Trails were lovely today and the sun was shining. Our trail buddy was very tolerant of trotting up his butt, as I had little control with my phone in hand. I was lucky to not drop my gloves or phone in my filming sequences.
My quest for a good enough bit is still ongoing. I had a great d-ring copper thin snaffle that worked great for 3 years from our early saddle starts to our summer trails of 2019. But then I noticed lip rubs this summer and realized that Q had outgrown his bit. I switched to a hackamore while his lips healed, and then I borrowed BOs eggbutt stainless steel snaffle in a slightly bigger style. Q was ok with it, but he had become quite mouthy, often fussing with it. My guess is that his small sensitive mouth does not handle this thickish snaffle very well. So then I borrowed a myler comfort snaffle. It was ok on trail, and ok in the arena. But he was still fussing when the contact started. And more importantly he stopped wanting to take the bit when I bridled him. Which was outrageous because Q has now learned how to bridle himself and will usually grab the bit on his own. Now, he was spitting it out. I took it as a sign. So we tried a smaller copper snaffle and Q liked th...
Necessity is the mother of invention. After a rough dental surgery today, I am now on a liquid diet and tied to my sofa to binge netflix for at least 2 days. Last night I had nightmares of my teeth being ripped out (usually sounds like strong velcro). Before the appointment I took a wonderful sedative prescribed by the dentist, and despite my anxieties and worries, it all went well. And no velcro sounds. More like a ratchet. The short story is that the bone around two molar dental implants had been breeding a serious infection and the bone loss was severe, threatening the nearby real teeth. They popped the crowns on Monday, extracted the implants and set in the bone graft this morning. I have dozens of stitches on my left side, and am on a steady cocktail of antibiotics, antiimflammatories, steroids along with hourly ice packs and two page list of instructions. Since I never have smoothies (too much sugar), I was looking forward to this part of the diet. Drinkable ice cream here ...
Annual Trail Rides : 148/200 (Bareback 10/12) Ive been wanting to do this for a long time. Ive been amping up my speed on trail quite intentionally, being more consistent with canter departs, lead changes, and transitions. Ive also been working on much longer canter stretches, pushing my endurance and managing my breath. The result is that Q has now defaulted to a lovely cadenced canter on trail for long consistent stretches, while I have dropped all contact and sit on the buckle. Which helped introduce two bucket list items: 1) cantering downhill (Im so fearful of tripping hazards since my last horse was a daisy-cutter) 2) I managed to film a long sequence with my phone while cantering on the buckle Talk about trust! The small clip is below. Ive also been spending consistent time with my horse loose grazing under the power lines after a ride and bath. He loves it because his turnout is in a dry paddock! And recently he has been coming to graze next to me, while I sit in the grass...
Classes are over for the holiday season and I have 6 weeks to finish grading, clean up some administrative tasks, facilitate an executive session and get ready for a new term in January. Not quite easy street but an important marker for the year and plenty of riding time ahead. As long as the weather and footing cooperates. Good news is that footing has been great so far and I have enjoyed it so much that my body aches all over. Good news is that my horse is doing brilliantly on solo trails, lagging behind a group and leading out front. His jog is phenomenal and his cantalope is coming along pretty well. I haven’t cantaloped on the buckle while riding with others as his energy is more forward, but his jog on the buckle leading or following others is coming along very nicely. After having ridden several days this week with others, I now feel the need to ride alone for a bit. To be quiet with my own thoughts. I am getting annoyed at little things and it’s probably best to distance myself...
Sneaking in between endless days of meetings, I got a chance to go see Q and check out the trails. Given the rain, ice, and increasing presence of spring, the trails have been dubious at best and most boarders have stayed within the confines of the indoor arena. But this day was warm, bright sun, blue skies, and the parking lot ice was looking like crumbly crusty snow. So we dared to consider a little trail ride. Q was hot to trot and I was doubting my sanity a few times. But he kept it in check, and despite a few tricky icy spots we had a lovely 30 minute meander in the woods for the first time in two weeks and it made me happy happy. So Q is now 10 years old and doing just fine.
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