King of the crossrail

Today was our first day jumping since September 2013. He got a little rushy after the jump a few times, but one time he did canter away very nicely and quietly, so I let him continue on around the ring. Wouldn't ya know it, it was his bad lead too! I'll cut to the fun stuff--PHOTOS!

MOM THIS JUMP IS SO HIGH

Much better

My mother's horse staring down the mighty crossrail

BRING IT ON!!

Tantalus can do these jumps in his sleep

Also I have a really nice horse. JS. 

Practicing shortening our stride from just seat and thigh

Legs are supposed to work together but....oh well!

Such a baby TB! 

Such a good boy! This coming week is the encore of the polar vortex, so I doubt I'll ride much at all. After that we'll go back to flatwork to really get back into things. Hopefully the snow will melt soon because we need to do some trail rides!

I hate winter. I hate winter. I. Hate. Winter.

ALSO, I HATE WINTER.

We have two feet of snow outside, it's never above freezing, my old car is crusted in salt and it's too cold to go shopping for a new one. UGH.

Also, Apollo apparently loves our vets because he gouged his head open Friday evening.

I ponytailed his forelock out of the way. It's about 2" long and deep. He has a few stitches in it (PURPLE stitches, so at least they're his color?) So far it's healing really well. It's nice and flat, not hot, not swollen, not oozing. We've been riding without a browband, and I hot compress it every evening (he doesn't think that we need to compress it--our only saving grace is feeding him copious amounts of animal crackers.) That's followed with a thin layer of Neosporin. I'm pretty excited that the vet only had to drug him once--despite his spindly stature, this horse requires a double dose of sedatives for ANYTHING. His one major downfall, I suppose.

On a more positive note, he has been DEAD QUIET to ride. Today I got on, and we walked off and I was sure he was sick. He LUMBERED. This horse doesn't lumber, he must have a fever! Sickness! Infection! Nope, he's just doing great on the TC Senior and I'm riding a lot better. I've been practicing sitting further up/back every day, and it's hard but I'm doing it. Today we even started trotting to the left--we always started to the right as it was his good direction and we'd ease into the "bad" direction after a little warmup. We did a walk to trot to canter transition to the left (usually we trot right, canter right, trot a half turn, canter left.) He was a little goosey and scooty, his stride was kind of quick, but he did okay. My reins were also WAY too long (I ended up riding with my hands almost in my lap) so part of the problem was me. 

I had my mom to get on him to walk around as a little confidence building exercise for him. I want him to be comfortable with someone who isn't me on his back. I think it'll make him an overall more confident horse. He was a little nervous at first (since I bought him, he's had someone else on him four times.) He was anxious and wanted to jig, but he ended very well with a nice swinging walk across the arena. 

I also went shopping for my VERY FIRST EMERGENCY KIT!! I've never gotten to assemble my own first aid kit before, and as dorky as it sounds, I was so excited to raid the travel section of Walmart. A lot of people get to do this as kids, but I'm behind the game because I didn't show much at all when I was little (I chose not to.) I just need to order some horse-specific things from SmartPak and my kit is READY :D!

I was pretty pumped--I got a bright purple flash light in the camping section, and he has a set of purple and gray towels/wash clothes. I decided to expand our colors to purple and gray because I'm going to wear my new Drayer Physical Therapy shirt for XC (it's a medium charcoal/heather gray color.) I can't wait!! I just have a few more things I need--tan full seat Piper breeches, bridle bag, possibly a stall guard (going to ask around to see if I really need one....)

Sunday Funday

I finally got photos from the indoor! We've been riding for about a week now, so we're still quite rusty. He's been really quiet for the last few rides, but today was extra cold so he was extra "up." I'm still pretty pleased with him considering that he hasn't really galloped/played hard since winter struck.

And what would photos be without video?

I can't wait for spring!!! But we're all SO excited for the indoor. It's absolutely gorgeous--I've never seen one so nice. I've never ridden on such good footing either--it's shredded rubber.

He's quiet....TOO quiet.....

Yesterday was our first real ride in a LONG time, I think since the beginning of November. It was also the first ride since switching feed and supplements. He's been getting the TC Senior for about a week, and so far I really like him on it. He's getting 4.5lbs 2x per day plus his SmartCalm and U-Gard, and I'm also giving him alfalfa pellets as an extra meal. I think his weight is improving,  but it's only been a week so I want to wait longer for a more definitive answer.

He's been super quiet on the ground (not that he was ever bad, he's ALWAYS been an angel with great ground manners.) He just seems more subdued and happy to doze with his bottom lip drooping. Of course he still plays like a maniac outside and has gotten some well-earned battle wounds in the process. I don't feel bad for him--he brought them on himself for picking on the older boys.

They're all along the front of his face, so this photo cleverly disguises his ugly boo-boos. The outdoor ring was fantastic yesterday, so we were going to do mostly walking with a little trotting (trying to follow those eventing fitness schedules for horses who have been out of work for a long time.) He was a little looky at the beginning just because we haven't been up there in forever, but he was good. His only real "oops" was not standing still after I got on him. He wanted to jig and move, but getting him to settle and stand for a few seconds was much easier. We walked for about five minutes just stretching his legs and seeing the sights. After that we moved to one end of the ring to trot some circles.

He was a different horse.

He was more than willing to move forward if I asked, but boy was he QUIET. He started with a nice working trot, and I just floated the reins and my elbows to him. In Dressage 101 by Jane Savoie, she said a green horse learning to seek contact and be "low, down, round" should feel like a board with a rope on each end in a gentle stream. That's the most accurate description of how he felt. He was reaching LOW for that bit, and I tried really hard to sit up and sit back instead of leaning at him. He was good in his bad direction too. We did walk trot walk trot walk trot, something that normally blows his mind, and he was just as relaxed about picking up the trot as he was at the beginning of our ride. 

I'm so happy with how he went and with his new diet. The indoor ring is getting the footing on Monday, so I'll get photos of it when it's finished. I'm so excited to be able to ride regularly again. I think all this time off is going to help both of us a lot. I had plenty of time to read and learn so I can ride him better, and he had time to reshape his body and gain weight. 

We started putting together a schedule for spring/summer--getting so excited! I'm really looking forward to schooling at Gordonsdale in Virginia. It's XC schooling literally any day I want, just sign a waiver and pay $30. I haven't been in Virginia since I was a baby, so it will be exciting!