Last weekend in January plans

[SEL]

Blue has just been officially diagnosed as PSSM1, so I'm still absorbing that and trying to decide what to do. Unfortunately my vet went on holiday the day before I got the test results through, so I'm floundering a little without having her to talk things through with.

Short term, I've whacked Blue onto 8000 iu natural vitamin E, so I'll see how that goes.

Medium term, I've got no idea how I'm going to keep up with the exercise requirements. Hock arthritis means I can't take her in the school every day. Even if I could get her to hack alone, the roads are too dangerous to take her out on winter evenings. The saving grace is that she's a hooligan in her field, and probably gets 20-30 minutes of trot/canter a day just from that.

Longer term, she won't be able to do what I want to do. Currently, I could afford two horses money-wise, but not time-wise, and no guarantee I could afford it money-wise past the end of this year. (Ah, the uncertainties of contracting.)

It's all left me a bit shaken and upset. I love this little cob to bits and I just want to do what's best for her, but it's sad to have to put all my (extremely limited!) ambitions aside.

I'm sorry - my P1 also has other issues so I completely get where you're coming from. She's a field ornament now. If I had my time again though I'd not put myself under so much pressure to do daily exercise so long as there's turnout. Mine has always been ok with 3-4 days per week but must be rugged well.

 

[Roxylola]

@Pippity Try not to panic. There are horses working just fine with muscle myopathy of some form - Charlie for one, you just don't hear about the ones without issues. He doesn't work every single day, and tbh if your routine has been mostly OK up to now it may just want tweaking. Message me if you want, I'm not an expert compared with many but I'm happy to chat

 

[rara007]

Finally on the way!

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Off to dressage again today for us, our second go at affiliated! Two tests this time, prelim & novice.
Prelim was OK but he was quite looky and resistant so not our best work - finished on 65.something% so another score towards winter finals, got 2nd place rosette but think I was actually 3rd. Anyway, happy with that.
Onto novice, I took charge more to combat the lookiness and it paid off! First in my section and actually highest score in the class, hoorah! Very pleased ?

 

[Michen]

Needs some muscle back on after his hol but that shine- and I haven’t been near him with a brush for a week!

 

[Michen]

Double posted

 

[Pippity]

Well, today's extremely windy weather gave Blue a chance to retrieve her halo after bogging off with me last week. We were crossing a narrow, one-lane humped-back bridge over a canal when a tarpaulin wider than the road blew off a nearby building site and pretty much wrapped itself around the lead horse's head.

Thankfully, he has supreme trust in his very good rider, and listened when told to just stand still. Blue did a quick leg-splay, spin and go but came back to me almost immediately, and the same from the other horse we were with. The lead horse was shaking with terror but held it together while his rider got off and dealt with the tarpaulin. Blue was a bit of a shake, too, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

And then, yards from home, she teleported sideways when a pheasant erupted, but she managed to stop herself before landing on the car that was going past too fast and close.

I've come the conclusion that the surest guarantee of an eventful hack is to forget my hatcam. So from now on, I'm not getting on board without that damn camera!

 

[Roxylola]

Double posted

I'd post that pic twice too - he looks fab ?

 

[Michen]

I'd post that pic twice too - he looks fab ?

Ah thanks! He feels it too!

 

[j1ffy]

Michen - he looks fab!
RL - thank goodness you and your hacking buddies have the trust and training foundations in your horses, that sounds like a hack that could have gone very wrong.

Chilli’s leg looks a lot better and he’s still sound so we went for a walk around the village with a spooky horse. Chilli’s not had to be the responsible adult on his own yet so it was lovely to discover that he stands stock still when another horse spooks and spins into him - I think he enjoyed being the brave one ?. We’ll do similar tomorrow and hopefully can crack on from there. Two lessons now booked for February!

 

[milliepops]

Herd merged into one at the field
Been so lucky with the weather, the ground has held up so well. OH is on about rolling the nursery field bonkers January. Not complaining though, all my horse moves would have been a PITA if it had been as wet and muddy as usual.

Hera is a bit bossy with the oldies (Twiggy with the white face bay below is 26, doing well with very little tlc but getting pushed around by the young upstart) and Salty has assumed the role of herd leader so it's all change, but they seem quiet and settled so thats a massive relief.

Kira had a bit of turnout too, whoo hooo, feels like things might finally be starting to settle down. forecast next week looks pretty reasonable so with a wing and a prayer i might get Frank out too, and then everyone can breathe a sigh of relief!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Sorry to hear about Blue, Pippity - I hope you can get to check in with the vet soon and work out a plan

Share horse and I had a lovely hack with a couple of companions today. It was really busy out with walkers, cyclists, dogs, cars, and the horses were all so good. No speedy moments this week and I made sure to ask sh to wait for canter this time which she did. I had a bit of a nerves wobble over nothing and got off for a bit and walked. Remounted a few mins later and was then fine. I've learned that the people you're with/yard environment can make such a difference to confidence, it was no big deal for me to get off and do what I needed to do. Getting nervous was not a big deal either, and I didn't feel like I had to try to find a 'good reason' to explain it. I feel so lucky to not only have a lovely sh but with an understanding owner and a friendly/easy going yard.

 

[Michen]

Have to say my spaniel is causing more issues than the damn horses at the moment! Pre Christmas I had an emergency Saturday vet visit due to a suspected thorn in eye (dislodged or miraculous recovery by the time I got there). Yesterday she comes out of a hedge like this with a tear to her ear. I thought it was from her tongue at first. I have never seen so much blood and it took a few hours for it to truly stop, I was just about to take her to the vet when it finally did So she was back in the car for pretty much the entire shoot.

Why are they so hopeless? ?

 

[J_sarahd]

Lesson was amazing - pony was so good and didn’t buck into canter which was good. We did some novice moves, which was great and felt like we are really progressing with our flatwork.

We went to an arena hire and he was a good boy but my confidence sort of hindered him a bit. We popped some jumps and then put them up and put fillers underneath. He would jump the first one in a related distance then stop at the second. I definitely think it’s me and my confidence as he got over them the second time. I just feel a bit deflated as we were so confident last year.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I am chuffed to bits. Horse had his first jump school over cross country jumps (erm, he's really only had 4 jumping lessons prior to this...in his life). A little wobbly at first but once he knew the job, he was on. Definitely doesn't need to leave that much space between him and the jumps, but he is a bit of a drama queen so ?‍ he was quite relaxed about it all in all.

I had zero plans for jumping with this horse initially, he used to be an unconfident little worrier.

Not bad for a Spanish horse



Going to bring a real camera next time

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Had a blooming brilliant jumping session this morning, B Fuzzy didn't look at any of the fillers - which were on every flipping fence except the 1st. We actually ran out of petrol towards the end for the 1st time. Came away very chuffed ?

Michen, I can't 'like' your post, glad it stopped tho!

 

[Caol Ila]

Weather sucks so didn't do a lot this weekend. On Saturday, the horses at Hermosa's yard stayed in the corralls due to the wind, so I couldn't use the school because they share a fenceline and Caso was there. I brushed her, did a bit of groundwork on the road. She's reverted back to being a scatty baby.

Foinavon had two short hacks. Squeezed in one yesterday after the 50mph winds settled, and got an even shorter one in today before they started. He was a wee bit upset when we brought him in from the field today because two star-crossed lovers had been separated (a mare and gelding, in adjacent stables, who were so in love with each other that they were becoming dangerous when their owners took them out), and the mare in particular was going nuts, screaming in her new stable like she was being murdered. The gelding was also neighing his head off, but he didn't sound quite so hysterical. It was like something out of a Lifetime movie. Foinavon couldn't see her, but he's very in-tune with other horses, and he was concerned by the screams. I was a bit worried about riding him, in case he got explosive, but cracked on anyway. However, once he had the tack on and I was leading him to the mounting bench, he settled down, and he seemed very happy to be out on a ride. It was almost like he thought, "Thank God, she's taking me away from this drama for a little while."

 

[rara007]

Finally!
Sadly I’m at work!

 

[scats]

Early morning hack with the Millipede, housework, shopping and then spent a few hours at my friends to chill out, which was much needed.

Michen- our dog tore her ear once. Relatively small tear but the blood just kept coming. She ended up at the vet, shook her head and coated the reception area, ceiling included! Ears don’t half bleed!

 

[Roxylola]

@Michen - they're just thugs, they bull through anything they're so focused on their job they don't notice injuries at all.
I did somerford farm ride twice today - borrowed a 3.5 ton box so had to drive there and back twice as well. Bon was a bit overwhelmed but hopped over a couple of logs. Charlie had a ball, met a lady on a young new to her mare at the water and offered her a lead and rode with them for the rest - Charlie strutting his stuff showing her how it's done, so proud of him ?

 

[Chippers1]

Buzz was brilliant again at the clinic. It was only cross poles which was helpful for me as I wasn't getting worried about the height but he did all the exercises perfectly, didn't stop at any jumps! He was quite strong still though so definitely going to look into a slightly stronger bit I think, just so he will listen to me and not bowl on into the jumps it's ok at this height but might not when we do go back to jumping bigger!
It was so unbelievably windy though, normally I wouldn't go out in wind that strong but it picked up about half way through the clinic, couldn't hear a word! Buzz was great though even though there were loads of scary flappy things outside the arena. It's great to see how much he seems to be enjoying it all at the moment (still hates getting on the horsebox though...)

 

[Bernster]

SJ lesson yesterday - we struggled a bit with what was a fairly straightforward exercise but I’m not sure it worked well for where we are at. Not all bad, some bits were ok but I felt a bit meh about the whole thing. Will re think, re group and think about what to do next. I’ve got a few jump activities booked in for Feb with a different instructor, so will see how those go.

 

[southerncomfort]

Blue has just been officially diagnosed as PSSM1, so I'm still absorbing that and trying to decide what to do. Unfortunately my vet went on holiday the day before I got the test results through, so I'm floundering a little without having her to talk things through with.

Short term, I've whacked Blue onto 8000 iu natural vitamin E, so I'll see how that goes.

Medium term, I've got no idea how I'm going to keep up with the exercise requirements. Hock arthritis means I can't take her in the school every day. Even if I could get her to hack alone, the roads are too dangerous to take her out on winter evenings. The saving grace is that she's a hooligan in her field, and probably gets 20-30 minutes of trot/canter a day just from that.

Longer term, she won't be able to do what I want to do. Currently, I could afford two horses money-wise, but not time-wise, and no guarantee I could afford it money-wise past the end of this year. (Ah, the uncertainties of contracting.)

It's all left me a bit shaken and upset. I love this little cob to bits and I just want to do what's best for her, but it's sad to have to put all my (extremely limited!) ambitions aside.

I'm so sorry, that's really rotten news.

 

[RachelFerd]

Well, Saturday's hacking got a bit interrupted by the weather. Went out on the youngster first thing and survived but it all felt a bit wild. Wind picked up some more and elected to just take the older horse in the arena instead - he's a spooky so-and-so at the best of times and can't be trusted to cope if something mad happens.

SJ yesterday was positive but not lucky if that makes any sense. Youngster jumped DC in the British Novice, but I had a momentary mind blank and had to pause to remember my course, giving us a time penalty and therefore throwing away the DC points and placing.. GRR! Then took him in the 95 and had a silly spooky stop at the first fence. Note to self - just because he's forward and keen doesn't mean you can sit there like a potato to the first fence.

Then after a long wait (HUGE entries yesterday) I took the older horse for a spin up the gallops - albeit at a very steady hand canter. He thought this was SO EXCITING - but I think it really helped his forwardness and in-front-of-the-leg-ness in the SJ class - we just did one round, in the newcomers, and had one unfortunate rub of the water tray fence, but otherwise he felt great - sharper and fitter for the work that I've been building up for him too.

Video of his round on my Youtube link and photos of the youngster on the producing 5/6 year olds thread...

 

[dorsetladette]

@Pippity sorry I can't quote your post regarding Blue's PSSM diagnoses. Firstly sorry to hear your news. But, just wanted to say there is a facebook group (well a few) which I've found really interesting of late. PSSM seems to be pretty endemic within the welsh cob world and slowly people are starting to test their ponies and a few studs are testing stallions and mares prior to breeding. Seems sensible to me, but others are brushing it under carpet and pretending it doesn't exist. The FB page maybe helpful as people openly share their experiences. a lady called Rebecca Duke set it up and is currently helping her dressage cob improve with various different methods. Good luck on your journey with Blue.

Our weekend was quite productive. First part of the fencing finished - looks brilliant. So pleased with it. Robin is really settling after his castration. He's really listening to us now and his willingness to learn is great. I'm wishing he was 12mths old so we can start gently backing him. B's stretches seem to be really paying off he is so much better in himself, but still not quite right on that back leg. I've emailed the vet this morning to discuss the next stages of investigations.

 

[shortstuff99]

I had a jumping lesson on the Spanish Potato! Might seem teeny but this was a horse that found jumping terrifying for about 10 years and then one day loved it.

I have explained more in my post below but I am just so unbelievably proud of her ?

https://fb.watch/aTLjB1Af2T/

 

[Bernster]

Clever potato

 

[Alibear]

The clinic was great. I've come away with some beneficial exercises to free up her shoulders, which improves everything we struggled with. I cannot do some at home as we don't have a sliding surface, but we used them to check she could do what I was aiming for. It was just that she needed to be more supple and needed a little more riding from me. Others I have, which I can do on any surface, so I will use those now we're home. The closest English analogy I have is the German see-saw type work and riding indirect bend to alternate indirect bend. This highlighted that I've been blocking her with my left thigh on left lope departs, so I have to stop that. We identified that I'm doing it as she tends to fall in, but step 1 is just getting the depart and sorting out the falling in elsewhere and step 2 free up the shoulders and making her work through that left shoulder properly will stop the falling in any way. They're pleased with the work we've done and how Ambers muscled up over the winter break, and our jog work just needed a bit of fine-tuning, whereas last year was somewhat erratic. Now to put things into practice to get our lope work to match.
We had a lovely hack out with another livery yesterday and the whole yard is on a high after they had lessons with Steph Coxford this weekend, so everyone's raring to go for 2022
We started the day in glorious sunshine, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the fantastic arena (some of the lovely glow has been lost in making the image small enough to upload), the afternoon session had the odd moment where it felt like riding in a sandstorm

 

[blood_magik]

baby pony had his first solo outing and first lesson away from home today ?

 

[Chippers1]

I'm asking in here as I don't think it's worth it's own thread and you're all very knowledgeable!
I'm looking at getting a slightly stronger bit for Buzz, just for jumping as he's really starting to pull me around a bit. When schooling etc he's very responsive and I can stop him with my voice/seat but jumping is getting a little bit more exciting...this has only really happened over the last year or so, pretty much coinciding with after buying my new saddle so I think he's feeling a bit freer and enjoying it a bit more (hopefully! - for example the last hunter trial I did he shot off out the start box and pretty much took himself over the first 6 jumps or so...!)

Anyway, the instructor and the last clinic I went to suggested a Beval type bit. He's currently in a loose ring French link and has been since i've had him, he goes very nicely in it and it's always been fine breaks wise - hunt rides, xc, fast hacking etc all fine. I've found that you can get a beval with a French link mouthpiece but would this be too much? Also his size is 5 1/4 and they only do 5 or 5 1/2 so i'd have to size up.

Bits scare me so does anyone have any other recommendations before I try this one? I just need him to listen to me a bit more!

I've contacted the Bit bank but i'm yet to have a reply and i'm impatient