The New Diet Plan

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Britt

Thanks to a recent dip of the mercury, Foster has already started getting that lean-winter kind of look to him. After getting his mini-vacation, I had hoped I would return to a happier horse who was ready to get back to work. Instead, my first ride back included walking around, starting to trot, immediately getting off, grabbing the hoof pick, grabbing the lounge line, and lots of analysis of why my horse was all-of-the-sudden not quite right on his left hind leg.

Video still from Sunday, leaving left hind behind

Not quite right enough that the next morning I called the vet, who was able to come out the next day for a lameness evaluation. Foster was actually much better and the stiffness/soreness that I saw Sunday was actually almost completely gone. Instead, she theorized the lameness could have been due to his inability to metabolize sugars correctly, an issue that becomes more prevalent after bouts of inactivity (Foster spent 2 of those 5 days in a stall due to rain, plus his normal stall schedule). His weakly developed hind end could also be indicative of such a disorder.

Cheerfully waiting for the vet

Luckily the treatment is an easy fix, and as readers know, is one I have been considering for a while– a change in diet. Namely, to get him on a high fat, low sugar feed that will promote muscle growth, with the ideal results being that he will travel straighter and develop those hindquarter muscles that he is currently lacking. The feed best suited to his need is Purina Ultium, and potentially add Vitamin E and Magnesium supplements as well. Considering how many times Purina Ultium has come up in my prior research and by recommendation, I feel confident in that direction. With the additional recommendation that we get a chiropractor out to see him, Foster should be feeling like a million bucks with these changes.

Better eats for this kid!

It will be interesting over the next few months to see if Foster does indeed improve behind, and what benefits he reaps from nutritional changes. I’ll be taking Foster’s ‘Before’ photos on my next barn visit, and will monitoring him on a monthly basis for progress.

Goal Check

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Britt

Thanks to Viva Carlos and Poor Woman Showing, I realized that crap, it’s December, and oh yeah, what about those goals I set at the beginning of the year? Is there any chance of completing the remaining goals in the next few weeks?

The house goals have all been met, and then some- again, update post coming. Design goals- maybe there won’t be a design blog, still fiddling around with the idea so we’ll see.

One goal conquered- this brush fence!

Otherwise, here’s the list of goals I set for Foster for the winter:

~~Lengthenings, and lengthening-to-collected transitions~~ I’m going to call this checked, since we commonly practice it now, and while not perfect, it’s happening. Finally.
~~Keep hacking away at canter transitions~~ Yup, made big progress with this- still not perfect, but hacked away at, it is
School corners – showjumping style
Angled fences/combinations need to do more of this, but we started
School chevron if at all possible still not sure if this is possible?
Introduce conditioning program
~~Clip all the fur!~~ check.

Go figure the remaining goals to be met are the jumping ones. Of course, this is my weak link, especially when in the winter all I want to do is be a dressage queen. Also, if I’m honest, I find it a struggle to get time in the jumping arena after work with the current lesson schedules and Foster hasn’t cared for that arena in the dark which makes me loathe to go up there alone and jump school anyways. Phew, glad I got that off my chest. Time to grow a pair/make jump schools happen on weekends/find a buddy to watch me jump at night, I guess. Ugh.

Why, yes, I do fancy myself a DQ sometimes.. ill-fitting boots and all.

Some other stuff going on that I haven’t decided if I want to share yet publicly.. otherwise it’s all about the house and updating stuff before the weekend! Yay!

Foster Gets a Vacation, probably

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Britt

Why do you do this to me horse?

Last night I made the mistake of trying to go to the barn after work. I had a lesson at 5:45, and figured if I left at 4:30 I would arrive at 5 with plenty of time to groom, tack up, and get on before Eliza’s arrival. At 6:20, I finally arrived at the barn. Lesson had to be cancelled, and I was so frazzled I couldn’t imagine actually riding, and instead I curried all the mud off a rather dirty pony and worked on a little in-hand piaffe preparation stuff. I was able to figure out how to ask for the cue while walking, so the night was not not a complete wash, I guess.

Having learned my lesson from last night, there is no chance I will attempt to get out there again tonight, when traffic will likely be even worse. Since of course the next several days will be dedicated to family and turkey, Foster will get a little vacation. I don’t think Foster’s had 6 consecutive days off all year, since we had such a busy season. So even though there’s plenty to work on at the moment, I’m not terribly phased that he gets to veg out for a little bit.

We’ll get back to the grind next week, and keep working on that collected canter (which is feeling better, maybe we’re getting somewhere!) and fit in our lesson somewhere. Expect radio silence for the rest of the week as I recover from a turkey-induced coma.

Looking a little confused that I was leaving without riding

Y’all have a happy Thanksgiving!

Cross Country Schooling: Video

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Britt

Finally got the video together!

I see a lot of things wrong with my position (pumping my arms when I get nervous, lower leg swings, and what the hell am I doing when he goes off of that big drop?!) but the video still overall makes me smile. Foster is clearly having a blast and I love watching his expression, and seeing him finally start to learn how to cover ground! Not that we’re going to ever win a race with a Thoroughbred, but he’s learning how to lengthen his stride a little more, and that’s awesome.

Thanks again to Ali for all the video!

Looking back at the Season – Part 2

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Britt

The second half of the year we continued with our busy schedule, and threw in both a Hunter/Jumper and Recognized show for fun.

Hunter/Jumper Show, August 2014

July – Hunter/Jumper Show
We went to a Hunter/Jumper show for a change of pace and with the goal of getting in jumping rounds in a low pressure environment. Leading up to the show, a series of crap schoolings and trying to fix things instead of leaving them alone left me with a super tired pony who just wasn’t up for what I asked of him. He tried very hard though, and still earned us two 4th place ribbons in a couple classes. I learned a lot about show prep for my horse and about the world of H/J.

FENCE, September 2014

September – Recognized Horse Trials at FENCE
Foster’s first Recognized show, and my first one in about 10 years had me pretty nervous leading up to it. I did my damned best to prepare my horse for it, and overall it was a success. What felt like a fairly good test earned us our all-time low of 30 for dressage, and we debuted the helmet cam with a rockin’ cross country course up a small mountain and coming in well under time. I made a mishap of not getting to the start box as soon as I should, which looks bad on paper, but oh well. Foster was tired on showjumping day and took out 2 poles, which was pretty good considering I was almost concussed in the warmup.

CHP, October 2014

October – Carolina Horse Park Horse Trials
Another show at the Horse Park. Although an unrecognized event, they reused the course from the Recognized show prior, which meant I finally had to jump the dreaded trakehner and brush fences. The footing was super sloppy, which was a first for Foster, but he handled it well. We had a slightly tense test for a 31.7, and added 1 time fault in showjumping with a scrappy round. I thought I was going to puke with nerves before cross country after watching multiple refusals, but Foster came through brilliantly and went double clear. We got ourselves another 4th place ribbon.

CHP, November 2014

November – Carolina Horse Park Horse Trials
… and yet another at the Horse Park. A more forward dressage test and a harsh judge gave us a 35.7, but left us tied for second place. This followed by our most fluid showjumping round, though I made turns way too way big and Foster accidently dropped 2 poles. I then went out to cross country preparing for a fun run around, which I was having when I forgot a fence and was pulled up 3 fences from home. Ended on a Technical Elimination.

Our Season By the Numbers
Total Shows: 10
Number of Horse Trials: 5
Average Dressage Score: 32.65 (67.35%)
Average Number of Poles Down: .85
Double-clear cross country runs: 3 (4 if you count that we probably would have gone clear without my TE, regarding pace and jumping faults)
Number of Ribbons: 6
Color of Ribbons (Placings): 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th
Times I Forgot Part of Course: 2
Times I dyed Foster’s tail purple: 2

As the numbers show, our tendency is to be at the top of the pack after dressage, then for me to mess things up in the jumping phases. From now on I am holding myself to a mandatory second course walk. But, looking at the positives- we learned a TON. Foster’s confidence at the level has come in leaps and bounds, which in turn has made me more confident. Pace has not been an issue at Novice, though admittedly, there are other venues that run Novice faster than the few I attended. We had one run-out this year, and that was mostly due to my being a passenger instead of kicking on. Since then, my mantra of ride every fence (other than being ironic at the last show) has been a helpful attitude and keeps me from getting too laid back about seemingly easy fences. I should tattoo it on my arm, right next to where my cross country watch goes.

Next year’s calendar will be interesting, depending on how long it takes for us to feel ready to move up to Training. There’s another Running Start Horse Trials in February, and then we would wait until May to do another unrecognized event. Combined Training shows will help us dip our toes into the Training test and battle some showjumping courses, which may be just the ticket. I’ll be spending the winter thinking about our goals and what is the right path for the spring, and hoping the season goes just as well as 2014!

Looking back at the Season – Part 1

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Britt

2014 definitely marks a year of doing more shows than I’ve ever done before (at least with my own horse, because, IDA). Now that the show season is officially over, it’s time to be retrospective and look at how things went.

Running Start, Feb 2014

February – Running Start Horse Trials
This was our debut at the Novice level, and technically a little on the more difficult end of a move-up course. Foster put in a great dressage test (a 35.5 put us in 2nd after dressage), and was about as relaxed as I’ve ever had him. He then went double clear in showjumping. On the cross country course, he came out a little strong, but did his first jump into water and faux trakehner confidently. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep my leg on at the half coffin and he had a silly runout, followed by my celebrating too early and not realizing I hadn’t yet gone through the finish flags, racking up a whopping 26 time faults to leave us at the bottom of the pile placing-wise.

MacNairs, March 2014

March – MacNair’s Combined Training
Somehow I barely remember this show. It was an eh dressage test for a 33.4, and I did a crap job as pilot and we brought down one pole for a 2nd place ribbon.

CHP, May 2014

May – Carolina Horse Park Horse Trials
Our first Novice at the Horse Park, and I remember being pretty intimidated. Instead, I had a solid dressage test, scoring a 31.3. Our showjumping course was pretty sticky, but Foster’s clever feet got us around for a double clear round. Cross country was the first time I really had a blast the whole way around, and we came in with a big grin and double clear. We earned ourself a 4th place ribbon, our first Novice ribbon!

The Fork, June 2014

June – Fork Combined Training
We drove down to the Fork so my mum could see the painted pony in action. I tried for a forward dressage round that may have been borderline rushing, but earning a 31 nonetheless. I didn’t get to walk the showjumping course at all, and it was the toughest course to date- with two one-stride combinations and lots of bendiness throughout. We took out one rail and I believe we placed 3rd overall. We followed the show with a super fun cross country schooling, and practiced our first water-upbank-fence combinations.

Thus concludes the first 1/2 of the year! Tomorrow, part 2!

Good [Cross Country] Times

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Britt

This weekend I had the opportunity for a fun cross country school at Running Start. The day was a semi-casual opportunity to play with some Training stuff and just have fun. Even better, Ali was able to video and capture some gems on tape!

My plan is to put together all the clips and do a bit of editing, but since I haven’t gotten around to that yet, I thought it might be just as entertaining in the interim to make a few gif’s of the better moments.

Not that all the better moments meant stellar riding, like when this happened:

Though they weren’t all disastrous, I promise, and Foster was mostly, if anything, a little overconfident…

Seriously, I don’t think these water jumps are going to be a problem!

From a different angle, and his first attempt

Superman!

Foster did his first corner!

And we had a blast just working on our gallop!

Will get the video together soon!

Being Thankful

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Britt

Cue the Thanksgiving-themed post about being thankful. Sorry, not sorry.

But seriously, isn’t it important to take a moment and remember all of the blessings in our lives? This year has been one of emotional duress for me and my family, and so in this season I feel it is especially important to recognize all that we have that is dear.

The Husband
This year we celebrated 5 years of being together, and our first year of marriage. I can’t say how thankful I am for our time together and these memories, and for having someone in my life who is so patient and understanding. It doesn’t hurt that he can also tell the difference between a leg yield and a lengthening, and I continue to be impressed by his support of my hobby.

Family
This weekend, we’ll be celebrating the birthday of a loved one that has spent as much time in the hospital as out of it, and we are so thankful that they are once more doing well. I’m thankful to have a better relationship with one of my parents. And I’m thankful for bonding with my Grandmother over Outlander, and the knowledge that I am not the only one in this family that goes crazy over all things Scottish.

Career
Another turbulent part of my life this year. But somehow, I managed to land a position with one of the top companies to work for in the country. I am still shocked that I’m here, but I am immensely grateful. It still amazes me that this is where I ended up, and that I do work that I really love. And let’s be real, I’m incredibly thankful for this job because it allows me to afford a horse, and that, to me, is a big deal. So many, many thanks here.

Thankful for wearing grown-up clothes again

Thankful for having an excuse to wear grown-up clothes again

Friends
It’s been a year of weddings for many of my friends. I feel blessed that I am been able to be a part of some of them, and I’m glad to see them happy in their married lives. I’m also thankful for making new friends this year, mostly through horses, and I sincerely look forward to getting to know these people better the rest of the year.

Thankful for moments like this… (aha, don’t kill me!)

Foster
You knew this was coming. This has been a big year for Foster. I’m thankful for finding a barn where I think he is happy and healthy. I’m thankful that he has become so confident on the cross country field, and that he has matured so much in the dressage court. I’m thankful for his boisterous, puppy-dog attitude and for the affection he gives me when I groom him. I’m thankful for being able to see him grow, and cannot believe it’s been almost 4 years that we’ve been a team. Here’s hoping for many more.

Dressage Lesson Recap – Starting Second Level

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Britt

No rest for the wicked, as I’ve said before, and after a nice day off after the show, we had a dressage lesson. Now that the season is officially over, instead of doing test run-throughs we can now focus on new material, which will hopefully prepare us for next season and beyond.

Eliza mentioned that she thought we would work on the basics of piaffe this winter, since that is the extreme version of what we have been trying to teach him- to really sit on his hind end and stay active behind and light up front. Since I’ve never ridden the piaffe before, I can tell you the idea of such an upper-level movement is both daunting and pretty durn exciting!

Blue Hors Matine’s famous piaffe

Similarly, we will also be spending a lot of time focusing on collection, lengthenings, and lateral work to teach him to lift his shoulders. We set a tentative goal for next year, which is to compete in a dressage show (which I haven’t done in a long time!), aiming to do a Second level test.

Even though we set these goals at the end of the ride, the lesson did incorporate primarily Second level movements. We worked on collected walk, lots of trot-halt (for half a second)-trot transitions (for sitting back), lengthenings-to-collected trot, and collected canter (gosh this is hard).

Working canter

We also spent a lot of time working on lateral movements within the walk. We started with 180° turn on the haunches, really focusing on making it super correct. I need to think about weighting my inside hip bone and keeping his haunches to the inside so he doesn’t leave them behind in the turn, as well as keeping my inside leg back so that he keeps the bend around it. Talk about a lot of coordination! And something new I learned- the turn on the haunches movement allows the horse’s back feet to travel about the size of a trash can lid, whereas the walk pirouette, which we worked on after, keeps the hind legs within the space of a dinner plate.

Since this post is already getting long enough, I’ll combine my other notes in bullet-point form:

Work on collection and lengthenings in one ride, suppleness in another – it is very hard at this point in his training to demand both within the same ride
Practice square turns at the trot for lifting his shoulders and turning, renvers as well
Lots of half-halts, remind him to carry himself
The moments in collected canter where he *almost* breaks are the moments where he learns
Walk-canter transitions set him up best for collected canter
Demand active hind legs from the first canter step

We’ve been busy, and so tomorrow I’ll tell you guys about the exciting cross country schooling we did his past weekend! Are you guys getting sick of all the recaps? Sorry!

Show Recap: Carolina Horse Park – Cross Country

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Britt

After showjumping, we headed over to the cross country course, where I incorporated a couple small angled fences as directed (admittedly not as extreme as at home, I wussed out a little) and felt out whether or not I would be able to rate Foster in the new bit. I also started to panic that I couldn’t remember all of the fences, since our course walk was interrupted by nightfall, and I hadn’t found a chance to revisit the course that day.

With that as the backdrop of our tale, I invite you to watch the helmet cam:

That’s right. As much as it pains me to say it, I went off course. The offending fence was a dinky little vertical at the top of the hill before the bank, that I flew by without a care in the world:

Otherwise, we were out there having a blast, and Foster was listening exceptionally well (other than getting distracted by a rider coming home after fence 1), and was coming back to me easily. I was pulled up with 3 fences to go, and I have no doubt that we would have come in double clear had we completed the course.

So, there ends our last show of the season. While of course it is so disappointing to not finish, I am thrilled with Foster and some of the progress we made. While not our best dressage test, we still proved that we were competitive in a large field. We put in a fluid showjumping round and got all of our spots. And we had one ~~erm, 3/4~~ of the most relaxed and confident cross country courses to date, with Foster feeling as rideable as ever. It’s not the way I wanted to end the season, but it’s another definite learning experience. I thought 3 days later I would be super bummed, but somehow, I’m not. I’m proud of how Foster went and have a lot to look forward to, and that’s all that matters to me.