Summer Plans Cont'd

There has been a bit of a shift in priorities in 2025. I mean, it's probably pretty obvious there hasn't been a ton of riding or Sophie related goals going on for one reason or another. It's been a bit of a conscious decision to focus on getting myself sorted and prioritize being in a better place mentally and physically. 

It took a while, but late in 2024, I finally got around to taking myself seriously and following up with a doctor until I got results.  I'm now finally back running (slowly and badly) and able to do almost all the things I used to do pain free. It's really nice to be able to confidently set fitness related goals again. I feel so much more like myself. 

The yellow pony got the memo about time off anyway. In 2025 we've done ulcer treatments, she had a muscle strain in her off hindquarter, and we needed a new saddle. Then, last weekend, she ran headfirst at full speed into a tree. The one tree in a 2 acre field. The only obstacle. She ended up with a banged up face and a several day nosebleed, which was worrying. A minor for a horse nosebleed is still a fair bit of blood - our vet jokes this is why she can't go back to cats and dogs, her tolerance for chaos and gore is is set far too high after years of horses.  Fingers crossed Sophie's on the mend now - still a bit quieter than normal but otherwise seeming herself.

Glad I saw it in real time because it would not have been on my radar as to how this resulted

The trunk of that big willow tree is what she ran into. No idea why that seemed like an idea with all the other space around.

I tentatively had hoped to be back in the saddle for a lesson bootcamp next weekend with my old coach EC, but with the Tree Incident that's not going to happen. We'll have a catch up anyway - it's almost to the point we can start making plans for the boys and I'm very excited to have her on board for that.

As for the boys, they're very much themselves. They feel Very Large all the sudden. People with normal sized horses will laugh at me, but the last vet visit they weighed in at about 900 pounds each and my mind was blown. I think between Sophie and Bridget my default normal sized horse is scaled something like 850-900lbs and 14 to 14.2hh, so the 'babies' being bigger than that already was a moment :D I'd be shocked if either of them got over 15hh at the end of the day, but at 2 and a half years old I'm sure they both still have a lot of filling out to do. I'll be scaling up for sure!

Identifies as a giraffe

Random picture where I was shocked at how low the overhang suddenly looks in relation to the pony (it is 7', so it's just a funky camera angle... but still)

Tolerates being groomed but his friend LOVES a good spa day and tries to barge in. We reached an agreement where Reggie is entertained by holding the dressage whip and Buck respects out personal space.

I've got another weekend clinic spot booked mid July with our visiting clinician and the plan is to trailer in each day with Reggie. I'm really looking forward to it, it's a great bunch of people and a lovely positive atmosphere.

Independent trailer loading practice

I best bring a Folgers coffee can to the clinic anyway ;)

Between then and now, I've been drafted to be the photographer for a regional working equitation show. Exciting, but giving me a bit of imposter syndrome anxiety. This is not something I even pretend to do professionally, but equally it's a smaller show, I'm doing them a favor by stepping in, and it should be a fun opportunity.

This Time of Year

 Just some photos for you this week. I did have some adventures planned this weekend but the weather felt disagreeable and there's always another day.  After being spoiled with a cool and damp spring, summer suddenly arrived in the form of a very hot and humid few days. Everyone (ponies included) was melting. The humans were additionally sunburned and cranky.

Sophie also cranky. They spent Friday mowing across the street and she makes it A Big Deal every time. Mares, like why?  Luckily it is a big area and she gets tired of chasing them after a few initial laps. There is a natural ditch/hedge dividing it into two, so normally the boys stay on whatever side she's not occupying. 

Why not just leave her at home and save the drama, you ask? Because with true horse logic she HATES them but also is convinced she cannot survive with a city street between her and them. If we're measuring distances them across the street would technically be closer than their home grazing arrangements, but Sophie logic doesn't always logic:)

Sophie is normally the reason for the action shots of the boys tho ;)

"She sees us! Retreat!"

The vibe at home where they have their own space is much more chill. They're still pretty playful, but the roughhousing is getting less and less and they're acting more and more like grownup horses. Kind of sad in a way, but also not destroying everything they touch is nice.

This used to be part of my front lawn, but who wants to mow an extra half acre when you've got horses?

This time of year the vegetation is completely out of control.  I think in a perfect world we'd be mowing and weedeating twice a week but I don't have time for that.

My new coworker is so funny, she's like "I moved here last spring and thought everything looked so unkept and I was really judgey about people's yards and gardens. Now half my yard was been taken over by blackberries and I can't keep up and I think might just let it be wild"

Lucky for me welsh cobs are not fussy eaters and are not averse to trimming hedges and fence lines back, plus all those weeds and plants the books assure you horses don't touch.

Everyone had siesta afternoons this weekend. The boys were sweating just grazing in the field. I did get quite a few yard projects completed, but aside from the normal mowing and garden maintenance, it was mostly things that will be more exciting come winter (floodlights for the paddocks, a bunch of drainage pipe added, a few truckloads of gravel spread in the paddocks and some fencing replaced. When I put it like that it sounds busier than it felt!).

Summer 2025 Pony Plans

I'm in that awkward nowhere land of owning two year old ponies. They're good citizens for their age. They're also bored and smart little sponges. 

My own happy place for these particular 2 year olds would be to find things for them to do so they can be involved and challenged, but also keep it 1. Fun and 2. Not physically demanding.

Hanging out in the field of dreams

In an idea parsed out from a bigger conversation with the clinician last weekend, maybe it might be fun to teach the ponies some useful 'tricks'. Both to keep us all engaged and entertained, but also to challenge myself to being more precise and intentional with what I ask for. I've got really tuned in, sensitive horses, why not play with that?

Baby Pony Challenges:

- Instead of the standard taking a feel of the rope or verbal whoa or using my body language to ask for halt, what if I really refined it, even better what if it was something useful under saddle one day. Clinician's example was a deep exhale. From there, could we even refine it further to a square halt? My future dressage test self might like that!

- Same with 'go'. Does it need to be a pointing arm or 'chasing' body language? Could it be a small, specific sound that asks for 'more'?

- Come to me/back up. We practiced using little gestures. Hand up in your standard 'stop' gesture meant stay, standard shoo/go away gesture had him back up, and curling my fingers towards me had him coming to me. 

 - Teaching them to align themselves at mounting blocks etc, and reliably come when called. Sophie comes running and whinnying like we're in a Disney movie, Buck is a little leech as soon as he sees me and wouldn't THAT have been a nice feature to have installed with Reggie last weekend? Until then, I'm going to need to buy shares in Folgers :D

It's a pony leech, they attach themselves to you with their slobbery nose. They're especially attracted to clean office clothes.

Reggie giving a dramatic re-enactment of how catching him was going last week. It got worse before it got better, current status is I can call him and he'll (slowly) come if he's close-ish and put the halter on without dramatics.

The clinician (I'll call her B) comes to us via Germany. In a fun coincidence, once in Canada she had a job training, riding and showing for a Welsh Cob breeder for many years. So it was a bit fun that she immediately recognized Reggie's type and had an inkling that giving the pony a job and rules wasn't going to be nearly as important as teaching to pony to be ok with taking a time out and not trying so hard. She's also well aware of how surprisingly flexible and 'wiggly' they can be under saddle so there were a lot of moments on the ground where she was already trying to get me to be hyper aware of having him completely straight.

when the grass is so long you don't even need to stretch

I was contemplating taking Buck next month and alternating them, but we decided to just focus on Reggie for 2025, and I'll take home whatever I think I want to try with Buck and keep him learning in the background. Next year, they'll reverse roles. I like that because as she rightly pointed out it will be a lot more fun to just be consistent monthly rather than kind of being static every second month.

I really, really enjoyed her approach. If I'm honest, I sometimes I feel a bit like the square peg locally. It's always exciting when we find clinicians with a background in different disciplines and who are open minded to a variety of breeds, especially if they're willing to commit to regular visits!

Looking way ahead, if you've been here a long time you might remember the days of me living closer to the city and boarding and training with Eventing Coach (EC). I really miss seeing her regularly and part of my bigger long term plan is to find a way to get back in her area and on her schedule part time. Hopefully once the boys are ready to be going under saddle (and I finally have a new and reliable truck). Between B and EC and just owning some generally good ponies I'm feeling optimistic we're in good hands for the near future.

Spring Clinic Campout

 There were highs, there were lows, but a weekend with horsey friends is always going to be a fun one.

Tradey/Reggie/Buddy came along. (I give up settling on a barn name! I’m terrible for just calling him Buddy which is not what I wanted to stick. He definitely has Buddy the Elf energy but I do not need that to be a self fulfilling prophecy :D For the sake of clarity moving forward I’m just going to call him Reggie here and hope it finally transfers to my brain in real life too.) 

Life has felt unnecessarily complicated of late, and one of those complications is that our truck died last week and the mechanic shops are completely backed up until next month.  That left me without a way to actually get to said event. Luckily, I have the best friend living nearby, who offered to take us along with her and was conveniently full of faith in my baby horse and his ability to not be an orangutan in her beautiful trailer. I don't mind tent camping and Reggie doesn't need any tack or gear, plus town is only a few minutes away so it wasn't a big deal to pack quickly and lightly and rideshare.

I lucked out and found Reggie a nice outdoor stall neighboured by a tree on one side and a vacant area on the other. Ideal because he had friends around within eyesight, but no direct neighbours to annoy. As more people arrived, he ended up with a front row seat to the main campsite and all the associated festivities for the weekend which I think actually quite suited his busy and social self. 

view from my tent

We had a shared lesson first thing Saturday morning. I had zero expectations…honestly my goals were already surpassed when he took to overnight camping in a new to him place so easily. I just wanted him to have a fun and positive time. As a general background, he’s not done much. He leads, because he goes hiking with me. He does basic horse management related things like standing for the farrier or getting groomed. So we were going in pretty cold compared to the folks that longe and do groundwork patterns and exercises and are a bit more serious about such things. Never fear, though. He’s your typical smart and overachieving welsh cob who reads your intentions like a mirror. There was absolutely nothing presented he wasn’t willing to try to figure out. We had the building blocks just via basic handling. I send him through one of my gates at home before me and so the gap between that and sending him on a circle or waiting for me wasn’t a thing at all. Leading over logs on the trail is the same as poles on the ground as far as he was concerned. Anyway, he behaved exactly how I would have predicted - bold and curious, sensitive and super willing.

Day 2 was a bit rougher. Sleep deprivation and the aforementioned festivities were catching up with me, and two days in a stall was not doing a two year old high energy pony any favours either. He was literally vibrating with pent up energy so we started our day with an hour hike up a nearby hill/mountain. At the top of said summit, the fleeces and hoodies I’d piled on earlier felt a bit much. But when I went to take off layers I dropped the lead rope. Reggie immediately turned for home without me and I immediately aged about 10 years ;)  It’s going to be a super funny story in the future because the ridiculous monkey just walked 1 step in front of me until about halfway back down the mountain. Calm, but ever so slightly out of reach. Just as I was contemplating texting someone a heads up to intercept him on his way back to camp, he turned around and waited for me. Pretty sure he just thought he was leading me for a change, but of course I spent the entire time imaging worst case loose horse scenarios.

Our lesson was immediately when we got back, and there were some super fun moments and cool things tried. He’s so light and tuned in we were somehow making it look like we knew what we were doing. “Leg yields” , shoulder in, haunches in but on his own at the end of the rope just via reading my energy. So fun, I’m really interested in seeing how it translates under saddle one day. We played a little too with cues to get him to just chill out. He’s a pretty high energy guy and obviously nothing good comes from trying to force him to slow down, so I found the parts where we were exploring good places and cues as reminders for us both to pause and take a breath really interesting. 

If I’m keeping it real, there were moments too where he was pretty sure he’s a rock star that knows everything, with some tantrums expressed when the answer wasn’t what he wanted it to be. 45 minutes of lesson time was absolutely more than enough for his brain and mine. I also think I had a little residual anxiety coming straight in from our inadvertent mountain adventure on Day 2 and he's sensitive enough to be well aware of that! 

Everyone (including me) was super impressed with how he handled himself all weekend. Definitely a baby but he far exceeded anyone's expectations. 

The only super low spot for me was heading home - he really didn't want to load in friend's trailer. It has a rear tack which he found a bit confusing to navigate around, plus I'm guilty of letting him turn around and walk out in mine. So I think the combination of being unsure about the corner he needed to turn once in, plus worrying a little about backing out had him flustered. He's a good boy so he'd hop in like it was a straight load, but wasn't fully comfortable turning to walk right up to the tie. Totally on me, he's so confident with everything normally I kind of took it for granted he'd load right up and didn't think to practice ahead of time.  I messed up with my choice of halters as well, because why not (an old leather one that has lived outside for years) It must have been rotten because he pulled back the teeniest bit backing out and the headpiece broke at the buckle. And...guess what, I got to experience the loose horse anxiety spiral one more time :) He's surprisingly independent so he went on a forest adventure and could have cared less about us or his friends in the trailer. Luckily, I have good friends who talked me off the ledge and assisted in wrangling my feral pony. Reggie loves himself a bucket, so when we found an empty coffee can at a nearby home and got distracted with that we were able to catch him. Said coffee can was intriguing enough to lure him into the trailer too.  Another adventure that will be hilarious one day but I need time to get there ;)

Shout out to Folgers for saving my day

He trailered perfectly. Once we got home it turned out no one missed him at all. In fact his buddy Buck was actually Not Impressed to have him back in 'his' paddock. G took care of things over the weekend and before I even told him of our adventures and poor Reggie's homecoming reception he was like "it was the weirdest thing, I thought the horses might miss him but it was SO quiet and peaceful all weekend, the energy around there was completely different". It seems like maybe most of the things I chalk up to 'ridiculous ponies!' at home is actually just 'Reggie!!!' because as you can tell, my weekend contained plenty of ridiculous pony energy :D

Actual clinic photos were taken and going to be forwarded to me, but for now you just get Reggie camping pictures

Filed under 'things you don't know until you know', I really appreciated him living in stall/small pen for 2 days but I don't think that's setting him up for success. Next time I'll trailer in for the day and take him home overnight. I suspect it will be fine once he's older and going under saddle and we can burn off energy via actual work, but for now it's a big ask for where he's at mentally - he needs room to run and burn off steam and be a baby pony for at least part of the day.

Thinks he needs a job, but child labour isn't what we're about here

All in all, a very fun weekend. My good friend who trailered us is hilarious and understanding - "thank God he wouldn't load and made dumb baby pony choices last night, otherwise it would have been weird how perfect he was" :D

Vet Day

No hurt feelings if you want to skip this one, it's just a recap of our annual vet check up and some notes for future reference.

Sophie:

- Funny because she is the silliest, anxious mare, but the vet and all her helpers arrive with all their tool boxes and gear and Sophie's just chill and like "oh hey, haven't seen you in a bit, what are we doing today? Where would you like me to stand?"

- Discussed recent ulcer treatment and relation to some lingering stiffness in her lumbar area. Vet could immediately feel where the issue is and felt there was a very good chance it is just a lingering muscle stiffness/'knot' from Sophie holding herself differently when her stomach was sore. Everything else checked out fine, range of motion etc through her back seems good. She treated with acupuncture  - a first for us.

- Has a slab fracture on one of her molars. Sensitive to it, but it doesn't look like it extends to a worrying depth and fingers crossed will not need any intervention. Keep an eye on it. Husband asked if she needed a crown (and was calculating what a gold crown might cost on a horse sized tooth) but the vet kindly explained how horse teeth erupt and how it should grow out eventually :)

Buck:

- Uncomplicated. Had his teeth done and vaccines and a check up. Some little sharp edges, but minor and expected as he's 2 and it was his first float.

Has been practicing life without a buddy for a few hours a day

Tradey:

- Clown show. One of the techs that was here was also there for his gelding appointment a year ago - apparently they were laughing in the truck on the drive over about how ridiculous Tradey/that appointment was and how it was her first farm visit on her first day on the job and it felt like everything went wrong. Tradey was at the gate whinnying at them when they drove in this time. He never whinnies at anyone but he must have fond memories of the last time he traumatized everyone.

- The vet opted for a moderate sedation to start this time to hopefully not have the techs questioning their career choices again, and of course Tradey immediately turned into the lightest of lightweights and was falling down drunk. He then decided now was the perfect to get the party started despite being completely unstable on all four legs and snoring. 

Would totally be that annoying friend that way overestimates their ability to hold their alcohol

Luckily he's not at all worried or dangerous or anything like that, just super annoying - like 'oh hey I kind of want to grab your glasses out of your vest but I'm in super slow motion and whoa I'm falling over now, someone hold me up' kind of stuff. The vet has a good sense of humor and everything was fine. Sedating him apparently only served to magnify his inside voice that's full of all the bad ideas. 

Vet was like "oh wow he's annoying today :)" I broke the news to her that he is annoying every day (but we love him)

- Actual teeth/check up absolutely normal and fine. I think for next time we keep in mind he's prone to some interesting reactions to sedation. We've got a couple of barn improvements in mind, I'll think on it and see if there's anything we could do to improve workspaces for vet and farrier days.

Spring Things

 We've been pretty lucky out here, the weather has been absolutely perfect. With the long days, there has also been no shortage of pony time. One thing that has been unfortunately lacking is me remembering to bring the 'nice' camera, or really documenting or achieving much of anything interesting. After the wacky and stressful start to the year, I think it might be inevitable that I needed to exist without a plan for a bit.

Reggie trimming the rose bushes while Buck distracts me

But! But. That spark that was missing last year is still here, and plans have resumed for many Fun Things. First off is a 'camping'* trip and clinic in a couple of weeks with some good horsey friends. Most likely I'll be taking Reggie. *It's our local club grounds and backcountry staging area, so it feels weird to say camping like I'm off on a big adventure. Yes, it's camping at an equestrian campsite, but also it's 20 minutes from my house with amenities like outdoor stalls and Starbucks 15 minutes away in town :)

The spark has recently turned into a bit of a fire under my butt. Because guess who let apathy take over when things were a bit difficult elsewhere in life and didn't do the things like renew trailer insurance or club memberships? It's me.

Ponies staying busy mowing lawns

Keeping tabs on vaccine records or other documentation you might need if you actually wanted to take a horse somewhere this spring? Yeah, no, didn't happen. And if I didn't do that, you may also deduce that I have no idea what gear is or is not currently living in my trailer tack room, where all the camping stuff is, or even wtaf I was thinking when I put building supplies in the hay storage. 

Replaced the gate post, and Sophie malfunctioned and forgot how to go through it to get to her field

So, the past little bit has just been getting rid of the disorganization and backlog of things. Fixing fences that need it, getting the leaky trailer tire fixed, booking the truck in for a tune up before I tow anything, tidying my barn space, booking the vet for spring teeth and vaccines, getting the farrier out, cleaning the trailer, putting tack away properly...all those routine things I managed to put off. 

Awkwardly growing, still handsome

Disclaimer here - the vet is only a couple of weeks past due. The ponies have all been doing some serious self trimming this year so farrier just pops out every three months or so and makes little corrections if needed. We joke I need to market my 'majikal' program when really it's just good pony genetics allowing them to wear their feet evenly, plus them being active equines all winter on my gravel paddock bases. When life happens, low maintenance Welsh Cobs are here for you.

High maintenance Sophie ponies need to be shown this is still the same place you can enter and exit from. Take your wins where you can.

I had a quick visit with Bridget last night to check out her saddle situation. In true Bridget fashion, she was about as excited to see me as an inanimate object might be, but I gave her a hug anyway so she could hate me just a little bit ;) She looks fantastic, but she seemed smaller than I thought? Makes me think I need to measure the boys properly again, my perspective is apparently changed!

 

First Day

Life outside of my happy bubble has been a bit of a challenge lately. Like almost comically challenging...is this real? Am I actually in some crazy reality TV show? (if so please let me win the million dollars?)

But! You know what counteracts all the bad stuff?

 Ponies.

(And G, plus possibly also chocolate and tacos and sunshine and gardening) 

But for the purpose of this blog, ponies. Ponies living their absolute best lives on the first day of summer field turnout.

Edix Ishya

 I'm beyond over this whole 'find a permanant saddle for the yellow pony' journey. So, right up front let me say this saddle is lovely and a solid choice. I think I'm extra grouchy and fussy and currently incapable of being too excited about new saddles ;)

I've settled on an Edix Ishya. If you're not familiar with the brand, don't worry, neither was I at first. Like so many horsey things, a friend of a friend was using one and put the idea in my head. At that point everything they sold was treeless and I wasn't sure that was an answer for my particular concerns. 

Then, recently a visiting clinician had a new treed model and let me have a sit in it. Miracle of miracles, the standard set up fit me just fine. That rarely happens - I am not a tall person and more modern styled dressage saddles almost always mean my knee ends up jammed in the block and the flap ends at my ankle.

Images from the Edix website. I love the brown most, but the trial version was black and I'm not messing with what worked ;)

                               

I associate the company more with treeless saddles, but this one is advertised as a 'flexible tree'. I wasn't sure how Sophie would feel about that, but it rides very much like other synthetic trees to me. There is plenty of structure and just a bit of flex. It has changeable gullet bars, changeable blocks, I'm told even the panels can be changed out to a different shape or moved to make the gullet wider or narrower (and are wool flocked). Even the stirrup bars are adjustable, again a win for those of us who aren't average height.  All that felt positive for me. Looking forward let's hope it's also suitable for some growing cob boys in a year or three.

Real life version on Sophie.

Likes: 

- As above, all the adjustability for pony fit. I feel like this gives me options and that's necessary when I live in a bit of a saddle fitting/trying desert. Adjustable blocks for me are a win too...you'd think you'd just need to set them up for yourself once, but I had a saddle once I absolutely loved on Bridget, then on Sophie's rounder shape the blocks did weird things where my knees wanted to be and I hated it.

- Is quite compact, but still has some width to the panels - ideal for shorter backed ponies. 

- Feels/looks like a quality saddle for the price (around 4k CAD new).

- Sophie is nowhere near the widest gullet plate, we're quite comfortably in the middle of the range. She's often in the top end of regular saddle widths, but not wide or flat enough for the cob or wide saddle ranges. It's nice to be average for once.

Next up, we need to tackle bridle fit and the not cob, but also not horse sized dilemma.

Not sure/if I'm being as fussy as Princess Pony:

- In general, a bit "more" saddle than I like. I think in my heart I'm an old school saddle girl and would rather have closer contact than lots of cushion and big blocks.

- For me, the twist feels about as wide as I'd be comfortable with. I get that wanting super close contact AND a narrower twist on a wide pony isn't a thing though. Like the above comment re: blocks, twist is obviously a personal preference thing.

- The cantle is super high. My hips aren't overly pleased, I may need a taller mounting block. Dislike cause that makes me feel old ;)

-No keeper or space to tuck stirrup leather tails. I think it's expected you'd use the webber or mono leathers, which honestly aren't my personal preference.

Is it really going to work? Will we find out in a month or two that she's annoyed in new and interesting ways? Stay tuned, I guess :D

So far, she started tolerant the first ride (which is a win in itself with this mare) and is now feeling happier every ride - her main complaint is now that her (sheepskin!) girth is 'itchy'. So I'm cautiously optimistic.