Old Habits Die Hard

     Well, it's been 3 weeks, it's about time Stryker threw a fit. He was... very challenging today. His old habit of fighting my forward aids reared its ugly head today. My warmup trot went fine, it was when I asked him to canter that he planted his front feet and kicked both legs out behind him. I took him forward and asked for the canter again and he did the same thing, only multiple times. Mrs. P had me get off and put him on the lunge because we thought (because this kind of behavior is really out of the ordinary for him) that he was in pain. However, he trotted and cantered beautifully on the lunge. Ugh, I was so angry when he stretched out and went forward on the lunge line, I knew that meant I was going to have to get on and he was going to do the same thing and I was going to have to work through it. There were two times I lost my balance and thought I was coming off, but I didn't. When I got back on after lunging, he immediately did the same thing, planted his front feet and kicked out behind. After this happened a few times I shut down, got intimidated and just didn't want to challenge him (which of course is the complete opposite of what you should do). Mrs. P came out into the arena and put him on a lunge line with me on him. Stryker, being a smart horse, trotted nicely, challenging a few times only to be chased out by Mrs. P.
     Being on the lunge line gave us an opportunity to work on my seat and position a bit. I was being corrected on my legs rolling back and forth and my hands wanting to float up, as well as me wanting to curl my right wrist and flatten my hand. I've been working on keeping my legs up against the knee rolls and my calves draped around the horse and quiet. When I can get my legs put into that position, its painful but I sit SO much better! Anyway,  the one time he really objected on the lunge line was when we asked for the left canter. He sort of tossed out a rolling buck and ran forward.
      I finally ended up being able to trot in both directions without the lunge line and with him accepting my forward aids. I still want to get him looked at by the chiropractor. I'm sure he needs an adjustment, after the trailer ride and him being ridden more then at home. I also think that some of his challenging is due to my seat. In the trot-canter transitions I think that I put my outside leg too far back, and I either fall forward or backwards and then I lift my hands and in exchange he drops his back and inverts.
     Either way I am facing this again tomorrow and no doubt he will challenge the same way he did today. Wish me luck!

Week 3(ish)

     Here comes week three! I feel like last week was a hump-day week, I felt like I had been here for months and it had only been 10 days. However, now that the third week has started I am feeling much more comfortable in the work and time is starting to speed up. Homesickness is really no joke though... The good news is that the days are going by quickly and I lose track of time because there's always something I need to be doing.

     My horses arrived last Tuesday and are starting to settle in. I have been able to get them into turnout at 12pm until about 5:30 or 6:00pm. The farrier came on Sunday and they have freshly filed feet, and are looking very dapper for the other horses. Galaxy is more comfortable being alone in the stall when I take Stryker away, he isn't screaming every 5 minutes for him. Today following my lesson on Stryker we put him next to a different horse on the other side of the barn and I was able to (finally!) get Galaxy out to ride without any distress.

                     

     Stryker has been really good during all my rides so far. Today, he started to feel like he usually does on the 3rd or 4th day of work, lazy and cranky. He wanted to start out behind the leg, but Mrs. P had me take him forward in the trot (keeping my hands low and together) around the arena for about 5 minutes and he got much more willing and energetic. We've been working a lot on transitions because Stryker has the tendency to come above the bit and invert in pretty much any transition. I have been taking him sideways and (to the right) allowing him to bend right and really yield to my right leg while making the transition. Going to the left I almost need to counter-flex him because he wants to  over-flex to the left and pop his right shoulder out. The transitions get better and better using this technique. Mrs. P finally pointed out my floppy legs... She reminded me throughout my lesson to keep my legs long, knees bent and calves draped around the horse, I have always had a problem keeping my calves draped around the horse, especially in the sitting trot where I have the most trouble with my seat. However, as we did transitions and Stryker got more through and round, the sitting trot became easier and I was able to concentrate on improving my seat.
     Galaxy got a mini-workout today, being it is his first time being ridden in about 3 weeks I didn't want to overdo anything. Mrs. P got a little look at him and thinks he might be good to do a lunge lesson on. I really hope we do a lunge lesson because I always need improvement with my seat and being relaxed throughout my body while keeping all of my body parts independent of each other.

     In other news, I had been riding an upper level horse while my boys were getting settled in. Last Monday I worked on tempi changes. I have only ever done 3 and 4 tempis and that was only once. Seems to me, much to my surprise, that one tempi's are actually easier in some ways then 2 tempi's. When I would try the 2-tempi's I was having trouble getting the timing right and the horse would get into his own rhythm and would get stuck in the 1-tempi's. Mrs. Poulin talked me through it and by the end I could get about two 3-tempi's at the beginning of the diagonal and then two or three 2-tempi's by the end of the diagonal.

      I also got to try canter pirouettes for the first time! It was fun :) I was having trouble keeping the horse light and able to pick himself up in order to move around in the pirouette. Mrs. Poulin explained to me that the rhythm in a pirouette should be ONE, two, three. The emphasis should be on the first beat, when the horse is picking his shoulders up. Instead, today I started out not keeping his forehand light and the rhythm was more like one, two, THREE, with the emphasis on the final beat, causing the horse to fall even more onto his forehand. Thinking about the rhythm immediately helped me to improve my riding and keep the horse up off his shoulders.

     Anyway, now that I am riding my own horses and have a little piece of home with me in them, I am much happier and am not feeling so homesick. Although, I'm never going to feel perfectly at home without my Chewie.

       

Things I Don't Understand About Horse Care, Explained

Ok, so I haven't had much experience at "big barns," and by "big barns" I mean somewhere like where I am now. Somewhere with multiple trainers, a staff, and over 15 horses or so. I started out at a good sized barn, but I was quite young and not involved much in the care or management of the barn. Then I moved to Rockhaven Farm, which I think is the perfect size. The horses are low maintenance and since there aren't usually more then 16 horses, there is room in the pastures to distribute them comfortably. Work generally takes me about 2-4 hours at home and most horses eat the same grain and hay. Also at home the turnout is simple and horses are out either all day, or all night, making it so that whoever is working only has to worry about 1 cycle of turnout.
Now, the whole point of this post is to list the things that I don't understand about how some barns function and hopefully find a reason and decide for myself whether or not I would practice these methods in my own hypothetical "big barn."

The List

1. What is the purpose of wet hay?

2. What is the purpose of feeding Bran?

3. Why feed horses more then twice a day?

4. Why provide limited turnout for horses?

5. Why wrap horses legs overnight?

Wet Hay

I found a lot of information on wet hay, most interesting of which is that it can spontaneously burst into flames! No, but really, wet hay is something that, at first, I thought was silly. But after reading into it I do see its benefits, especially in older horses and horses with allergies. 

Wet hay is more similar in some ways to fresh cut grass. Grass is 80% water, while hay is dried up, making it harder to chew, harder to digest, and more susceptible to containing mold and dust. Horses who don't drink enough water also benefit from wet hay, being that they take in so much water by eating it and for some reason can't get enough of dirty, smelly, hay water. So, in the end I find wet hay a perfectly acceptable practice for the horses who need it, as long as you don't let it sit around and catch itself on fire.

Bran

Before coming to Florida I'd never dealt with Bran at all. It seems like most feed it on alternating nights or when horses have not been drinking enough water. From what I have read, most suggest using Bran for mineral imbalances. It is suggested to only feed a Bran mash occasionally, because feeding it too often can strip the horse of certain nutrients such as Calcium. On this website it gives a few myths about Bran that I found interesting. I do like Bran as a supplemental water intake meal, and so does Galaxy. When my horses don't drink as much water as I'd like them to during the day I have been feeding them a small scoop of Bran with a large scoop of water. It makes me feel better about their water intake and Galaxy is so happy when he gets a random snack! :)

 http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/feeding-bran-3151.aspx

Frequent Feeding

I have always been at barns where horses were fed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. This always proved to be more then enough, however I do see advantages in feeding 3 or maybe even 4 small meals a day. On one hand, horses are natural grazers. Their digestive system is set up to digest a little bit all throughout the day. Now, in the wild, horses are constantly eating. But, our horses at home, can't generally be sustained on just a pasture diet. The way I see it, the most efficient way to feed a horse would be, individually in a stall for their personal rations such as grain and supplements and then in a small group setting for their grass and hay rations. This way, the horse can be in a natural, group setting and won't develop bad habits out of restlessness and boredom (such as gnawing on the walls and pawing at doors). I do like the schedule here of frequent feeding. My horses are pleasantly surprised when I bring them their lunch and occasionally a late night, and I know it's ideal for their digestive systems to be eating multiple times a day. 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uky.edu%2FAg%2FAnimalSciences%2Fpubs%2Fasc143.pdf&ei=WwjSUu_IIaessQSWh4HwDA&usg=AFQjCNHu31rm1VvXFds_45HGM7oHJzIrUw&sig2=vijzILppR1zkoMoj8kOSiA&bvm=bv.59026428,d.cWc

Wrapping Legs Overnight

From what I have read, wrapping a horses legs overnight is a good way to keep a horses legs from swelling and becoming stocked up. I would say that at a horse show when my horses will be standing most likely on concrete for a few nights in a row, then wrapping is a good way to relieve the puffiness. Something else you can do for your horse is hydrotherapy, which is rinsing each leg for about 5-10 minutes in cool water. At a competition I can see these being helpful tools, however, at home I would hope that my horse would be mobile enough that he would not require that kind of special attention frequently. 

 https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6177286277700313537#editor/target=post;postID=5308138408324631456

I find that a small barn with the number of horses limited is ideal. That way there will be room for turnout on pasture or dry lot and the work load wouldn't be exhausting for only a few workers. I am learning a lot about (I don't want to say high maintenance but more persistent and detailed) horse care. Every barn is unique and I'm glad I am experiencing how to care for high caliber horses (especially high caliber client horses) because that's one of the areas I am lacking a lot of knowledge. 

Until next time!

Caitlin

Week 1

Okay, I thought I'd have a post up by my first day of work. I was wrong...

I started work on Monday and since about Monday evening my entire body has ached in places that haven't ever ached. My day starts at 6:30 am, with feeding, water and stalls. So far we've gotten only about 30 minutes to an hour for lunch as I think they are short staffed in the barn. My horses haven't gotten here yet, so I have been fortunate enough to ride some of the Poulin's horses. I have ridden an older upper level horse. He is one stiff old man, but I got to ride some piaffe, half pass, flying changes and collected canter, so I'm not complaining.
I am SO ready for my boys to get here! I love the experience on other horses but I miss them so much! I'm so happy that they can both come.
Anyway, below are some photos of my weekend with my Grandmother and Step-Grandfather, they are only an hour from De Leon Springs, so we decided to come up two days early and spend some much needed time with them. I'm really glad I'll have some family nearby while I'm here, hopefully it will help cure some of this chronic homesickness I've been experiencing.

I promise, my posts will get more exciting once I have my boys here and I am riding more and have more to talk about other then the feeding schedule for a barn full of horses!

Until then,

Caitlin

Angelo, Mom, Grandma and I