Getting our Groove Back!

Whooo hooooo!! Today was the second day on bute for the "bute test". And it was either that, or the fact that Fleck was showing off for his friends, but he felt GREAT! 

 We met Kelli and Judy and went for a nice relaxing hack. Then we played in the field a little. Fleck felt pretty darn good. I only noticed the right front about 4 separate steps, mostly in the downward transition or down hills. But that was really it. So yay! That makes me happy. And know what else makes me happy? I thought about lifting my shoulder, and I fixed the right lead canter. The first time we tried I missed it because I was still overthinking it. But then I just thought, bend and lift my shoulder, and we were on the right lead. Whoo hooo.

 So then they went to go video Cash and I stayed and did some hills. Fleck was soooo mad that they left him. He kept bolting and galloping. Wheee!! I didn't mind. I'm glad he feels good. So we did some trotting and cantering on the hills. Then they came back. I wanted to see what they thought so I jumped a bit. We jumped three of the little stadium fences that Ann had set up and then I let him jump the prelim cabin. And then we continued up the hill to the two prelim roll tops. He wasn't jumping beautifully, but I wasn't helping him at all. And it wasn't horrible. We just didn't quite have our timing down. And I wasn't really making him sit and use himself. Still, he felt like he was jumping decently. He wasn't rolling over his shoulder. He just wasn't as balanced as he could have been. And my eye is so off. We chipped one and took a flyer to another. So then I turned and we did the two training coops, which he jumped quite nicely. Then we trotted down the hill and then I picked up the canter and jumped the two cabins again. Again, one flyer and one chip. Doh! I could hear Fleck thinking "Get it together mom, jeesh". But Kelli said it wasn't too bad. She said his rhythm was nice and he wasn't rolling over his shoulder, but that he was a little flat. So then I decided to jump the cabin once more but focus on balance. And man... I'm rusty. We got nice and balanced and rocked back but I left a little bit too much leg off so we crossed the line to under-energized. So he had to heave a little bit. But, he was nice and rocked back on his hocks and he cleared it effortlessly, despite his Agassi sound effects. And it felt quite nice. So... we just need to work out the rust. 

But YAY!!! It felt soooooo good to be jumping my guy again. And galloping. And he felt GOOD. He kept picking up the trot and canter on his own. And I didn't feel anything funky behind. And only those few steps of the right front. So whooo hooo. Maybe training at Wind Ridge in a few weeks will work. Plus he's looking so fit and lean right now. :) Dr. Bob's fitness protocol is freakin' tough, but it's a good prep for a horse trial. So... win win. 

Yay! Guess we'll see how he feels tomorrow. He was iced and then arnica'd. And he seemed happy as a clam. 

Hills, Hills, and more hills

I changed it up today. I can't do another day of up and down the XC field hill. And I'm pretty sure that Fleck couldn't either. It was a pretty day today though. Not too hot, not too humid, although not as nice as yesterday. Although we got sprinkled on when we were starting.

 We hit the trails. We did 15 minutes of walking, always aiming uphill. Then we did 30 minutes of straight trotting and cantering. We trotted up all the hills, always aiming uphill, but cantered on the flat places, and trotted down the hills. Then we spent 10 minutes in the lake chilling. Then we did another 15 minutes uphills either walking or trotting. And then we headed to the stadium ring. I wanted to fix the canter transition.

 I am still not able to get the right lead. Even on the trails. So in the ring I tried again. And I paid attention to what I was doing and what Fleck was doing. He would almost get it but at the last second he was throwing his shoulders to the right and forced to pick up the left. When I didn't try as hard, and focused more on just getting the bend and then closing my leg, he would get it. Sigh... I think that by thinking of lifting my hip, I'm actually driving my left hip down. Sigh. So then we sort of gave up and I just asked for it by bending right and closing my leg and we got it a few times. 


And then... I couldn't help it. I had given him bute for the "bute test" so I wanted to jump. I hopped over a jump or two that was set up at beginner novice level. He was good. He wasn't bolting or scurrying. And then, I couldn't help it. The training level vertical was still up, so I jumped it. It sort of surprised him the first time, especially since we had to angle it because the fence 3 strides out was knocked down and the pole was in the landing area. So he "oofed" over it, but did. We came again and it was nice. So then I decided "screw it... let's do this!" so I got off and set the roll top oxer up so we could jump the line. And we did. The first time he jumped the roll top oxer he landed way left, but jumped the vertical just fine. So the second time I closed my left leg and he jumped it nice and straight and clean. And he landed happily and didn't bolt or scurry or seem anxious. Yay!!! 

Then we were done. He got a bath because he's getting skin funk again. Ick. It's not bad though. I think it's just the humidity. It's relentless. 

 Oh, but then!!! I was talking to Liz about it later and mentioned my canter problems. I told her that when I was thinking I was lifting my right hip, I knew I was dropping my left hip and throwing it to the right. So... we decided that tomorrow I'm going to try to not think of lifting my hip but instead think of lifting my right shoulder. So... we'll see if that works. :)

Harbins with Liz

Today Fleck and I met Liz at Harbins to ride with her new pony. He's super cool. He reminds me of Fleck. Such a good soul.

We had fun. We did the 6 mile loop and mostly walked so Liz and I could trot. But we did some trotting and even cantered a little bit. And guess what?! Fleck gave me a clean flying change TO THE RIGHT! Wow! 

And it was such a pretty day. Really not that humid or hot out. Especially in the shade. Fleck didn't even really break a sweat. :) Which, granted, it was kind of a light day for us, only 6 miles and mostly walking. But we both deserved a light day. 

After our ride I had Liz look at him. He still seems like he is off on the front right a little. We decided that when he is on the buckle, he can compensate by throwing his left hind medially a bit. When I put him "on the bit", he can't compensate as much, so the right front lameness shows up more. Sigh....  But we still haven't "treated" the right front yet. 

Fleck is so goofy though. After our ride he was on high alert because of the bikers. He even stopped mid-chew to stare. hee hee. Goof!

Now off to work!

Sooooo humid!

Apparently I didn't get any pony pics today.  Doh!

But Fleck and I met Kelli this morning. We started without her so we could do our hill work. We did 15 minutes of walking hills, then 15 minutes of straight trotting hills, then 15 minutes of trotting up hills and walking down hills. It was SOOOOO hot and humid. Ugh. So then we went for a 30 minute hack and then headed to the jump ring so Kelli could jump. Fleck and I played over a fence or two. Nothing too exciting. 

Just hot and muggy and gross. 

Torture Devices

Ha!!! I actually really liked it. Cindy had me ride with the "e-cube" thingy today. It's this 4.2 lb black rubber box with handles. You hold onto it while riding and it's supposed to help you learn how to ride without using your reins as much and to help keep your arms, wrists, fingers, and back in the proper position. And it really helped me!! She was nice and only made me ride Fleck with it. :) Ha! Didn't seem wise to use it on the unruly 4 year old. ;) 

So yep. It helped me keep my thumbs up, my wrists even, and not lean forward. It's heavy enough that if you don't carry your elbows by your sides or hunch your shoulders, it hurts!! I'm actually sore tonight. But it really helped me to learn to carry my shoulders and elbows. Then it helped me with my turning. I tend to grab the rein. But instead, because I couldn't with the darn cube thing, I learned to turn my whole upper body and use my leg and seat aids. I thought I was doing it before. And I was trying and getting there a little bit. But this really helped solidify it. 

The other thing it really helped point out was that I didn't need the reins. Fleck was going QUITE NICE by the end. It took awhile. Cindy's been telling me to not use the reins to get his head down. His head is where it needs to be. It's his back and withers that need to come up. By forcing his head down, I'm not fixing anything. So...this really helped me realize that. And sure enough, if I rode Fleck's back up (not really sure exactly what I was doing to accomplish this, but I was thinking about a soft crotch and lifting my shoulders and hips up), he got quite nice and round and lofty. He had a BIG trot today too. :) Of course we lost it some and when she took the cube away at the end, I started to fall back into old habits. But it did help a lot. 

We still had some issues with the right lead canter, which is oh so frustrating for me. But it got better. And at one point, I asked for a nice trot (with the cube still) from the walk and Fleck leapt up into this gorgeous right lead canter! It was lovely! So I let him keep it for a few strides and then we got a nice trot. :) 

I also realized that without my reins, I had to rely on my seat and legs a lot more, which made me realize that I also need to ride a bit to the outside with Fleck too, not just Dan. BUT... for whatever reason, my right leg always wants to be so far forward. I feel like it's back, but it's not. And that keeps throwing them out of the left lead canter. (Wait... that has to be the left lead but I don't really recall having left lead issues.... I'm tired... I don't know anymore). But I do know that Cindy was getting after me for the right leg being too far forward. 

So yep..now to maybe get one of my own, or just make sure I remember how it felt and try to recreate that without having to spend the money. :) 

And it's hot again

And did I mention HUMID?! Fleck sweated through his ear bonnet. Holy smokes! We waited til evening to ride, but it didn't help. But we at least changed up the scenery for hill work. We rode for almost an hour and a half but my GPS quit working so I don't know how far we went. Fleck was in beast mode and kept trotting! And trotting and trotting. Beast mode! We did lots of hills. Lots of STEEP hills. But he kept trotting. Even when I was trying to get him to walk.

I'm glad he's feeling good. But man, was he hot and sweaty. Me too.

 FORE!!! Hee hee. We did actually almost get hit by a golf ball. Well, not really, but one landed about 10 feet from us. :)

Fitness Fun

What a gorgeous day! I didn't get to ride until 11:30, but the weather wasn't too bad at all. It wasn't that hot compared to what it has been. And the humidity was much better AND there was a nice breeze. I adjusted Fleck (PI SI today... interesting!) and then we went out for a ride. We hit the trails and met up with Missy, Marti and Indi so we slow walked for about 45 minutes with them. Then we did some trotting and cantering through the trails. Fleck kept breaking into the trot rather than walk, so I said ok. I think some of it was bugs and some was he was just frisky. :) 

We then headed to the XC field for hills. I wasn't really feeling the 30 minutes of walk, nor was Fleck. So we did 30 minutes of trotting the hills. Well, we trotted up, and walked down. Fleck kept trying to break into the canter too. Goof. I told him I'd reward him with a little bit of jumping. So on our last trip down the hill, we picked up a nice canter and jumped the coop and then the ditch to the log. And then the roll top out of the water and then a coop. :) We had fun. And he was jumping nice. And landing on the right lead happily without scooting. Wheee. So then we finished our trot set up the hill and headed to the lake. We splashed and cooled off a bit and headed in. He was breathing just a little heavy after the 30 minutes of trotting hills (including the jumping) but within 10 minutes he was back to normal. And I never heard the heavy wet raspy noise he sometimes gets. Yay!

 Lots of fun today. I'm so glad that he's feeling better. And we ended up doing 7.5 miles!