An Epiphany Every Ride

We almost missed our jumping lesson last night.  We had a 7:00 pm appointment with David and I even left early so I would have lots of time to stretch Solo out before David's intense warmup sessions.  Only the entire interstate was shut down and it took me 45 minutes to go 0.75 miles.  Apparently people don't care if you scream at them, "Get out of the way, I have a RIDING LESSON, dammit!"

David, being the patient, saintly type, was waiting for us when we turned up at 7:30, sitting on the mounting block with feet swinging like he didn't have a two hour drive home to get to. Meanwhile, I frantically parked the trailer and tried to simultaneously unload Solo and put my spurs on. I tripped and Solo decided he didn't WANT to get off right then.

I hopped on as fast as I could. Poor horse had been standing in the trailer for almost two hours by that point, so he wasn't too thrilled about instantly being asked to bend and round himself, but we got him loosened up and then began our jumping exercises.

And here is why I love David: Solo has what he calls a "fragile" balance and will tip on his forehand in a second while jumping. A last dive step or two before takeoff is his trademark. If you tip your shoulders at him at the jump, he'll drop a knee. So as I'm riding towards the jump, David calls, "Keep your hand very soft and focus on lifting his shoulder with your thigh and abs all the way to the jump."

So I did.

So my horse jumped awesome.

I don't know how he does it -- EVERY STINKIN' TIME. He gives us one simple direction and it's like a lightbulb moment and things just work. What I wouldn't give for that kind of insight.

We kept the jumps small (David is big on technique -- if you get it right over 2'6" and you can do it right over 4'6") and put a few little courses together. I worked really hard to stay focused and make sure we kept a slow, balanced canter between the jumps and lifted the shoulder with the torso in front of the jump.

And holy crap, the jumps rode amazingly. It was smooth, it flowed, and the rhythm was just there. Solo stayed up and light in the hand the whole time. Of course, by the time I got off, my legs were twitching with a mind of their own. Ow.

The $64,000 question? Can I do this at home without Mr. I'm-A-Teaching-Genius keeping me honest?

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So Much To Do, So Little Time

Ever feel like you are juggling 12 balls in the air at once and although it seems to be going ok, if you dare to blink, they will all crash to the floor?

Yeah, that's what now is.  So much to plan and prep for! 

Operation Belly Burner is going well:  I can actually see my horse's ribs when he is moving now, turns out the fat did not dissolve them after all!  He continues to improve on the longe, giving me longer periods of stretching trot into the vienna reins and three (!!!) laps of canter at a time.  He has rhythm like a freaking metronome and is moving well.

We are officially registered for a Becky Holder long format clinic in early October. It has come at a perfect time; I was really despairing on how we were ever going to learn how to do all those fun extras like steeplechase. No one in my area really has a track set up, but lo and behold an email falls in my inbox from a new farm just over the border in SC about this clinic. It's like the heavens are psychic and we are IN!

I have NINE DAYS left before I leave for mum and I's Grand Ecuador Adventure. Omg omg OMG!!

After I get back from Ecuador, it's all prep for the clinic and for our first horse trial of the fall season: Halloween weekend at the Virginia Horse Trials!

So -- tell me about your balls! Hahahhaha, yes, I HAD to say it!

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We're Famous!

Or at least infamous...

The kind folks over at Horse and Wildlife Gifts have done a feature post on WAFS in their series of highlighted horse blogs!

I may have fallen victim to a squeal of excitement!

While you are over there, definitely check out their wide variety of horse and wildlife art -- I often found myself wishing for a sack of money to fall through the ceiling while browsing their collection of artists. Everything from sculpture to home decor to jewelry to wall pieces to ooh and ahh over. Grab a glass of wine and cruise the gallery from the comfort of your couch!

For now, Solo and I are off to continue Operation Belly Burn while we try to fend off the hordes of autograph seekers which are now surely going to flock us wherever we go...right?

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Blood And Guts

Waaaaaayyy back in May, Dr. Bob recommended we run a blood panel on Solo.  Well, it's halfway through August, so I figured I could finally get around to it & I ran Solo through the clinic's vampire services last Friday.

Dr. Bob's helpful associate, Dr. Brian, faxed me the results today & we had a short chat on the phone.

(Warning: science geek-out ahead)

Turns out overall that my horse is largely on the normal side (unlike his owner).  The only flag raised was a low hematocrit at 31% (normal levels are 32-52%).  Hematocrit is a measure of the percentage of red blood cells present in the blood sample.  Along with this, his levels of hemoglobin were right at the low end of borderline (11.2, when the normal range is 11-19 g/dL).

What The Heck Does That Mean?

Hemoglobin is rather important iron-containing stuff which resides tucked inside all our red blood cells. The iron binds to oxygen and allows the red blood cells to carry this life-sustaining gas all over your body. This process is especially important during exercise, even more so if you are an athlete (like a certain shiny red horse I know).

What this boils down to is that Solo's body is not as good as it should be at supplying oxygen to his tissues. Which doesn't exactly shock me as I have been feeling a little something missing. He is quicker to fatigue, slower to amp up, & has less pep during work than I would expect for a fit, well-fed horse.

Solution

Nutritional tweaking (no, not THAT kind of tweaking!). I don't really want to change his grain at present; overall, he seems to do well on it.  Dr. Brian recommended a multi-vitamin with emphasis on Vitamin B & a bit of iron. After much perusing of SmartPak & comparison to what the vet offered, I am going to try the SmartVite line of vitamin supplements, which seem to be the closest I can get to the balance of junk that I want.

With any luck, my exhaustive chart poring & ingredient comparing will result in some renewed vigor is Solo's near future. vLike he doesn't already enjoy XC at terminal velocity...

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In Which Solo Tries Once Again To Off Me Via Cardiac Arrest

So I may have mentioned that Solo is out of shape a bit. And I may have mentioned that we had a great ride for a couple of hours yesterday. That involved a fair share of trotting and cantering on hills. Which we haven't done, oh, since May-ish. But still, not too terrible. So I thought.

I went over tonight with the intention of just doing a light longe session since I will be away with work for the next three days. I pull Solo out of his stall after feeding the horses and nonchalantly begin a quick grooming. La la la, no biggie. I go to pick out his feet since the horses have been in due to heat today. La la la, easy peasy. Until Solo will NOT pick up his left hind. I ask a little more determindly, puzzled because he ALWAYS picks them right up. He sags his weight down through his hip and wobbles lopsidedly in the wash rack to the point where I worry he may lose his balance.

I, being me, immediately decide he has some terrible neurological disorder or nerve damage in his hip and move him back to his stall to continue my expert diagnosis without danger of falling on concrete. I poke and prod ankles and hocks, carefully watching every ripple of muscle. I walk him, I back him, I turn him. He doesn't look lame, but he STILL won't pick up that foot, no way no HOW. As I ponder calling the vet to deal with this certainly serious injury, I see BO walking up to barn and figure I will have her have a look.

She pokes, she prods, we take him out of his stall. I jog him up and down a slight incline, where again, he shows no sign of lameness. I stare and fret and in my core, my heart is beating a mile a minute. BO tries to pick up his foot again. Solo obliges this time. And you know what?

How about an out of shape horse goes on a vigorous trail ride, then spends a day in a stall (which he is not used to, since they only come in to eat or in extreme heat) so his joints stiffen. Oh, and he's overdue for his Adequan.

Ok, so maybe I overreacted a teensy tiny bit. But, hey, it's not my fault my horse had this huge melodramatic response like he was going to fall over and die if he lifted his leg. And then he was fine after ten steps of trot.

Horses....

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