Good endings

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Our New Years Eve ride was a great way to close out a rollercoaster of a year.
We trailered out
to the beach!
Fetti and I have been to the beach once before, with our same riding partner.  In 2012 the mares were reluctant to get anywhere near the waves, plus the tide was high.
This time around, the ponies had more confidence.  Fetti still had an invisible tether going to Cay and balked when asked to stretch it too much, but overall?  I was very pleased.
Initially, we had to be behind Cay or up next to her.  Any leg pressure or forwards cues resulted in Fetti sucking back and refusing.  That eventually resolved, and she found the confidence to even go in front after a bit, but I think it was just a matter of time and exposure.
She is, however, completely convinced that the surf is terrible and awful and should be avoided at all costs.  I hopped off and got hit with a (little tiny) wave at my feet, and she nearly lost it.  She was still safely five feet from me.  We didn’t push it; I was happy enough that she’d go near the waves after that, even as she adamantly refused to get close enough they might touch her.
Pony says: “Um, they’re not coming up with us.  I think we should stop and wait.”
I love this photo.
I believe the pillars were intended to be the foundation for a hotel in the 1970s.  It appears that never came to fruition.  It also appears that might not have worked out so well long-term.
But they make for really excellent photos, even when the pony thinks the dripping water by the pillars is OMGTERRIFYING and refuses to get close enough for a proper photo.  Oh well.  Next time?
They’re huge and we’re easily at least 20 feet away, so don’t be fooled by how politely small they look.
It was surprisingly fairly empty.  In fact, we were the only horses there and got lots of attention for it.
We headed back down the other direction. Here I was all pleased and excited that she’d found her brain and settled in.  
But amidst all the winds and crashing waves, we found a moment of relative silence, and some plastic tied to the cliff (not pictured) made a noise.
Farewell, pony brain.  
So we did our Big Endurance Trot until I no longer feared she’d take off, and after clearing it with my riding partner, we cantered! on the beach.
Note that we’re in front, and not dying or having meltdowns.  Pony has confidence!  (Also note that we’re safely away from the moving water.  Oh, Fetti.)
Surprisingly soon the sun started to go down
so we posed for sunset beach photos, obviously!
We moseyed on further down the beach.
Lots of pauses for sunset photos.  I am really pleasantly surprised at how well the iPhone camera handled all this.
Naturally, we let the mares get a good roll afterwards.  Not pictured: keeping her walking for the last 20 minutes of the ride because she really wanted to roll before we were done.  Pretty much every remaining beachgoer stopped and stared and took photos.  Many had never seen a horse roll before.
2014 was a rough year.  I’m glad we ended it on a good note.  Here’s to a better and less eventful 2015.

2014 in review

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Normal folks start their year-end review in January, but for context.. a year and a few days ago my lovely princess pony bucked me off.  I came away mostly unscathed aside from a mild shoulder separation.  It was, needless to say, not a great way to end/start a year.  Comments on how to work through it included the gem that she is lacking in her responsiveness to a ‘forwards’ cue; we’re continuing to work on that even now.

February 2014

In January, I took a lesson!  It was excellent as per usual.  We started to address my canter issues, and reminded me to take more contact with shorter reins (woops, still needs work).  The dam stayed down and we kept on riding along.  Also, we met a train.  Not really recommended.

February consisted mostly of pretty pictures and walking in circles, but eventually the dam came down, so we followed a bobcat.

In March it rained.  It rained a lot.  We were safety/drag riders for ACTHA, in the mud, and I apparently never posted pictures?   Well.  Okay.

ACTHA photos by the Morgan Hill Photography Club:

It really is that steep.  Also, really that muddy on this particular day.
I admit to feeling like an eventer riding a drop.. sit back and let go!
I washed and brushed out her full-mane on the left and everything. 
Naturally, all the photographers were shooting from the right side. 
Happy happy.
This is local trail to me.  Yes, her head is blocked by the tree, but whole areas really can look like this.

My car battery died in April.  Prius batteries are expensive and it made me sad.  It kept raining, I took a non-horsey vacation, and Confetti turned 18.

…and then immediately on returning from vacation, Funder trailered us over to Mount Diablo for a NATRC ride in May.  I had more thoughts about NATRC afterward.  I mean, I know we did more than that in May, but that’s about all I remember.

I guess there were hills, but I don’t really remember anything feeling steep.

A new horse moved in next door at the beginning of June.  Fetti went lame, twice.  And then a minor colic.  And then lame a third time, and really June just sucked.

We completed Fireworks in July and it was wonderful even if we did come in to the finish with one boot instead of four.  Booting issues need work.  But she was sound and happy; I started to feel like maybe we could really do this endurance thing.

🙂  🙂
🙁

In August I took another lesson and jumped things!  I also broke my saddle. 

I did get the saddle back in September and that left me pondering the differences between the Eurolight and Thorowgood.  (September was a pretty terrible month for me personally, so I obsessed over saddles because it gave me something to focus on.)  Not really pictured anywhere: my tack room got a serious makeover and I am so much happier with it.

Quicksilver in October was really pretty lovely aside from the half hour in the middle where Confetti and I hated each other.  We took a week or two off beforehand due to the heat.  I also failed to test boots before the ride due to the heat wave.  Serious mistake.  Both boots had cable issues during the ride and we did most of it barefoot.

but it was gorgeous.

November was muddy and wet.  Trees came down.  We found ways around trees.  It rained some more.

December continued to be muddy and wet.  We should get a bit of sun.. and then rumor has it January will be back to muddy and wet again.  But!  On Christmas we made it out for a brief trail ride, a second trail ride after Christmas, and a small jumping session in the arena.  If all goes well, there should be a New Years Eve ride too.

Next: a post of ride stats/mileage/etc from 2014!

TOABH: Shining Star

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Shining Star
Let’s talk about the biggest achievements your horse has accomplished.  I’m not talking about you as a rider – I want to know what your ponykins has done to make you proud.  Is there a glorious satin collection, did he/she figure out some dressage movement that took months to learn, or is it just a great day when your butt stays in the saddle?  
As much as I sing her praises and tiny accomplishments to anyone that will listen, this is hard for me to answer.  Fetti was a solidly broke horse who is not childsafe because she can be reactive and occasionally unpredictable.  Fetti is also somewhat a schoolmaster for me, as she knows the cues better than I.  She’s jumped, she’s done exceptionally well in PC dressage, she’s been ridden bareback and bitless.  I know that I am often her limiting factor.
We’ve worked hard on trails because that doesn’t scare me the way arena work does.  I can work up to endurance goals knowing that I have a built-in out if we fail spectacularly (even as I know I never want to use it).  
I’m proud of how far her confidence has (usually) come on trails solo.  At first she wouldn’t lead.  Then she’d refuse to go out alone.  Sometimes we’d make it to the park, often we’d get stuck even before then.  Once we were in the park, she’d walk, maybe trot a few reluctant steps.
I’m not really sure how we went from the problem being ‘any forwards motion on trail alone’ to ‘sandbagging on the way out with a moderate trot rather than full steam ahead.’  But that’s where we are now.  Frustrating as it is, we can do 20+ miles alone now, and I’m grateful we’ve come this far.
Oh! But proudest, I think?  Is that she is now a Good Trail Citizen who can set the example for less well-behaved or inexperienced horses.  Other horse bolts: meh, whatever.  Other horse lags: she turns her nose back to check on them.  She has genuinely become a solid trail babysitter, and I can honestly say I am proud of her for that.

Good Trail Ponies stand still long enough for a “tree is no longer blocking trail” photo to be taken.

—

Miscellaneous update:  the farrier came out and trimmed the ponies on Friday.  Fetti was way long.  Not neglect-long or anything, but long and overdue.  I blame some of this on doing the October LD completely barefoot for most of the miles, and most of it on me being too demotivated to do anything with her feet in the last month.  Also, we haven’t actually done a Real Ride since the day after Thanksgiving.  (Not even a Kinda Real Ride.  Nothing worth tracking whatsoever.)  So.. long hooves + farrier visit = pony is footsore.  It was definitively LH on Saturday, but Sunday was a more generalized ‘uncomfortable on anything even remotely rocky’.

The forecast is for sunshine the next week and a half, so fingers crossed she improves quickly and we can get back out on the trails soon.

Today’s lesson: Rivers.

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Specifically, what happens to rivers after a big storm?

When there’s a dam downstream and the dam goes up, the river gets higher.  Normal, sane people are aware the river is not crossable, and even us crazy trail folk won’t try it when the dam is up.  River to my feet?  Fine.  River that would probably be to pony-ears?  Nope.

However, when the dam goes down, it is often safe to cross again fairly soon thereafter.  Woo, exciting!  No longer stuck going in muddy circles!

So, as the dam was down (we confirmed Saturday evening) and there had been nearly 48 hours without rain, we figured what the heck: let’s try it before the next rain comes (expected late Sunday night).

We did not slip and slide down the steep section en route to the river.  It was amazing how well the water had soaked in.

It did take some convincing to get the ponies in the river.  Yes, ponies, it’s okay.

However, what shows up in rivers after a storm?  Silt.  Silt means that the ‘solid’ bottom of the river is no longer solid, and ponies sink.  Little bit of silt?  Fine, if the rest of it is solid.  But when we get slightly more than halfway across.. my poor, tolerant pony sunk when I asked for a pause to consider how bad it was.  Bad move: stopping leads to sinking.

I’m not sure how wet I was, but I wasn’t soaked and she wasn’t falling over, so I asked for another step.  She dutifully rocked back, hauled herself up, and LEAPED forwards a step, only to sink just as hard.  Several more rear-leaps later and I turned her around and back towards home we went, careful to NOT stop no matter what.

Note that the pad is wet about halfway up.. and pretty much her entire front end is wet.

What a good pony.  We won’t try that again, at least not today.  Maybe after the next storm blows past…

TOABH#1: History of the Horse

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from The Owls Approve:

History of the Horse
Before you met, where was your horse?  Who bred him/her?  What do you know about his sire and his dam?  What do you know where he came from?  Tell me about the time before he had a trainer.
Confetti is a 1996 Haflinger mare out of a mellow chocolate Haflinger mare (Cayleen AFH) and by a feisty and athletic Haflinger stallion (Aspect).  She was bred in northern Washington by some lovely Haflinger folks up there.  I was lucky enough to connect with both the sire’s then-owner and dam’s then-owner through a Haflinger facebook page where ‘Fetti was recognized – so I have a fair bit more history than most folks who enter their horse’s story at 16.  Fetti’s breeders called her “Squiggle”, likely for the “L” star on her forehead. It sounds like she was a bit of a handful then, too.

baby Fetti, photo from her breeder

She is a registered Haflinger and her pedigree is here.

I know and love Cayleen, but out of respect for her current owner’s privacy, they rarely get more than a passing mention on the blog.  Rest assured I spent lots of time adventuring with the two of them.  She’s a solid, child-safe mare who has taken multiple children through Pony Club and I cannot speak highly enough of her.  English, Western, jumping, leadline, vaulting, and I know she was harnessed when she was younger.  Lovely true all-around Haffie.  ‘Fetti was her first foal; it’s unclear where her second foal, Apocalypse, ended up.  Cayleen was one of several chocolate Haflingers that came from the East Coast to California.

Aspect is one I don’t know so much about.  I’m not clear on where he’s ended up now, either!  I do know the feisty/good jumper tendencies are common among other Aspect foals.

Fetti had basic groundwork training at her breeder, but was sold before she reached riding age.  She had two foals by age 6 (2002), both colts sired by Friesian stallions.  By then she was in California.

being a good mama?  first foal. Photo from the foal’s sire’s owner came titled “oy that child”.
summer 2002.  that MANE!
being a good mama, second foal.

I tried following up on the second foal, but the search got stuck knowing the gelding was last sold to the Midwest somewhere, the breeder thinks.

It seems that only afterwards was she trained under saddle.  She had some solid w/t/c training, jumped a bit, and somehow ended up with a nasty buck.  My memory says she was originally Western trained, and I know she’ll still do a streeeetchy on-the-forehand walk or trot like your standard Western horse, nose practically to the ground.  (I do know some horses can do it properly without being on the forehand. Thus far, she is not one of them.)  Her early under-saddle years are a little bit more of a mystery.  I have been told that at her previous-previous owner’s place, the other horse they were selling had similar bolt/buck issues, so the theory is that some of her stuff probably started there.  It’s hard to know.

From here, I don’t have many gaps.  Her previous owner (and her dam’s current owner) purchased her as a pony for her daughter when Fetti was 9.  That didn’t go so well due to the aforementioned buck/bolt issues.  They worked through some of that, she jumped some more, she nearly managed to be sold to a jumper home but wasn’t quite the right height, she did Pony Club with a few advanced kids, and she hung out in a nice large paddock with other ponies at home.  She wasn’t a good fit for her owner and family, but it’s hard to sell a middleaged large pony as primarily suitable for small adults with riding experience, and they weren’t willing to sell her off to another unsuitable home.

I started leasing in August 2010.  Two years later she officially became mine. Another two years and I finally got all the paperwork: I am officially the registered owner of one very spoiled Haflinger.

Unrelated note: we’re expecting some major rainfall in the next few days.  Combine that with the winter blues/low motivation.. I’m hoping to get in on most of these Blog Hops to keep the writing coming and not drop off the face of the earth for too long.

November recap, December goals, miscellaneous updates

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November: where not much really got done.

General winter goals are still:
1. quit nagging, and reinforce that aids Mean Something.
2. prompter transitions (should follow from #1)
3. continue addressing my canter issues, as weather and footing permits
4. off-side mounting
5. strengthen my lower leg for more stability.  (posting with no stirrups? two-point?)

Worked on #1 and #2 periodically.  Canter work has been spotty.  Off-side mounting was generally a success.  Lower leg.. still needs work, but that’s okay, we’re still (very much) in winter.

November specific goals:
– If riding in saddle, mount from right side.  90% of the time, accomplished!
– Try shortening stirrups in Eurolight and work in two-point, working up to a half-mile; aim to do this once weekly as weather permits.  I worked in two-point for at least a few minutes most rides where pony-brain permitted.  Stirrups did not need to be shortened.
– Continue not nagging and being mindful of what I’m asking.  I remembered this and mostly stuck to it.  Continued progress required, but it’s something.

October stats, since I did not note them in my post:
approx 72 miles, including one 25-mile LD
9 rides tracked – quiet 10 days pre-LD, quiet week after, some moseying/shorter rides that were not “real work” and didn’t get logged.  Miles & number of rides limited by heat wave + LD.

November stats:
approx 49 miles
9 rides tracked, plus some moseying/shorter rides.  Limited by early darkness, rain, mud, and fallen trees.
Near the beginning of the month, I began round-penning Confetti before most of our rides.  She’s not getting out as much as she’d like, and this is my compromise.  She’s not working up a major sweat, or working until she’s submissive, she’s just working until her brain is back in her head and the excess energy is gone.  The energy needs to be let out somewhere when we cannot safely get a fast and/or long work on the trails.

Unplanned noteable accomplishments:
– lunging on a line in the arena at walk/trot and with a few canter steps.  No bolting!  Just a polite little tiny canter.  I was very, very impressed.
– one day of solid arena work, w/t/c, not included in the mileage count
– reflocked dressage saddle, since I believe that was the cause of the new white marks on Fetti’s back

Spurs update:
Tried spurs again on a solo ride.  They were totally unhelpful and made absolutely no difference.  Verdict:  complete failure, no need to use them for a while as they are not helpful.

December goals, then:
– if riding in saddle, mount from right. This needs to stay as a goal until it feels comfortable!
– wet-weather work: forwards walk! lateral work! halting from seat!
– avoid getting bucked off*

*a year ago I separated my shoulder after a particularly nasty buck had me hit the ground hard.  Highly not recommended.  Thus, primary goal for any actual trail rides this month involve staying on the horse, or at least not getting seriously hurt.

Weather wimp

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In October, it was too hot to ride.  90? 100? No thank you.

In November, it was cold and wet and muddy.

Cold.  Also, dark.  Criteria for cooler: pony is visibly steaming after saddle is removed.
Muddy.  (Hint: not Confetti.)
A relatively dry stretch of trail, complete with puddles and mud.

We managed a few bright and warm days over Thanksgiving – for which I am very grateful!  I took the opportunity to let her get a good run in:
Pony goes ZOOM!

Social pony says she is done running, thank you.

And then, to wash and re-braid her mane, as it was looking rather sad lately:

Look at how WHITE it is immediately post-washing!

Mostly white, aside from the brass-stained section.  Oh well.

Today, however, we’re starting off a week of badly needed rain. No real riding in the forecast – it will need at least a few days once the rain stops for anything to be good for a workout, and probably 24-48 hours for a moseying ride.
This is the round pen today – day one of the rain. 
After an hour moseying around the barn.  It’s almost sunny!

Spurs.

Topaz Dreams Posted on by

Previous posts have had references to how Confetti can be dull to leg aids, stubborn, and generally lazy.  While I appreciate that she is no longer hyper-sensitive to anything that might possibly be a leg aid, it’s become clear that we are too far on the other end of the spectrum.

The first (and primary) way that this is being addressed is by being very mindful of my leg aids.  Leg needs to be off if I do not really mean to ask.  If leg is on, it needs a response.  If a response is not forthcoming, there is a not-quite-immediate escalation with the dressage whip.

One day last week, I decided to try adding small English spurs.  Two-point and heel-dropping work has been suitably consistent that I was (mostly) confident there would be no unintentional spur contact.  Similar rules applied as above: calf pressure or very light spur, escalate next to corrective spur (not hard, but a ‘you really did feel that!’ spur), then finally to dressage whip as needed.

‘Fetti was perfectly content to tune out the spur part of the time.  This was particularly evident when asking for a larger walk… but she’s never good at that, so no great surprise there.  There were definitely times when a light cue was still insufficient.  It’s not a magic fix, and I did not expect it to be: I trained the responsiveness out, I need to retrain some of it back in.

The most exciting part of the whole thing was how forwards she was, though.  The spurs may not have addressed ‘dull to leg aids’, but they fixed ‘lazy’, and I don’t say that lightly.  We achieved a Big Trot heading away from home at least twice.  She offered several canters in places she doesn’t usually.  I was able to ask for and get some extra effort up various hills – I know she’s capable, but she frequently cannot be bothered to keep going.  And despite what MapMyHike says, we definitely hit a new speed flying up one of the fire roads, when a brisk canter shifted a few gears further up.

Verdict: useful occasionally for Serious Conditioning Rides, but not to be used on average rides or rides where I do not desire to lose all of her laziness.

October recap, November goals, general doldrums

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Let’s face it: this time of year sucks.  The time change hits this weekend.  The days are getting shorter.  Our ride season appears to be over for the year.  It’s raining on and off, just enough to get the trails muddy and round pens a terrible mess for a few days a week.

Different pony, same darkness view 🙁

I’ve been riding, but with less enthusiasm and drive.  We’re not really working towards anything.  Not having concrete goals is hard.. and not having riding partners is hard, too, so I need to work on self-motivating more.

Last winter, we tapered too much and I got myself hurt as a result.  It’s easy for me to quit riding much once the time change hits (next week 🙁 ) and the rains come.  More importantly, I feel like I’m then lacking in goals and what’s the point?  So, in the spirit of addressing that, some long-term goals for the winter:

1. quit nagging, and reinforce that aids Mean Something.
2. prompter transitions (should follow from #1)
3. continue addressing my canter issues, as weather and footing permits
4. off-side mounting
5. strengthen my lower leg for more stability.  (posting with no stirrups? two-point?)

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions on my last post!  It feels sometimes like I’m the only one with the crazy frustrating horse who just. won’t. go, and it’s incredibly reassuring to hear that I’m not alone in dealing with that.  I don’t think I have a specific goal for “forwards or else”, but we’ll continue to school that and hopefully get back to that being less of an issue.

October goals were:
– Continue to add canter as comfort allows, making sure it’s a polite canter and not a running-away canter.   Accomplished!  That said, it appears that my lower leg is not strong enough and not stable.  Tall boots + dressage saddle masks the issue and “fixes” my canter.. so I’m clearly the limiting factor here and need to address that.
– Rasp hooves weekly to make sure boots fit for our early October ride.  Technically accomplished, even if the end result wasn’t as intended, that wasn’t a result of my hoof trimming!
– Acquire clippers.  Clip ‘Fetti’s neck shortly prior to October ride.  Accomplished!  No regrets there.
– School ‘standing still while mounting’ more.  One step is vaguely tolerable at this point.  More than that, absolutely not.  We have indeed been working on this.  It still needs work.

Totally unrelated: in which I established
that I can use the halter with the add-on bridle
& combination bit, though not very elegantly

November goals need to be a little bit more specific or else I’m never going to get anything done!  So:
– If riding in saddle, mount from right side.
– Try shortening stirrups in Eurolight and work in two-point, working up to a half-mile; aim to do this once weekly as weather permits.
– Continue not nagging and being mindful of what I’m asking. 

I noted two new white splotches on Confetti’s back.  Baffling, but she tends to show them mainly when shedding each year.  It finally clicked, however, when I felt the dressage saddle.. there are lumps in the flocking right there.  Clearly, I need to get the saddle re-flocked.  That’s on the agenda for November, and has to happen for several reasons.  It’s my wet-weather saddle (fleece on the Specialized + rain = sad Fig).  Pony is still working in dressage lessons semi-regularly.  And.. I want to continue riding in it to work on my lower leg strength and cantering.  On one hand, argh!  But on the other hand, I’m so grateful that a cause showed itself quickly.

Hand Gallop Blog Hop: What’s in a name?

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We’re in that post-ride slump of ‘not much to write about’ due to all my rides being bareback in a halter doing absolutely nothing.. so instead, a blog hop!

What’s the origin of your horse’s show name and barn name?

Confetti is registered as Confetti DYH.  
– Haflinger fillies must be named with the same first letter as their dam, and colts must keep the same first letter as their sire.  As a result, breeders seem to use suffixes to denote their horses.
DYH is registered to Confetti’s breeders up in Washington.  I’ve actually Facebook-chatted to both the breeder and the sire’s then-owner, and I post our major accomplishments on Facebook and the Haflinger page so they can get glimpses of how awesome their pony is doing now. 🙂  
It’s a relatively small Haflinger community out West.  I may not have blogged about it at the time, but after Fireworks last year I posted to the Haflinger group for the first time.  One lady remembered looking at her 8 years prior when she was looking for a Haflinger for herself.  Another asked her breeding and commented that her neighbor was Fetti’s breeder, and that she’d asked the breeder about her recently!  Sire’s owner chimed in, tagged the breeder, and poof: I have a Haflinger family and a baby photo and everything.  
As a foal, they called her Squiggle, I think for the L-star on her forehead.
Now she goes by Fetti, as her previous owner called her.  Confetti is too long to yell!  She’s also affectionately ‘pony’ to me.