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.

Pony Party

I have no stats to back it up (because there are none) but it felt like the rainiest winter ever. April has been gentle, though and it's finally started to dry out. If you're from the area, you know what that means. The fields are finally usable again!

Happy dance!

I was a little unkind and started by putting everyone out in individual spaces for 30 minutes twice a day. After minimal grass since December and everything currently growing like crazy, we need to be careful. The horses, of course, thought that was pretty miserable of me, but I'm thinking founder would have been worse? Kids these days :)

Adorable child horse tho

In the last week or so, the boys have been going out together and of course insanity has ensued. Surprise! They're zero percent more mentally mature than last year.

They both turned two at the beginning of April and they're still very much babies. 

Height and weight increases may not be proportionate to mental capacity increases.

remembering the ground is edible

chasing each other in tiny circles all day is the best fun though

Sad times when this pony is the good behaviour example :D

It's the time of year where everyone's looking slightly moth eaten and I'm raking up buckets of hair after every grooming session. The corner store guy dubiously asked me how many cats I own, answering the question of whether I really was presentable in public, even 'just for a quick stop' ;)

Trying New Things

Everything is great. Recent events have led to an unexpected silver lining of feeling very positive about the opportunity to draw a line under that hard stuff and embracing the change. I know the universe does what it will and I'm not owed a thing, but it still feels like good things HAVE to be on the horizon :)

Since my last update, I audited another straightness training clinic, which was fun. This time it was under saddle and practicing some of the groundwork exercises. The groundwork and under saddle work was interesting, but a lot more aligned with basic dressage exercises I'm already familiar with that help improve different weaknesses. I didn't find it quite as useful for myself as the previous one I went to that mostly evaluated different horses at a standstill. The predictions based simply on the picture presented, considering conformation, musculature, and posture were kind of mind blowing to me, after coming at it from a more rider/handler 'in motion' perspective.

While there, at an unrelated event, I bumped into a few old riding buddies I've been terrible about keeping in touch with, and we discussed a coach we all really enjoyed. Turns out she recently retired from her real job and is open to resuming visits here once a month.  I'll sign up for that! A groundwork or in hand trail clinic or two would be a fun thing for the boys this year. Of course if I ever ditch toodling around in the bareback pad for a proper saddle and a plan Sophie could attend group dressage lessons too.

Ready to get out and about! Sorry for the low quality photos - bringing the camera is the next step to getting back to a blogging routine.

Objectively the timing for baby horses was good and I've loved every minute of them, but them turning two years old feels like a milestone. It's really making me happy to think I can start doing a bit more with them. Planning for a riding future seems like an actual long term goal now rather than a far, far away sometime in the future type thing.

I've been gradually expanding the cob boy's educational boundaries. It's been a few years since the last time and I do feel like I'm approaching things differently. We'll see where that gets me. I'm at a weird stage of old school calm and practical getting it done, mixed with being a lot more aware of the value of choice and positive reinforcement. There's something to be said for the breed too. They're so much different than the typical quarter horse I grew up with. Generally much quicker thinking and engaged. Often the trick is to get them to try a little less hard ;) You don't need to build any softness or responsiveness or wake anyone up around here.

Reggie/Tradey is now surprisingly good to longe or long line walk/trot. There are of course little moments that come with being a Baby Horse doing the thing for the second or third time ever, but I think even with another session or two he'll be solid.

 He's proving very easy, he's one that's just naturally both confident in himself and also tuned in to his people and happy to be given a job. How lucky did I get with that? A: Not lucky at all probably because I think his breeder knows what she's about as far as making sporty, ammy friendly cobs.

Just wanders off and happy in his own company. This is not far away, but as far as Sophie and Buck are concerned it's a moon landing ;)

Tradey's 'brother' Buck is currently going through a Wild Dolphin phase. It's actually hilarious because he absolutely has to vocalize a 'WHEEE!' and then you know the leaping dolphin routine is up next. I've inadvertently created a funny quirk when I'm leading or handling him and he desperately wants to play - he knows my bubble is for safe grown up pony behavior, and his little built in warning system gets things nipped in the bud. So I just hear a lot of quiet 'whee' and tiny squeals under his breath, like almost inaudible while he walks along seemingly quietly. I just love him. He's different to Tradey for sure but he's absolutely fantastic in his own right. I think he just needs a little longer for his brain to fully install before we try learning too many new things :)

WHEEE. Currently his favored way to move quickly is by leaping place to place like a frog/dolphin. I'm trying to reassure myself this is not his permanent interpretive version of canter :D

Obviously I have at least a year or two before we're even thinking of having grown up pony expectations of them. So, they have very short sessions with the emphasis on having a job and learning things being fun, just setting the foundation for a ridden pony life. The absolutely wonderful thing about having them at home is that 5 minutes here and there is what they need and it's also exactly what I can easily do....there's none of the feeling like I should put time in since I drove all the way to the barn (or didn't put any time in because I didn't have enough).

Baby Buck for tax, since I'm well aware I shorted you on media this week.

Sophie's new thing to try is of course a saddle. I'll update that next...we're still in a trial period with a kind of out of the box solution and I don't want to jump the gun declaring anything.

Peace

Thank you for your kind comments on the last post. 

The silver lining to everything is that I'm back with a renewed appreciation for the happy life I've crafted as an adult and all the good people and things filling it. Younger me was way stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. 

I've been spending a ton of time out at the barn. The sun has been shining and it feels like spring! Everyone (except me) is shedding like crazy.

Signs of spring here and there. I really need to get the vegetable garden tidied.

Sophie finished her round of Gastroguard and sucralfate a couple of weeks ago and scoped clear. I didn't do a follow up scope last time (we did the initial and the 30 day one, then gave the extra 30 days treatment and crossed fingers) and regretted it because the assurance they were really gone would have been valuable for easing my own stress levels. It's nice this time to know we're on the right track this time. I've just being doing groundwork with her since, getting her back into shape, partly because no, we have not solved the saddle issue (more on that soon). We have a follow up vet appointment next month to investigate a couple of other small things to get her feeling her best again.

Vet also said she's too round, it's a fun line to walk with needing forage 24/7 but also being a pony.

The boys are both looking fabulous. It's time to start considering some revamped barn layouts, though. They still get along and play and roughhouse all day long, but they're starting to get more serious when there is food involved. Buck in particular is wearing a few more teeth marks than I'd like. They have hay 24/7 but it's in a shared shelter. I have enough paddocks, but adjustments need to be made so everyone can have a non-shared shelter/hay space on rainy days. 

Trying out borrowing Sophie's house in the daytimes. He approves.

She also approves because the middle winter paddock has grass right now, and grass>house in her opinion.

I've been doing a little bit more with the boys. They're learning how to longe in a way. In a way because I'm paranoid about young horse legs and repeated circles, so it's more walking and trotting on a longe line as I walk alongside. That has been surprisingly easy with Tradey, and complete chaos with the baby dolphin we've somehow acquired over winter (Buck). He's a good boy, but his brain is short circuiting this spring and he's also going through a stage where being velcro'd to me would be far more preferable than experiencing the world isolated and excluded a whole 8' away on a longe line :D. 

The state of them

Honestly, they're both generally a little too feral and pushy at the moment - we might argue as a product of their age and gender, but really it's a result of my own lack of discipline this winter. Also, the things I let slide because 'they're babies' somehow seems less valid now they're days away from being two year olds. If I'm really outing myself, Sophie wasn't much better a couple of weeks ago. So, I needed to step up, because we all know it's not going to be perfect all the time, but scoring three out of three on badly behaved ponies in one day means we might need to start getting judgey about their handler ;)

Random lake interlude to break the text wall

I'm easing my way back into being part of the local horsey crowd by auditing a straightness training clinic this coming weekend. I'm also organizing a saddle fitting weekend put on by a lovely lady I was in contact with regarding training and educational resources. She offered to come here for a visit, so that's a win for our little community.

going to the gym again

On the saddle fitting topic, I've got my SMS Trainee status now. So, I'm 'officially official', but with recent events I took a little break and don't have anything new in the calendar for training milestones as of yet. I went into this thinking I'll do what I can when I can and refrain from setting goals or timelines and I think that's the wise choice. 

The day I find something this pony and I both approve of, you'll just need to hand me my Master Fitter credentials already ;) Everyone is like "Oh she looks fairly straightforward!" when I send a conformation picture. Then the tracings are met with silence because the picture lies and she is tiny IRL plus she is extra wide AND a little curvy AND there is 15" of saddle space AND she is shaped like a wedge of cheese with a big hind end and narrow shoulders just waiting to suck that saddle forward lol

A Short Intermission

It's been a couple of weeks. 

There have been a few no good very Bad Things happening that are tough subjects. 

Someone important to me passed away recently. It was a complicated relationship.

Life would be easier if the villains in our stories were always irredeemably evil. But in this case, and I'm sure as with many real stories, it's far messier than that. 

Mostly I'm just left feeling sad. I can't change the past. I don't have many regrets about that. But now the chapter has ended, there's no resolution, no redemption arc, no one lives happily ever after? That's hitting hard.

So, bear with me while I take a short intermission to wrap my head around things, deal with some of the logistics, and let the sunshine back in. There is so much sunshine here - the ever wonderful G, all our fun adventures, and of course the horses to keep you updated on. I'll be back soon. 

This spoke to me today - change the future with positivity in the present <3