Spring Fever

Friend S and I got out 3 times this past week for some trail riding, which we're chalking up as a big win given work, the still too short daylight, and the return of the monsoons. There's a figure eight type loop we can do right from her barn that's mostly on her property and completely away from any public roads. It takes about an hour and has a nice mix of terrain too - I'm feeling very spoiled!

Bridget continues to be absolutely ridiculously spicy - it's still hard to believe she used to be so quiet/dull. I still believe she must have just not liked life as a sport pony because she is definitely on the hot side and absolutely full of opinions since we moved 'home'. On one hand my supposedly well trained pony should be able to stand still and wait patiently,  on the other hand meh, she's done her time and I'll pick away at it if it persists -  for now I'm happy she's happy being No 1 Trail Pony.

Sophie started out the week excellently and devolved from there. I hate to blame it on hormones/being a mare - but maybe? We trailered to the club grounds yesterday and while there were plenty of the other horses there, she found one to be completely obsessed over to the point she could not think of anything else. Said horse was minding it's own business being longed and ridden on the other side of the arena. You know that noise horses that are strangers to each other make when they touch noses (and the striking and kicking)? S incorporated that into daily life for about half an hour, non stop. My ears! You can imagine her feelings when her new friend did not show any interest in her and left for home (Sophie: "without even whinnying goodbye!" lol). The other people in the area went to use the indoor (I wouldn't have wanted to share space with us either, honestly) which left us alone. Surprisingly that didn't trigger anything - it was just that one bay mare she could not reconcile living without. She's normally aware of what the other horses in the area are doing but not to the point of any prolonged distraction, or any drama at all, really. This was definitely an out of character reaction to that one horse.

So, a much longer longeing and groundwork session than I had planned, until I finally had her full cooperation. I felt kind of zen about it  - such is sometimes the way with younger horses, particularly ones who suddenly have an immediate urge to randomly scream, strike and kick at the air rather than just trot forward consistently.

 

Insert zen scenes from weekend hiking here

Previous me might have been worried about my horse not seeing me as an effective leader, etc, but I think the reality especially with young higher energy Sophies of the world is that it's give and take and there are still going to be days she finds harder than others to be a horse (and I ponder not owning horses)

Hiking is a great hobby ;)

I did get on eventually for a short ride, but pony was already so overdone she was a sweaty mess. No productive riding accomplished, more of a cool down. She did feel fantastic for the short ride I had and settled very quickly - perhaps I need to consider sucking it up, getting on, and giving her a job immediately next time. (Note to Universe: please no, lets just never revisit this weekend's drama)

We returned home to an unexpected welcoming committee -  Friend S's gelding had broken out and was trotting around the front yard looking for Sophie...so perhaps it is just spring. Bridget and S's other geldings were unconcerned so perhaps they haven't caught Spring Fever.

Happenings

 The last couple of weeks have definitely felt like spring is coming, but we're in for some freezing temps for a few days this week. Since most of the ground is still very wet and likely to freeze solid, I expect the ponies will need a day or three off from riding. Which is fine, we've been taking advantage of the trails and arena the last couple of weeks and are slowly getting back into the swing of things.

Bridget's up to about an hour's walking on the trails and we did a short arena ride this weekend too. She feels like a total mess in the ring, but what can I expect - we haven't taken anything seriously there for a while. It's a bit sad, but on the other hand it's interesting to me to compare Sophie pony who is the opposite and wants to carry herself forward and in balance, despite being younger and far greener. B is Best Pony Ever, but she does not find it so simple.

I wish previous me understood that better - logically I knew I was working very hard with Bridget, but at a base level I always thought I wasn't doing it 'good enough' because so many others seemed to have such an easier time of it with their horses. It was very easy to get discouraged with my riding. While I am sure there is some truth to that (I am lucky to know some very talented ladies) I think I need to give myself a belated pat on the back - B really makes you work for it!

 I'm just trying to keep her at a base level of fitness this year so being in foal isn't too hard for her. I have no plans on setting the show world on fire and the appalling flatwork will improve again as we both gain fitness. 

So cute tho

She's been very excited to be out and about and pony prance is a thing a lot of days so perhaps fitness will come sooner than expected ;)

Sophie has been fantastic. She's walking with a bit of trot in the arena now and has come back ready for it. She's filled out a bit over winter and generally seems to have continued to mature mentally. I hop in the saddle these days and am very happy with how she feels.

Happy ears <3

I had a 'cowboy clinic' penciled in to the calendar for Sophie in March/April, but we've since changed that to a two week visit, likely mid to late March. The 'cowboy' has access to extensive trails and they go out in large groups. They also hold busy events at their barn. Our quiet little lifestyle and rocky, walk only trails don't compare so I think two weeks trail riding and living at their barn is going to be excellent mileage for her and a good prep for life in general. A friend is sending her young horse too. We're hoping to get over there for a couple of long weekends of riding (it's on Vancouver Island so a bit of a journey for us), otherwise the crew there will be getting them out for us.

I'm pretty excited for this - we can do all the clinics we like but it would be hard to round up a group of people here to go for a gallop or even a more adventurous trail ride. I feel like this will translate really well to busy warm ups, cross country schooling, showing in general and of course having a solid trail horse! 

I would like to have Sophie quite fit prior to her going so that's adding to my motivation to get her out often this next month or so.

Blah Blah Blah Horses

What did I actually even do this week? It really feels like time is flying.

A quick look through my camera and cell phone pictures shows that I actually did plenty. The weather was quite nice this past weekend and is projected to stick around most of this week. It's tricking my brain into thinking spring is here and it's time to get back to work on the barn and to tidy my garden spaces for planting.

 Since it's realistically only the beginning of Feb and we're far from free from potential freezing (and lots of mud) those inclinations will have to wait. Luckily, I also have spring horsey goals and this time of year is perfect for preparing for spring by getting the horses in shape again.

Sophie continues to be longed or hand walked on the trails every second day. I took her for her first public arena outing of 2022 this weekend and she was super chill and happy to be out. I just brought my longeing gear, thinking she'd be a wild child, but I really could have just hopped on and rode. I don't know if I've mentioned here before, but she sees the trailer getting hooked up and gets really excited - she loves outings and trailer rides, even if she's going solo. I was happy to see that hasn't changed over winter. She's so cute.

Less cute was farrier day when I almost suggested leaving her hinds for next time. She's such an awful mare some days, then sweet as anything the next. She's well aware of boundaries, but in typical mare fashion likes her opinions on things to be known. Luckily (?) she's super busy minded so you see what she's feeling in the moment, then it's on to the next.

Not like Ms Holds A Grudge For Eternity over here lol

Bridget gets a longe and a couple of outings a week too, but more to just keep her sane. She's been WILD, which with Sophie being quite businesslike and agreeable, makes for a funny contrast.

She thinks she's seriously intimidating and my laughing is not appreciated

Older does not equal quieter (or wiser) apparently. 

We did out for a nice hack with a friend yesterday. Given the warm weather and Bridget's shocking winter coat, she came back a sweaty mess after 45min of walking. 

The sun is shining! Unlike Sophie, B is NOT excited to go back to work.

Which brings me to the exciting bit - all the horses are shedding their winter coats! Spring really is coming (sometime ;)

I'm going to be covered in hair for the foreseeable.

Planning It Out

The second half of January has been all about getting the ponies back into a routine. Bridget's actually been far more wild than Sophie, although Sophie has her moments too and is back to being the most spooky bolty pony ever. I feel a lot more confident after last summer and fall of normalcy with her though. There is now that precedent set that with a regular work schedule she can be a solid citizen. 

While I think we all needed the break, the getting back at it stuff is a bit painful from my perspective - both of them managed to forget their manners and are quite dedicated to attempting continued world domination. Fun! 

The weather continues to be as dismal as this clip job.

Anyway, I thought I would outline our (very) tentative 2022 schedule here.

Feb:

Continued back to work exercise. There's a good free guide to that here. Basically I am hoping to be back to where we left off in early December by month's end and have at least a couple of outings to the local equestrian club grounds under our belts.

March/April:

- resume monthly local dressage clinics for 2022

- tentative weekend on Vancouver Island for a 'cowboy' clinic

- water installed and arena base installed at home

- organize (and participate in) online dressage test day (local)

May:

- Bridget to Vancouver Island for breeding

- Mountain Trail clinic in Vancouver 

June/July:

- move horses home

- Bridget back to Island if needed

- Vancouver Island dressage show (or ToC show)

- possible semi local xc clinic day (small poles and logs for Sophie)

August/Sept:

- Girls weekend away - clinic on Vancouver Island

- dressage show Vancouver Island

- Tentative Vancouver show

Oct:/Nov:

- Install footing and arena landscaping at home.

- End of season for local monthly clinics.

TL;DR version:

We've got a lot of fun girl's weekends and clinics planned this year, plus I'd like to get out to a couple of shows. I'm eyeing up the ones in the Comox Valley this year because it's 'just' a ferry ride there and back and I wouldn't mind trying something new. There's an outside chance we'll get to one of the favorites in Vancouver but at the moment that's very tentative - it's a longer way to travel and a bigger commitment with a greener pony. I don't entirely know what to expect from her at shows yet. The more low key island ones might be a nice starting point and they're ones I've never personally been to.

Recent view over to the island. It's about a 1.5 hr ferry ride from here and the route usually runs pretty reliably in the summer.

Bridget's getting bred to this guy:

Cross your fingers for me!

And I hope to have our tiny property ready for ponies this summer, arena completed in fall, ability for remote lessons shortly after that.

New ring is going on top of that nice muddy mess I've made driving in to pick up hay this winter. We're going to need some fill and drainage installed.

Steady

 With all that wild weather, the horses ended up with 6 weeks completely off and a really relaxed November too. Sophie ended on a good note at our early Dec clinic. Bridget just does whatever Bridget does so keeping her in work is more about fitness rather than training. While I started out frustrated with the weather and winter dark, I’ve come around to the fact that we all benefited from a time out. 

This one’s reverted to a more cautious welcome now that riding is added back in to reasons why I might be visiting. Food related visits are her preferred reason to see my truck coming up the driveway, of course.

My latest weight tape on Sophie shows another gradual increase. I’m well aware that they’re notoriously inaccurate, but I’m finding a weekly measure useful as far as keeping tabs on the general trend under all that fur.

To me,  she’s looking better, and measures about 50 lbs heavier than mid November. Around Christmas time I crossed my fingers and scaled back the massive amount of hay I was feeding, but so far she’s still getting rounder. Let’s hope it’s the Vit E working it’s magic! 

Actual condition is hard to see under that extreme winter coat - check out that belly hair! She’s pretty close to a good place again.

Quick aside re: hay. I don’t know if it’s the weather to blame or transport issues but there is a huge shortage this winter. I’m lucky I have a supply nailed down,  but it was ordered last summer with normal pony hay consumption in mind. Feeding two to three times what I had budgeted was making me pretty stressed. The truck came in last week and I refilled my barn, what a relief! 

Anyway, we’re back at it again. B’s been out for a couple of walking trail rides (after a couple of days of longeing out the crazy). 

Sophie’s getting and even more gradual start back with some walk/trot longeing and some walking in hand on the trails and up and down hills. She keeps herself busy moving all day, but as always topline isn’t magically there in the paddock. She’s a bit too wild to just hop on and expect a nice walk and stretch under saddle at the moment. 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before but she’s never matured as solid as I would have hoped - she’s pretty petite. With me and tack it’s right about that magic 20% number. I’m not as worried about that on a mature horse, but I’m inclined to be very careful with one that’s younger and been out of work. I think next week we’ll add in some canter on the longe and short walk rides and go from there. We don’t have outings planned until March so we’ve got all of February to get in shape and brush off the cobwebs :)

Would You Rather?

After 3 weeks, we've got enough rain in the forecast to melt all the snow (and give us more flooding, but yay?). We very rarely get snow, let alone snow for more than a day or two, so we're not really set up to ride. We're not equipped to handle more than a few days of freezing temps at all really - I've packed an awful lot of water to the barn these past few weeks. Fingers crossed we'll be back on track soon. The horses have had a month off at this point (so much for my annual Christmas break where I make all kinds of training progress!) but again I am grateful to be boarding at my friend's - she's in the same situation and also has a younger horse. We've got a plan together to get back on track just as soon as the last of the ice is gone. That plan might involve longeing very spicy babies for a week or two before braving the saddle ;)

Staying warm in the truck yesterday while the horses ate lunch

So, a big thank you Anxiety At A for the Blog Hop and content inspiration - sharing pictures of the ponies in the snow got old after the first couple of days.

 Spooky or Steady:

Steady. Confident, forward, and steady is where it's at for me. I really dislike spooky.

Had to look long and hard through the archives for a pic of one of mine spooking. Hi Ginger <3

Matchy-Matchy or Mismatched

In between? I'm not a 'look at me' type of person and while I like the look of matchy-matchy on other horses and riders, I'd feel a little self conscious...plus I simply don't have funds to have multiple coordinated outfits for my horses and I. I do like to look somewhat put together so I'm boring and my riding related stuff is normally black, navy, or grey so everything sort of goes together.

A standard ensemble

Tall boots or Half chaps

Tall boots - I only wear them for riding so they last me forever. I just got a winter pair I am in love with, but my old everyday Mountain Horse standbys are still going strong.

New winter boots, I really like! Link here

Indoor or outdoor

Before this epic winter I would have smugly said that where I live I can ride outdoors all year round and I don't need an indoor....ha  ha ha. Still, if I could only have one or the other I think I'd still choose an outdoor with lights.

Bay or chestnut

I'm partial to bay - it's my favorite color. That being said, a nice chestnut is my second favorite!

The original dynamic duo. I have a type.

Hard shell boots or sport medicine boots?

Not a fan of boots in general, but I'd go with hard shell if I really needed something on my horse's legs.

Free Board for a Year or 20k for a shopping spree?

Tough call. Free board would work out about the same value so I might go with that just to not have to pay the bill monthly.

Long or short mane or roached mane?

Short is my preference, followed by roached, then long. Long manes usually look messy to me, and the ones that aren't look too fussy. I'd go roached if I had a horse it suited, short seems to be a safe bet for most horses.

Lazy or hot horse?

I'll give a bit of a non answer here in that someone once told me it's easy to make a lazy horse sharp but difficult to make a hot horse quieter. I've found that to be pretty true so as long as we're talking extremes as in really hot vs really lazy I'll go with the lazy and train in the responsiveness for when I want it, enjoy the portable couch when I don't ;)

Lazy Bridget can be spicy if needed.

Private barn or a boarding barn?

A good full or co-op boarding barn can't be beat. So nice to have other eyes on my horses and to be able to have a day off if I want. That being said I self board here so it's better to just have them at home and save the board money.

Create your dream barn or own your dream horse?

I'm no fun and will go with the barn as it would be the safer investment and likely provide more years of enjoyment. I've learned that my idea of my 'dream horse' changes as I go and with time and effort your average on paper horse or pony can become pretty dreamy.

Roman nose or dished face?

Love a roman nose, but I own two slightly dished face ponies thanks to their welsh ancestry.

Ride an Olympic-level horse or take a lesson with an Olympian?

Been lucky enough to do both at different times, I'd choose the lesson as there's no way I was riding the horses anywhere near their ability. While it was useful to get a better 'feel' of what I needed to be working on, I think a lesson with a talented coach is the better bet for progress.

Own a miniature horse or a donkey?

Barn mini out adventuring with us

Both? If I didn't have neighbours so close I'd go for the donkey for sure. My horses have been stabled with both and I think if they had a choice they'd choose the pony. Somewhere I have cute pics of Bridget ponying the barn mini on adventures, but they're on an SD card somewhere so you'll just have to trust me on that :) The donkeys seem less amenable to adventures, but IMO they're cuter and funnier.

Looking Forward

As is my trend of late, this isn’t a ‘quantitative goals with timelines’ post. 

Of course I do have a rough idea of where we’d like to go in 2022. 

But, if I’ve learned anything over the last few years it’s that even these ‘non goals’ can change in an instant! 2021 brought us fire, flood, and Covid...and then there are the little day to day things actually in my control that I drop the ball on or misjudge. The situation is fluid, to put it mildly :)

However I’m also quite adaptable and resourceful so I'd like to think most of what I outline here will see progress, one way or another. Maybe for 2022,  if I say ‘go to a show’ that might mean a virtual entry from home rather than x show series on y dates. Or maybe we hop on a ferry and get there, who knows?

This could be a year of huge change with my husband's work closing. Relocating and/or taking a time out to travel is a strong option, or perhaps we'll just decide to stay where we are and stay quiet this year. I'm actually fine with either.

River above the dam and pen stocks the other night. Been a long while since there was steam coming out the big stack for the power boiler in the distance, but change is good :)

 

I'm surprisingly content with horsey progress and activities in 2021 and hope to just build on that through 2022.

Bridget:

- Breeding plan is back. There are a couple of new options for stallions that are very tempting. They all live at the same farm so the rest of the logistics remain the same. We'll see. Fingers crossed flights and transportation stay uninterrupted at a level of service that works for us this spring. 

Found this over the shoulder glamour shot in the archives. 

Sophie: 

- Continue to get her health sorted and optimized.

- Continue her education. Introduce little jumps, work on that canter. 

- Training level dressage show (Vancouver Island trip?) 

She currently measures a bit heavier then she was here, but still looks a bit underweight...she must have grown this fall too.

Activities:

Trying for one local clinic a month year round, plus one away trip per month starting again in April.

- Continue monthly dressage clinics with Sophie

- Mountain Trail clinic in May in the city. This was originally intended for Bridget, but might clash with her going away to be bred. A friend is coordinating some xc schooling in the same trip (why it might be fun to have Sophie confidently popping over tiny things by then)

- Get to EC’s place for a dressage boot camp at least a couple of times

- Girls weekend clinic on the island again - planning for 2 this year, one in early spring and one in August.

- Sophie to a “real” show.

Tiny Property:

- Water and power installed to barn early spring.

- Horses to move in late spring. 

- Ring complete by fall.

- Research wi-fi boost/extender options for future remote lesson possibilities. (and working from the barn, who am I kidding)

The snow made me really regret storing my hay here and keeping the horses elsewhere this winter. I'm going to be so ready to move them home and not move so much hay and feed around.

Self:

- Volunteer hours, support local equestrian club activities

- Encourage healthy, positive  mindset

- Continue to refine work/life balance

- Explore other career and location options

- More trailer driving (backing up) confidence

- Try to set up Pivo at least a couple of times a month and review. I have these tools at my disposal but am poor at utilizing them.

This seems like a huge list...maybe stay tuned for monthly lists where I break things down in to manageable pieces.

New Years Party

Happy 2022! Yesterday, the girls had a sunny, snowy play date that seemed the perfect opportunity for playing with my new camera. So, let’s start the year off simply - with a ton of happy pony pictures:

 

When you realize you’re not THAT much faster than the potato on your heels

Have a great weekend, everyone.