Hocks

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Confetti turned 20 this year.  It has always felt like a matter of time until joint support of some kind became necessary.  Not if, but when.

In 2012, I had her checked out, mostly for peace of mind.  She looked fine.  Not perfect – she did show slight lameness after flexion – but nothing concerning.  The vet did not seem to think it made sense to treat aggressively.  He certainly would have if I felt differently, but I agreed.  She was moving fine and it was a very slight reaction.  I started her on Cosequin ASU somewhat inconsistently and continued working her 4x/week with no extended time off.

I can’t remember when I started her on vitamin E, but between Mel and Dr. Garlinghouse I was convinced that was a worthwhile thing to add. She’s been on that for at least a year now, probably two.  Flax has been on the menu since sometime in 2015, grinding it since early 2016.  I quit re-ordering the Cosequin in early 2016 and increased the amount of flax instead.

"Work" this spring.

“Work” this year. Super fashionable!

In early 2016, a whole lot of things changed for me at once.  A minor move, a lot of migraines, shorter days combined with really terrible California weather.. one of my best riding buddies was sidelined for her own reasons for some time.. and poor Fetti got significantly less work this winter/spring than she has in the past six years.

This summer I’ve noted a reluctance to balance back over her hindquarters, lack of desire to go cantering up her favorite canter/gallop hills, occasional back-soreness, resistance to putting her hind hooves up on the stand for trimming, and a tendency to throw herself up steps rather than push.  She’s also ‘dropped’ her hind feet, just an occasional misstep, but for a horse that is historically 110% surefooted that has been disconcerting.  And – if I’m really thinking about it – it feels like she takes more time to warm up into work, rather than being almost-immediately ready to go.

imageI reiterated all this for the very patient vet while he took a look at the pony.  Heart sounded OK.  He noted windpuffs at her fetlocks, but flexed and poked around there with zero reaction.  Unsurprising: this has been noted on her endurance vet cards on and off for several years at the start and finish of rides.

We made our way over to the round pen.  I encouraged Fetti into a decidedly unenthusiastic trot.  She lamented not being allowed to roll.  Two changes of direction later, the vet came in and listened to her heart again.  No heart murmurs, good!  Arthritis likely in both hocks, left more than right.  OK then.  That explains why I wasn’t feeling marked unevenness at the trot, if she’s moving short behind with both legs.

Fetti had a really strong season last year and then several months of doing very little.  That was not a good choice and probably contributed to the arthritis showing up this spring/summer.  Lesson learned.  I need to make better choices next year.  Ideally she will remain in fairly consistent work with the possible exception of the rainy season.

Options for arthritis vary: feed-through OTC supplements (Cosequin), NSAIDs (bute, Equioxx, Previcox), injectable joint supplements (Adequan, Legend, Pentosan), or joint injections into the joints themselves.  As the vet discussed options with me and refreshed my memory on a few of them, he kept complimenting Fetti’s ability to stand still.  Good mare!  I’d just tossed the lead rope up on her neck when we brought her in to the middle, so she decided to nearly fall asleep.  He was quite impressed.  Apparently that’s not what he sees from most horses?!

The research into feed-through supplements is that most of them aren’t great.  Cosequin is one of the only ones I’ve seen good scientific support for.  Even that isn’t particularly amazing.  It’s (roughly) $150/tub or $50/month.  It is not AERC-legal, so I’ve always pulled her off it a week or so in advance of any rides we go to.

I do think I would be OK putting her on Equioxx/Previcox to keep her comfortable as a casual trail horse. These options are also not AERC-legal. I’m not thrilled at the thought of putting her on bute to keep her in competitive work, but again I might consider that if it were my only viable option to keep her comfortable for non-competitive low-key trails.

So: injectable supplements vs joint injections.  Joint injections are more expensive (and though I didn’t ask, would likely be best done at a clinic, requiring a trailer ride). From my very vague memory, I think you only get so many injections before they’re no longer effective due to limited joint space and fusing. Fetti is just now showing symptoms.  It seemed prudent to try the lower-tier/lower-cost option first before going to the really big guns.

Which then led to its own discussion.  Adequan vs Legend vs Pentosan.  Legend is IV.  We ruled that out.  The vet’s recommended loading dose for Adequan was once every 4 days for.. at least several shots, I don’t remember how many.  We ruled that out.  Fetti is still standing rock-solid at this point, and the vet is getting a kick out of listening to C and I discuss whether this poor pony will allow us to inject things and how miserable any of us will be.  Pentosan’s loading dose is once weekly for 4 weeks, then once monthly.  That sounded doable.image

The vet did the first injection.  Fetti, to her credit, managed to spin less than half a circle around me.  We have a few very tolerant friends, but I am still not looking forward to doing the next injection myself.  It’s back into serious conditioning mode for the pony and I, especially as the vet noted that she may have to work through some of the lingering stiffness/pain on the hills (or rather, I may have to force it because she may not want to do so and it would be in her best interest).  Hopefully within a few weeks we’ll know if this is going to make a difference.  Fingers crossed.

 

Fitness assessments & joints

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One of the ways I’ve consistently assessed Confetti’s base of fitness over the past few years has been a set of steps.  Not the first set of steps (we generally walk those), but the second set, right after.  Threeish, a few trot steps on the flat, then four or five and the last one around a turn, then if we’re doing reaaally well, a few more trot steps and maybe even another step.  It sounds straightforward, but it’s actually a pretty good workout.  It’s also really close to home – mile and a half away, involved in almost every ride we go on.

On any given day I know Fetti can walk up the entire set of steps without needing to stop.  If that changes, we have a problem!

Over the past few years we have been able to trot 75% of the way up these steps before fizzling out, and usually closer to 90%, quitting at the turn where it takes more coordination to both go up a step and turn 90 degrees.  By last fall, we were fairly consistent at making it to 125% of normal: all the way up, around the turn, past the next step.  It wore her out, but she could do it.

We’re now in the beginning of July – OK, by the time I’m getting this posted, it’s at least midway through July.  I acknowledge that the rain and mud took a toll on the steps this year and made them not-trottable through the winter and part of the spring.  I understand that horses lose fitness and that’s a normal thing.  But right now, it’s a heroic effort to trot 75% of the way up, and more often we’re closer to 50% at the trot.

I am again suspicious of her hocks.  I have nothing concrete to base that on except her age.  Four years ago, she was fine.  She goes down hills just as terribly now as she does then (said with affection: she is not a good downhill horse, never has been, probably never will be). Actually, no, let me correct that: now there have definitely been a few rides where she’s not sitting back on the hills as well as she was last year. In fairness, that was something we’d worked up to over several years, but I’m surprised to see it backslide. We did several rides last year and did them well.  Her saddles fit, she’s not any different bareback, her feet look good.  She just feels reluctant to really weight her hind end.  Uphill canters/gallop sets used to be a source of great joy, and now get a similar reaction of 50% interest before fizzling out.  I feel like I have less horse than I did in 2012, despite putting a better fitness base on for the past few years.  It’s baffling and frustrating.

It’s also worth noting that her energy level is still quite excellent.  We took most of last July off at her request (pony burnout, it’s a thing) but she has been enthusiastically zooming around the arena, flouncing into the trot, and continues to request Serious Work.

I have zero issue with joint injections to get her back to her previous level of comfort and ability.  The prevailing theme around this area seems to be Previcox/Equioxx – but that’s not competition-legal, and I am not quite ready to throw in the towel and deem her retired from any level of competition yet. I’ll do x-rays if it’s recommended, but at this point I also don’t see a compelling reason that I need to have them.  She’s twenty and doing lots of miles.  I’m sure she has some level of arthritis.

Vet visit is scheduled for the end of the month.

More lessons?

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Last year, I made a promise to myself that I would take more lessons if the opportunity presented itself, and that I would actively seek out lessons to fix some of the issues that made me anxious.  Resolving anxiety in small and manageable steps, woo!

In January, during the winter dreary awful rainy months, there was a groundwork lesson. I upped my standards (should keep going forward with minimal reinforcement) and we worked on turning her to the inside rather than outside. The turn has stuck; my standards have slacked a little and need to go back up.

In April, I took an arena-dressage lesson on Fetti to address steering and cantering. We concluded that she doesn’t give particularly well to the bit, and my (ongoing) homework remains installing that button with consistency. Related to that, I worked on yielding the hindquarters under saddle.

A week or two later, I took a ‘lesson’ on another horse – mostly this gave me the opportunity to figure out how to canter and isolate ‘horse problem’ from ‘rider problem’ from ‘saddle problem’.

In May, I took a trail lesson that I utterly failed to blog about. We pushed Fetti’s limits separating her from the herd and not rushing back. I needed to know that I could de-escalate and/or ride out her reactions when another horse left, preferably at speed. I stuck a mini-bolt and got her stopped without feeling like I was going to die. I schooled this just a little bit on my own after the lesson, but circumstances have not aligned correctly for further practice and other things took priority. Now, I have tools to work through this on my own.
This is exactly the lesson I was aiming for last year when I tried the then-local-trainer that failed spectacularly to resolve any issues and also refused to ride her through the scary stuff first.  My SF-trainer has ridden Fetti before and was perfectly willing to push her buttons, with total confidence that she could de-escalate them and ride them out safely.  I just needed to see someone else do it.  It still felt scary, but it was a manageable level of anxiety, and SF-trainer did not fall off; Fetti did not completely lose it; she did not escalate to dangerous or bronco-bucking.  Ever since getting bucked off hard and with intent, there’s a level of fear and anxiety around pushing her buttons, and this did a lot to reassure me that the tools I have will be enough to keep things under control.

Halfway through the year and I’ve already had more lessons in six months than I’ve had since probably 2012! I took a handful of dressage lessons on Fetti in college, but I’ve been picky about who I lesson with and what we get out of it. ‘Force her nose into a frame’ isn’t going to work for us. Dressage is not my strong suit.. but that doesn’t feel right and it doesn’t get us very far.

So!  When I met Kate at the blogger meetup and realized, even through my heat-exhausted and mildly concussed brain, that she is actually based fairly near me?  I flailed a bit and shot off an email a few days later.  The smart thing to do would have been to mention it in person, but apparently I was not thinking that clearly.  Although “hey would you be willing to come ride my sometimes mildly nutty endurance pony that bucked me off yesterday, and oh yeah she has a history of bolting occasionally in the arena” might not have come across terribly well in person.  I love my pony and love riding my pony, but…

Kate, then, got the first ride on Fetti post-fall, and also got to deal with me running late (car fire on the highway = I detoured = my ever-tolerant boyfriend tacked up the pony for me and I just had to tweak a few things once I arrived), inhaling lunch while she rode (nope, I didn’t really have an agenda for the ride), and still processing the morning’s doctor’s visit.  And helping at the last minute with the other Haflinger at the same time.  I just could not get my brain together.  Bad student, bad host, I just.. flailed in a bunch of different directions all at once and did none of them very well.  Including photos.  I didn’t do photos very well, either.  Bad blogger!

Initial takeaways, very TLDR: she’s not moving well on the left side, either through her back or off the left leg.  I’m not even with my posture/leg cues, so I’m not super-surprised by that: human needs work, horse has been screwed up by imbalanced human.  Contact needs work, also not surprised: I either panic and have too much contact, or we go trotting down the trail with minimal contact and total relaxation. Resistance to stepping through with her right hind, noting mainly for future reference: I know she’s not equally strong on both sides.  I’m not sure how much of it is strength and how much is physical issues.

If Kate’s willing to put up with the two of us, there may be somewhat-consistent lessons in our future.  We can’t make it to rides for at least another month and a half, but maybe we’ll be a better pair for it?

Diagnosis

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I’m derailing from my usual pony-centric blog topics a bit on this one.  It’s intertwined a bit and I want it noted for myself, but feel free to skip on by; pony posts resume later this week.

I went in for an already-scheduled doctors visit late in the week following my fall.  I expected to be mildly chastised for riding with headaches, and had already prepared my defenses: I can’t stop my life every time my head hurts, I self-evaluated, it didn’t seem that bad, I won’t get back on until things are back to normal.  Instead, since the concussion had already been evaluated, that seemed to be of little concern.  (Which: great! I’m comfortable with that and comfortable with my plan to continue self-evaluating and moving forward when it seems reasonable.)  ‘The migraines have improved from the month of misery I had earlier this year back to my baseline of not-ideal-but-normal. The new meds, though, seem to have helped slightly with the general joint pain and sensitivity.  No, we’ve never talked about that, I thought it was normal?’

Apparently I continue to have a very skewed idea of normal, but I am lucky enough to have some professionals in my life who can tell me that my reactions to certain things are Not Normal, and that doing X or Y or Z has improved it or not improved it.  On my own, I just keep grasping at straws.  Maybe I’m riding crooked?  Maybe Fetti’s pulling on my shoulder and I’m not bracing correctly?  Maybe I’m holding mane while riding bareback in the winter and that’s why my shoulder is flared up for weeks or months at a time?

The visit concluded, my head spinning, as we discussed the possibility of fibromyalgia and that it sounds like it might be a match for what I have going on.  Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion.  I’m not nearly far enough in the process to claim that this is the correct diagnosis for me, only that it is a possibility and I can see why.

I have a horse.  I ride for several hours at a time.  Endurance, though, at least the way Fetti and I do it?  It’s a low-intensity sport.  I’m not mentally or physically “on” for hours at a time.  A good ride has us cruising down the trail, not working too hard, just keeping up our all-day trot.  I don’t get tired posting (although! I could definitely use some lessons to correct my form, but right now, we’re making do).

Lessons, though?  Lessons wipe me out and have since high school.  Ride an hour, really working the whole hour, then go home and nap.  I never thought anything of it.  Isn’t that normal?

Maybe I need to manage my spoons differently, but I can still ride.  I’m already making choices that allow me to keep things under control.  This just reinforces that it’s very possible I’ll need to continue doing that on a broader scale.

The good news: my post-fall headache was completely gone, so I considered myself cleared to get back on the horse for a leisurely ride, assuming she was capable of giving me a leisurely ride.. in the interests of cramming everything into one day, I’d scheduled a trainer ride (!) for the afternoon.

I’m about two weeks behind on getting things posted (as is probably obvious by now), and in the two weeks since the maybe-diagnosis, I’ve had time to go through a bunch of the stages of grief.  My injuries were always supposed to be fixable.  Some I have come to terms with being chronic pains; others ebb and flare enough that I’ve sought answers time and time again from the medical profession and been left without anything solid.  I’m grateful that I might have an answer.  The answer itself sucks. Knowing that some of what I have now might be lifelong challenges sucks, too.

But you know what?  Endurance is a great sport for me.  I completed a 50 without feeling the need to immediately curl up in a heap and nap.  I’m young and early in the process.  Fetti’s never let me breed-limit her; I won’t diagnosis-limit me.  Staying active is supposed to be one of the best things I can do?  Well, with this pony, I’m not allowed to take time off.

yes that's a cliff on the right, yes I'm riding with one hand on the reins. Love this horse

yes that’s a cliff on the right, yes I’m riding with one hand on the reins. Love this horse!

It’s an interesting journey we’re on, she and I, but we’re still making our way down the trail.

Schooling show, the aftermath

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It was very much a schooling show, wherein we worked through a myriad of issues.  Oh my.

Things I learned from the show:
1. Long breaks between not-hard workouts mean I need to put more work in our warmups, and do warmups before every single mount.
2. Fetti ate just as poorly at the very local show as she has at every ride we’ve hauled to, excluding the first one in 2012. Consider ulcer meds pre-ride?
3. My seat is not secure enough in the Eurolight.  Could I have stuck the spook/buck in the Thorowgood? I don’t know, but I had zero chance of sticking it in the Eurolight.
4. Small water buckets are 100% worthless to be left out for flavored pony water. However, I think they’ll do nicely in combination with a big water bucket that she can rub her oh-so-itchy face on.
5. My tall boots and I still don’t get along very well.
6. I will consider looking for a new holster for the Lifeproof phone case.  I’ve been wearing this one right at the point of my hip, since moving it forwards means it tries to unclip whenever I lean forward at all, and that seems to have put it in the worst possible spot for a fall.
7. I may not have emphasized this in the other two posts. She was super herdbound to her gelding friend at the show.  While deeply frustrating, this gave me the opportunity to work through ‘leaving and returning to buddy’ in a not-home environment.  It’s possible that contributed to her spook/buck; he was not in sight at the time.  Clearly, this needs more work.

24 hours post-fall, visible injury tally: 3 cuts on nose. Scrapes/bruising at right hip. Bruise at outside right knee. Bruise at inside left ankle. Right ankle felt funny, but chiropractic adjustment (solely to ankle) resolved that – tall boots may be to blame, since that’s come up before.

48 hours post-fall, appointment scheduled to evaluate for concussion.  I self-evaluated all day on Saturday and I would not have gotten back on if I had been concerned.  I knew that I hit the ground pretty hard.  The ground itself was quite hard. Yes, I was wearing my helmet, and yes, it is getting replaced; I knew that even at the show.  All day Saturday, I presented with my typical ‘heat headache’ symptoms with a slight dose of ‘I had a migraine this morning that is probably coming back’.  All symptoms were completely expected given that it was super hot, it was full sun, I don’t do well in heat, and I had taken migraine medication early in the morning before coming over.  It was very likely that I was going to end up with a migraine by the end of Saturday even without hitting the ground.
But.  I know my typical migraine symptoms.  I took more meds when I got home on Saturday, and once they kicked in, my head still hurt just a little bit in the wrong place. The migraine got some time to wear off, and the heat on Sunday absolutely blasted me, but by Sunday night? Same thing. My head hurt in the wrong place.

Injuries are something I push through regularly.  I would absolutely have gotten back on for a ride with an aching hip and bruised ankle.  Potential concussion? Not so much.  Head injuries are not something to be messed with.

Per the doctor (and pending an already-scheduled neurologist appointment later in the week, where I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to learn I fell off my horse.  Oops!  I was only supposed to be seeing him for migraines), he’s not super-concerned, but I’m grounded until the head pain is 100% gone, then gradually increase activity.  He did say he’d prefer that I be off for a full week after it’s 100% gone, but I’m not clear as to why the week (the literature I’m finding isn’t showing anything to back that, and one comments that it’s not proven to help?) so I’m not entirely sold on that part.  And, of course, I need to not fall off again for at least several weeks.

This means I have a problem.

I have a fairly fit horse who does best on a solid workout and is moderately unpredictable after time off. Round pen work has not been sufficient in taking the edge off (see: this winter) and I’m not sure if arena turnouts will do the trick. The longer I wait to get back on her, the more likely I am to have problems.. but I can’t afford to fall off.

There are a few options I’m exploring, but if it comes down to me doing all the work (and it very well might), here’s my current vague plan:
1. recover! No riding until head pain is 100% gone.  That is non-negotiable even if I don’t like it.2. Work pony hard.  Turnout 1-2x/week, plus 20-30minute round pen sessions every time I’m at the barn, w/t/c.  If she’s not sweaty, keep going.  Consider adding poles or side reins.
3. Riding, stage one: walking / slow jogging rides.  Walking alone, slow jogging OK if out with a friend whose horse serves as extra pony brakes and brain.
4. Riding, alternative stage one: walking / running rides.  Ride across river, walk/run with pony on flat sections of trail (to get my heart rate up), ride back across river.
5. Riding, stage two: Serious Trot. Preferably in evenings to dodge the heat and the people, head out for an hour alone for a real workout.
6. Riding, stage three: Find Brain Again Trot.  2-3 hour ride solo.

If my headache does not return, and I have a sane horse, resume rides with other people.

Plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, so I fully expect that I will end up doing something completely and entirely different, and this will be completely irrelevant.  It makes my anxiety feel better to Have A Plan.

Horses!  It’s always something.

Blogger Meetup

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Right about this time last year, at Wild West, we had a spontaneous and very incomplete endurance blogger meetup at the vet check:

imageBoots and Saddles, Redheaded Endurance, me!, Trails (and Trials)

For my next ride – a 50! – I managed to semi-spontaneously convince Cyd and Bugsy to let us tag along on the trail the whole way.

Cyd is also a serious runner. It was very impressive to watch.

Cyd is also a serious runner. It was very impressive to watch.

Then in October at Quicksilver, we rode with Olivia and Nilla.

blogger-image-1198453025And, of course, I am lucky enough to get to see Funder, Dixie, and O on a regular basis!

img_0015I am not known as a particularly social person, and have occasionally been told I don’t make friends my own age very well.. so when Olivia invited me to a local-ish blogger meetup the day after the gymkhana, I thought that sounded like fun.  Socially awkward is fine as long as I have a topic to vaguely flail about.

It was a good-sized group. True to form I didn’t manage to talk to everyone, and I’m pretty sure I only figured out who about half of everyone was at the time (namely: Olivia, L, Megan, and Kate).  That doesn’t look too bad when I realize they were also the ones closest to me.  It felt like I was totally lost in the English world again, though!  But in a good way.

image(I am shamelessly stealing the identification from other bloggers, because I still don’t have everyone straight)

Kate – Incidents of Guidance
L – Viva Carlos
Kat – A Horse is a Horse
Lindsay – not a blogger (yet!) but has instagram
Karley – All In
Emily – Wilbur, Ellie and Emily
Nicole – Zen and the Art of Baby Horse Management
Olivia – DIY Horse Ownership
Megan – A Enter Spooking

Tacos, ice cream, good people.  Well worth the drive.

Then I drove home in the heat and curled up in front of a fan for an hour or two to cool off.  The migraine meds eventually kicked in. It occurred to me that my head was still hurting slightly in a non-typical place.  That really hadn’t been part of the plan..

Schooling show, part two

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There were two more events before lunch. I kept drinking (water and Gatorade), periodically nibbled at my electrolyte gels and my late breakfast/early lunch, and kept moving.  As long as I didn’t sit still for too long, there wasn’t time to get properly stiff.  We worked in the round pen before both of our next rides, and by ride #4 she felt appropriately sedate.  The heat was getting to her.  It sounds awful, but I was relieved.  We trotted politely in, dropped the golf ball in the cone at a halt (woo, we can halt and I can lean down fearlessly!), convinced her to finish making the turn around the cone, and trotted politely out.  I didn’t feel out of control.  Events 2 and 3 she knew the game and she wanted to run – so we walked 90-95% of the time in the arena! – but for #4 she was content to listen to my cues.

Then there was a lunch break.  I sponged her off.  That’s what I do at a break!  She was hot, it felt correct.  I wasn’t going to pull tack and she was happy enough standing at the trailer.  It was an extra hour on top of the usual hour between events, and when we headed back to the round pen again, she was ready to go another 25 miles please.  Walk-trot-canter, canter canter canter, canter canter, big trot?  So we switched directions, and when she settled to big trot, I hopped on and we moved to the arena to trot off some of the energy.  I was still sitting on a Serious Endurance Horse with Serious Endurance Trot and not so much in the way of respectable brakes.  I mean, I had them, she just had way more energy than I was happy with and no appropriate outlet.  When the arena emptied out, I hopped back off to lunge with just the unclipped reins as a line.  Walk-trot.. acceptable if forwards.  Canter?  She dropped her shoulder and bolted.  I sighed, collected myself, calmly retrieved her and without any hint of emotion we tried again.  Same thing.  She hasn’t pulled that trick in months, and we had successfully lunged w/t/c on the line in the arena earlier in the day.  Back to the round pen we went.

In hindsight, I had quit too early the first time.  I need to wait for ‘pokey barely moving jogging trot’ not ‘settling into big trot’ before calling it good.  I know this. This is not new.  What was I thinking?  This time, we kept going until she dropped to something resembling a lazy trot, and I decided we would walk the next event.  Going in, I asked her if she’d like to trot*; we did a teeny-tiny trot for a step and a half and went back to the walk.  Fine!  No problem!  Walked the whole course, all was well.  Break, reset, round pen again, and we sedately walked the final course of the day too – although we trotted our way out of the arena this time at my request.  Good pony.

*Thinking about it later, I suspect I was sending her mixed signals. Normally I go “would you like to trot?” and give verbal, rein, and leg asks if I’d actually like her to.  This time, I think I went “would you like to trot?” verbally, while my body went “OMG PLEASE DON’T!” and she very politely complied.  Can’t complain.  I wasn’t asking her to do so, only offering the option, so really – that was fine given the circumstances.

imageWe placed sixth in our first event and that was the best we did, so we only got a participation ribbon.  Apparently they only give awards to fifth place?!  Hmph.  I have no objection to the lack of awards, only that I got moderately enthused about getting one for 6th, and then a little sad when I heard we wouldn’t. Oh well!

We cleaned up camp, I sent my stuff home with L, and I hand-walked Fetti out on the trail home.  I fully expected her brain to be gone and that it would take ages to get it back since we were leaving her best friends and other horses.  Instead, she was a delightfully well behaved trail pony as soon as we got to the trail.  I walked probably a solid ten minutes because it took that long to find a log big enough to mount from. (My ground-mounting skills were a little lacking after the morning’s antics!) I could have confidently ridden far, far sooner.  Fetti alternately walked and trotted on a loose rein, not rushing, yet not especially behind the leg.  Just.. good.  After a day of ‘what am I riding and how is this going to go?!’, it was really refreshing for both of us to be back at home on our trails just doing what we do, a competent pair, relaxed in partnership.

For extra bonus fun, there was apparently an ultramarathon that would be happening in the park the next day, so we had ribbons!  Ribbons are not terrifying, ribbons make us feel more at home.  Signs in the ground, however..

Pause, snort, stare.

Pause, snort, stare.

I laughed, snapped some photos, and got off to hike her down the hill past the signs, then got back on and we resumed our relaxed riding.  Oh, mare.  We made it home in one piece. We liked eachother again. I reassured other folks at the barn that I was (relatively) fine, and I had help putting her away because my barn friends are pretty awesome.  It was a good way to end the day, regaining confidence that Fetti and I can do things together and do them well and without fear.

Schooling show

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Several years back, another boarder tried to talk me into going to one of the semi-local gymkhana shows.  “You’ll be fine!” she said.   “Sure, your current tack is OK!”  But I would have had to get a ride, and then there’s politics beyond that, and.. it was just too much headache.

Then they ended up scheduling a show at the local arena that I can ride to.  Several things had changed by now: one of my good barn friends was going (at the ‘just for fun, not even remotely competitive, we might walk things!’ level), I had the NATRC ride scheduled for the weekend prior so Fetti ought to be appropriately schooled and maybe a little tired still if I planned things appropriately, and they changed the rules so you didn’t have to be in all English or all Western tack.

Multi-talented.

Multi-talented.

So: endurance tack with dressage reins on a Haflinger.  Rider in Western shirt, black knee-patch breeches, and English field boots.  I only had to buy the Western shirt because I no longer comfortably fit in my old English show shirts.  Win!  Why the endurance saddle, you ask, after all my saddle debating?  Well.. I am a vain person.  There would be pictures.  It shouldn’t matter for this, either, just a moseying little show where we had no desire to go fast or win things.  Also, rainbow braids because it was Pride weekend and it felt appropriate.  I’m not one for big crowds or parades. We can do subtle decorations.

Blurry early-morning uphill

Blurry early-morning uphill

Fetti found her brain fairly quickly in the round pen Saturday morning, and our ride over was uneventful.  I worked her again in a round pen when we arrived, then signed up for classes and.. waited a really long time for things to start.  We arrived promptly at 8 (good, briskly trotting mare!) and didn’t actually go in for our first event until after 10.  I hopped on at the picnic table behind the trailer and walked over to the arena.  My boyfriend was able to stay for the first event, but because of how it was set up the photos aren’t very good.  We trotted in, zig-zagged through the poles with polite leg yields, turned around at a walk, zig-zagged back with polite leg yields at a controlled trot.  An excellent start.  (End result: sixth place!)

Back to the trailer where my friend L had her horse tied and Fetti had her hay and water just on the ground, as if at an away check – seemed just as easy to hold her and do that.  Nearly another hour passed and it was time to get on for our next event.  My boyfriend had to head out by now, so we were on our own.  Back to the other picnic table behind the trailer, I hopped on, gave her a cookie, we walked off.  She spooked, bucked, I was thrown off balance by the spook and I had no chance of sticking the buck.

The good: no one saw it!  Even better, we were close enough to the trailer that I called for L, her husband heard and came right over, and bless her heart Fetti was still standing right next to me.  He helped me up, L checked on me and we evaluated.  Nothing broken.  Head a little sore, but not any more than expected; it was hot out already and I’d been fighting a headache prior. Hip a little sore, but moving. Nose a little sore, and when I reached up to verify it was in fact fine, my gloves came away with a bit of blood.

OK: I did not pass the ‘nothing broken or bleeding’ test, proceed to the bathroom with running water and mirrors (!) and evaluate further.  Further evaluation showed a small cut on my nose from the nose piece of my glasses.  Then I pulled the phone holster off my hip, evaluated underneath, and found, sigh, a definite bruise and a bit more blood.  At least the phone is fine?  (LifeProof cases, y’all, I landed on that thing and it hurt me far more than it hurt the phone.) L retrieved bandaids, we stopped the bleeding, pieced me back together, and un-bent the glasses back into a usable shape.

We were not going to be done on that note.  I did not get back on at the picnic table.  I’m not completely dumb.  I retrieved the pony and we headed back to the round pen, where she got to work at a brisk pace.  It didn’t matter if we made it to the second event of the day or not.  Manners were required and they were evidently not entirely there.  Brisk trot, brisk canter.  When I was satisfied that her brain was intact, I hopped on, and we worked the same thing under saddle.  Someone from the arena started hollering over about it being my turn, and her brain seemed fine.  Why not?  We moseyed over.  We walked in.  We walked the pattern.  I may have said some unkind things under my breath as she was resistant to the leg and our straight lines were anything but.  We walked past the final timing line.  They brought the drag into the arena before we exited.  I swung off and walked her out.  Why push it?  She probably would have been fine, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

This got long! Part two to come.

More saddle woes

Topaz Dreams Posted on by 3

First off: I am pretty sure that all of my current saddles fit the pony reasonably well, with the possible exception of the treeless that I have not tweaked enough to figure out yet. Which, by the time of this posting, has been determined to 1. fit her just fine, 2. not fit me, and 3. already sold and shipped out. Woohoo!

There is a lot to be said about saddles fitting the horse.  I have always been of the belief that I can ride well enough in just about anything.  There was that one HDR that I really didn’t like – too narrow – but other than that? Eh, whatever.  It shouldn’t matter, I should be able to ride well enough that the saddle is irrelevant.  Either my position has gotten worse, I’ve gotten pickier about how the saddle feels, or the quality of riding I’m expecting of myself has gotten higher.  I’m no longer comfortable in just anything.

I never did get my position quite right in the 15″ Eurolight, and I eventually knew it, which is why I upgraded to the 16″ Eurolight.  The aim was that it would fix a lot of my problems.  Instead, moving the knee rolls in the Thorowgood dressage fixed a lot of my problems.  If I’m being totally honest, I should cut my losses and just ride in the Thorowgood full-time.

I’m really, really sad that I haven’t fallen in love with the Eurolight. My seat isn’t secure.  Yes, part of that is on me.  But not all. It feels like I’m fighting the saddle. This was my dream saddle, the saddle I was so thrilled to have found used the first time, and so happy to have been gifted the money to purchase the second one when I needed the larger size.  I’ve spent hundreds on fitters and dozens of hours prior to that fitting them myself.  Yet my expensive custom saddle doesn’t feel right.

Moving the stirrups on the Eurolight improved things, but did not resolve my concerns. I’ve exhausted my options without putting more money into it. The fitters might be able to get it to fit me better, but it does end up being an expensive experiment if I’m wrong. I had them out recently and we thought this setup was satisfactory. Maybe I’m quitting too easily? I’ve thrown a lot of money into my Eurolights and I’m not riding any better now than I was two years ago.

two days of LDs and a 50 later in the season, all in the Thorowgood

two days of LDs and a 50 later in the season, all in the Thorowgood

I swore for months that I didn’t want to ride a 50 in my dressage saddle because it wasn’t comfortable enough and I didn’t ride well enough in it.  We survived the 50 and while a thing or two could be tweaked, I did just fine.  It was my only option.  Riding a 50 trumped riding a 50 in an endurance saddle.  I think I am hitting the point where riding correctly trumps riding in an endurance saddle.

I am going to try to be adult and rational about this. I’m currently reserving final judgment until I have my trainer out to compare, but my feeling at the moment is that I am better off cutting my losses and looking elsewhere.. or cutting my losses and spending a little bit of the money on fixing the Thorowgood for full-time rides, while the rest goes into a “Truck and Trailer” fund for that time when I can afford to buy pony transportation.

“I have three saddles that fit my horse.  One of them fits me really well and we trail ride and canter really nicely in it, but it wasn’t expensive and doesn’t look like my dream saddle.”  Even I can hear how unreasonable I sound.  I want a “real” endurance saddle: why?
– for security? I can ride spooks, bolts, bucks, and spins as well in this saddle as I can in something with more bulk to it, and the more secure my seat, the better I’ll sit any antics.
– for comfort? add a sheepskin (heck, I’d even buy a Real English Sheepskin if I thought that would make a significant difference, but my endurance one works just fine if not better)
– for comfort for my feet? buy better endurance stirrups, which I can afford to do if this is a Real Endurance Dressage Saddle and not just a ‘making it work on a budget til the new one shows up’ saddle.  Actually, I can probably just swap out the top bar on my current caged stirrups and call it good.
– to look like I fit in?  I already ride a Haflinger.  Not happening!  Saddles are really not my problem here.
– because my pink saddlebags won’t fit on an English saddle?  🙁  This is a real problem and one I may not be able to resolve.  Possible solution: acquire pink saddlepad instead.
– because she likes the longer girth better?  Find a similar one in smaller size, such as this one
Extra bonus point: I can’t break the crupper ring because I’m using a metal T bar instead.  Silver linings!
So, short-term at least, I’ll be sticking with the Thorowgood.  The Eurolight may make an appearance for a show (I’m happier with how it looks) where cantering is of zero relevance, but beyond that, its days may be numbered.

Engineering our way to better saddle fit

Topaz Dreams Posted on by 5

I am not a hot-weather rider.  I’m a California native with not a lot of high-heat tolerance.

Weather forecast calls for 90+ in June?  Abort all long-ride plans, go wash some ponies.

That’s not completely fair.  I started off the weekend with a saddle-engineering session with my boyfriend.  I wanted pictures, I wanted to know what the differences were, I wanted to know if the Eurolight could be improved.  He’s not a horse person.  That made it perfect: he could look at things critically without getting caught up in the little differences that horse folks would see.

Thorowgood dressage, side view

Thorowgood dressage, side view

Specialized Eurolight, side view

Specialized Eurolight, side view

 

His verdict: move the stirrups back on the Eurolight, and put them up a hole.  OK.  I moved them back, dutifully attempted raising them, laughed hysterically, and dropped them back down.  They’re already as short as they comfortably go.  I suspect the angle difference there is caused somewhat by the stirrup width difference, though without putting different stirrups on the Thorowgood, it’s hard to say for sure.

I am realizing a smarter blogger might have combined these into one image so you could look side-by-side. Sorry, folks.  Next time?

Thorowgood, front view.

Thorowgood, front view.

Specialized, front view

Specialized, front view

Worth noting: I think I do sit straight, but my hips/legs don’t rotate/hang evenly.  This is really, really obvious with the thick fleece covers and caged stirrups.  It’s true in both saddles and actually true bareback as well: I know my legs don’t feel ‘even’ on the horse. I really ought to get back into PT-type training to work on some of my long standing physical limitations.

So, stirrups moved in the Eurolight, and photography went slightly downhill:

Eurolight side view, second try

Eurolight side view, second try

My feet are slightly more under me, I think.

Then I washed a pony and a horse.  Yay baths!

Clean and braided.

Clean and braided.

I did make it out on a brief trail ride later in the afternoon with a nice clean pony tacked up in the Eurolight.  Walk/trot, I felt more secure.  Cantering.. eh, improved but still not there.  Even w/t was just better rather than great.  But it was just one ride, and it’s silly to write things off after just one attempt, especially in full summer heat.