Back on track

As some of you  may have noticed, this has sorta turned into an online training blog about Kat.  I didn't mean for that to happen but it has. I will be switching the other blog over to this account, deleting the old profile, post the grooming info there and Kat's training info here. Does that work for you guys? 

Although it is not up yet, Hubby- Johnie Rotten was able to get some video of us driving over the weekend.  We went to the horse park again yesterday and had, as he said, "What has been one of his best workouts to date."  It was our first trip back over there since our incident/accident the last time and he did great. Lots of whinnying/whining on Kat's part, but other than that, he didn't get stupid or let his 'other brain' take over, thinking with his boy bits.

For Kat, it was hard to get a bit of the strong trot. The arena footing was a tad deep and needed to be worked. There were times I could feel the cart shift off one way or another when we were traveling straight down the rail. It had to be hard for him but it was kind of good in a way that he has to learn how to keep going even when the cart is doing some funky stuff. 

In pleasure classes, the horses are to have 3 gears in the trot and walk. Collected walk, normal walk and extended walk, collected trot, normal working trot and extended or strong trot. We were working on all three and have been from day one.  We are also working on him bending to the right and not dropping his hip to the inside when he turns. He is to remain upright and balanced, moving straight.

One thing that had made an impression at the last driving show in November, was the horse being shown by one of the local 'trainers'. When they asked for a strong trot- his horse was flat. He had nothing.  It sort of looked like he pushed for more, but even still, there was nothing there to give.  The horse had no extended gaits at all to speak of. Clearly he had not worked on this at home.  An easy mistake a lot of people can make.

Something that I had read somewhere long ago and who knows where- was about extension and collection work. It related to riding but works for driving too.  To get collection, you also have to ask for extension. (Wait a minute, what?)  It went on to compare the horse to a rubber band. You can stretch it out and push for extension for only so long. The horse can't maintain it forever and the rubber band can't either. Both will break.

To make it easy for the horse, ask for extension for a bit, push the horse to move out. As they build the muscle tone and durability, they will be able to hold it longer, but just before they start to fade and can't do it much longer, let them come back down to a normal working gait. Let them slow down even more if need be and take a little break. Keep the momentum, maintain their balanced way of moving, but let them slow down. It will be easy for them to do and they will actually appreciate it, being able to 'take a breather', while still maintaining the gait.

For driving, hubby said to let him flatten out a bit when getting the collected trot. I didn't understand and asked what he meant.  Let him flatten out? How? What do you mean?

Him- "Let him flatten out... put his head down and work that way."
Me- "Oh, you mean take more of a 'hunter frame' than a 'fancy carriage horse' frame?"
Him- "Yeah, I just couldn't think of the right words."
Me- "Got it!" Now it made sense. Let him relax like a rubber band... or take a hold of the reins and push him up into the bridle.

*


This horse above as compared to this horse below.



Both are moving correctly, but one is driving a lot more and is moving out a bit differently. Pushing if you will, for the stronger trot.



Same here- relaxed above and really moving out below.








*

I tried to find horses moving both ways (relaxed and pushing) in or around the same size, breed and coat color for comparison. Sometimes it stands out in pictures for some of us more visual people. We can see the difference and then know what we need to work towards. 

*Love the turnout in these two photos. Hopefully I can come close to this. I think they are both very elegant. Nicely put together in colors that accent the horses well.*

And before I forget- the downward trot-to-walk transitions are coming along nicely. I needed to take a hold of both reins and slowly work him down to a walk while telling him to "Ease on down to a walk".  As soon as he breaks into a walk, I release and let him go.  It's working for him so we will go with that.

Dark Horse

Peek a boo!  I see you...



Kat has this weird thing about ducking under the rail to stand in the dirt. He does it because he can. Although the cement provides a nice level place for him to stand, easy clean up for me and all that, he prefers the dirt. I'm sure the dirt is a bit softer on all the joints- for me too, but it can be annoying that he does this. Of course a lot of it is, he is trying to reach the weeds and grab a snack while he patiently awaits what is to come.



Although this series of pictures doesn't begin to capture the depth of his coloring, he has gotten to be incredibly dark brown lately. I took these to show a friend of mine the richness of such.  Seems the work is doing him good on a few different levels.  No supplements, nothing different, if anything he is now on a Bermuda blend diet instead of straight alfalfa.  It has helped with his weight, but his coat is now an incredibly deep, rich, chocolate brown.



Although he has an incredible amount of roaning mainly focused on the crest of his neck, covering his sides and leading down his back to his spot on the butt... His hocks remain dark until winter and his face remains the same deep brown color of his body. Even in winter, the winter hair on his points, turns a golden color, rather than dark.



What had started off as someone cast off has turned out to be a horse of not only a different color, but many colors.  He always attracts attention where ever we go.  Thing about it is, I hardly ever use a curry comb on him, dust him off with a stiff brush before working, rinse him on occasion and waa-laa he remains a deep color with a wicked shine, the whitest whites and no bleaching, color enhancing shampoos or supplements.  Can you imagine the results if I did use any of that? 

Jogging in place

Ever feel like you're doing that? You're running but not really getting anywhere..  Well we have sort of come to that spot.

The harness showed up last week. Just in time to have it for the weekend!!!  I am excited, it is incredibly well made and just gorgeous by the way. So we put it all together and tried it on the little man.

The only problem is- the traces are a bit long.  Since the shafts are a tad short and a touch narrow, I figure we will address this first, then figure out the best course of action on the harness. 













We have been trying to contact a few people in the area associated with the cart. No luck, no returned phone calls, no problem. I will just go somewhere else.  So yesterday the neighbor is driving by and we flagged them down. They do welding and gave us a quote. A fair price for their work and when they get a chance to do it, they will pick up the cart and do their magic.














In the meanwhile, I hooked him again last night for a brief drive to keep him going and still hoping about the driving event up north this weekend...  Seems the neighbors were irrigating, the ditch had a leak and the back corner of the pasture was wet.  Two choices on this one. Steer clear and just get the workout in or plow through it and get him started with his feet wet for the upcoming water obstacle on the marathon course in the CDE's. 















He wasn't thrilled about the wet parts, but he motored on through. The neighbor was also having a barbecue, complete with a yard full of cars and guests in their back yard filling and surrounding the pool.  At one point they were making noise, there was some yelling of encouragement of some kind and the little man just kept working like it was all no big deal.  Perfect amounts of noise, unexpected yelling and a bit of water to make him understand that conditions are not always prefect or quiet. Not at home, not at the shows or anywhere else we may go. 













He also got to experience the neighbor power spraying his car and the dog running along the fence line the night before. Blasts of water, the noise it comes with, seeing the water then it's gone... May not be anything we will come close to in the show ring, but he has seen it, dealt with it and processed the thoughts of how he is to react.  So far he is steady as we go again...

**Blogger is being incredibly weird and won't let me edit parts of the post. If there is extra spaces or something- I have tried to fix it with no result. Yay blogger. Not!**



Rebuilding

Although everything has been shut down lately due to the EVH-1 breakout, training at home can still go on.  Over the weekend I felt like crap. Lillian had something the end of the week that made her lose her lunch and she ran a small fever. She must've thought it is always nice to share because I got it. Saturday I was miserable!

My small portion of a PSA is this. If you are tossing your cookies and can't keep anything down- warm, flat Coke is the answer. Small sips, here and there, the syrup will settle your stomach. The doctor told my mom that years ago and it took me most of the day to finally come to my senses and remember that... As long as I could keep things down, I could handle the rest of it myself.

Sunday I felt a bit better. Well enough to head outside and work the little man. How did he do? Excellent! He was incredibly light in the bridle. More so than ever before. Responsive? Oh hell yeah... Had to tone it down some even. 

After his great explosion last weekend, we had made a trip into town so I could get the stuff needed to repair the harness. I wanted him put to the cart ASAP so he didn't think he could get away with anything like that again.  I had also been in contact with a harness shop. I emailed to explain the days events and inquire as to what size they had decided on and when it may be shipping? I am happy to say it's on it's way! Wahoo! 

I longed him, then a little work in the long lines and he was doing serpentines down the length of the arena with only the slightest of tugs on the reins. I just walked along behind him in a straight line as he wove his way left, then right, back and forth in front of me.  He stood like a champ and let me hook him all by myself. The only time he moved was a step back as I brought the shafts up through the tugs, as if he was helping me.  I long lined him a little more from behind the cart and then stopped to get in.

A bit more walking, I eased him into a trot and let him work. We did circles, sorta tried the dressage pattern again, used the corners and he was still incredibly light and responsive.  We both needed a workout like this. Nothing exciting, no pushing for extremes, just letting him work and rebuild his confidence as well as mine.  The harness was repaired and he worked Sunday of last weekend, but not like he did yesterday.

We do have one area needing work. We need a word or cue for our transition from a trot down to a walk. I can tell him to walk, whup, ease up or slow down, letting the reins slip through my fingers some, but he just stops dead, the cart bumps him and I have to ask him to "Walk on".  Sure beats the alternative though of him not listening or stopping at all!  And if this is the one thing we have to work on, I'll take it. 

I asked him to back up a few steps last night. He did it rather well, we got a few steps and called it good.  If things in the horse world are back to normal by then, there's a Scurry and Country Drive scheduled up north on June 4th.  We may be ready for it. Maybe?

No foolin around

I received this in my inbox the other night-

I skipped over some of it to focus on the relevant information we can all use.

Message sent to AAEP DVM Member in the U.S. and Canada on May 16, 2011

Currently, there are numerous reports of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) affecting horses and farms across the U.S. and Canada. This outbreak appears related to initial cases at a cutting horse show in Ogden Utah, which was held from April 29 - May 8. Horses at that event may have been exposed to this virus and subsequently spread the infection to other horses. While the true extent of this disease outbreak is uncertain, there is clearly a very significant elevated risk of EHM cases at this time. At this time control of the outbreak is critically dependent on biosecurity.

Laboratory submission of nasal swabs and whole blood samples collected from the exposed horse can be utilized for virus detection and isolation. Please consider testing any suspected cases.

The EHV-1 organism spreads quickly from horse to horse but typically only causes neurological disease sporadically. However, in an outbreak of EHV-1 neurologic such as we are experiencing now, the disease can reach high morbidity and case fatality rates. The incubation period of EHV-1 infection is typically 1-2-days, with clinical signs of fever then occurring, often in a biphasic fever, over the following 10 days. When neurological disease occurs it is typically 8-12 days after the primary infection, starting often after the second fever spike. In horses infected with the neurologic strain of EHV-1, clinical signs may include: nasal discharge, incoordination, hind end weakness, recumbency, lethargy, urine dribbling and diminished tail tone. Prognosis depends on severity of signs and the period of recumbency. There is no specific treatment for EHV-1, although antiviral drugs (i.e. valacyclovire) may have some value before neurological signs occur. Non-specific treatment may include intravenous fluids, and other appropriate supportive therapy; the use of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is strongly recommended. Currently, there is no equine vaccine that has a label claim for protection against the neurological strain of the virus.

Horse-to-horse contact, aerosol transmission, and contaminated hands, equipment, tack, and feed all play a role in disease spread. However, horses with severe clinical signs of neurological EHV-1 infection are thought to have large viral loads in their blood and nasal secretions and therefore, present the greatest danger for spreading the disease. Immediate separation and isolation of identified suspect cases and implementation of appropriate biosecurity measures are key elements for disease control.

For additional questions, please contact Keith Kleine, AAEP director of industry relations, at (800) 443-0177 or kkleine@aaep.org.

Sincerely,

William Moyer, DVM
2011 AAEP President

_______________________

There were also two follow up emails.

One containing a vet's name stating there were 30 confirmed deaths in Arizona.

The other one saying the vet does not exist, there are three (3) confirmed cases, no deaths...   

I don't understand the thought process of people making stuff up or adding to the hype in cases like this. We all like to pass along information. It sucks we may have to check our sources from time to time before we do. 

I hope nobodies horses are affected or infected with this. If it happens, I hope they are either able to pull through with a quick recovery or have a quick and quiet end.  I don't like it when animals suffer. 

The good, the bad and the UGLY!

We all have our days. Kat is no exception. I just wish he could have either waited a bit longer (a LOT longer) or had his not so glorious moment sooner (A LOT sooner). Like while we were still in long lines and he had not been hooked yet....

He was doing so well, coming along so nicely and had really showed promise. Last weekend we went to the horse park and he did Awesome. Handled everything well enough, new place, new environment, other horses around, still had to work. He whinnied a lot, but fine, whatever. That I could deal with.

The show was yesterday. We didn't go. Hubby and I did, but Kat stayed home. See, it all went wrong, something like this...

Saturday morning we went to the horse park. Figured we would get in another workout there on what would be the showgrounds. There were two other trailers in the parking lot when we arrived and a few horses in the public use arena. Last weekend was kind of the same. As we went in to work, the one horse in the arena left. As we finished up, other horses had arrived and were ready to go in. We had the arena all to ourselves for his workout.

This time add in a few horses. He needed this in case there are ever other horses in his class. Some day there will be so he had better get used to it now. This worked for the other people too as their horses were, in their opinions needing to be exposed to new stuff. A pony pulling a cart around was certainly something new for them. Win-win.

Well it all started like any other workout. I lunged him, we put the bridle on, this time I opted for the long lines instead of the driving lines. Again I worked him, walking behind the cart, just to get him going and to be sure there was no funny business. Satisfied, I stopped him and climbed in the cart. I picked up the whip and we walked off. 

As we were putting him to the cart, I told the other riders, I am NOT hoping for ANY excitement today. Not for them or me. We certainly don't need it and I am confident in saying we are all a bit too old for that kind of crap. They agreed.

We started with our circles and softening exercises. The two riders were following us and said to let them know if they got too close. No problem. As we came around through the center of the arena I turned my head and said over my shoulder that we would be going to the right now. They thanked me for letting them know. No excitement remember? Open communication is good for this!

The right has not been his better side. He is a bit more stiff, a little more resistant and the right turn was where we had issue at home the one day making the corner. In another evening workout, he had been bothered going to the right past the neighbors oleander because there were birds in it. At one point heading towards the fence and asking for the right turn, he had stopped. I asked him to move on and turn right. He balked. I asked him to move forward again and he ever so slightly reared. Left turn- fine, but we circled around and were soon going the intended direction anyways. Stop and redirect, no big deal. Avoid the accidents at all costs when you can.

Saturday however, turned out to be a lot different. We made the turn to the right and it started off fine. He picked up the trot, no biggie, go ahead. In fact I took a slight hold and pushed him forward into it a bit more. That's when it happened. Something set him off and he blew. In a BIG way! Now understand, this all went down in a few seconds or maybe even a minute or two. Takes a lot longer to type about it or read it than it did for everything to happen.

We had made the corner and he stopped, the cart was still going forward and bumped into him as he reared, then leaped forward. He headed for the gate along the length of the arena. I was just trying to keep him off the fence as best as I could. There was a person standing by the gate, inside the arena and he came mighty damn close to them as we went by. I'm pretty sure it was not an ideal situation for them either.

When we got just past the gate- he fell. Took a not so graceful nose dive into the dirt. That was the first time I said "Oh SHIT!" He went down, the cart shifted forward and stopped, I fell forward into the basket on my knees. NOTE- Knees and diamond mesh steel are NOT friends! (Think cheese grater effects.) As he scrambled to his feet I realized my right boot and ankle were wedged in behind the basket and the shocks under the seat. All I could think was that if the cart flipped my leg was as good as broken. Definitely not a position I wanted to be in.

I focused on getting my leg (and essentially me) free. Once that was accomplished I got back up and on the seat. Now I had to try and regain control and get him stopped. He was still rearing and leaping up and forward, add in some bucking and the cart was lurching and jerking forward and back.

We made the turn around the corner and he was still going to town. Probably about then is when I yelled at Kat. "Is that all you've got?" WTH was I thinking? Hubby said he heard me loud and clear... 

I can also remember thinking- If I were ON him, I would use one rein, really shorten it up and pull him around hard. Throw him off balance enough that he has to stop and get his feet back on the ground for a minute or fall. Horses don't like to fall down so they will stop. I pulled the right rein and tried to bring his nose around. Problem is, when you are driving, those pesky shafts kind of get in the way for this. The horse literally cannot bend... so down he went again. Scrambling to his feet and pissed, he reared and leaped into the air again.

This time as he went up, his head was down and his front feet were literally over his head as he arched in the air before bucking again. That's when the second "Oh SHIT!" came out of my mouth. His chest, the girth area was eye level with me sitting in the cart! He was that far up in the air.

We had made the corner and were heading down the far side of the arena at this point. Kat finally stopped but I wasn't about to let him think he had won. Hubby yelled to me to stop. He was in the arena headed towards us when I bellowed in my loud, angry voice "Trot On, Dammit!" Kat must have thought I was pissed. He trotted all right! We got several strides of an incredibly strong trot that I have not gotten before. It was amazing. When I said whoa, he stopped and froze. 

Hubby had said again, "Stop." This time he added four simple words. "Your girth is broken." I looked down and sure enough it was hanging off his right side. That was my cue to get out of the cart. By then he was next to the cart on Kat's left side and starting to undo everything. He asked me if I was okay because about then? The adrenaline rush had hit and I was shaking. "Yeah, I'm fine!" He told me to go stand by Kat's head. instead I seen him start to undo the breeching so I started to unbuckle the right side, unhooked the traces and we slid the shafts out of the tugs. 

Everyone was suddenly buzzing around. A few of the people there told me I handled everything really well. I really hadn't been in any position to DO anything. Just keep him away from anything, anyone and hope for the best. I don't even remember ever telling him Whoa! Then I got to thinking about someone else's male 'trainer' acquaintance screaming like a girl. Who has time to do that?

As we went out the gate to take the harness off of Kat, there in the dirt was the remnants of the left billet strap. Somehow we had managed to do all of that with no girth. The only thing keeping the saddle in place was the loose overcheck from the front, the crupper from the back and the weight of the shafts in the tugs.

We figured right there, the show was out of the question. We didn't have a harness to use anyways. Since it was still early in the day though... we headed into town and bought the leather to replace the billets on both sides. I wanted to get him put to the cart again, muy pronto and working so he didn't think that was the way out of it.

Through all of this, I not only mananged to keep the whip in my hand the whole time, I also never even thought to use it on him. Not even to tap his butt and push him forward. Who knows how he would have reacted if I had.

Seriously? I wish hubby had been able to video the whole thing. It definitely would have been one for YouTube!

*blogger has been screwy lately and edited my post for me. Thanks, but no thanks.*

New addition

I was messing with blogger a few weeks ago and figured out I could do a photo page. Yesterday I downloaded a few of the pictures from Kat's workouts.

In gearing up for the show next weekend, we took him to the horse park Saturday morning. I don't know if hubby got any pics, but Kat did really well.  We worked on our softening exercises for starters, lots of circles, pushing him up into the bit, letting him work on a strong trot for a bit, then letting him relax down into an easy jog.  We did a few serpentines, left circles, right circles, big circles, smaller circles. For once the little guy actually broke a sweat!

We even got a few strides of canter at one point. Not because I asked for it, but kind of more like an accidental happening. He was not worried at all, a tug on the reins and whup, whup from me and he went right back into a nice trot.
 
We worked on using our corners more. Going straight down the rail into them and then turning instead of going along making a nice big oval. We even tried the one Intro level dressage test I remembered from long ago. I have to say, he Nailed IT!  When we did the walk, hubby said it was chewy and stretchy, just like the dressage judges look for. It couldn't be any better (except for maybe straighten out our line maybe) and if he were a normal sized horse... Well, that's not going to happen for him now, is it?

There isn't normally many (if any) driving horses at the Arab club sponsored shows, but who knows. If not, it will be good schooling for him, and if there is, we will find out how well he works with others in the ring.  He is really coming along well and I am proud of him.  If he continues to work the way he has all along, I won't be disappointed with him. Sure we may have our not so great days, but doesn't everyone?