Summer Vacation

It's been tricky finding time to do more than just groom and care for the horses this summer. While my kids love them, they are also great at getting into situations I can't handle when I also have my attention on the horse in front of me. The farrier came recently and it was misery handling their issues (he's touching me and won't stop looking at me!) while keeping each horse steady. The silver lining of summer comes in working with the kids and the horses to teach them skills one on one when we aren't swimming in the pool.

I find outlets for my soul on horse restriction by building jumps and doing improvements here and there.

Finally the weekend arrived with dry ground (a bit too dry but I'm not about to complain now) and my hubby home to watch the munchkins a few hours for me. Bandon's wound from Fourth of July had lost its swelling and now just had some surface abrasions left.

He was ready for some fun.

Our first ride since hauling to Rivermont for jumping, he was HIGH. Someone must have given him the memo that said he was in training to be a jumper. He fixated on the new jump the second we walked into the ring. Hand walking around it, I let him explore it, still once I was on his back he began to jig.

Jigging is a most uncomfortable gait that isn't a trot or a walk, but somewhere in between where the horse's motion is more upward than forward. Czech is a master at jigging, he holds the record for "longest jig in open spaces" on our Hunter Pace attempt. Bandon avoided the gait, for the most part, until this ride.

I put his mind to work on bending, using his rear, as each pass near a jump sent him tossing his head and light on his feet.

Off I went, on with a longe line. Bandon performed like a masterful artist, jumping and contorting in the air. Cirque De Soleil here we come! After he worked all the silliness out, I asked him to jump the new jump on his longe circle. Nope. He wasn't having any of that. He stopped after my 5th attempt and looked at me, "If you expect me to haul my body over that solid looking thing, you're going to have to go too."

Up on his back, we went straight for it before I changed my mind. Bandon cleared it with miles of room to spare, landing in a heap of bucking bay horse, he was nice enough to keep me on as I kept a fist full of his mane in a tight grip. We did a few other jumps before turning back to flat work with transitions as he became higher and higher each jump, approaching a little faster, feeling a little less under my influence. Cantering large loose circles he came back down to me.

Points in his favor : He only spooked once this ride, and was nice enough to get it out of the way while I was still on the ground. He also held a straight line approach to the new jump after having lots of time off from work and he kept me on though he was still a little ticked at me for having pulled his mane day before. Extra point for helping me find a baby turtle that I saw in the arena and wanted to show the kids!

Next up was pretty boy. Don't tell him, but Czech has gotten a bit fat during his time off...

Getting on his back gave me the same wash of peace that I think a lot of people feel when they come home after having been away.

Unfortunately, he was super stiff. I worried about his feet being tender. As we kept going though, he seemed to warm-up out of the stiffness, not characteristic of foot soreness. Asking for the canter was exactly the same as last summer and early fall, his hip wasn't moving in cadence.

Last Fall I'd had a chiropractor come out and adjust him since Czech was new to me and I was still learning what his issues were and what his history showed.  Working him consistently through the school year, Czech moved perfectly. Now after time off we were back where we were.

Did he have an underlying issue that suffered with lack of muscle tone?

The facts : Czech moves well in good tone. He had a full vetting Spring '13 including heat scanning that revealed he was sound for anything short of immediate Olympic trials. Czech was at an eventing barn for 4 years that ultimately seriously neglected him and we suspect did inadequate warm-up.When he is not muscled Czech cross canters until warmed up. He almost always plants one foot in front instead of together at a jump (this does not seem to be improved by hill work) and does so with me and in photos from years ago. He bolts through jumps and will avoid them altogether if they are on a turn instead of a line. (photo from last fall, excuse my EQ he is a freight train)

We'll do some more investigating to see if we can find what Czech is trying to tell us and the vet will be out to look him over Monday.

The ponies are doing great, Pegasus finds new and more interesting ways to remove his grazing muzzle while Spotlight keeps his on like a gentleman and has lost a lot of weight with no lasting issues due to his brush with laminitis. They both look like cannibal ponies with their muzzles covered in black straps. I'm pretty sure the new neighbors thought they might be...

"What if I fall? Oh but my darling...what if you fly?" - unknown