with the xrails, going across the diagnol each way to get the lead change. I slowly started adding jumps as we went along until we were doing four at a time. Nothing fancy, but every single fence was forward and flowly and there were only one or two "Whoops!" moments.

So. Still feeling good about this weekend. I need to figure out what's going on with his lips though because I found another little rub/sore on his lip on the other side nowhere near where his bit or noseband hits. Maybe the hay is too rough? The new stuff does look a little stemmier than before. Hrm....

Methodical

I've had a couple of fucking awesome dressage rides the past two days. If I can bring this horse to the dressage ring Sunday, we're going to kick some serious booties.

The main issue we kept running into was left trot circles. However, instead of getting frustrated by it (which I am the master of doing), I worked methodically through it and voila! Left bend! I would bring him back to the walk and over-bend him in to the left, then counter-bend, and then bend inside again before asking for the trot again. It needs work. He's still inconsistent, but still miles ahead of where he was this winter. I think we're going into this show in good shape.

This week's schedule: Off today as he had six straight days of solid work. Trail ride tomorrow with lots of walking and some short dressage work out in a field, raining or not. Weather dependent, jumping Thursday or Friday with the other day being another trail ride. Dressage school Saturday. Show Sunday. Basically what I'm saying is, don't expect any exciting updates throughout the week!

Some of yesterday's ride:

Jumping: The Good, the Bad, and the WTF?!

The Good:
(we'll use that term loosely...)

The Bad:

And the WTF?!

Three Cheers for NF!

Bobby got new feet Thursday! And then I got on and rode him right after because he didn't walk off lame! That alone is worth the extra money. So quick NF run down:

• He had his assistant pull the old shoes and spent a long time mulling over what's left of Bobby's poor feet. He asked if he's on a hoof supplement (he is), how long he's been on it (only four months), and then asked me if I ever watched the Three Stooges as the only way to describe Bobby's feet were "a messterpiece."
• He decided to do aluminium shoes with clips on the fronts because the nails are smaller. He'll stay in these until his wall grows out enough to hold a steel shoe which "won't be this summer." Steel shoes also with clips on the hinds.
• He declared Bobby "the only Thoroughbred in this barn that doesn't have a stifle issue." Happy dance! Bobby's stifles have always been his major downfall, but it looks like all the hill work has paid off.
• He filled everything in with acrylic and sent him on his way. He took twice as long to do him as OF did, but it was because he actually took the time to study his foot instead of just slapping on a pair of new shoes--not even the old ones since they would have undoubtably fallen off by this point.

i gave into the ear net temptation on totd. i thought
this was going to be cream, and not so....buttercup.

We did yet another dressage school when he was done, this time in the outdoor. He was really good for the most part. Good walk and trot work, but at the canter I felt like my stirrups were too long. I put them up a hole and then they felt like they were too short so I lowered them again. Either way, my bum did not want to stay in the saddle. I tried for a flying change, but not even close this time. I ended with one over a little vertical just to "win".

I was going to finish with a little more trot work, but Spyder got let out from getting his toes done and Bobby was all, "Oh my gosh, that is my best friend and he is outside and he is calling out for me and I must go to him nowwwww!!!" To which I replied, "Oh fuck no" and made him pay attention for another fifteen minutes doing hard work to the left.

baby foams.

Today, as promised, was trot set day. We've been doing four five minute trots and two three minute canters with two minute walks, but I decided on a whim to switch it up today. We did two sets of ten minute trot, three minute walk, and six minute canter. It was brutal. Maybe a touch out of our league right now, although to be fair to my trusty steed Bobby recovered a lot better than I did. He did not, for instance, start groaning about how much his calves hurt after the first canter.

headed up the hill to the xcountry field.

He started off a little lethargic and distracted, due mainly to the dozen turkeys that were repeatedly throwing themselves into the boxwire fence we were walking by trying to get to the other side instead of just flying over. Seriously the most retarded animals on the entire planet.

He tried to convince me that he could walk up the big hill or canter up the big hill, but he was in no way capable of trotting up it. Uh huh. I set my hands into his shoulders and kicked him on. He quickly figured out that he could keep hitting himself in the mouth if he wanted to canter, or he could just trot up it pleasantly. He only need one lap to figure that out and the rest of the uphill trots were awesome. He was pushing from behind, his head was down, he had his teeth gritted and was ready to let out a war cry. Or something.

He was a bit of a tool in the canter, switching leads all over the place, usually as we were about to turn a corner and go down a hill where he really needed to be on the correct lead. I don't know if he was tired or unbalanced, or if I was tired or unbalanced and was shifting my own weight and causing him to change, but it was a hot mess. We had to do a couple of circles to regroup and not take a headlong charge on the wrong lead down a big hill. The second set was much better, but he still had two unasked-for changes.

washed out on most horses, for bobby it's just a
normal breastplate sweat on a hot day.

I'm sure we come down the hill looking like we galloped around like lunatics for forty minutes because Bobby is usually white with sweat, but this horse sweats like it's an Olympic sport. I gave him a long hose down to cool him off and he was in his stall alternating between mooching for treats and eating hay in no time.

Jump school tomorrow. Sunday will either be a day off or a trail ride. I'm going to do two light conditioning days next week just to get some more work in on hills, but I haven't figured out which days yet. It's a good thing Bucks has so little terrain or we'd be in serious trouble.

Bleh.

I've been in one of those moods lately. The type of mood where you don't want to do anything, which of course means that there's more to do than usual, and that makes you want to give the finger to all the things. Also, I'm about ready to shank Hubby's little spotted dog who can't seem to stay in the yard for more than half a second lately, even though she's lived here for two years and is well aware of her boundaries.

my dog is the good dog.
she may be slightly rabid, but at least she stays in the yard.

Hubby's family came down Sunday so I spent the day feeding them all the food in the house instead of going to the barn. Seriously, when you make a grocery list for two people and then have to feed eight, food disappears at an alarming rate.

Monday was a dressage ride in the indoor since Bobby's RF shoe was starting to get a little loose; the farrier did not come last week. We worked on halts from w/t/and c and broke up a few movements from the dressage test and practiced them in both directions. Bobby was going really great. He seems to really, really like his bit and we were getting a little bit of frothing at the mouth--even better than foam! Then I asked him to canter to the left and he was like, "I can't bend left!!!" Nothing new there.

I halted him and worked for at least ten minutes trying to get him to turn just his head and neck to the left. He stepped sidewways, he stepped backwards, he spun around in circles, but he wouldn't not bend the way I was asking. He finally got it for about half a second and I let him walk on. Tried the canter again and while not great, it was at least not crooked.

"horsez in the arena?! why iz there horsez up there??"

No ride on Tuesday as I was too busy being busy for once, then another dressage school Wednesday with an even looser shoe. No nails sticking out this time, it wasn't torqued in any way, and he wasn't lame on it so I did a full ride again.

More work on halts, and lots and lots of work on straightness. We were barely on the rail the whole ride. Lots of walking and trotting down the quarterlines, centerline, and across the diagnols. Bobby was a bit of a drunken sailor for the most part. I really have to hold him with my right leg because he likes to bulge out that way during pretty much every exercise we do.

We did a canter exercise where I had him pick up his lead on the quarterline from a walk to see how straight he was. If he was straight, he'd get the correct lead. Well, it took him about six times to get the right friggin' lead. What a mess. When he got it, I let him do two circles and we tried again. By the time we switched directions, I think he kind of cheated and just understood the exercise at this point and picked the correct lead up right off the bat. Of course, he also ran me right into the wall within two strides because he bulged out to the right so badly. Dang it. Keep the right leg on!

We finished with another attempt at flying changes. He switched up front without fail every time, but that's no good. I brought him back to the trot for a stride and he picked up the right lead before we tried again. I was about to give up when the little tanker truck that cleans out the port-a-pottie rolled in. Bobby has some strange aversion to the most ridiculous things trucks with trailers attached and he went flying sideways across the arena before I managed to pull him into a circle. He was snorty, prancy pants so I walked him across the diagnols a few times before picking up the canter again and doing a couple of simple changes. Finally, we came across the diagnol and he switched behind at F, two strides to get through the corner, and switched in front. Yay! Kind of, sort of a real change! I gave him a pat and let him take a victory lap before calling it quits.

srsly worried the truck will eat him while get my water bottle.

The farrier will be here this afternoon! I'm going to try to make it out, but I have so many boring things to do for the first time in forever. Boooo. Trot sets tomorrow for sure, then hopefully some jumping this weekend.

replinished my stock of braiding wire. i lose things too easily.

Real, fun work.

he looks bay in his stall at least.

Friday was finally the return of trot sets! After loosing his shoes, a show, and having to be driven to the barn by Hubby for two weeks whom I didn't want to torture with me trotting around in circles in a field, I headed up to the xcountry field first thing in the morning. Bobby needed the hill work. He seemed to have forgotten how to trot down a hill, let alone canter. I had to use his elevator bit to its full extent a couple of times to lift his front end up from the ground. I didn't even attempt a canter down the big hill, instead trotting/halting/trotting.

ignored by the ladies.

He was uncharacteristically spooky the whole ride. Keep in mind that Bobby Spooks don't even register on a normal horse's spook meter. However, he was snorting and bending his body away from things along the fence line that have been there almost as long as I've been at the barn--a pile of old shavings, a gate in the fence, and a teeny tiny pile of footing off one of the banks. He also had a giant Bobby spook that involved snorting and taking a step sideways at a tree branch that had fallen in the path of the hill. Of course, we had walked by the same tree branch on the way up and he didn't so much as glance at it. Baby Event Horsie is ready to do some real work again.

pony on the move! the mares had a minor mare-induced freak
out that involved them calling to each other and galloping around
for no reason whatsoever.

Hubby was volunteered to volunteer for a charity for his work today so I went to the barn before lessons started to get in a jump school in the outdoor with getting in anyone's way. Without Hubby there to take pictures, I'm going to have to show you by other means. You know what that entails, right?

PAINT JUMP DIAGRAM!!

It's been too long....

Today was about doing more than one jump without falling apart in between. I had to give myself a small pep talk to start off: Get Bobby going forward and don't choke him back! I started off with the tiny striped vertical to the 2'3ish swedish oxer (blue line).

I felt like we were going too fast, but Bobby was taking the jumps so well I didn't touch him. Same old lesson: too fast is just right. After a couple times around, Bobby started to get strung out and I had to actually start riding again and rebalance him between the two fences without slowing him down. It wasn't the smoothest of riding, but it did the trick and we were still nailing the distances. Hallelujah!

We did the big X to the gate (red line) in a forward six with the goal of landing on his left lead. Bobby gave me a perfect flying change during our last canter set yesterday so I knew he still knew them. Frustrated OTTB riders: your horse was taught auto changes as a 2yo. Do not let them fool you. Somewhere in there is a flawless flying change! A stride out from the gate, I took a firmer hold on my left rein, sank a little deeper in my left stirrup, and on take off turned my body to the left. Bobby nailed the change every single time. I let out a "Woo hoo!" the first time.

We did the other diagnol line (green line), but it involved going from the left lead to the right so that was pretty much a given that he'd get it. I strung together a course with those six fences a couple of times and, with some fussy hands between fences to get him back together, he did pretty well. Not perfect, and plenty of room for improvement, but he's getting there. I'm getting there teaching myself to let my horse travel forward.

New Things.

New Feet

Fingers crossed, New Farrier is supposed to be out today and Bobby is finally on his list! He only got done three weeks ago so I'm not expecting him to do too much actual work, but his shoes are already a little loose (!) and he's getting hind shoes back on as he's getting a little ouchy behind. I really, really hope New Farrier can help him out....and help him keep his shoes on. NF is more expensive, and hind shoes are going to up the current cost even more, but I'm literally throwing my money away using Old Farrier at this point.

New Rockin' Bod

For me! Well, that's the plan anyway. Hubby is in a wedding in two weeks and my first recognized event is in two weeks, so we're trying to tone up a smidge. I'm not concerned about losing weight (though I certainly wouldn't complain if I did), but I do want to be stronger, especially in my legs and core. I keep reading about other bloggers getting in shape, too. Exciting. Hubby and I are joining the forces.

New Bit

After a few more rides in the Dr Bristol, I decided I wasn't one hundred percent on board with it. I dug through Sarah's locker (love having friends that don't mind you digging through their things!) and in the black hole that routinely eats her things I found this Happy Mouth. I haven't had luck with the Dee sides on most bits with Bobby, and he didn't like the bean thing in the middle of Kidd's loose ring bit, but I'm running out of options so I figured, Why not? I liked it. Bobby seemed to like it. We'll give it another week of rides and see if we both continue to like it.

New Helmet

Is it pretty? Eh.... I wanted a Charles Owen because they fit my dome piece; I wanted a skull cap because I don't like the look of regular hemlets on xcountry (I don't know why) and I can also use this in dressage for now; and I wanted something around $100. So it was in my price range and it will work for the time being.


New Video

Of some of yesterday's ride: