Two posts in two days! What has gotten into me? Well, Stella and I had a 'first' today, and I decided to just document it.
I wanted to get a 'state of the union' on Stella's canter under direction before thinking about adding a third gait to our under-saddle repertoire. She canters at liberty just fine, but turns into a whirling dervish on the lunge line. I don't think I've lunged her since beginning lessons with Lisa last August, so wondered if things had changed.
Well, no; no, they haven't. My girl is still a whirling dervish on the lunge line. But I know her much better now than the last time I lunged her, so I kept quietly working with her until she walked on command in both directions. By that time she was sweaty and winded, so I got on to walk her around and cool her out. I left the arena gate open, and after a bit I directed her out of the arena and up the driveway – our first solo foray out of the 'sandbox.' We walked up the driveway to our entry gate, then did the circle up by the house before walking back down to the arena. She was very up-headed and alert but that was it, so she gets an "A"!
Afterwards I hosed her off and let her out into the lower pasture to roll and graze. Then I led the boys to the upper pasture, where itchy Lance also rolled, leaving lots of hair in the grass. (Oliver has a very hard time laying down.)
I might need my head examined, but I'm actually contemplating showing Stella this summer. The Oregon Morgan Classic has dressage classes, including USDF Intro Tests A and B. Entries close on June 1, so I will keep working with Stella until then and decide at the last minute.
I know; it's been a month and a half! It's not for lack of blog fodder that I've been silent here; more that I'm doing a lot with my horses (Stella, mostly) to help keep me sane and centered but not finding time for some other things, like blogging. There has been lots of family drama and resulting stress, but when I am working horses (or in agility class with my pup) I can put that out of mind completely and focus on something else.
Not that life with horses is stress-free. It has been a rough spring for Lance. I mentioned his breathing problems in my last post, and that has continued to various degrees. His weight is good but his energy is low, and he's rubbing out his mane, tail, and hair on various parts of his itchy hide. The other day when I was riding my poor, mangy-looking mustang, The Velveteen Rabbit came to mind; Lance is as much loved, and threadbare, as that character. In complete contrast, Stella is my lovely black swan, even though I never can quite capture her elegance, IMO. I keep trying, though!
Then there's Oliver, the kinda crazy quarter horse Rick and Brian have shared since the loss of Rick's cutting horse and Brian's pony. His front legs are shot, and it has been plain to Brian and me for months that he is miserable. Rick finally came to the same conclusion after taking the time to examine him more closely, but is still procrastinating on putting him down. It is sad, but Ollie's had 20 more years of life than he would have had with his breeder, and 21 more years than it appeared he'd have when he almost died of sepsis as a foal.
Back to happier things. Awhile back I wrote on my farm blog, "I feel like I'm now reaping the results of the long, slow work of relationship-building with my beautiful Morgan mare Stella. I am now riding her regularly at walk and trot, which just thrills me, and there is much promise of greatness to come." That's right; we've added a gait to our under-saddle repertoire! After my last post, Lisa came out to assist us in taking the next step by ponying us at the walk and trot. Stella did pretty well (I've ponied her at the trot lots of times), but she was just squirrelly enough that I didn't feel comfortable proceeding at home alone. Lisa and I had talked about hauling our young horses to a facility with a round pen, where we could both work our skittish mounts in a more controlled environment, so on March 30 we did just that. And with one excellent session under her girth, it's been onward and forward at home!
First solo trot work; what a good girl!
As I was untacking her in mid-April, I noticed something on the mouthpiece of Stella's Nathe bit. On closer examination, it is clear she had caused significant damage:
Alarmed, especially since we hadn't had this bit all that long, I texted Suzan. She told me to switch to a bitless bridle immediately, because Stella was teething and working her in a bit while teething can cause all kinds of problems. Okay then. At some point Rick is going to do a dental on her, but in the meantime I cobbled together this so we could keep working:
I purchased the 'hackamore' part (noseband/chin strap/metal wheel) on eBay from Germany years ago for Lance, to use when he got little pinpoint sores in his mouth. I had it on the bridle I bought for my Swedish Warmblood mare La Prix, but that was way too big on Stella. So I took the headstall and reins off the cob bridle we got with Brian's pony Breezy. The browband is too tight and the reins are a bit short, so I should do some more cobbling and trade out La Prix's headband and reins for those parts of the cob bridle, but it's working for now.
Oh, another interesting tidbit in the tack department. I've been riding Stella in an ancient Wintec saddle but eventually plan to switch to the newer Wintec saddle I use on Lance, with the appropriate gullet. To that end I bought a Wintec gullet gauge. Incredibly, my little black swan of a Morgan and my big red goober of a mustang both require an XL gullet! That seemed so unlikely that I had a friend come over and help me measure again; she got the same results. So strange, because there is no question that Lance is far broader than Stella, but hey, I don't have to buy a different gullet!
Stella is still a reactive girl, but when she spooks at something under saddle, she doesn't lose her mind. She may jump once, but then goes right back to what we were doing; what a blessing. So far we're staying in the arena, but on a warm day when she's really mellow (that's happened once, okay?), I plan to stretch her horizons. I've been sitting (carefully) the trot because she got anxious the first time I tried posting, but last night I tried again and she was fine with it. I'm really impressed with how she's responding to my leg, seat, and voice, too. I've been wanting video to document where we are now; on Mothers Day my son gave me the gift of some time to do that (this is pre-posting):
I think we've come a long way, baby. 😊
P.S. Ugh; you can clearly see the Lance-hoof-shaped scar tissue on the back of my right thigh in the video. Oh well, no 'body' is perfect....
Ah yes, 'tis the season for pollen and horse hair. My eyes have been itchy and Lance has been struggling to breathe, poor guy; we've had to add dexamethasone to his meds to try and quiet down his heaves. Good thing I have another horse to ride!
That would be Stella, the shedding one, stepping up to keep my riding muscles in shape. We're still just walking around the arena, but the fact that I can saddle and bridle her and ride is pretty thrilling. Of course, we do that after she gets turned out to expend her youthful energy
and we check in with at least a little groundwork. Last night I rode her at dusk; it was our first warm spring evening and she was really good – even after Ollie snorted and she did a startle-squat!
Today was a different story. She pulled back hard a couple times when I was grooming her, and as I started to bridle her she exploded, bucking and plunging in her paddock. I have NO idea where that came from; she acted like a bronc that had just been girthed up for the first time. She almost came over me to get in her stall but thought better of it once she was up in my face; I was bracing to get trampled on again and was very thankful to avoid that since my thigh still isn't 100%. I was also afraid she was going to bust her beautiful bridle; I had the reins around her neck so when she jumped the bridle dangled off her side where she could have gotten a hind foot through the headstall (but didn't). After all that I decided that today might not be a riding day. It was blustery and cold with a lot going on on the hill noise-wise; a good time to just work on our partnership and try to land my kite. 😉
Lo and behold, after awhile her brain came back and I was able to get on for another walk!
Just looked at my last post to refresh my memory; goodness, a LOT has happened since February 17! The next day I went back for that check-up (after getting my second COVID shot; hurray!), and the doctor pronounced me cured! He was surprised that I followed his orders; he said most patients don't. But because I did, the swelling was gone and I was released from all restrictions. The area is still a bit tender if bumped and twinges on its own occasionally, but that should go away eventually, although he said it may take six months for the surface numbness to go away . . . if it does.
So of course I went right back to working my horses. But first Stella got some turn-out time to let off steam after being cooped up because of my stall rest and the ice:
Sometimes I feel like I should – and could – just get on and start riding her, and 30-40 years ago I'm sure I would have. But between those moves and energy, and my age and working at home alone without the benefit of a round pen, it seems unwise. So I continued with all kinds of groundwork and ponying her off Lance . . . and got an idea. Why not have someone pony me on Stella off Lance? I mentioned it to my husband, who responded that he wouldn't trust Lance, so I turned to Lisa again. She thought my idea was a good one and agreed to come out to help me, so two weeks ago she did just that – and more! After ponying us for a bit and seeing how relaxed Stella was, Lisa unclipped her extra lead and I continued to ride beside her and Lance using the rope halter and its lead tied around as a loop rein. She did great and I was so pleased!
Before fast-forwarding to our next session with Lisa today, insert a little online shopping. At one of our long-lining lessons with Suzan last fall, she recommended a Nathe bit for Stella. I've looked on eBay off and on since then, trying to find a deal because they are expensive, and I hated to spend money on an unknown. Finally I texted Suzan; "How confident are you that a Nathe bit would be the best option for Stella?" Her response was "100% and if not I will sell it for you." Well! I hit the "Buy Now" button and it arrived on Monday!
Here it is, in place of the double-jointed snaffle I have been using for Stella. She wore it under her rope halter for ponying and groundwork yesterday,
with Lance's 'neck ring' rope as lightweight reins
and again today when Lisa came to help us again. I had already ponied Stella off Lance for ten minutes when she arrived, so we didn't do much more ponying before she turned us loose. After riding with her for awhile, she stopped and we rode circles around her and Lance, using the 'reins' along with the halter's lead rope to get her used to the bit in action. Stella was again very good, responding calmly to a squeeze of my legs to walk, gentle direct rein to turn, and a verbal cue plus body position to halt. Before long she grew more confident and started testing me a little, so we refocused with some turns and stopped on a good note. Stella's a smart mare; I'm going to have to keep things short, sweet, and interesting!
Here are some video snippets Lisa took of us, a couple of blurry screenshots from them – and a photo of our helpers. 😁 It really feels like we are making strides now after more than a year of baby steps. Lisa suggested tying Lance in the arena as a babysitter if I feel like trying to ride her alone. We'll see how that goes.
On many fronts not much has happened since I last posted here. My new student hasn't been back yet due to other commitments and bad weather. I haven't done much more with Stella due to bad weather and now stall rest – mine, not hers. And with that, I'll segue into what has happened....
Because of all the rain we were getting, I started ponying Stella off Lance again. That kept both of them exercised a little and kept me from getting soaked. On January 19, I put the body wrap on Stella, saddled up Lance, grabbed the flag, and headed to the arena. Stella was feeling a little frisky from not getting much turn-out (when there are puddles, she DIGS; NOT good for the footing)
which made Lance cranky. She frisked, he reacted at her, I corrected him while inadvertently swishing the flag (which he isn't used to; oops), and off he launched towards the arena fence. Deciding that I'd rather bail before we reached the metal panels rather than possibly getting thrown into them, I let go of Stella's lead rope – but not Lance's reins. My split-second reasoning was to prevent Lance from chasing Stella down and trying to kill her, like he did last time he got loose in the arena with her. Judging by the amount of jumping around he continued to do after I hit the ground, that was precisely his desire. Unfortunately, one of his big feet came down on the back of my right thigh as I lay on my side. Yeah, that HURT; he weighs in at 1200+ lbs. But thankful that he didn't step on my femur or knee or torso, I got up, led him to the other end of the arena where Stella was standing (and stood, even though the back loop of the body wrap had slid up under her tail like a crupper; woot!), got back on, and finished our walk.
That night I showed my leg to Rick, who was concerned enough that he ultrasounded it. Even though the lump appeared to be filled with serous fluid, not a clot, he thought it best to have my doctor check it out, so the next day I did. The doctor agreed with Rick, and recommended R.I.C.E. So for the next two weeks, I iced it, wore some compression capris I got to wear under my white show breeches, and applied arnica cream and DMSO. Elevating my thigh above my heart wasn't really feasible, and rest, well....
Laying down, the lump isn't as obvious.
The bruising improved but the lump remained. Rick decided to ultrasound it again, called his BIL who is an orthopedic trauma surgeon, and learned I had actually sustained a type of closed degloving injury called a Morel-Lavallée Lesion. Then the search was on to find the best way to deal with it. In the end, that led us to an appointment with a local plastic surgeon last Tuesday, who looked at it and decided to drain it on the spot and tightly wrap it. (One of the characteristics of ML Lesions is a loss of feeling, so he just stuck an 18-gauge needle in it and I didn't feel a thing!) He instructed me to leave the wrap on for the next two weeks and stay off of it as much as possible; I go back for a check-up tomorrow.
In between appointments #1 and #2, we had a doozy of an ice storm. My poor husband was already doing all the barn chores, and then we lost power for three and a half days while everything was (ultimately) covered by 1.5" of treacherous ice, making everything more labor-intensive. But at least those were days I didn't feel bad (as I have all the others) about not being able to work/play with my horses!
Someone is feeling as cooped up as I am!
So all of us have some ground to regain, and I hope we can get back to it sooner rather than later.
I'm a homeschooling, horse training, animal loving, garden growing, part-time business running, spinning and knitting shepherd who loves the Great Shepherd.
