Tag: warmblood

Conservative

On By firnhydeIn Show Recaps2 Comments

Yesterday was a lovely young horse show at Penbritte (my favourite venue in the world), and since I have nothing but good memories of the young horse classes I used to do years ago on the illustrious Nell, it was the perfect opportunity to take the babies.

these plaits worked so well on his long mane

Gatsby has been on a little trip to my own yard, but never off the farm before that, so I was ready to do some slow breathing and apply some Velcro to my butt.

so many things to snort at

However, I need not have worried. He was perfect to travel and arrived looky, but calm. Once I got on he was a little up and he did have to stare at every single horse that went past on the noisy gravel path (his home yard is a lot quieter than mine), but in 20 minutes or so he had come right down and was relaxed and listening.

Water was being noisily pumped into a tank right by the judge’s box when I went up to introduce him, and it was very spooky – to be fair I would have been concerned riding Thunder up to it. But Gatsby was fantastic. He was looking, but he didn’t run back or jump, just stopped to have a look. Dad came over (thanks to the very kind judge, who was supremely patient) and just walked ahead of him up and down a few times and that was that.

tippy toes!

I could not have asked for better during his test. He did break to walk at C to look at the water tank again, but just for a few steps. If I had flapped and kicked at him then he would have kept trotting but I elected to let him have a look and it paid off because he didn’t look again for the rest of the test, and of course it was a young horse test so that didn’t hurt us at all. He was responsive, calm and obedient and even stretched down in both walk and trot. I didn’t quite get the rein back like I wanted it, but everything else was fine.

I was pleasantly surprised at his mark of 65% because he may be a 5yo but he really isn’t strong enough to do this test that well, plus, I was extremely conservative and didn’t ask him for too much. If I could ride it again I’d still be conservative, though. I’d rather we had a quiet round and both of us felt more confident afterward than that I kicked him and chased him into gaits he can’t balance yet.

Nonetheless we got lots and lots of awesome prizes by dint of a tiny class and really brilliant sponsorship from Equi-Feeds. Old Skye is on Equi-Feeds Golden Years this winter and has done much better than previous winters even though she’s almost 31, so do go and check their website. I’ve also fed their lucerne chaff and shandy cubes and the chaff has always been beaufiful and clean.

There was just enough time to stuff Tilly’s hair into plaits before we went to warm up. Tilly is an absolute professional by this point. She was a little bit hot when we started warming up but settled right down, didn’t even look at the water tank, and plonked down centreline totally relaxed.

Her test was fabulous. I only put the lengthenings on her a few weeks ago and they just come naturally to this lovely lady. Her only mistake was taking the wrong lead in her first canter transition, but we fixed it and she didn’t get flustered about it (Tilly doesn’t get flustered about anything).

what is my upper body even doing

After watching the other two horses in the class, I’ll be honest, I was pretty sure she’d be coming home with a day sheet. I was surprised when she came third. I was riding quietly but not quite so conservatively as on Gatsby, and the other two horses were not as through, supple, obedient, rhythmic and connected as Tilly is. The judge, however, was looking for more power and forward movement, so that’s fair. I was test riding too much and not showing off her potential enough for this judge, but she still had a mark of 66% and behaved absolutely impeccably all day, so it was still a super show. And we won unicorn cookies!

unicookie!

I would not have changed my ride on Gatsby, but I’ll be riding bigger lengthenings on Tilly this week to see if she can balance them. However in light of J showing me not to chase the horse onto the forehand demanding more forward, I’m still more inclined to build the strength slowly and not ask for more power than the horse can comfortably contain.

It was another well organized show at Penbritte and with wonderful sponsorship. My two horses could not have been better and their owners can be extremely proud of them!

Glory to the King.

Midgets and Giants

On By firnhydeIn Exavior, faith, Lady Erin, Lessons, Olive3 Comments

So y’all (okay, Emma) asked for more pictures of my beautiful Africa, specifically the 228ha that I call earthly home. I need no further excuse to fill my posts with pretty nature spam.

I love this place so much. I don’t remember a place before it; in a climate that can go from waving green fields bathed in golden sunlight to the savage majesty of a breaking thunderstorm in minutes, I know the swing of its moods almost subconsciously. Old Skye and I explored every hollow and rock; its beauty has ripened with age, grown up as I did, an unfading splendour that never disappoints. It was here that I first felt the inexplicable, mighty, dynamic, overwhelming presence that in my early writings I called “the magic” and that I finally found a name for years later: God.

This very earth runs in my blood. And like blood, I’ll leave it behind, but for now in my heart it’s the most amazing place in the whole world.

This morning was nippy as we headed out to feed, with a kind of shy, patchy mist as the sun came up.

On a far less poetic note, Lady Erin has entered the bug-ugly but button-cute stage. She still has nice legs and an impression of athletic quality, but it’s like someone took a baby warmblood and dressed it up as a donkey. A mangy donkey. The colour is very odd and don’t ask me about those floofy ears.

hello person hand, I eat you now

Faithy has happily adapted to the more domestic life and is milking it for all it’s worth. She’s perfectly happy to come over and let me do whatever with her, but only if I have a treat. And it has to be the right treat. She’s meant to be on a balancer to help her grow but she prefers the lucerne pellets, and will only deign to eat the balancer if I beg.

She has me all figured out and she knows it. It’s so adorable.

Also, Olive is doing great! She’s still not safe to ride because her neuro thing hasn’t quite recovered yet, in that the feet do not always go where they are meant to go, but she’s not complaining.

 

T was kind enough to get some pictures of Exavior’s session today. He’s been such a good chap lately. I tried to get some more canter on Thursday, but he again only managed one floundering stride. He seems very willing to try and didn’t resist at all; I think balance is a problem and the 15m ring that works so well for the ponies is not ideal for a big giant warmblood.

I don’t even look small on him right now but just you wait until he’s six or seven and as big as a bus

So we’ve made cantering on the lunge a priority. He just needs to build some muscles so he can hold his giant coathanger self up properly. He usually only works for 15-20 minutes at a time, but it’s amazing what you can achieve in 15 minutes if you do it often enough. Far better I think than doing an hour and frazzling a baby brain and body.

I like when the whoa button works

He feels so much less huge and impressive than I expected of him that I thought he was going like a real school pony, but on the pictures he actually looks pretty good. Even in the halter he has the obedience thing pretty down.
I like this picture a lot. I know he looks like a giraffe, but he’s supposed to. We haven’t even approached the whole connection conversation yet. I want him flowing freely forward and straight from behind at the touch of a button first. And here he’s actually doing well; he’s going forward by himself without my hands or legs even touching him, he’s tracking up, he’s even in a level balance. Not doing so bad after all.

Ignore me, I do weird things aboard babies, it’s kept me alive so far.

Then I rode a bunch of the others who were all very solid. Arwen jumped fine. Midas, Jamaica and Sunè schooled well. I petted Nugget’s neck and Faith exhibited some very athletic drama queen spooks upon being introduced to the bum rope when we talked about halter training. 

To finish the post, I must brag about this one amazing kid in the riding school. She’s five and she rides better than I did when I was ten or eleven. Seriously. Look at those adorable little independent hands. She takes exactly zero nonsense from Lullaby and I spend much of our lessons trying to think of a reason not to let her canter yet (apart from the humiliating one, which is that my nerves will not survive). This, kids, is what happens when you show up to all your lessons and try really hard.

I want like ten of them

Glory to the King.

Exavior 2016 Goal Recap

On By firnhydeIn Exavior2 Comments

Going into this year, I honestly thought Xave was going to be an unmitigated disaster. And he was, for a while. I have (obviously) gotten attached and couldn’t bring myself to sell him but he was threatened with being packed off to a lease home that liked his particular brand of crazy, because I sure didn’t.

Then he had his “brain surgery”. There is a reason why we call it brain surgery. Within two weeks the evil alter ego that charged, bit and trampled people seemed to evaporate and my big, dumb, sweet goofball was back in full force.

In terms of goals, almost all of these were achieved in the last three months. So that’s a win.

  • Bathing. Done! He hasn’t had a proper bath yet, but he gets hosed off after work and behaves like a grownup. Still moves around when his hindlegs get sprayed, but nothing that’ll prevent me getting them clean.
  • Loading. Done tolerably well for a horse that had a horrible boxing accident. He doesn’t like two-berths but he’ll box if someone gets behind him, even if he is sick and I am panicking (trust me, I know).
  • Continued improvement on injections. Well, he’s still an unholy terror to inject, but he hasn’t gotten up on his hindlegs in ages. Vaccinating is now relatively uneventful. Bigger shots require someone strong on the halter and a lot of local anaesthetic cream, but it is possible.
  • Lunging over poles. Nailed it. Slightly raised poles in all three gaits.
  • Introduction to small free jumps. He flomped over them up to 70cm in a disappointingly calm manner; I was hoping he’d do some Grand Prix jumper stuff and be all pretty.
  • Backing. Done! I got on, he went to sleep.
  • Basic aids in walk. We went one better. We have some rather floppy walk aids in a halter, and we have equally floppy trot laps of the ring.


This year’s high success is mostly due to the fact that our goals were freakishly low (like, I get this done on a sale pony in like 2 months maximum) but I’m nonetheless happy. Despite being vastly too much for me, he is quite on track for a barely three-year-old warmblood colt.
Next year is a little more serious. I’m setting goals as if he’s an ordinary horse I can handle, because right now he is acting like it, but that could change. And if it does, we’ll roll with it, even if I need to send him to the Mutterer for a few months. Exavior is worth it.

  • Continued improvement on injections. This is gonna be here for many years, I think. Just a slow process of not making a drama out of it might get us to some form of normality eventually.
  • Show in-hand without rearing. We are aiming for Horse of the Year in February, which may be a little ambitious but I guess we’ll find out! He behaves fine at home in the big field with other horses around, so it would be great if he’d stand and trot up nicely at the shows too, but as long as he doesn’t scare me I’ll be happy.
  • Hack. Even if it’s just to the big gate and back. This goal has me quaking in my boots but it’s gotta be there to make him a Good Citizen, although if it scares me too much I’ll pass. Some battles aren’t worth it.
  • By June, have 3 gaits. This isn’t a big ask for any normal horse, but Xave loves to push the boundaries of normal. I’m putting this here to keep it realistic. I don’t want to put pressure on, but I also don’t want to be stuck for ever with him. If he doesn’t have 3 gaits by June, he goes to the Mutterer.
  • Around his fourth birthday, attend a few training shows at walk/trot and Prelim. I so dearly would love to do YDHS in 2018 on him, and he needs to be solid at Prelim by February 2018 under pressure by then. The earlier we compete, the better.
  • Ultimate goal: be solid at Prelim by the end of the year.

This horse is nothing but a miracle so far. I hope my worldly plan for him is in line with God’s; but if it isn’t, then may God’s amazing and flawless plan prevail. I’m so excited to see what that is. Glory to the King.

Exavior Update

On By firnhydeIn Exavior10 Comments

After finishing all Exavior’s groundwork in the beginning of the year, I turned him out somewhere in mid-March to go grow up. The dude was only two years old and had his saddle, bridle, long-lining and voice commands all in place; there was nothing left to do except get on, and his brain had cooked. So I forgot him in a field for six months. It was longer than I had intended, but that’s just how the logistics worked out, especially with him being a colt and starting to really act like it.

Then in the middle of September we squashed him into a horsebox (seriously, you guys, it is scary how much space he takes up in his partition compared to the ponies) and shipped him off to the vet’s to be gelded. This turned out to be a very impressive thing to see. I’m used to the rural vets, who sedate it, anesthetise it, lie it down and then tie up the legs very securely before they start any cutting. This vet did him standing, and it was amazing. Because the horse was actually still on his feet (and thus presumably could still kick if he was so inclined) it was virtually impossible to work on him if he could feel anything, so the whole experience was pretty much pain-free for him. The most traumatic part was putting a catheter in his vein because of somebody being incredibly needle-shy, but they got it done (and after seeing how much fun he was to inject, sent me home with a tube of local for next time I have to do it). It was all over and done in an hour and we could take him home.

For the next week, I had instructions to lunge him for 20 minutes twice a day. This on a horse that hadn’t even seen a lunge line for the past six months. My preparation, as you can clearly see, was woefully inadequate, but we got it done. I had to lunge him in the field because he was still quite the stallion and couldn’t be safely brought down to the ring amongst the mares, but he surprised me by being quite manageable. And within about six or seven days his attitude completely changed. Suddenly and magically, he was my quiet baby horse again. He didn’t bite, he didn’t fuss when you groomed him, he didn’t call to other horses and he certainly didn’t rear up in hand. You guys, there is a reason why they call it brain surgery.

By the end of the week we were bringing him in to the ring in a headcollar like a normal average horse, not a psychotic warmblood stallion. And even before then, I was on him. I hadn’t realised exactly how much I’d been wanting to look between those particular ears until I saddled him up again for the first time, and as it turned out he lunged quietly with the saddle so I clambered up. I can tell you that after backing Midas (13.1hh), the view from up there was quite different. It is a terribly long way down! But he was as quiet as they come. Probably one of the quietest I’ve ever had the first ride on.

exavior1
so much derping going on here I can’t even

In the next two sessions, the Mutterer assisted us with an amazingly simple quick fix (more on that later) to get Exavior to actually move, and then things were pretty much peachy. Within three more sessions we had whoa, go and turn without any drama. He does like to get stuck in reverse gear and wander backwards across the ring while I kick and kick, but I’ll take it over doing handstands any day. I was fairly convinced that this horse was going to kill me during his first rides so I am one hundred percent content with the miracle monster.

It’s incredible how quickly we bonded. We’d never been really close like this before, but the better he behaved the more I trusted him and the more I trusted him the more I actually had hope for our future together and the more I hoped the more effort I put into him and the better he behaved. Soon I was looking forward to our sessions instead of fearing them, and he was asking for ear scratches instead of trying to bite my arm off. It follows, of course, that just after I had fallen head over heels for this horse, he became suddenly and spectacularly ill. (This appears to be a requirement for all my own pet horses – Skye did it, Magic did it, and now this monstrosity has done it). Naturally, since it was my own horse, I the practical and coolheaded yard manager melted into a puddle of panicky mush. We rushed him to the vets, who gave him antibiotics and reassured me that my creature was not actually going to die. He brought it on himself, of course. If he would let us inject him he could have had more effective preventative antibiotics after his surgery and would probably never have gotten an infection, but he’s a horse, i. e. has the self-preservation of a lemming.

Either way, just as he got over his infection (like seriously, his first session back), he smacked his hindleg against the side of the lunging ring and lamed himself. Because horses. So he’s back on paddock rest again, but I have faith that he’ll be back in work before very long. And after that, well, with his miraculous journey so far, who knows where God will take us next?