So... Fleck has started roaring much worse lately. I wasn't entirely convinced he was roaring, because it didn't start til later in life and progressed slowly. But sure enough, he sounds like a roarer when we're galloping. Then it progressed to when we were cantering and now lately even at the trot. :(
So... I took him to Dr. Browns and we scoped him. Sure enough... 35% paralysis of the left arytenoid. But... it's not a tumor. It's not something that will require surgery.It's just going to potentially limit his gallops. Although so far it hasn't seemed to.
Team Awesome: Follow me and my goofy horse on our adventures in Awesomeness!
Monday, February 8, 2016
We broke the Vowel Curse
Yay!!! No more vowels. The curse has been lifted!
We were signed up for prelim at Sporting Days but I had lost my qualifications. So... we had to run P/T or training. So... P/T it was. I'm not going to lie. I was a little frustrated/pissed/sad/whatever. Ugh... But I sucked it up (after pouting for a day) and we had a good time. In retrospect it was a better decision. It was just frustrating as it was Sporting Days, a notoriously "easy" prelim. I would have much preferred to have run P/T at someplace like Pine Top or Full Gallop. But it was fine and worked well. And it helped my conquer my stadium demons.
So we started the weekend off flatting with Beth on Friday at Jumping Branch. And Fleck was a twit. He was super stiff and super bracey. Beth got on and even then he was still pretty awful. We got in a few good minutes and then quit.
At Sporting Days the next morning Fleck warmed up much better. He was much less resistant and stiff. So maybe it had a lot to do with him being alone at Julies vs in a crowd at SD. Regardless he was much better but it was hard work. Our dressage test was ok. Nothing fantastic or amazing but not bad. Our first trot lengthen was horrible as I goosed him and he bolted into a tranter. But the rest was decent for us. I think it was a 38 something. So yeah... not that great.
Then it was time for stadium. When we walked the course it was set for training. For some reason they ran training first. I was thinking "oh man... these are small... we've got this". Ha! No wonder. They looked a little more impressive at prelim height. We had an awful warm up starting out as he was just behind my leg and getting horrible distances to the fences because of it. I couldn't figure out how to get him in front of my leg without running him. But Beth finally got us squared away and we had some really nice fences before we went in. And then it all fell apart again. It was really quite a horrid round. I rode like crap and poor Fleck managed to get us around. How he managed to not pull any rails with my hideous riding..... But he didn't. We did have one stop because he came to a maxed out oxer with a huge intimidating roll top in front of it on a half stride. He had no choice and I just sat there and did nothing to help. BUT... props to us both because we came back around and had a most lovely fence and then we hit the in and out fairly acceptably. So... while it was ugly. We finished!!! We did not get eliminated in stadium. We even had a stop and were able to carry on instead of spiraling further down. So yay for us!! I really wish I could have had a pretty round, but... at least we survived.
So then we headed straight to XC warm up. Beth was telling me to GALLOP him because he was so behind my leg in stadium. But apparently I took that as just run him at the fences without balancing, so it was chaotic and unhappy. We couldn't quite get a good jump. Then the volunteer was like "oh Holly... where's your pinny?". Crap!!! I had to trot Fleck all the way around the arena's and back to the trailer to get my pinny. Then back all the way around again to warm up. At that point basically I had to trot straight into the box and had 30 seconds to go. Poor Fleck. He basically had no real breather between stadium and XC. So off we went. He jumped the first two fences well and then I had to kick him on a bit for the next one. He sort of pitter pattered over the half coffin and then I galloped him on. At that point he was going well and jumped everything fairly out of stride. He backed off a fair amount at the water but once I closed my leg, in he went. Then he took the worlds longest flyer over the cabin and almost hit the back side. We finished the fastest in my division and clean. But.... he didn't feel like his usual self. It wasn't like he was dragging me to the next fence. He wasn't saying no of balking or even trying to stop, but he wasn't searching the next fence out. Which is a little alarming to me. I'm not sure why... pain? Maybe he was tired because of the whole pinny episode.
Overall though... we finished 2nd. :) And that qualified us for AECs at training (though I still feel like I cheated a bit...)
We were signed up for prelim at Sporting Days but I had lost my qualifications. So... we had to run P/T or training. So... P/T it was. I'm not going to lie. I was a little frustrated/pissed/sad/whatever. Ugh... But I sucked it up (after pouting for a day) and we had a good time. In retrospect it was a better decision. It was just frustrating as it was Sporting Days, a notoriously "easy" prelim. I would have much preferred to have run P/T at someplace like Pine Top or Full Gallop. But it was fine and worked well. And it helped my conquer my stadium demons.
So we started the weekend off flatting with Beth on Friday at Jumping Branch. And Fleck was a twit. He was super stiff and super bracey. Beth got on and even then he was still pretty awful. We got in a few good minutes and then quit.
At Sporting Days the next morning Fleck warmed up much better. He was much less resistant and stiff. So maybe it had a lot to do with him being alone at Julies vs in a crowd at SD. Regardless he was much better but it was hard work. Our dressage test was ok. Nothing fantastic or amazing but not bad. Our first trot lengthen was horrible as I goosed him and he bolted into a tranter. But the rest was decent for us. I think it was a 38 something. So yeah... not that great.
Then it was time for stadium. When we walked the course it was set for training. For some reason they ran training first. I was thinking "oh man... these are small... we've got this". Ha! No wonder. They looked a little more impressive at prelim height. We had an awful warm up starting out as he was just behind my leg and getting horrible distances to the fences because of it. I couldn't figure out how to get him in front of my leg without running him. But Beth finally got us squared away and we had some really nice fences before we went in. And then it all fell apart again. It was really quite a horrid round. I rode like crap and poor Fleck managed to get us around. How he managed to not pull any rails with my hideous riding..... But he didn't. We did have one stop because he came to a maxed out oxer with a huge intimidating roll top in front of it on a half stride. He had no choice and I just sat there and did nothing to help. BUT... props to us both because we came back around and had a most lovely fence and then we hit the in and out fairly acceptably. So... while it was ugly. We finished!!! We did not get eliminated in stadium. We even had a stop and were able to carry on instead of spiraling further down. So yay for us!! I really wish I could have had a pretty round, but... at least we survived.
So then we headed straight to XC warm up. Beth was telling me to GALLOP him because he was so behind my leg in stadium. But apparently I took that as just run him at the fences without balancing, so it was chaotic and unhappy. We couldn't quite get a good jump. Then the volunteer was like "oh Holly... where's your pinny?". Crap!!! I had to trot Fleck all the way around the arena's and back to the trailer to get my pinny. Then back all the way around again to warm up. At that point basically I had to trot straight into the box and had 30 seconds to go. Poor Fleck. He basically had no real breather between stadium and XC. So off we went. He jumped the first two fences well and then I had to kick him on a bit for the next one. He sort of pitter pattered over the half coffin and then I galloped him on. At that point he was going well and jumped everything fairly out of stride. He backed off a fair amount at the water but once I closed my leg, in he went. Then he took the worlds longest flyer over the cabin and almost hit the back side. We finished the fastest in my division and clean. But.... he didn't feel like his usual self. It wasn't like he was dragging me to the next fence. He wasn't saying no of balking or even trying to stop, but he wasn't searching the next fence out. Which is a little alarming to me. I'm not sure why... pain? Maybe he was tired because of the whole pinny episode.
Overall though... we finished 2nd. :) And that qualified us for AECs at training (though I still feel like I cheated a bit...)
Fun Lesson and Fun Jump Session
Good ride with Cindy.... worked on bounce and lift
Then jumped Friday with Kelli and Peri coaching. Jumped all prelim. Fleck was good once I got Short and Fast Canters. :)
Then jumped Friday with Kelli and Peri coaching. Jumped all prelim. Fleck was good once I got Short and Fast Canters. :)
Friday, January 29, 2016
Feeling better about our re-re-re-re-re-debut at Prelim next weekend. :)
We had a jump lesson today with Beth at Wishing Tree. It was great!! And I am soooooo glad that I trusted my instinct on the saddle. SOOO much easier on both of us. :)
So yep... we jumped out in the jump field. And my dumb self got distracted and forgot to stud Fleck, but it wasn't too bad. We slid in a few spots but when I rode properly by putting my hands down and using my inside leg and outside rein, Fleck was much more balanced and didn't slide. :) So... yeah.... there's that. ;)
Beth pushed us pretty hard which was perfect. The fences looked a little big but Fleck was in beast mode and just hopped over all of them. We worked on courses and me keeping my hands low, keeping Fleck supple and on the bit and balanced. And.. .its' amazing how that thought process gets me riding properly so that Fleck can keep a more balanced adjustable canter. And then he can go into beast mode jumping. :)
We were a little frantic the first trip or two through but then once I concentrated on my hands, it got MUCH better. Our last course was actually pretty darn good. And Fleck was jumping the crap out of those big ass fences. We finished over the chevron and Beth said that the standards were 4 feet. It wasn't on the top hole, but the top of the chevron was even with the top of the 4 foot standards. And we nailed it!! 3, 2, 1, and float over :) Even the big oxers weren't bad :)
Yay!! Hoping for a great XC school tomorrow at Cedar Ridge and then another good stadium lesson, either back at WT or at Ashland, before Sporting Days. :) :)
So yep... we jumped out in the jump field. And my dumb self got distracted and forgot to stud Fleck, but it wasn't too bad. We slid in a few spots but when I rode properly by putting my hands down and using my inside leg and outside rein, Fleck was much more balanced and didn't slide. :) So... yeah.... there's that. ;)
Beth pushed us pretty hard which was perfect. The fences looked a little big but Fleck was in beast mode and just hopped over all of them. We worked on courses and me keeping my hands low, keeping Fleck supple and on the bit and balanced. And.. .its' amazing how that thought process gets me riding properly so that Fleck can keep a more balanced adjustable canter. And then he can go into beast mode jumping. :)
We were a little frantic the first trip or two through but then once I concentrated on my hands, it got MUCH better. Our last course was actually pretty darn good. And Fleck was jumping the crap out of those big ass fences. We finished over the chevron and Beth said that the standards were 4 feet. It wasn't on the top hole, but the top of the chevron was even with the top of the 4 foot standards. And we nailed it!! 3, 2, 1, and float over :) Even the big oxers weren't bad :)
Yay!! Hoping for a great XC school tomorrow at Cedar Ridge and then another good stadium lesson, either back at WT or at Ashland, before Sporting Days. :) :)
Sneaking it in....
I think we ended up doing 5 ish miles. We walked and trotted and cantered a good bit too but nothing regimined. We just played. It was nice. :)
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Favorite and most Frustrating
Sigh... I love Fleck. I do.. He really is my favorite. But man is he frustrating. And it's not his fault. It's my doing. 11 years of riding him like I have been have created some very bad habits in us both. And when we need to fix them, it's frustrating. I get annoyed with myself because I can't get it to work right and annoyed with him because he's not doing it right. But.... we're making progress. I just need to stop and think sometimes.
Today Fleck was so not laterally supple. He just didn't want to loosen up. Cindy was giving us exercises to try to get him to let go through his topline but it was not going well. I ended up hanging on the left rein because he kept popping that left shoulder out and just bending at the base of his neck, instead of through his back and ribs. Cindy calmly talked me down. She said that of course he is throwing out his left shoulder... he's not yielding at the girth on the right side. BUT... hanging on the left rein isn't going to solve it. The problem stemmed from the lack of bend at the ribs on the right. So she said that yes... I did need to fix the left stiffness, but I needed to get in and get out and not give him the crutch to hang on. And to focus more on getting the bend at the ribs. Ah... yes. I know... I KNOW THIS! But I get caught up in the old body habits. Argh. So once I let go of the left rein and softened and just suppled instead of hanging, it made a big difference. Tracking right I need to ride him shoulder in at all times. And even think a little bit about shoulder in and haunches in at the same time.
We swapped to the left to let his right side rest and wow!! We got an amazing left lead canter. :) It was awesome.
I just need to remember to breathe and think things through. Find the culprit and address it rather than just tugging at the glaring problem.
Today Fleck was so not laterally supple. He just didn't want to loosen up. Cindy was giving us exercises to try to get him to let go through his topline but it was not going well. I ended up hanging on the left rein because he kept popping that left shoulder out and just bending at the base of his neck, instead of through his back and ribs. Cindy calmly talked me down. She said that of course he is throwing out his left shoulder... he's not yielding at the girth on the right side. BUT... hanging on the left rein isn't going to solve it. The problem stemmed from the lack of bend at the ribs on the right. So she said that yes... I did need to fix the left stiffness, but I needed to get in and get out and not give him the crutch to hang on. And to focus more on getting the bend at the ribs. Ah... yes. I know... I KNOW THIS! But I get caught up in the old body habits. Argh. So once I let go of the left rein and softened and just suppled instead of hanging, it made a big difference. Tracking right I need to ride him shoulder in at all times. And even think a little bit about shoulder in and haunches in at the same time.
We swapped to the left to let his right side rest and wow!! We got an amazing left lead canter. :) It was awesome.
I just need to remember to breathe and think things through. Find the culprit and address it rather than just tugging at the glaring problem.
Night Riders
I got motivated and snuck in a ride. It's actually quite nice at Ashland in the evening if it's warm enough. We snuck in two laps around the XC field before it got too dark and then we enjoyed the lights. :)
Fleck was a bit amped up and rarin' to go but we had some good rides. I had some "lightbulb" moments with not blocking him with my inside or outside leg (specifically with the spiral in and outs) and we had some good work. However, he was too amped up to get good canter trot canter change of directions. Sigh. Oh well.
It was still a good ride overall and a beautiful night. We even heard the coyotes singing as we started our ride. Of course afterwards.. when the lights were off and it was just us.. It got creepy! Fleck was staring intently into the dark and I swear I heard some sort of scuffling noise. But I couldn't see anything as the moon hadn't yet risen. It really kinda gave me the heeby jeebies, so we booked it out of there.
Fleck was a bit amped up and rarin' to go but we had some good rides. I had some "lightbulb" moments with not blocking him with my inside or outside leg (specifically with the spiral in and outs) and we had some good work. However, he was too amped up to get good canter trot canter change of directions. Sigh. Oh well.
It was still a good ride overall and a beautiful night. We even heard the coyotes singing as we started our ride. Of course afterwards.. when the lights were off and it was just us.. It got creepy! Fleck was staring intently into the dark and I swear I heard some sort of scuffling noise. But I couldn't see anything as the moon hadn't yet risen. It really kinda gave me the heeby jeebies, so we booked it out of there.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)