Assessing the damages

Last weekend and the one before, I was able to drive Kat. One day, one drive and we just took it easy as I don't want to rush him into anything. Mostly I wanted to see where he was at? Where I am at and what we need to work on, fix or change altogether.

Being brave or crazy, (not sure which) I changed him back to the snaffle to drive and sort things out. For the most part he was good. The bending to the left still needs work, he gets really reactive and 'racy' if you hold onto him too tight and he did spook at a couple of things I have no idea what they were or why he did, but for the most part he held it all together and did ok.

Part of the bend issue is me. The holding on too tight issue is both of us and a vicious cycle. I was wondering how the time off the cart in the saddle would affect the driving, and how the time driving would have affected my riding. Comparing the two? It’s kinda crazy.

The bend issue goes back to the stupid bicycle handlebars thing. WTH? It has been 2 years at least since I realized I was doing it to him before, it had cropped up when I started driving and I thought I had resolved that before going to the beginner clinic so long ago... For anyone who wasn't around for that, I ask with the left rein for bend to the inside, but tend to hold onto the right rein and not let my pony do what I ask for. There is no winning for him as there is no release. Going to the right- my hands and contact are as soft as can be.

The too tight issue is both of us. I take a hold of him, he thinks it is too much and looks for release. Finding none, he speeds up. I take a stronger hold trying to slow him down and repeat the cycle, things get worse and it all goes downhill from there until I let go of one rein or the other and suddenly everything is calm again.

Our stops used to be instant and sudden. Then there were times they went right out the window. They are still iffy depending on the day, his mood, my mood and how loudly or clearly I say 'whoa'. Sometimes I think he just gets cruising along and blocks me out. Other times I may say it too softly and he just doesn't hear me. Then I say it again a bit more sternly and demanding- BAM! He stops dead.

Another thing we need to work on is our big stretchy circles. After everyone telling me we are ready to move up at the CDE, I read over the movements for the Prelim level dressage tests. One of the things it calls for is the big stretchy circle. I had no idea what that was so I asked a friend in the club. She went into explaining it in an almost lengthy detail, then wrapped it up comparing it to riding hunters- It is when you encourage the horse to stretch their nose out and down in a relaxed trot. Well now, that makes sense and I got it. Now the question is- how do I get it without being able to use my legs or seat because I am sitting in the cart?  Hmmmmmm....

Slow Comeback

I checked the dates on the calendar for the next upcoming events. The first part of August is the Darby up in Paulden at the house of the Atonnas. If any of you recall- this was our first outing 2 years ago now. Hard to believe it has been that long already and we have been driving, been to 2 CDE's and various other events, but time does fly when you're having fun.

I'm not sure at this point if we will make it or not and although it is 2 months away and there's plenty of time to plan for it, get Kat ready and back to work and all, I'm sure it will be here before we know it. So much to do.

Kat has been turned out the last week and with all of this down time has gotten a bit chubby. I will be bringing him back into shape the end of the month, start lunging him and working him in long lines, getting him brought back slowly. He's on a diet which may change to Bermuda blend pellets to help him shed some weight since it's far easier to regulate than hay.

It will be interesting to see if the time off helped him reclaim his brain and we can do a quick refresher and move on to different work or if we need to scrap everything and start all over at square one. I'm pretty sure he remembers a lot, I just hope it is all the good stuff and not so much the bad!

Photo shoot

A couple of weeks ago I pulled Kat out and lunged him. He still needs to be in shape for when we start working again, but for now he is getting turned out and/or lunged. When we start back at it, I will be ground driving him for a while to get him back into shape but also to fix some things, teach him some new stuff and get it right before putting him back between the shafts.  For now though I give you a few parting shots of him and how he is doing. 

Cruising along






Stop? You want me to stop???




Yes I cut his butt off. That's what you get using one hand to work the cell phone camera and the other to work your horse. I love his shoulder in this one though


My new fave photo of Little Man

Down time

While Kat is enjoying his time off, I have been riding my WB mare and getting her going under saddle. She was ridden as a 3y/o at a clinic and been a broodie for the most part since. Bringing a 13y/o mare along is fun, has it's challenges and also the same rewards of any age horse really.

I am posting about it on my other blog- The Well Groomed Horse  Join us in the journey from broodie to show horse as I prepare her to finally go in the ring under saddle...

Refresher course

Since Kat has had the last two weeks off and then a twist in a string of events kept me from riding my mare on Sunday, I pulled him out and decided to drive. We would just tootle around the pasture, nothing big, just an easy workout. I went with the snaffle and figured we would work on walking, bending and just keeping things relaxed for the most part.

Kat was his normal, calm and quiet self while I brushed him off and he did try slipping under the rail once or twice before I harnessed up. I almost forgot to put his boots on, but grabbed them and slipped them on, put him to and we were ready to go. I climbed into the cart; we went out back and started walking. We did some big circles, smaller circles, serpentines, stopped and walked off a few times and everything was good so we headed out into the big pasture with the cows. Yes we drive in the pasture with the neighbor’s cows and Betsy. We give them room and everyone is good.

Best laid plans, good intentions and all those happy thoughts went right out the window as soon as I asked for a trot. Kat was walking nice enough, but now that we were trotting he wanted to speed up and even canter. Um, NO! I had to bring him back down to a walk and then ask for a trot again and he was still fussing in the bridle and being a little twit. I couldn't just let him run and blow off steam, but I also couldn't get after him too much either for having that extra steam.

We trotted circles, we made a somewhat cloverleaf pattern in the pasture and we trotted down the centerline. There were a lot of change of direction and asking for bend, then change again and go back to bending the other way. Before long, Kat kept offering to stop. He was quitting on me, but if I tried letting up on the reins he tried taking off again and would speed up.

From here it will be back to ground driving and long line work in the snaffle again. Let him work out his own issues without the interference of the cart shafts, me and anything else anyone can think of to blame it on. Another part of the issue is that he is a stallion, it is spring and the mares are all in heat or will be. Expecting him to focus - he should be able to, but there are still times that nature takes over and he has his mind on other things. I'm not excusing his behavior for this, but rather pointing it out to keep it in mind that this is why he may not be responding like he should. If it gets in the way too much, too often- I don't have a problem calling the vet out to take care of that. Good stallions often make awesome geldings.

All said and done

This part of the CDE is not something I have shared with very many people yet. It was beyond awesome and with all things considered leading up to the CDE and the whole weekend in general- I was beyond thrilled for things to end on such a high note.

I have a lot into this- time, effort, (not so much on the blood, but...) sweat and tears, talking to people and asking questions on how to improve- several DUH! & A-HA! moments along the way, money, travel, etc. and things are not only looking up, but it seems they are about to get a whole lot better... and more challenging, possibly difficult and more than likely tougher at times too.

As the names were called and we each drove forward to accept our ribbons, the gentleman handing them out asked if Kat was a Welsh or at least a cross. When I answered that he is, he told me he thought so, "because typical of the Welsh attitude- Kat had something to say about everything".  He also told me he thought he was a very nice pony and he enjoyed watching our performance in the cones.

I talked to Gary later on back at the barn and was quite thrilled with what I heard. He told me- "Keep working with him and move up to Prelim. He is ready for it and so are you. Besides, the times in the hazards would count, you would be doing the water hazard- you are obviously ready for that-  Move him up."  I am pretty sure I had a huge, stupid looking grin on my face about then. Wow. Okay then...

Later as I helped my friend put her horse to the cart for her cones performance, she too told me to move him up. I told her that Gary had just said the same thing and she said "He's right. You guys are ready for it. He is a lovely pony and has such beautiful movement and he will just get even better." Now I had two well respected opinions and 'votes' to move him up to Prelim.  

After returning to the barn to gather things up, then walking over to the tent area- which was still covered in mud and slippery, sloppy and buzzing with people... I ran into another club member Jim. He is our course designer and judge for the cones portion of the ADT's and he also helps out with the hazards at the events. He is/was an approved ADS judge and a very knowledgeable horseman as well as driver. "My friends and I were seated in the tent and talking about how much we like your pony and how nice he looks in harness." 

That not only blew me away, but it had my mind racing wildly for a minute or two before I could find the words to thank him and let him know how much it meant to me to hear him say that. I'm not sure who his friends were, but knowing Jim, they too were likely well respected and knowledgeable drivers.

I had such a great time at the event, playing in the mud with both the truck and the pony/cart, then to have moved up from 4th to 3rd, posting a quick time in cones going double clear and getting not just one, but three compliments on everything... Yes at one point I was literally jumping up and down playing in the mud like a little kid.  It has been an adventure and the adventure is far from being over.

We will be moving up to Prelim, but for the most part- Kat is getting the summer off. I will still be working him and driving him, posting pics of him when I can, so don't worry about that. The two upcoming ADT's are about 2 1/2 hours away (one south- the other north) so we will be skipping them both. The last two ADT's to finish out the year- Paulden in the fall and Dale Creek in November- we will stay at training level while working on getting things right for the switch next year.

If we make the Grass Ridge CDE in October, I will look long and hard at how he is doing before sending our entries in. Worst case? We tank miserably in dressage and knock it out in the marathon and cones, maybe moving up a placing or two...  or 'E' out altogether with a big donation to the club and ADS. Who knows where it will go, but at least we will give it a shot and do our best.

Cones

With cones on the last day, they run the order of entries from last place to first. By moving up one placing in the standings we were scheduled to go right in the middle and then after that you wait around and they bring all of the training level entries (VSE, pony, horse, pairs, etc.) back into the ring to hand out the ribbons.

Our warm up was done out in the muddy area and the vet check- OTM (on the move) was done in the squishy, rutted grass of the holding area. Because the footing was so bad in there, I wasn't pushing him to do much more than expected and even at that, our circles were not all that great. He was sound though and there was no stiffness or soreness from his effort the day before so we were good to go. Watching the one gentleman in our class- he took a slightly different route in the cones and I believe he might have been the fastest on the course for the day. He did it in 3:24 with no time penalties, no balls down.

When it was our turn, Kat and I went in and knocked it out. There were a few places that the grass was deeply rutted crossing our intended route and again, Kat became a jumper as well as a driving pony and bounced his way around the course. He tried a few times to break into a canter and quickly brought it back down with a few words of discouragement from me. That could wait until we were done and he knows it. As usual we flew thru the cones and it was over before you know it. We flashed through the finish line and Kat loped towards the gate out of the arena. He had been whinnying his way through the course, but it wasn't as much or as loudly as he had done in dressage. For our efforts, we were double clear- no balls down, no time penalties.

Standing around waiting for the rest of the training level ponies, then horses to go, Kat was getting antsy. He wanted to do something. I took him out back to the warm up area and let him run. He made several laps going one direction, then several more going the other direction... As long as he didn't get too racy or stupid on me, he could keep going. He wasn't tired or worn out, but he was a lot more relaxed when I slowed him down to the trot again. Little man has got some serious staying power, since most of the other ponies and horses were happy to be standing around and resting for the most part.

Later I checked the scores and we were 2nd fastest for training level, single pony in the cones. We had done it in 3:44. The other times in our division were 3:47, 3:48 and 4:00. We had locked in our 3rd place position overall.