Short Rant (*steam*)

This came up both in a class of mine today and in another blog I frequent...

True Statement: a thinner bit is NOT a harsher bit.

Folks, let us go back to basic highschool geometry. Take out a piece of paper and a straight edge and draw a line. Now, find a stencil and draw a circle.

How many times does the circle touch the line? If you answered "only once" you are correct.

Now, draw another line and another circle, and make this one maybe two times as big.

How many times does this new circle touch the line? Only once.

Does your horse really need an extra thick snaffle? I don't think so...

This exercise completely disproves the theory that a thinner mouthpiece on a bit is harsher than a thicker one. Why? Because no matter how big your circle, it will only touch any given line at ONE specific point, and that point will never get any bigger, because a bigger circle is still a circle and a circle is a circle is a circle. Basic geometry. Until you get down to about 1/4 inch in diameter, a bit cannot be deemed more severe (1/4 inch and you start to actually cause a cutting action, and that is certainly bad...)

However, a bit CAN be too thick! Since we are talking about a specific amount of width allowable in a horse's mouth and not an infinite line, the horse has only got so much space in his mouth to hold a bit. If a bit is so thick (and many of them are made far too thick) that it can't rest comfortably on the horse's palate and lay quietly over the tongue, you have completely muddled your line of communication. Instead of saying "please rotate your head to the left" you end up saying something like "plesh rotashatt ygaurshmo hashed tow tuehr legheft"...not to mention, how great would it feel to hold a big ol' wad o' metal in your mouth? Makes it awfully hard to swallow, close your mouth comfortably...

Your horse will thank you.

I apologize for the overt snark of this post, but I argued for a good 15 minutes with a classmate about this...seriously, who taught her math classes? I'm no math whiz, never would claim such a thing, but I do remember one or two things. Simple geometry, folks.

Rant #421: Spending lots of money does NOT a good horse owner make

I promised this was coming...

I work at a barn. Big surprise. There are a small handful of boarders year round, but most of the horses are school horses for the college program and seasonal boarders who come in the colder months and take their ponies home during the spring and summer.

The boarders who are there year-round are mostly show horses, gone large chunks of the summer to various parts of the U.S and Canada.

What does this all have to do with the title of my rant?

Having lots of money and being able to spend said money on your horse does NOT make you a good horseowner or horseperson. In fact, in many cases it makes you look like an idiot who, if you'd taken simple, logical measures to protect your animal's health and wellness, probably wouldn't have had to spend all that money to begin with.
I obviously cannot and will not name name's, but we have two owners with horses, both of which have suffered injuries this summer. Both horse's care has been dumped on the staff (AKA me and my two supervisees), the owners generally don't come out more than 3 times a week to see their animals, and both have spent exorbitant amounts of money on the horses when ALL that was necessary was for them to put aside their personal needs and wants and give their animals down time and proper rehab. When you pull a horse who has essentially been on stall rest for three weeks with an injury (which has more or less been diagnosed, but you refuse to buy into the diagnosis) ride him lightly for two days, take him to a four day show and he comes back lame again, WHAT do you think is the problem? Could he have perhaps been pushed too hard, too soon, and not been allowed time to come back into proper condition? What a crazy idea!

I know. The horse world is rank with this crap. People treating their horses like motorcycles, expecting them to turn on whenever they are called upon without proper warm-up, conditioning and care. A friend of the BO overheard us griping about this very topic earlier this summer, and her response? "Everyone in the horse world has their own motives, to each his own". I REFUSE to buy into this. We aren't talking cars or motorbikes or speedboat racing: we're talking about LIVING, BREATHING BEINGS. These animals require every bit of conditioning that human athletes do, and just as much if not more care paid to them.

My approach to keeping my horses has evolved for the better, I think, as I've gotten older and accumulated some knowledge, and began to form my own opinions. I will stick with this approach for the rest of my life, because I believe in it and see it work every day: spend money NOW to avoid spending more money later. I am a huge fan of preventative care. It doesn't mean I drop thousands of dollars on ridiculous things my horse may or may not need. It DOES mean I always shell out for quality basics, and examine each aspect of my animal's health and performance on a regular basis. For example, I can guarantee Stella will have joint issues, especially in her hocks, later in life. She's slightly sickle-hocked with a long femur, not great for soundness if she's pushed too hard. I've set-up a fitness program that allows for more than enough time to develop her muscles and joints properly. I don't push. I allow for lots of long and low and working in a longer frame, and only ask for some more collection if I feel she's nice and loose.

I always, ALWAYS buy the best hay I can afford. You end up wasting more money in what the horse doesn't eat (or vet bills from eating the yucky stuff) than if you just shell out for a nice, quality hay. I prefer a nice, soft, grassy first cut myself. I don't believe in feeding only second cut: a mix is one thing, but feeding out only second, in my experience, leads to digestive issues. Too, horse's teeth are meant to GRIND stuff. 2nd cut is hardly a challenge for their teeth...

I've cut out all of Stella's grain rations: she only gets a 1/2 lb of alfalfa pellets per day and a pelleted ration balancer to give her everything she needs. She doesn't know the difference, and it takes out one more un-natural tendency people have when keeping horses.

I could go on forever about what I do, but ultimately, the greatest thing I do for my horse is as follows: if I feel in my gut something is not right, I don't get on. If I do decide to, I proceed with extreme caution. I watch, feel and observe like a hawk. None of this "Oh, he'll probably work out it" nonsense. It's just not worth it in the long run. I learned that the hard way with Ernie: he was put back to real work too fast, too soon after the first suspensory tear and we ended up with another one, setting us back almost 1.5 years total.

So, I go to work, and I care for these broken down horses, who are far too young to have these issues. There's a 6 year old who was a champion under-saddle as a 2 year old at the national level. Now? He's been stuck on stall rest for TWO YEARS, after a bone chip fractured and caused serious issues in his hock. He's got hip issues as well. No horse that young should have those issues...

When it all comes down to it, money is not what matters when it comes to taking good care of your animals. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn it down if it was handed to me, God knows I've got bills to pay. But you see plenty of people who keep horses on a budget, and those animals are as healthy and happy as can be. It's all about the preventative: if you can prevent it outright, why not?

Clothing Fail: Why I Haven't Seen A Mall In Months

Many horse people live in barns. This isn't an unusual practice for us. After all, the barn is a wonderful place where our dearly beloved animals greet us with nickers, where we spend countless hours riding, grooming, bathing, cleaning tack, gabbing with other fellow barnmates, etc.

I am no exception to this rule. I LIVE in the barn. Even when it's been bitterly cold and windy as hell, I am there: three, four times a day minimum. I go before classes, between classes, after classes; basically, I'm there whenever I'm not doing homework or sleeping.

So why is it that I still cling to the idea of keeping "nice" clothes, AKA clothes I don't wear to the barn? After all, on a normal barn day in Vermont, I deal with this:


And this:


This picture was actually taken in November into early December, during a really warm spell that left our fields and paddocks looking like bogs and our horses looking like piglets.

I should really give up this concept. This summer, I essentially spent an afternoon going through my entire wardrobe, deciding whether or not items would be worthy of being called "nice". For me, "nice" has come to mean clean clothes that lack horse slobber, manure or other horsey stains and smell like something other than a permanent leather clean/hay mixture. It could have holes in it, but it's still "nice". I know I probably needed some things: winter-wear that I could layer, for one, so I stole from my stockpile of "nice" clothes to form a newly refurbished barn wardrobe. It's sad, if you think about it. Normal people go out an buy new things when find they need them: I just rummage through my old stuff and reassign it based on smell, stain coverage and general need. I ended up buying a giant plastic storage bin to store all of my barn gear, and when that got too small, I upgraded to large plastic under-bed drawers so I could organize based on season.

Thus, this brings me to my dilemma: I haven't been clothes shopping (for myself, anyway, I've done it for the Ernie and Stella multiple times) in God knows how long (I take that back: I went underwear shopping about a month ago, but I don't think that counts...) When I go clothes shopping, it's an in-and-out process. I know exactly what I need, how many I need and what color I want. I come, I see, I conquer. I leave no room for trying on random finds or perusing sale racks. After all, I have to get back to the barn.

This fact leaves me with a couple problems. No. 1: I realized the other day my wardrobe has dwindled significantly, down to nothing more than a few key t-shirts, sweatshirts and a few decent looking pairs of jeans. Everything else is stuffed in a bin with other barn attire. I could count on one hand the number of items that hadn't seen in the inside of a barn. No. 2: I have serious issues trying to dressing up. I rarely go out, and when I do the occasion is usually casual enough that I can wear a recently washed sweater or decent-looking top and a clean pair of cords or khakis. I don't have anything else that's fit for the judgmental public eye, the people who don't KNOW how dirty you get with horses and don't understand that fact that you just DON'T CARE.

It's always sad when I get clothing catalogs or go shopping with my mom; I look at the clothes and thing, "Gosh, I'd actually WEAR that..." and just as I feel tempted to get a dressing room, remember that, "Wait, no I won't. I have no place to wear it to." Especially being at a technical college, where "dressed up" is clean Carhartts, I just have no use for those types of things at this point in my life. Clothes are expensive, and I just don't have the money, though it's certainly tempting.

Perhaps one day I'll actually enjoy shopping, because I won't feel bad when I spend money on something knowing I'll never get a chance to wear it. I get far more joy out of leafing through Dover Saddlery and Smartpak catalogs, a concept my boyfriend still doesn't understand. I love buying things for the horses: Ernie got a new mid-season blankie which Eryn has nicknamed the "baked potato blanket" because it's shiny and silver and kinda poofy. Stella got a Newmarket fleece cooler with the classic yellow, red and navy stripe (and she looks gorgeous in it).

Me, I stocked up on handwarmers and wool socks. It gets cold in that barn.

Ho Hum.

I got on Ernie for the first time in probably 3 weeks yesterday. It wasn't anything spectacular, if anything it made me aware that he's due for chiropractic work. The odd head jerking that appeared at the beginning of the school year when his hips were so out of whack occurred yesterday, too. However I haven't seen it on the ground...I'm not sure if that means anything. It was only tracking left, which is usually the harder side for him. He wasn't very forward, didn't particularly care to connect to the bit at all, and really just didn't seem all that enthused period.

I don't blame him. Usually he's much more forward when it's been a while since his last ride, but yesterday he just kinda slogged around.

I still can't shake this utterly shitty feeling. I feel as though I'm letting both of my horses down. I took on the responsibility of two animals knowing it would be hard, and I'm OK with that. What's killing me right now is the financial aspect. I cannot sell Ernie; I couldn't even get rid of him if I wanted to. The horse has no market value (emotional connections don't translate to dollars, unfortunately) and he'd be too expensive to be just someone's companion/pasture potato. And I made the promise to him years ago that I would never, ever sell him. He's stuck with me until the day he dies, and I will not go back on that. I bought Stella BECAUSE Ernie's stuck with me. It wasn't fair to continue to demand the level of work from him that I wanted/needed, so I needed to move onto to something new. An unbroke 3 year old probably wasn't the greatest choice, but it's turned out to be a fantastic bond and money can't buy that.

This summer's lack of a real job killed me, so I didn't make hardly anything. It was enough to keep my head above water before school started but it didn't leave me anything to work with once I got here. I'm working at the school's fitness center as a front desk attendent, which I've done the past few years anyway, but it's less than 10 hours a week because of my schedule and doesn't pay that great. Between that and odd jobs, I've been able to scrape together enough for the bare essentials: board (which my parents had had to help me with), grain and bedding. I haven't been able to take care of the outstanding vet bills I've had, including the one from this summer (shots, teeth and Stella's injury). I can see Ernie is starting to become due for a float again, and now with the chiropractic work it's going to be at least another $200 vet bill...

I've largely gone without anything I've really needed, or made due with what I have. I've gotten good at becoming a very thrifty spender. I looked at my checkbook the other day and realized I hadn't had any changes in my bank account in weeks. I try and do everything I can through cash. I'd love to buy a dressage bridle and aurigan french link snaffle for Stella, but I've made out well with the old Corbette hunter bridle and plastic Happy Mouth single joint snaffle I have. It'd be nice to have a better stable blanket for Ernie, but I've figured out ways to maneuver the blanket situation when it gets soaked. Even something as small as a tailbag for Stella so it stops getting so damn dirty. Right now Vetwrap and braiding have been working just fine. If being a broke college kid has taught me nothing else, it's how to appreciate what I do have and how to make the best of it.

(This, however, doesn't change the fact that I'd like to have more wiggle room. But hey, I'm not sunk yet!)

Stuff like all the above I can deal with. It's when I have to pick and choose other aspects of care that it bothers me. For example, I know my saddle doesn't fit Ernie the best it could. It used to be near perfect, but his back has changed, lost muscle, etc. I've been compensating with padding/lifting the appropriate areas, but it still isn't great. I'd love to have a saddle fitter come out and fit and reflock it, but I just can't afford it right now. I'd like to get x-rays of Stella's front feet so I can track possible navicular changes. She still does that weird foot pointing thing, but has never taken a lame step and isn't tender. I'd also like a work-up done on Ernie: blood panel and endoscopy. I'm sure he has ulcers, but I don't know to what degree. And given his age and issues maintaining weight, I'd like him checked for metabolic disorders. Right now, I can't afford to do any of that.

Ugh. What I would give to win the lottery.

My Problem With Competitive Dressage

Preface to this post: I've been thinking about this quite a bit, especially after reviewing some video of Edward Gal and Mooreland Totilas, who scored a ridiculous score of 92.3% at the FEI World Cup. This is all my opinion; none of it should be taken as fact, it's simply what I've observed and learned in my years of riding and training and watching.

I love sports. I love playing them, watching (most) of them, and talking about them. I've played soccer since I was 5 years old, and I've continued to play it competitively in college. I watched almost every World Cup game that was televised, and I follow 3 different teams. I love skiing, although I've never had the chance to compete, we're trying to get a ski team together at Vermont Tech. The Winter Olympics were INCREDIBLE, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching our American athletes kick serious butt. I love dressage; I've loved dressage ever since I started doing it with Ernie about 6 years ago. However, I get very, very discouraged sometimes when I watch it. I'm not talking your local shows or even some of the higher level stuff: I'm talking Olympic/Pan-Am/International competition with the biggest and best riders out there.

Why? Because the judging, in my opinion, is not fluent and consistent.

When people watch sports, they want to be able to see that the best team won. Sometimes, that doesn't happen, but with most sports, it's very obvious why. The best team overall does not always win. It's what makes watching sports so exciting. On any day, at any point, things can change. One thing is always for certain, however: the best team that day always wins. It happens all the time in soccer.

With dressage, it isn't so cut and dry. TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, you are judged against a standard. It's less "how well did Pair A do compared with Pair B?" and more "How well did Pair A and Pair B compare to the standard set for this level? Which pair was closer?" Yes, you are competing with other pairs for the top spot, but you truly are competing with yourself. How close can you come to achieving that standard?

This is supposed to be the case. However, more and more I am seeing highly skilled pairs who turn out BEAUTIFUL tests and freestyle routines and do not get the credit deserved for their performance. Dressage competitions at the international level have become more about style and a "show" than the fundamentals that make a truly brilliant equine athlete. A truly good horse should LOOK fun to ride. (S)he should LOOK like he's having a ball doing his/her job. However, he should not be a circus act. The trend in dressage is the big European-bred warmbloods with ridiculous bicycle trots (a term I have coined to describe the paddling movement in the extended trot, the equivalent of riding a bicycle) and shortened frames. I'm not a fan of these types of horses. When well trained, I think they make fantastic mounts. However, I'm much more a fan of the original dressage horses: classically trained Baroque types much like those still used at the Spanish Riding School. But dressage, just like every sport, has it's trends.

This is Totilas' performance at the World Cup:


Now, I actually really like this horse. I think Gal is a fantastic rider, and I really do believe this horse is a fantastic athlete. However, I don't believe this pair should have scored 92.3% on this freestyle. Again, the pairs are judged against a standard, not each other. However, the judging in upper level dressage has shifted quite a bit, and nowadays it's hard to tell why a pair received the score they did. That performance was great; the choreography was excellent, the horse was relaxed, completely through, moved seamlessly and exhibited all the characteristics of a world class athlete. But look at his extended trot: see how animated he is in front, almost to the point of doing the bicycle kick (it kinda looks like the Can-Can, actually) but how his hind legs do not mirror that? It's not symmetrical; anything who knows anything about dressage knows that you want the two sides (whether that's front and back, left and right, whatever) to mirror each other. Yet the extended trot was one his highest point values received. I don't care for his piaffe, either. In most areas, it looked like he really struggled with it: once again he had way more animation in front than in back, and it wasn't always rhythmic. I can also pick out at least 2 places where he got too hot and jumped the gun on a couple transitions with should have cost him points. Hmmm....

Compare to this video, of Andreas Helgstrand and Blu Hors Matine @ WEG (my favorite freestyle ever, I have to say!)


Personally, I think this freestyle was on par, if not better in some areas, than the one with Totilas. That mare was having a BALL (some people claim the tail swishing is a sign of irritation or pain; this is true, but it's usually accompanied by teeth knashing, exposed eye whites, pinned ears, a tight back, tense movement, etc. This mare had none of those. I've seen horses who swish their tails when they're working/thinking hard, and that's what I chalk this up to), she was moving beautifully, all of her gaits were elastic and fluid and symmetrical. Take a look at her extended trots and her piaffes. Even height from both her front and back legs. You don't have that in the video of Totilas. But what was the score of this lovely pair? 81.5%.

This is why dressage is frustrating to watch. You see two wonderful performances by pairs that are clearly enjoying themselves. There were clear glitches in both, but not a single test is perfect. So why is there over a 10% difference between the two scores? It doesn't make sense. Spectators see a beautiful test or routine, and they expect to see the pair rewarded for it. 81% is a FANTASTIC dressage score. It's the equivalent of a 100 for most; hell, 65% is damn good. When you go further than that however, you expect to see something really great, beyond what most pairs are capable of, something exceptional. And consistently exceptional. I didn't see that with Totilas.

I believe this counts as a rant, hehe. However, I don't believe all that I talked about above because I think Horse X is prettier than Horse Y. I think Totilas is a fantastic animal, but I don't think that performance deserved a 93%.

Here's another example (on a kind of different note) of why I find professional dressage hard to watch sometimes:





Compare these two photos of an extended trot. The first is (I believe) a Chinese dressage team member. The second is a photo of Jane Savoie, which I believe is a few years old, probably from the last 90's. Look at the differences. The Chinese horse is clearly very tense, back is tight and flat (look just behind the saddle, that should be rounded), and he's flipping his toe of the leading front foot. The hind leg flipped out behind is a tell-tale sign that he's pushing with his hindquarters and not lifting. He's also displaying what's known as Diagonal Advanced Placement. The trot is suppose to be a diagonal gait, however his left hind foot has hit the ground before his right forefoot, when they are suppose to hit together. This is claimed by some dressage trainers to be desirable. I think it's a bunch of bollocks. It means the horse isn't through.

Now, look at Jane Savoie's horse. This horse is CLEARLY round, CLEARLY propelling from his hindquarters (look how round his back is behind the saddle, and the way his hindquarters are shaped!) He's lifted equally in the shoulder compared to the push from the hind end, his front leg is straight, toes are level. He does look a little worried (look at his eye) but his ears display attentiveness to Savoie, and the rest of body doesn't have an ounce of tension in it.

The first photo was far more recent, but look at how poorly the horse moves. This style of dressage is far too rampant in modern show rings. It's sad to see, because as truly talented as some of these horses could be, riders and trainers are looking to push more and more for faster and better results, even if it lacks correctness.

Viva the old school!

Ugh.

I hate barn drama. I HATE barn drama. Every barn I've worked in has had its share, most of which I'm not involved in. But this is just out of control.

It's funny, because I came home to get lunch before I head back to housesit, and my dad saw me for less than 10 seconds, asked what was wrong to which I reply "you're going to want to sit down for this one", and he immediately says "You got into a fight." Some father-daughter ESP going on here.

No, I didn't get into a fight, but it EASILY could have happened. I can say confidently in this situation that I am not the one at fault here, nor did I do anything to provoke anything that happened or could have happened. In the words of a wise, older mentor-type friend of mine, "Look at the source." The aggressor in this case is a woman in her mid-20's who has a well-known alcohol problem, received her second DUI two weeks ago, does drugs, the whole ordeal, and is known for starting drama and over-exaggerating. Lethal combo, all that.

I won't get into the details until I've calmed down. It's really not worth my emotional sanity at this point.

On top of this mornings events, today is my ex-boyfriend's birthday. This is part of the reason I hate Facebook sometimes. If I hadn't gone on it a few minutes ago, I never would have noticed it was his birthday today, and I would not be feeling like I am right now; nostalgic, guilty, sad, etc. We broke up almost 2 months ago, and it was largely my doing; I suppose we just grew apart. It'd been feeling odd for a while, and I realized that we were headed down very different roads, were two different people, and that the relationship itself had grown stale, and I was tired of trying to fix the same things over and over.

I know, you probably don't care to hear about my relationship woes...I don't really want to be by myself today, it allows me to think too much, which is the last thing I need. However, I'm hanging out with horses all day again. They aren't much comfort when it comes to this, sometimes...

3 Strikes, Yooouuu're Outta There!

Technically, I'm the one who peaced out, but still...

Yup, I left the barn I'm at now for the one down the hill. The guy who owns this place, who've I've griped about before, has rubbed me the wrong way for the last time. I'm so, SO done with him and his attitude towards my animals and how I want them cared for. So done.

It seems like every time I was at the barn he came flying down in his truck (yeah, it's creepy, let me tell you. I swear he was watching for me) and came to talk to me about one thing or another. There's always some issue: Ernie wasted hay, he doesn't want them in the round pen, I didn't ride his 3 year old, I'm not riding his 3 year old hard enough, blah blah blah. Basically every conversation we had turned into a negotiation or an argument.

I don't negotiate my horse's needs. Anyone who is adamant about their animals receiving proper care wouldn't either. And it's not like what I'm asking for is crazy, insane stuff either: I want a regular feeding schedule, daily turnout for at least 8 hours, grain meals prepped the way they need to be (Ernie gets a grain mush, for example), clean and well-bedded stalls, access to water 24/7, and quality hay. I don't think this is a lot to ask. Apparently it was, according to this old fart.

The hay was fantastic quality hay, they were turned out a lot (although it was in a lot of mud from the culvert running through it, and the fencing was REALLY questionable) and he did feed them regularly. However, I ran into far more hurdles than I should have:

1. He refused to feed my supplements at first; he said they were making Ernie "hot"...uh, yeah, joint supplements and an HERBAL CALMER tend to do that. *insert biggest eyeroll ever*.

2. Once we got over that hurdle, we had it out about bedding: Stella pees like a racehorse, and she likes to lay down a lot. I wanted a nice, padded layer of bedding so that it was comfortable enough to lay on. I DIDN'T want 5 wheelbarrow loads, but that's how he understood it. I also wanted the stalls cleaned thoroughly each day, which means liming the pees spots, cleaning out wet bedding and any old hay. That didn't happen until I about blew up at him, and finally started doing my own stalls.

3. As for the water, the guy underwent knee surgery and apparently couldn't lift any objects over 40 lbs. At one point, he told me he was going to fill the water buckets in their stalls only half way because "they weren't drinking inside and he couldn't lift the buckets." He even told me not to refill them if they did drink. And because Ernie didn't like the auto-waterer outside, I filled a big muck bucket with water. The old man didn't like that, and told me the water "would get hot and gross, and they would never learn to drink from the auto-waterers." He said, "if they get thirsty enough, they'll drink from the automatic waterer." Bullshit, old man.

4. When Stella tore her leg open last week, she was supposed to be on stall rest. I couldn't turn Ernie out by himself, and I sure as hell wasn't sticking him with another horse. So they were to do out in a roundpen in the indoor. That lasted for a day, and then the old man bitched that his "ring smelled like piss" and he didn't want them in there anymore. We argued and agreed to every other day. That didn't even end up happening: the next morning he had the BRILLIANT idea to stick them in the breeding shed, complete with sketchy gates, lots of cobwebs and a lovely phantom mare. Needless to say I was majorly PO'ed when I saw that, and he got chewed out for that one. After that, we agreed to 4 hours a day of turnout in the round pen.

If that list isn't enough for you, the guy was just a total ass about me riding his horse. He had a 3 year old Trakehner gelding he has asked me to work with at the start of June in exchange for board. I agreed. He said he wanted the horse gone, and that he wanted to get as much work on him as possible. The horse was a total nut, had only really been sat on couple times, rode with his head up by your eyeballs, and couldn't steer to save his life. I started with groundwork, lunging, backing, disengaging, head down command, all that good stuff. After a couple weeks of that, the old man got impatient and kept asking me to get on. I said no, he wasn't ready or balanced enough, and he'd be much more valuable if he handled well on the ground than if he'd just been sat on. That didn't fly with the old man. He literally asked me to get on, run the horse around until he got tired, and get off. I said I didn't want to push him or kick the shit out of him. He said that's exactly what he wanted me to do.

Yeah. Needless to say, this guy was a total whackjob. He's a terribly horseman, crappy trainer, and a tireless, irritating old coot to boot. So today, at approximately 2:00 o'clock PM, I went up with my dad, loaded my stuff up in my car, led my two horses down the hill and put them safely in stalls in barn at the bottom of the hill, owned by a different woman who I've boarded with before. All without a word to the old guy. I left him a message saying, rather politely, that I had taken my belongings and moved my horses, that I was not happy with the way myself or my horses were treated, and that if he had any questions, to please call. The guy still owes me about $400 worth of rides on that horse, but I said "f*** it". At this point, I'm just glad I'm outta there.

Ernie is less than excited about the move, Stella seems to be settling OK. It always takes Ernie a couple days to get used to things, so I'm not too worried. They'll go in a round pen together outside tomorrow and eat hay all day in the sun. When Stella gets her staples out next week and is cleared for turnout, they'll go out together on lots and lots of grass. With no mud!


Stella after her first ride!

Apology City

I feel like such a walking mess. In my transition back to living at home during summer, moving horses, getting serious with Stella's training, trying to find a job, finding a job, getting really screwed over with that job, leaving that job and finally getting back into my element by working 35 hours a week at a really nice, 40 horse stable, I'm literally feeling like the walking dead.

Ernie and Stella haven't been neglected by any means, but I feel like I haven't been able to give them the attention I want. The pasture they go in has a brook running through it, and so they are muddymuddymuddy when they come in at night. I think I spend more time grooming than riding and long-lining. Oh, and taking care of all the scraps and cuts they've been getting. I don't know where or how, but they are coming in with new ones on their legs all the time, and it's starting to piss me off. The guy who owns the barn is in his 70's and an old school horse guy (you know, the "run 'em 'till they're tired/oh, a little separation won't hurt 'em/they can tough it out" type of trainer), and he isn't too concerned about most of my complaints. The horses seem happy enough; they're out from 6AM to 7PM every day, get lots of grass and nice, deeply bedded stalls at night. However, the guy insisted on cutting back Ernie's hay because he's been leaving some. I told him no, no we will not, because he already lost a little weight and since he refuses to feed him 3 times a day, I don't want to up his grain. He also has automatic waterers outside; no a huge deal, except Ernie CANNOT grasp the concept of an auto-waterer. He won't drink from one (it doesn't help that these ones, are, well, not as clean as I'd like). So I'd been leaving a bucket of water out for him; the last thing I need is for him to not drink for almost 12 hours. Well, the guy didn't like this, and said he would never learn to drink from one unless he had no other choice. Uh, wrong. No, no, no!

I don't subscribe to the "tough it out" care method very often. Rarely, actually. Especially with Ernie. He's almost 30, for Christ's sake. If he hasn't earned the care he prefers now, when the hell will he earn it?

Stella is doing SO GREAT, by the way. I started long-lining her before I came home for the summer because the lady who owns the barn I'm at during the school year is a excellent ground trainer and has started a bajillion young horses. She's happy to have a new job, and I can tell she's going to be easyeasyeasy to start under saddle...which, by the way, is happening today! I'm going to sit on her for the first time ever, which for me is a totally foreign concept. I'm so used to riding horses whom someone else has broke and started, and who come with all their own issues. For the first time, I will be starting my OWN horse, with a clean slate and no previous issues to speak of. Super, super excited. Pictures will be coming.

Ernie is doing well. I've scaled back his training; he's become very tired, lately, and also really, really unhappy when I put leg on. I don't know if he's developed ulcers or what's going on, but he has been pinned ears and uptight when I apply leg in certain spots. And the up transitions to the canter? Forget it. They're OK, but nothing to brag about. The down transitions are fantastic, however.

I have more to talk about. There's been so much that's happened in the past couple months, it's going to take a while to get it all down.

*headdesk*?

Yeah.

It actually hasn't been an awful week. Ernie has been terribly unproductive in terms of any real work, but I've learned quite a few things.

Basically, I've upped the ante in a major way on him. He's not used to being asked to REALLY go correctly. This is largely my fault (well, yeah, it's my fault); I'm not an experienced enough rider to know what to do in a lot of situations, such as the catastrophe that was last Friday's ride. But I've been able to go a lot on my own, and it's mostly worked, but now I'm learning there's a lot more I could be doing right. Basically, I really need to learn to ask the right questions, and then praise ENORMOUSLY (I look a little crazy when I praise now). Ernie gets really stuffed up when he gets confused, and so my focus for the past few weeks has been to ask ONE question, praise when he makes an attempt, and move quickly on to something he knows. Then, come back and ask again, this time for a little more. He's been slowly building confidence this way, so I've been asking harder and harder questions. However...

Last Friday I have every intention of doing just a conditioning workout. I had an epiphany a few weeks ago: if I want a nice, fluid, suspensed canter, I need to ask for a lot of canter (particularly crappy canter) before I can ask for him to use that kind of strength. So, I've been adding increasing canter intervals, starting with just 2 minutes per half hour ride. I didn't get to that last Friday. I got on and as soon as I hit the saddle I felt how tense he was. He didn't want to relax, he didn't want to stretch, and he had no interest in listening to what I had to say. After a few tight circles, I asked for the walk and began some bending and flexing and asking for lots of changing in bend. One particular movement I ask for involves flexing him in one direction, guiding him with an open outside rein and asking for a sidepass. That was a no-go. All he wanted to do was back up. It's his way of avoiding what I'm asking, so all I can do when he begins to back is push him forward and praise him when he goes forward, even if he bucks and canters off. It's still forward movement.

Well, that didn't happen either. I spent an entire 45 minutes trying not to fight with this horse. He didn't want anything to do with me or that arena. Every request was met with resistance; he'd back up, I'd sit, maintain contact and he'd get a whip to the butt until he went forward (which was usually a bolt into the gallop) at which time I'd tell him how good he was. But half the time, the gallop/canter was sideways, backways, upways, all over the place. He'd literally be doing a canter half-pass into the wall, banging and dragging my legs down the side of the indoor, almost flipping me over the tractor in the corner...it was a nightmare. When I did get him down to a slower gate, it was always a jig, never a walk.

Finally, upon the insistence of my trainer, who was riding at the same time Ernie was flipping out, I got a halt, jumped off, grabbed a lunge line and spent ten happy minutes on the ground in the hopes of creating a tired horse. Whatever was going on in his head, he could work it out on the ground. I got back on, intending to ask for one sidepass. Nope. Same thing. More backing up, more spinning into walls. More almost flipping over. I got a walk, got a halt, and I was done. I was as sweaty as he was, and not about to get pummeled by a horse that did not want me on his back.

So, here's my analysis of the situation: given the fact that I've upped the ante, I think Ernie decided to as well. It's not unusual for horses who have been going for a really, really well for a while to all of the sudden turn into a complete and utter nightmare for a few days. Because he's learned what he cant get away with, now that I've said "Uh, nuhuh, not anymore", his response is, "OK, lady, two can play at that game." I honestly think he's pushing to see if I'll give, since I have before. I just have to ride it out to show him that bad behavior isn't going to land him anywhere except tired.

HOWEVER, I also scheduled a chiropractic appointment for him. It's been a couple months since he was last adjusted, and he's held exceptionally well. I did a little eval of his back the other day, though, and it was not happy. He was okay muscularly, but really, really unhappy when I tried to manipulate his spine, so my guess is he's got something going on there that's hurting under saddle (he's been FAR worse to the left than to the right).

So, did we learn? Yes, we did. It wasn't the week of riding I'd have really wanted, but it was a good learning experience, and at least I know what to do if/when it happens again.

YAY LEARNING! :D

Rant #1.

I have had a serious lack of posts. And pictures. For this I apologize.

However, I thought I'd take this opportunity to discuss boarding barns. Because I have never found one that really worked for me, and I'm starting to think they aren't out there.

I have both Ernie and Stella at school with me now. (No, I'm not rich, I'm still a broke-ass college kid; no, mommy and daddy don't pay for anything, I pay for everything out of my own pocket with my money that I've worked my butt off to make; and yes, it often means I am frantically calculating and reconfiguring my checkbook to make sure I can make ends meet). Either way, my two don't go without; their feet always get done on a timely basis, their stalls are always bedded nice and deep, and I don't ever hesitate to call the vet, no matter how bad the numbers may be. I do what's called a rough board at a co-op barn for students on the same property as the school facility; I pay $200 a month per horse, and provide all my own hay, bedding and grain. It's actually horribly costly, and I really don't save all that much, BUT I get to do my own chores the way I want them done and I see my horses multiple times a day. I will never, EVER make sacrifices when it comes to my horses' health. They deserve the best I can offer them, and it makes me feel better knowing they're well taken care of.

HOWEVER, not everyone shares that same sentiment. I've boarded at, oh, 5 different barns. Stella has only been at 2, but Ernie probably thinks I'm whack every time he walks off the trailer, because it's never to the same place. I'm very, very particular about boarding barns (as well I should be; I feel like too many horse owners settle for less than they deserve, or less than their animals deserve.) I've probably been called every name in the book for it, but I'm not rude at all. If you run a customer-based business where you are providing a service, it's expected that you will tailor your services to your customers and their needs. In my experience, that's very rarely the case.

So, until the time comes when I can look out my window and see my horses grazing happily in my backyard, I will be hunting for that ideal barn. And since I'm going to be looking for said barn this summer, I've put together a comprehensive list of what I absolutely need from a boarding facility, as well as what is a huge, huge bonus and highly desired.

What I absolutely need:

-Daily turnout. Neither of them can sit in a stall all day. Each to his own, but I've never understood not putting horses outside. Probably never will. Group turnout is also a must; Ernie cannot be turned out by himself...he'll just run the fence all day long. Stella doesn't really care either way.
-A run-in shed or walk-out stall for Ernie. Weather is not a huge issue; this horse is tough; he'll stand outside if he wants, and he'll come in if he wants. He just doesn't care. He's very claustrophobic because of past abuse and needs to see what's going on and feel free to come and go. This is the nicest one he's had thusfar...



-Indoor arena. In Vermont, weather is a pretty huge limiting factor when it comes to riding, especially in the winter. 75% of our winter weather renders riding impossible outside. An outdoor arena is always awesome, but an indoor makes riding possible every day out of the year. Take this, for example...



This was my car upon return from Virginia in early January. We got 3 feet of snow in 36 hours. It was also about 20 degrees without wind and a nice sheet of ice to boot. There's no riding outside in that.



-Care tailored to the horse's needs, not the barn owners. As in, the horses needs come first. There are certain situations in which a horse should not have to "tough it out". I'm tired of being told that Ernie needs to "tough it out" when he gets uncomfortable or anxious; he is the way he is, PEOPLE made him that way, and I want him around for many years to come. So he needs to be made comfortable, no matter what that means.
-Night check. It's just good barn practice...in the 15 years I've been around horses, night checks have saved at least 1/2 a dozen animals. It's amazing what you'll discover with just a walk through the barn.
-Feeding my grain. I feed Blue Seal grains. Ernie gets Sentinel Senior and Hay Stretcher pellets in a nice mush, and Stella gets a small amount of Vintage Hunter. I like these grains, they both do well on them, and I don't want to switch them to something new.

Those things aren't negotiable. The following are, but I'm definitely willing to pay a price for them:

-A pasture buddy for Ernie. I would love, love, LOVE to not have to turn out Stella and Ernie together. They get along fine, but they're too attached, which can make it difficult to work with them separately. I have been known to, in a real bind, bring both into the area and leave one loose while I work the other (no other horses around, of course!). I haven't had to do that in a long time because they each have their own walk-out stalls now so they're already separated, but I've had to in other barns. My perfect situation would be to have Stella in her own stall and put Ernie in a 24/7 pasture situation with a nice, big run-in shed and an old, laid-back retiree who's sole job is to eat and be fat and happy. That way, Ernie has a friend, and I can take him and work him whenever I need to and I don't have to worry about having his friend taken away.
-No drama. I really didn't care for highschool. Honest to God, they was probably the hardest years of my (short) life. It was FILLED with nasty girls, gossip, cliques, everything you don't ever want your kids to get caught up in. I don't want to relive that, especially not in a barn setting, where I have to relax for my horse's sake. Every barn has a bit of drama from time to time, but I don't want to drown in it whenever I walk through the door.

I know this isn't impossible. I know it. I have to balance between finding a boarding barn that suits my needs AND my budget.

And the search is on.