planBE

After weeks of heat wave and no rain, the grasses are dry, the plants dying and my husbands beloved Hungarian pepper plants are on their last leg. But the grape vine is thriving. I had planned to stay home today during the thunderstorms to get some housework done (eugh). Once the chores were finished, the sky was grey but not menacing so I skipped out and had another lovely ride. Thats another two lovely rides since my amazing ride of Thursday, although these rides were not quite as lovely as the first. I had to keep adjusting Q to maintain the rhythm as he would speed up randomly. The walk transition at the end of this video is seat and voice. Ive started clucking at him if he doesn’t respond to my seat, but I found myself having to pick up the reins way too often on these last two rides. I guess we wont be doing bridle-less trails anytime soon. I probably should head back into the ring and practice bridle-less again, but the reality is that he is WAY more forward on trai...

Temperature dropped to a balmy 21 degrees, the breeze soft and constant. The bugs disappeared! And somewhere in the middle of my ride, as my Q floated into a lovely trot-canter transition and gave me a lofty lope up the trail on the buckle one could hear me exclaim “wow, you are just the best horse ever!” To which Q flicked his ears back at me. So today was my best ride in weeks. Months maybe. Having not ridden much this week with work and the ridiculous heat wave, I figured it would be a good idea to do a “flight check” in the riding ring before we tackled the trails. In less than 10 minutes we jogged and loped both ways, nice sliding stop and we were good to go. Out on the trails he was soft and relaxed, happy to be directed with the heat of my calf as we jogged through intersections and trail changes. And he gave me a lovely right lead canter depart without too much effort. It was so beautiful that I pulled out my phone mid jog and grabbed this new scene for the blog. ...

It is one of those funny summer days, usually more common in July. It starts out stinking hot with stifling humidity and a temperature soaring over 30 degrees by 8 am. And then at some point in the early afternoon, everything changes. Before that though, and after the crew shared in the ice cappuccinos I brought them for breaktime, I headed to grab Q for a quick walk in the woods before I lost my nerve in the heat. I pulled him from the stall to find his lunch still unfinished and his eyeballs sweaty. Yep, change in plan. Off to the shower for a long icy cooldown instead. He has gotten bolder in drinking from the hose, and when he figured out how to play with his lips to douse me in water he watched me as I shrieked and giggled. And then he did it again. I was soaking wet. I got a little clip but cut the video when I started squeaking. We found the only grazing corner in the shade near the road as trucks and cars passed by (way too fast) and I got to eat Qs banana ...

Holy camoly did I have a good ride today! We are thick in the middle of our second scorching heat wave (and ensuing forest fires) of spring, as summer just started yesterday. It is an unusual weather pattern. So I planned for an early start to get on the trails for a quick ride before the sun started beating at 10. I was back at the barn with a sweaty horse in tow by 945. I had planned for a short loop of mostly walk and trot with a bit of canter. I wanted to check in with my buddy Q as our last trail ride ended in a “discussion” about key principles when heading home, and our ride after that was a tough cantering session that left Q with sweaty eyeballs. So it was time for another trail diagnostic. He was brilliant. An angel. The deer flies were out in abundance so by the second mile I launched us into lovely jog that Q proceeded to maintain in rhythm without prodding, holding or any aiding as he was on the buckle for two miles. It was so smooth and relaxed that I was able to ...

Ahh the irony of life. As my hip pain disappears it is now stinking hot. I still went on a little meander down the trail yesterday and the forest was literally steaming. Unfortunately it is impossible to convey this in an iphone pic. But I try. For 3/4 of the ride, Q was a saint. Nice swinging walk, relaxed body, on the buckle. I lamented that I can’t swoon about him with anybody anymore. Nobody cares how amazing he is. Not even my husband. And then, as we approached home, he trotted through the intersection that would ensure him speedy passage to his pile of hay. Um, no. We backed up that intersection twice before he was able to walk through (albeit tense and bouncy). I then decided to have him serpentine and figure 8 through some trees on the windy way back. He resisted the neck rein and leg cue to turn back, and then tried to trot forward when we turned to head home. Um, no. We did that a few times. He got testy. I got firm. It certainly is a delight that I can saddle ...

My hip is pretty sore these days. Well, the piriformus muscle actually. It gets inflammed when I push too much, so its been alleve, heating pad and limited riding for a few days. I did manage to get to the barn yesterday and saw the crowd of boarders heading out on a beautiful sunny yet cool day. Lovely! So I went to get my horse, groundtied him near my tack locker and got him ready for an easy trail around the woods. He really wanted to know how many peppermints he would get. He knows the mints hide in my locker. Sometimes, even though he is groundtied, he will sneak up behind me and try to get an extra. Of course he never does, and I drag him back to his ground tie spot, but he still keeps trying. I dont know how he does the sneak thing without me ever hearing a footfall. Turns out there was lots of traffic on the trails with out of town members coming to finally yahoo their way down the wide sandy tracks. Made me want to avoid weekend riding all together. Q was generally ...

It is a painful choice as the drive to-from the barn is close to two hours, and it costs about $15 in gas alone. I love going to the barn several times a week for the social component and the time I spend with my horse (and away from work, computer, media, tv, chores, etc). But sometimes I just don’t feel like riding. More often than not, I just saddle up and go and of course never regret that choice. Sometimes I tag along with a friend and the company makes up for my lack of motivation. There are times I specifically choose not to ride. When Im feeling grumpy. When Im in a rush. When the weather is not cooperating especially in heavy winds or rain. And when Q is feeling particularly charged. Instead I will free lunge in the big ring. It allows Q to gallop strongly and let out a few good rears and bucks that he does not quite have the opportunity to do in his turnout paddock. Free lunging is something my fellow boarders do quite regularly but there are many barns that do not allow ...

Action, reaction. Balancing energy flow. A few times a year I have our acupuncture veterinarian come for a session with Q. Sometimes I have noticed symptoms, and sometimes I just like the second opinion of our friendly and wise acupuncture specialist. This time I wanted to confirm the saddle fit of the new western saddle I got last fall, and wanted to see what the “walking on eggshells while going downhill” was all about. Good news, the saddle fits great. And as for eggshells, yep, Q showed a pain response in both hind muscles. So out the needles came and I got to watch Q start getting all droopy as the acupuncture did its thing. It is fascinating to watch, and learn, as our acupuncturist explains the Qi (chee) and the meridians and the trial-and-error of finding the right spots to achieve the correct response. The good thing is that horses are intrinsically honest and quite responsive to pain. So once the needle is in the right spot, the pain response magically disappears. ...

Just when I start thinking Q is too mellow, and maybe something is wrong ... a fire-snorting dragon appears and he bounces me home. The first half of my trail was delightful and relaxed. The second half, Q was so amped that I feared to let him canter for not having any brakes. So in between his jumps and jigs, I promised him a long cantering session in the arena upon our return. He lasted eight 40 meter circles (4 on each lead) at a canter before he exhaled, relaxed and was able to lope on the buckle. I gave him a double dose of that and then finished off with a gallop and sliding stop. Hopped off, gave him a peppermint and a nice pat on the neck. After which was a shower and a nice graze on the grass. And I realized I need to do a bit more of that. I think I will declare the summer of 2020 to be the season of canter. We need to work on it. He is tricky cantering on the trail and will not consistently pick up the right lead, nor am I able to rate him with my seat. He is all go...

I have never cleaned a sheath. And I have owned four geldings for a cumulative 27 years. I wanted to tackle this project with Q 2 years ago mostly as a training objective but also to keep my watch on any potential cancerous growths (the second plague of the grey horse). My barn owner is an old pro at this, and she tackles the dirty deed for most of the geldings in the barn. So I asked her advice. “Make sure you can touch him between his back legs as non chalantly as his shoulder” So that project took a year. Every grooming session I would carefully brush between his back legs. He is still ticklish but I spent every bath session last summer with a hose on his sheath. But today, the fearless leader introduced me to the sponge, soap, and (get your jewelry off your hands) manual extraction of all the gross smelly gumminess that is lodged in there. My objective was not cleanliness, but acceptance. Both figuring out what I was supposed to be doing, and how much to pull out the c...