Schooling Show Success!

I suppose success might be a strong word, but it was a success for me! We were not in the ribbons and in fact were recognized as, "oh you were the one on the big grey horse". I guess we made an impression. It could be because we reared, spinned, broke gait, and trotted around with our head straight in the air and barely with any bit of straightness. But we had fun!

We arrived Friday night and unloaded the horses. Rusty traveled with his friend Inky who rode a fantastic 1st level test 4 and an even better 2nd level test 1. We let them settle in for a bit and then I tacked up and headed off to the arena. Rusty was amped up to say the least. I could barely get him to stand still for me to get on. The fairgrounds we were at is sort of your classic fairground arena. Older building, multipurpose with chutes for cows and other stock animals, bleachers and a concession stand. This was all new for Rusty. Overall I was pretty impressed with him. I figured he'd be totally freaked out by the judges stand, but that was the nothing! He was way more obsessed with getting the hell out of there!

The dressage arena was up, but there was a pole down right by the exit for easy access in and out for people who were schooling. Rusty really, really tried to convince me that his best bet was to get out and get out fast. He reared, he spun, he backed up, he ignored me, and generally wrecked havoc. Inky came in for some warm-up time and that immediately calmed Rusty down. He was still pretty tense, but at least wasn't as obsessed with the exit. After time the other horses who were schooling left the arena and even Inky headed back to the barn.

This was when our real schooling started. We worked and worked and worked until finally we had a breakthrough. I got tough, but just tough enough and I gave him his head. I have a tendency to pull back on the reins and expect him to go forward, but not TOO forward. It's a problem. It really makes him crazy. So after we both chilled out a bit things got much better. He also taught be that he really likes to have a nice calm canter to help him relax. Interesting, but whatever I'll take it. So we ended the night on a high note and I was full of good hopes for the next day.

We arrived at the grounds at 6:30am hoping to catch a ride in the dressage ring before the show started. Unfortunately the arena was closed for dragging and wouldn't be available until the first ride. I was bummed, they had said it was going to be open until 7:30. Grrrrr... So we hit the warm up and boy did we hit it hard. He was rearing and bolting and generally attempting to escape back to the barn. Over time with lots of encouragement from Team Rusty (my mom, Inky's owner, and my friends) we managed to settle down into some quality work. Still a bit tense, but at least listening.

I was optomistic heading into the arena. And then we entered for the test and optomism failed me. Rusty was very excited to be trotting in toward "A". For him "A" stood for adjacent to the exit. That set the tone for both our tests. Quality warm up and then instant chaos trotting down the centerline. We managed to eek out both tests without disqualification, but did settle for last in both (just ahead of the disqualified pony who jumped out of the arena!).

I have to say I learned a lot and I'm totally thrilled that we made it through in one piece and we actually had some good work here and there. He felt awesome at moments and I'm really pleased with that. Had we tried this a month ago it would have been much, much worse. We recieved complimentary DVDs of our rides, it was nice to see what the judge was talking about on each element. I definitely will take note of her demand for me to have more soft and yielding hands, even though I am somewhat skeptical of the soft and yielding when the horse is attempting to get out of the arena, but I'll think about it. She also suggested more supportive leg. I knew I was having trouble with that and I could kick myself for not adjusting my stirrups. I usually ride in my paddock boots and half chaps and had switched into the tall boots for the show and didn't adjust my stirrups to match!!! Duh, the paddock boots have a much thicker sole!!! I felt it, but I attributed it to my nervousness. Sure wish I would have shortened them, oh well, lesson learned.

All in all we had fun! Can't wait for the next one!!!

Flying Dismount

It finally happened. I flew off Rusty tonight in a totally unplanned dismount. We were having a nice ride up to that point. He was trotting along, actually feeling relaxed and more supple than usual and then BAM he was going the other direction and I was on the ground.

I have no idea what he spooked at. There was nothing that I could see in that corner of the arena and nothing that Ellen saw either as she happened to be looking right at us when it happened. I hit my side and than my head. Luckily I had my handy dandy helmet on! I felt a little dazed, but also relieved. I've been waiting to fall off that horse since I brought him home. And now it's happened and I'm fine. I have a headache, but it's not bad. I imagine my neck will be a little sore tomorrow, but nothing I haven't felt before. So there ya have it, I can fall off of the big huge horse and be okay. Important lesson to learn!

We rode a little while longer, but I was feeling sort of out of it. Probably the let down after the adrenaline kick from falling. I think Rusty was feeling slightly embarrassed/guilty afterwards because we had some of the best trot work we've had so far right after I remounted. I don't think I'll utilize flying off of him as a training tool, but he did seem a little sorry for his actions.

I've really been working on pushing my hands forward. I suppose that's an exaggeration, but what I mean is not feeling the backward motion in my hands, but instead feeling like they're encouraging forward motion, while still supporting his frame. It's an interesting feeling and it's been hard to cultivate, but I'm liking what it does for his trot. I also had a mini realization tonight that I don't have to use my legs like vice grips, if he doesn't listen I should ask with the aid of the whip and he'll learn to move off lighter pressure. I think I've been feeling like I'm not asking right if I'm not squeezing the heck out of him, but squeezing the heck out of him hasn't gotten us anywhere. Tonight while I was working on suppling him up with some sidepass work I used a little whip reinforcement and surprise he moved right away from light pressure the next time. It's the little things...

I'm up to the barn tomorrow night, probably without Ellen. It'll be nice to have the arena to myself and just take things nice and easy. Saturday we are planning to videotape each others rides and watch them on the computer right afterwards. I'm looking forward to that, it's always great to see what you've improved at and what you still need to work on.

Barn Night

(Rusty and his bff Inky)

First horse oriented thing I did today was take my disgusting stable blanket and my friend Ellen's stable blanket and turn out to the tack shop to drop off for washing on my lunch break. I don't think the tack shop lady is super impressed with being the drop off spot for these stinky blankets. Her first questions were, "Are they in clean garbage bags? Are they sealed up?". Luckily my answer to both questions was yes! I didn't tell her that I had bought the garbage bags at the dollar store and they may disintegrate from the fumes at any second. So the blankets are on their way for a washing, finally...

Ellen and I headed up to the barn after work today. The first of many proposed car pools to come. Saving gas and having a buddy to ride with are always pluses.

We got the ponies out and started tacking up when I noticed that Rusty had a nice bit of hair missing right at his left hock and a cut below that. His leg was a little hot and a little swollen. Oh great. I decided to go ahead and saddle him up and see if he was favoring it at all. We got out in the arena and did some lunging, he was good to go. The movement helped to take down the small amount of swelling that was there.

With Inky working in the arena we had a little bit more distraction than normal. We were also coming off of a two day break so Rusty was feeling a little fresh, distracted, and tense. All in all we had a nice ride. After we were both done with our work in the arena we hit the trails. It was right at dusk so the trails were a little dark even with the big full moon. The horses were brave little soldiers though and just kept their ears on high alert and headed out into the night. Rusty seems to be enjoying his new trail experiences. He practiced leading more tonight and even did a little leading at the trot! A very tentative trot, but still a trot!

After our ride I attempted to cold hose Rusty's leg, but realized I don't know how to have cold water only in the wash rack. All I could manage was luke warm, which sort of defeated the whole purpose. So I cleaned out his little cut and put some medication on it. I'll have to text the barn trainer/manager/friend of mine to check in on him in the morning. Hopefully it won't look like much and all will be well... Fingers crossed.

Tomorrow we're heading out a little earlier to the barn, probably do the same as today, a little arena work followed by some trails. Sort of the perfect ride...

Lean on Pete

Tonight the boyfriend and I went to see one of our recent favorite authors speak at a local library. His name is Willy Vlautin and he most recently wrote a book called "Lean on Pete". I would highly suggest picking up that book or one of his others, "Motel Life" or "Northline". He's a sort of down-on-your-luck working class author. I enjoy his books for their brash, realistic look at life for most of us... just holding it together, or maybe not holding it together, but somehow waking up every morning and starting it over again.

"Lean on Pete" is a favorite for me because the Pete in the title is a racehorse at our local track, Portland Meadows. The real Lean on Pete was a TB who raced something like 40 times and only made around $37K. When Vlautin first moved to Portland he discovered Meadows as a place that reminded him of his home in Reno, NV. Over time he made connections with trainers, jockeys, handicappers, and just plain gamblers. "Lean on Pete" includes a lot of time on the backside, the darker side of horseracing, and that special moment of love we all feel with that first horse who really gets to us.

Vlautin spoke eloquently and emotionally about the track. He spoke of his love for the horses, the sport, and the jockeys and the pain he felt watching them after he began to know their stories. I was impressed with his understanding of the sport and willingness to expose some of the seedier sides of life at a low end track. And just in case you are thinking, yeah but what's he doing about it, well he's adopted a few horses off the track and they have permanent homes with he and his girlfriend on his property outside of Portland.

Lean on Pete the racehorse was at the track the same years as Rusty. They never raced against each other, they were always a day or two apart, but they were there together. Pete kept racing, I think he raced 4 or 5 seasons. His final season, according to Equibase, he was racing at a track I've never heard of, running claiming races. I really wanted to ask tonight if he's followed up on Pete. Does he know where he is? Has he offered him a retirement home? But for some reason I couldn't. He talked about how he felt that Pete's owner was a "good guy" and that Pete was lucky. I couldn't help but think that he might not be and I really wish I knew where he was.

Rusty's Still Alive

Big, long break and I'm going to give this bloggin thing another shot...

Here's the update:

Rusty and his friend Inky have moved to a new barn. The new barn is set up for optimal pacific northwest winter time riding and horse happiness. We have a beautiful indoor arena with fantastic footing, trails that have gravel laid down for the winter rains, and sand runs attached to the stalls for the days when the turnouts just can't take the hoof abuse.

Rusty and I have been at the barn since the 1st of October and our riding has dramatically improved! Having an arena to ride in has been miraculous. Not only does it boost my confidence, but it also gives Rusty some boundaries and lessens the distractions that surround him. It was tough to move away from the other barn, the owners are incredibly kind and caring and welcomed us like family, but for Rusty and I it's been the best move we could have made.

The new barn has 13 stalls, 9 have runs attached, an indoor arena that's basically the size of a small dressage court, a huge tack room, lounge area, 50 acres of trails, and great owners. It's another private barn and this is the first winter that they will have boarders. They're really excited to have us there and instantly treated Rusty like one of their own.

Rusty's new stablemates are 4 TB's (3 OTT, 2 mares, 2 geldings), 3 QH mares, a Tennesse Walker mare, an Arabian mare, an adorable little pony, Inky (Arabian/Trakehner Gelding), and soon to be another OTTB gelding and a paint gelding. The barn owners and the trainer/manager are very dedicated to the comfort and happiness of the horses. They spend hours analyzing the best turnout patterns, who gets along with who, and what might make the horse just a little more content. I'm feeling pretty lucky to move from one fantastic barn to the next.

Our riding has improved by leaps and bounds over the past two weeks. We can focus on our work, he with better footing and less outside stimulation and me with the knowledge that we're safely within four walls and I can relax. We have entered a show on Oct 30th, a dressage schooling show, we're signed up for Intro A & B. I'm looking forward to it, we're pretty ready for it and will only be more so by then. It's sort of all falling into place right now. The arena, the trails, the good equine energy is making for one happy Rusty and rider.

We'll see how this bloggin thing goes this time around... Maybe I'll keep it up!

Shoes!

Mystery solved.

What my horse needed to move forward without hesitation? A pair of shoes! He was shod last Saturday and after a few days of shoe wearing we're moving forward. In fact, now instead of worrying about how to get a trot out of the guy, I'm wondering how do I make him walk. He's all peppy and ready to go. He'll even canter on cue!

Of course now I feel horrible. Shoes. It's so simple. In some ways I'm grateful it wasn't figured out quickly. We've made tremendous progress on respect both on the ground and under saddle that all came about because of his nasty mood under saddle.

We had a super fantastic weekend this last week. We went to the vet and got a tube up the nose to see about his potential dorsal displacement or larynx paralysis. He was a total superstar patient, didn't even need a twitch for the second tubing! He does have a partial paralysis on his left side as many TB's do and there is question that when he's put into a working frame and exerting energy that he may experience discomfort from his dorsal not having super strong muscle, but overall we're not going to faint from lack of oxygen and he shouldn't experience anything too upsetting.

After the vet we went on a trail ride! We swung back to the barn, picked up Inky and went on a ride. It was quite relaxing and we CANTERED on the trail. A first for sure. It was thrilling and calm all at the same wonderful time. I was a little nervous that some crazy racehorse urge would overtake him and he'd rush past Inky out of control. But he was happy to lope, yes lope, quietly behind Inky down the trail.

The next day Rusty had his first day trip to an arena. We went to the other side of the island, where we will be soon attending at TB show, to practice our skills in a full size arena. Rusty was pretty snorty and concerned with all doorways and entrances. But seriously, overall he amazed me. He had some beautiful trot work and was very willing to work through his nervousness. We went for a ride across the property where he even led through the scary parts! He was amazing.

We're doing good. Things are looking up and I'm excited for all the incredible adventures that await as the days brighten up and the sun stays out longer...

One step forward, how many back?

I had a hard time getting out to the barn this week and it showed. Rusty needs constant attention and work, otherwise he just starts backsliding into his pushy self.

Our first task of the day, the riding lesson, went pretty well. It's been raining hard all week and the horses have been in their stalls more than normal, so I arrived a little earlier than normal to let him get some kicks out before the real work started. He did some light round pen work and then I let him settle in with some hay while I tacked him up.

The lesson started out with him dancing around and not wanting to let me put my foot in the stirrup. I think I'm always nervous when our trainer is there that things aren't going to go well and it transfers onto him. Then when something like that happens I get flustered so much more easily. Our trainer said, "Listen, the one thing he's got going for him is that you'll cave. He dances away from the fence so you decide that you'll just get on from the ground, you have to stick with it. I don't care how long it takes." So we did just that and it only took about 3 minutes to get him to settle and stand quietly.

Our ride went pretty smoothly, we worked a lot on suppling him and asking him to accept the rein contact while maintaining the freedom in his gait. We did opening rein, after opening rein, after opening rein. He got it, here and there, sometimes it was frustrating but for the most part he figured it out. It took an immense amount of persistence and precision on my part. He is so sensitive, I can't even feel his mouth in my hand and he reacts as if I'm cranking his head around. Our trainer worked a lot with me again on relaxing and being very deliberate in my requests from him. Make them very small and light. The suppling helped him to open up his gaits and we're hoping after he learns the response of bringing over head, pushing out barrel, and stepping through with the hind end, it will be useful to combat his giraffe head antics.

After the ride we spent some time rubbing his sides. His girth area and directly behind it are often incredibly tense. It is hard, he swishes his tail, he flinches, tries to bite you, and generally hates it. I've been working on brushing and petting that area, but she wanted to get a little bit more intense and actually do some massage in that area. She did some for a few minutes on each side and his muscles felt much softer afterward.

Later in the day I headed back to the barn for Rusty's appointment with the farrier. As we were headed into the barn I was chatting with the other boarder explaining his tight sides and the work we had done earlier. She proceeded to start doing some light touching all over his body and he just totally lost it. He was charging forward, biting, throwing his head around, was able to pull away from me, it was totally ridiculous. He had to go to groundwork boot camp for a good 1/2 hour after that. Then he saw the farrier, than more groundwork boot camp. By the end he was not pleased with it, but he was okay with having his sides touched again.

I'd have to say, it feels pretty damn frustrating to think you're making progress in one direction and than have things go haywire in another. I know this is just the lumps and bumps of the OTTB retraining, but geez...

Getting an Education

Rusty has been improving in leaps and bounds! We had our first lesson after about a month without and we had 0 bucks!!! That's right, none, nada, zilch. I was ecstatic. Even better, we actually had some pretty decent trot work. He used to be very into sticking his head out sideways and neck straight up. It's pretty hard to get a horse doing that to go forward... Anyway he was getting a little carried away with that for awhile, but we seem to have conquered it for the most part. He spent a lot of the lesson fooling around with his head, up, down, sideways, but he totally got it more than a couple times. He came onto the bit and instantly everything felt so much better. His back came up and he drove forward. Yes!

Today we were scheduled to go out for a little trip to the beach with the other boarder. Her horse pulled a shoe yesterday so she decided to ride one of the other OTTBs. We didn't make it far. Rusty was totally amped up and couldn't even walk down the driveway. I retreated to the round pen for some schooling and she went out in the back field. Rusty was brilliant schooling, very relaxed, and for him very forward. I decided to join her in the field to shake things up for him. It was exciting to say the least...

The gelding that she was riding is pretty dominant and as soon as Rusty got near him he just launched himself in the air struck out at us came down and whirled around to get in a good hind kick. Luckily she's a very skilled rider and dealt with this all well and nothing got too dangerous. We had a couple more eruptions out of him, mostly when Rusty was "too close". Rusty was overall pretty damn good in the field. He spun toward the barn a few times, had a couple rearing hops around, but we did get some nice trot work. He also kept his cool when the other horse was losing his. I was pretty happy with him, it's really the first time he's been asked to work outside of an arena setting.

After we had managed to get all the spunkiness worked out and had some attentive ponies we decided to try another walk down the driveway. Everything was going swell until the neighbors Bernese (spelling?) Mountain Dog came bounding and barking toward us. Rusty took one look at him, spun around and bolted for the barn. There was a split second where I thought I might not be able to bring him back to me, but he settled into a quiet canter pretty quickly and we turned around and walked back toward the dog. I decided to get off and walk him up and let the dog give us some good barking. The dog obliged and Rusty thought it was all very scary and uncalled for. I happened to have a mint in my pocket so after he settled down and was just nervously eyeing the dog I gave him a mint. That pretty much sealed the deal that Bear wasn't really a scary dog... at least for today.

I'm pretty excited about this weekend, feels good to make some progress. The trainer and the other boarder thought his movement looked a lot better. I'm so glad I decided to take the extra step to make sure his body was feeling all right. We're going to get in another ride tomorrow which will make four days in a row. I love spring! Can't wait for the time change so I have some more daylight after work!

The Attack of the Yearling...

...in a six year old body! I'm pretty sure my horse is really a giant yearling. Or he's teething? He is just mouth-crazy these days! Yesterday he had his weekly massage and he was so naughty. His normally calm and collected therapist was even reaching the point of frustration with him. He just would not stop with the bites. His leadrope, the fence, your coat, my coat, boots, hands, whatever.

I think he's bored. He needs some serious work. It seems like his body is getting back in alignment and we are ready for some work again. We did some light lunging yesterday with 5 walk/trot poles. I had him in a surcingle with pretty loose side reins. He seemed to enjoy the challenge of the trot poles. He's pretty silly to watch going over trot poles because he is just so unsure of where his feet should go. He managed to get it sorted out pretty well yesterday and made it through a couple of times with not even a knock a pole! Which for him is a tiny miracle.

I took him out to the end of the driveway to work on backing up a hill, the only hill we really have to work with. He was not too sure about the whole thing. He was interested in the road and the cars and bicycles speeding by. He definitely did not want to turn his back on them! It took probably ten minutes to get him to stand with his butt to the road. We did a couple of sessions of backing up, no more than about four steps each time.

One think I learned yesterday is that my horse may not officially be clicker trained, but I think he's mint wrapper trained. I used empty mint wrappers in my pocket to encourage him to "do the right thing". When he was spooking at bikes and cars being behind him I scrunched up the wrappers for their great little plastic sound and he instantly relaxed and paid attention to me... I didn't know he'd been eating so many mints!

Back to the Track

Rusty seems to have taken about 10 steps back in training in the past week and a half. When I first brought him home he was so mouthy, always had something in his mouth. His lead rope, my boots, the radio, my shirt, my hair, the cross tie... Basically anything. He didn't bite per say and left not a single mark on me. He was also a maniac to lead around. He'd kick, rear, whirl, buck, run into you, bolt forward, all the tricks in the book and usually in quick sucession. Over the first few months we came to an agreement on the mouthiness, it became minimal and mostly directed at non-human objects that needed some "exploration". His leading progressed to barely ever a problem. We had long walks with the stud chain and a crop and learned that the bucking, rearing, biting, bolting behavior wasn't actually fun.

Fast forward to the last week and a half. The chiropractor was the first night he started back on his past routine. I could not keep his mouth off of me, or the chiro, or the lead rope. What has always been frustrating about his mouthiness is that if you reprimand him he goes into play mode. So say I back him up because he grabbed my coat... he backs up... stands quiet for a second and grabs it again. And he'll do that all night. He loves it. He plays that game in the pasture with his friends. He and one of his barnmates have shredded multiple lead ropes playing tug-of-war games. But as I said earlier we had come to an understanding on this and it wasn't happening anymore.

This weekend's myofascial session wasn't much better. He was trying to grab his therapist all morning. Ramming into her with his full body... It was no good. He slowly relaxed into the session and settled down the mouth and the body. After it was over we let him free to wander around and feel good and loose and relaxed. He walked, trotted, and cantered and it was BEAUTIFUL! I haven't seen him trot like that since I got him. His hocks were moving, his pasterns were moving, his toes weren't dragging. He looked great. He got him self a little wound up and had to be caught before he ran out all the good that had just been done. This is the point where bad behavior number two comes back...

I opened up the gate to lead him to the pasture where his friends were and he absolutely lost it. He bolted past me spun and reared. He reared higher than I have ever seen him rear. Came down and plunged forward. I backed him and growled and did all those regular things. What does he do?! Grabs the lead rope in his mouth. We regained our composure and practiced in and out of the arena a few more times, gradually getting better, until we could finally walk out without a bolt.

I guess the myofascial release must have him feeling pretty darn good. Or at least that's what I'm going to think. It's also the first few days of nice warm sunny weather, so perhaps he's just feeling his oats and sun on his back. I know that at the social service agency I work at the clients get a little wacky when the sun comes out. Maybe it's just the same for a horse? At least I know we've come a long way when he reverts back to these previous naughty behaviors. This week he can go back into some regular work, so I'm looking forward to giving him some solid work. He needs it.

Hip Cracking

Rusty had a visit with the chiropractor tonight. He was not a big fan of the chiro work, but I think he'll be happy with the results. The chiro adjusted his sacrum and pelvis first. They were the most out of place and were probably responsible for most of the stiffness and lack of freedom in the rest of his body. Rusty spent most of the adjusting time trying to figure out how to best bite the chiropractor, preferably grab his jacket and distract him from all the ouchy adjusting.

The chiro said that it is very likely that this will be an isolated problem and we won't be looking at long term need for adjustments. Which made me happy! He also said that it should make a big difference in his attitude and in his overall freedom of movement. I'm not to ride him for a few days and then just some light work after his next myofascial work.

It was pretty incredible how all the little things I had noticed over the past few months all made sense with what was going on with his hips. The bobble in his left hind coming down from canter to trot was due to that right hip being stiff so the left had to compensate. He would only take a 1/2 step with his left front when backing, again due to the right hind not wanting to bear too much weight and lacking flexibility. His giraffe neck and bucking routine, obviously doesn't feel good to move forward with some fool riding you when you can't use your hind end. His sides and girth area being super sensitive were related to the hip thing too! I guess when the hips are out and the horse is compensating by dragging themselves around with their front ends it causes all sorts of crazy sore spots in weird places.

I'm really looking forward to the new "adjusted" Rusty. The chiropractor made good points about how even when we remove the physical pain we're still left with the mental barriers that might provoke similar behaviors. We will have to work to rewire his reactions to gain some positive behaviors.

Trotting!

Our trainer didn't show up today. No email or phone call, so I'm not really sure what happened with that. I had Rusty all warmed up and ready on time for his lesson, after waiting a half hour I decided we might as well do some light work while waiting.

Things did not start off well. He refused to walk. Great. Now we can't walk or trot. I had the whip with me, but refrained from using it and just urged with my seat, legs and voice. It usually took more than a few squeezes before he'd inch forward, but as soon as he did I released all pressures and praised him. We did this for about 20 minutes. A couple of times he began the head up, back up might start bucking routine, but instead of popping him with the whip I just gave him a negative verbal feedback and he'd scoot forward. We started to get some good walk transitions and then out of nowhere he's nice and relaxed, accepting contact, swinging forward and he voluntarily picked up a trot!!! It was fantastic!

At this point I don't really care if I didn't ask for it at that moment, I'm just thrilled that he's offering it. He willingly came back to a walk for a couple of strides and then picked up the trot again. And it was a beautiful trot, he was forward, his neck was relaxed, he was seeking contact and most importantly it was quiet and kind. We did a number of transitions and then took a break for 10 minutes or so. I was hoping the trainer was going to show up, but soon decided to give that up. I was nervous about moving back onto the circle after the break, that he might not be willing to move. He was not excited to move into a walk and we had to have a discussion about that, but after that he was right back where he had been before the break. Willing to trot both directions and relaxed.

I couldn't have asked for a better ride today! In retrospect I'm glad the trainer no showed, it allowed us to take it slow and not push him to a point where he became frustrated. I'm not sure what this breakthrough means. I have a couple of theories... 1. He hates the dressage whip and it should rarely be used. 2. The couple of rides with the back up of a person on the ground allowed him to make positive associations with trotting. 3. His myofacial release has him feeling a little more free through the body. 4. A combination of all of the above! I think this is the more likely answer. It wasn't just one event, but a variety of events that allowed us to make this little breakthrough.

Tiny Victories

We can trot! Well, we can trot if someone stands in the round pen with a lunge whip. Last night we saddled up for a very quick ride and it was our best ride in weeks. We did probably 5 transitions each direction and there was very little threat of bucking and even some downright enthusiasm for trotting! I'm going to try and recreate last night this afternoon in preperation for our lesson on Saturday.

Rusty also has a date with his equine myofacial release therapist on Valentine's Day for some intensive work on his body. She did an intial evaluation of him on Tuesday night. She felt some sore spots, but said his back is in great shape! He had some soreness across his croup and in his neck and shoulders. She also suspected that he had a rib out on one side. The soreness in his rear end could very well be the reason for his mystery lameness over last weekend. On Sunday she wants to observe him under saddle, so we may go for a quick ride so she can see his resistance in real time. Although, I'm holding out hope that he will be somewhat over it by Sunday. That may be a little overly optimistic, but I'm okay with optimism right now.

I'm getting my horse a massage?

Rusty is getting his first massage tonight. Actually, equine myofacial release would be the proper terminology. I'm hoping for some answers to his resistance in moving forward. I worked him on Sunday and was able to identify that he seems to come up short in his left hind leg when transitioning down from the canter to the trot. He remains off for about a quarter to half circle and then appears normal again.

I jumped on him bareback briefly on Sunday to try my voice only, no whip commands to see if he might relax into some nice transitions. No luck, he was absolutely against it. He was threatning to rear and buck and actually completly stopping movement. I had one of my barn friends come into the round pen and pick up the lunge whip, at which point we had beautiful transitions. As soon as he left the round pen Rusty immediatly began his routine of refusing to move. So I asked my new assistant to come back in and pick up the whip again. Again transitions were back to perfect. We worked like this for a couple of transitions, than my assistant dropped the lunge whip and remained in the round pen, transitions remained nice and slowly the assistant left the round pen and we were able to continue with a few more nice transitions walk-trot-walk. So I called it quits. I suppose that's forward progress and I'm aiming to do a couple more of those works this week where there is support given by lunge whip at times to reinforce.

We'll also evaluate his body tonight just to see if there is a pain cause for all of this behavior. I suppose both of these give me a glimmer of hope for now...

Lame or Not?

So one thing will become clear quickly, I worry. Right now I'm worried that all this bucking and dislike of moving forward is coming from a physical ailment. Rusty has seen the chiropractor, he's had his teeth checked, and he's been evaluated for any lameness issues... but I'm still worried that the behavior is linked to something physical.

Today while I was free lunging him in the round pen he seemed off in the rear end, he was really clearly off for about halfway around the pen (this was after appearing fine for 15 minutes) and then just slightly off after that. He bucked a couple of times in a way that just didn't seem normal and had his ears pinned back, which is not usual for free lunging. Of course this led to me not riding him and instead hosing his legs, analyzing his reactions to my poking and prodding and generally being worried. There was no heat anywhere on his legs, no odd swellings, and no reactions from him. I think I'm going to have a different chiropractor out, one that specializes in dressage. I'd like to hear what she thinks about his issues. I've also been thinking more and more about the potential of ulcers causing some of his resistance. And then there is the ever popular, he's just being a brat and we'll have to work through it. Or, hey it could be all of the above. Too bad he can't talk.

The farrier was at the barn today and gave his hooves a thumbs up. He had some cracking issues over the summer and I ended up having to put shoes on him for a few months. His feet are looking great right now, he's been shoeless since September and he's finally lost the racehorse hoof shape.

I'm starting my new side job cleaning stalls at the barn tomorrow. I'll only be doing Sundays. I'm really excited to do it. It helps out my bank account and has the added benefit of some physical exercise. My everyday job includes a lot of sitting behind a computer. I also miss cleaning stalls. Silly, I know. This is the only time in my life where I've been able to have full board and I don't think I could have a horse right now if that weren't the case. But, there is something nice about spending a morning in the barn and I'm looking forward to getting back to that.

Off to the races...

It was freezing cold the morning I stood on the backside at Portland Meadows and scrawled out a check for a big grey thoroughbred. If you minus time off for a bone chip surgery and the fact that he was coming off the track mid season due to my new found ownership, Smokey Rhythm had raced for roughly two seasons. I handed over the check and immediately thought, "What am I doing?". I hadn't even handled a horse in the two years since my mare had died and I was buying a racehorse!!! I didn't even have said racehorse vet checked!!! I was doing everything "wrong".

Just a quick history of myself so you don't think I'm some nut buying a horse off the track with no knowledge. I've been riding horses for 18 years. I primarily focused on dressage during my teenage years. I went off to Oregon State (because they have a horse barn) and was able to be a head instructor in their riding program and assistant farm manager. I worked many summers as a trail guide, ran a horseback program at a summer camp, trained QH's and Paints in basic western skills, held a level 3 CHA certification in western and english, and had owned my mare for 14 years when she died. I had been on a break from horses, but I wasn't coming into this green.

Smokey Rhythm, or Rusty as he likes to be called, arrived at his new barn 3 days later. He was lucky enough to be moving to a beautiful private barn that housed four other OTTB's (off the track thoroughbreds) and one TB yearling filly. He would fill the sixth and final stall. I'll spare you the details of hauling him, except to say I would warn against using a straight load trailer with a horse used to running straight out of a starting gate. It didn't make much sense to him to back out.

He settled in nicely with his new barn mates, quickly proving himself to be very much the lover and not the fighter. We took things very slowly at first. Countless hours were spent on the basics. When you are brushed behind the girth there is no cow kicking allowed. When brought into the grooming bay it is not acceptable to run over your handler to escape the tickle torture of brushes. To bite your human friend is not an act of kindness. And the biggest lesson of all... Rearing, bucking and spinning are not acceptable when being led away from your friends. I remember thinking we were never going to master any of these "simple" lessons, but over time they slowly came to be and now I have a difficult time remembering it ever being all that bad.

Within a few weeks we were onto lunging. The barn possesses a very nice round pen that worked well to control his learning, Rusty took to lunging as if he'd been doing it forever. He must have had pretty solid training in it when he was being broke for the track. He was quickly responding to voice commands and allowing himself to be saddled and bitted up. By late February it felt like it was time to give him a ride.

Our first few rides were beautiful, he has a very soft and kind mouth, his gaits are splendid and he tried very hard to do what he thought I wanted. He was rather dead to the leg, but after urging would move out. We attempted to walk around the property on occasion, but this often ended in temper tantrums and frustration. At some point his willingness in the arena took a turn for the worse and he started to become very difficult to move. No amount of urging with leg, seat or dressage whip seemed to move him forward at an acceptable rate. He also started spooking. At everything. At the trees in the corner of the arena, at the hayfield, at the other horses, at the chickens, at anything. Basically, things started to fall apart. So we took a break.

A few months later I started taking riding lessons. Rusty and I had started up riding again. It was moving along all right, but nothing seemed like it was really clicking for us. The trainer I was working with had an open slot to take a horse on for a month so we agreed that it would be a good chance to get Rusty in and assess what his needs were. He spent the next 45 days in training and we had some really great rides. He seemed to really kick into gear for a few weeks and then toward the end his little oddities started coming up again. Now they seemed even a little worse. He wanted to buck instead of trot. Rear instead of canter and he does this amazing move with his head where he lifts it straight up and then sticks it sideways. We were still getting good work, but he was growing frustrated with something and I didn't know what. His saddle fit well. He'd been vet checked since I bought him, had a visit from a chiropractor who found nothing wrong, and had his teeth checked.

So this brings us to where we are now. He's at home again. We're not able to ride much due to the rainy, dark Oregon winter and the lack of a covered lit area. We have a trainer coming out weekly to give us lessons. We've managed to come to an agreement on the head, he's still trying to figure out the perfect spot, but he's definitely not nearly as much of a giraffe. Our transitions and forward motion are still just not there. During a transition he wants to stick his head straight up, shorten his stride and fight into it potentially even really objecting with a buck. Once we're trotting we might sustain a nice gait for a short amount of time, but will often end up in a battle over continuing forward again resulting in a potential buck or two. A canter is difficult to get to, but once he does it is quite lovely and his whole being is much more relaxed at that gait.

I've found when looking though various stories about OTTB's that people often share wonderful tales of the easy transition off the track and the miraculously easy going nature of their OTTB. I felt the need to share my story. I love Rusty he is a kind, sweet. and comical horse. He's a quick learner, but he's also a challenge with his odd habits and training dilemmas. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to track our progress, share it with others and hear from anyone who wants to share their questions or tips or stories with me!