Darth Theo

 I've finally got video of my Second Level freestyle!  The music is still a little hard to hear but it's the best we've managed.

I'm proud of this test.  It's organized, it's forward, it looks comfortable.  Considering we had to stand in the ingate for 15 minutes due to technical issues with the sound system, he did an amazing job to march in and drag me around. He was so forward in his first medium canter we ended up ahead of the music, wheeee!  He wasn't giving me good simple changes which is usually a high point for him but the counter canters were rock solid.  67% and qualified for regionals.

Now Theo gets two months off.  His next scheduled outing is regionals.  He's earned 8 weeks of relaxation after that marathon.  

Overdue update

I've been busy.

So we went to a couple of away shows and had some big wins and some setbacks which is pretty much par for the course.  On the highlights, I'm qualified for regionals at Second and got the score I needed for my freestyle.  We got as high as 65% from an S judge and went as low as a 58%.  Theo is so polarizing.  But every single test he marched down centerline and went to work like the school master he is.  Good, bad, or indifferent scores, he looked confident and happy every single test.  Even when I had an epic anxiety attack fueled meltdown in the warm up for no discernable reason.  Sure couldn't tell I thought I was going to puke when we hit centerline.

Let's also talk about how much I love my new burgundy coat.  I bought it on a whim at the NEDA Spring show because I kept walking past it and staring at it.  I've never worn a cut away coat and kept thinking it would look terrible on me.  Eventually I bought it and I have zero regrets.  I had the perfect matching browband in Theo's jewelry box and felt like a million bucks when we went down centerline.  I also ordered my very first pair of custom boots, hopefully they'll be here in time for regionals.  My shopping at NEDA was kind of insane but I was embracing my horse show life.

This is the grin of someone feeling completely safe because she's about to ride in with her bff

I debuted my Darth Vader freestyle at GMHA!  Theo definitely embraced the dark side in this test: "There is no peace, there is only passion".  He walked into the white ring where we have shown many times, took one look at the large audience that was perfectly silent, and tried to nope out.  First he jumped straight up a couple feet at the in gate and then froze.  Huh, that was a surprise.  Then he pulled his infamous left spin to try to vacate as I tried to walk around the ring past the audience.  The audience was so polite, not even moving as he spooked.  Unfortunately, this made it so much worse as he never registered them as people.  Fortunately I walked in as soon as the rider ahead of me saluted so I was able to wait and let him decide it was okay.  I never trotted, just walked and pet him as he tippy toed past the audience.  They rang the bell and I immediately put my hand up for my music.  

Theo was Theo and became a complete professional as soon as we hit center line.  He pulled a flying change in the counter canter heading toward the audience in both directions in the exact same spot (yay, symmetry?) which killed one of our best movement scores but we still got a qualifying score for regionals.  When he was good, he was very good and the judges liked the music and choreography.  I knew if I got him on centerline we would be fine because Theo does love his job.  And I know my choreography well enough to make up for issues when he's reluctant to go on one side of the ring.

We did have some issues with him going above the bit due to his distraction and me feeling like I was holding the whole thing together by the skin of my teeth but I was very proud of him for doing a technically challenging Second level freestyle while keeping an anxious eye on the audience.  There was a lot that the judges liked.  He better get used to audiences because freestyle really seems to be our strongest test.

I had a really good run at Third on the last day of GMHA but my tired pony didn't have enough in the trot work to save my one botched turn on the haunches and a drop change which each got 4s, we got a 59.7.  SIGH.  So close.  Painfully, torturously close to that score.  High score for the AA riders in that class but not quite there.  Theo had stressed his left hind during his ridiculous spook the day before so my left turn on the haunches was big by plan.  My right to left change got me a 6 and was totally boring (WIN).  My left to right was on the aids, organized, no drama, but a drop change for the 4.  His tired topline meant a gait score of 6 so I had zero room for errors.  But what a nice, civilized, organized test.  It was a big step forward for us.  

It was an awesome last test for us, I was so proud.  I managed to hit the 'big boy dressage' button in warm up and rather than kicking, I was suddenly hanging on for dear life.  His last extended trot in that test was absolutely the best we have ever done in competition, Trainer Z was so proud.  The judge was not buying Theo's gaits but I know that was every single molecule of trot Theo is physically capable of giving and I was delighted with him.  Every movement was on the aids and planned.  It was day four which is so hard for both of us but we laid down a trip that looked completely appropriate for the level.  I don't think we had the right judge for us as Theo doesn't move like other dressage horses and some judges are more willing to reward a horse doing the best they can in their body but I also have to acknowledge that if I'm going to ride this horse, there will be challenges.  As Pam said in our clinic, with Theo, I have to be perfect.  I don't have big fancy gaits to fall back on.  We have to be technically perfect and leave no points behind.  Botching both a change and a turn on the haunches just isn't good enough.

I've definitely knocked off the horse show rust at this point.  Hopefully that means there will be no more warm up ring meltdowns, that sucked.  I've also rebuilt my collection of coats (blue, black, and burgundy) and matching stock ties/browbands.  Hopefully I'll have new boots soon (I got an update that they've been cut out!).  Theo has a new tub of show supplies and I've got a system for all of my gear again.  I have learned that four days is my absolute maximum and I must take extra steps to hold up that long.  For NEDA Spring, I lost feeling in my left hand on the fourth day as the impacts caught up with me and my inflammation got out of control.  That kind of affected my riding, especially on a tired horse, and got me a 58%.  At GMHA I was aggressive with the NSAIDs and icing my neck so I had all of my limbs functioning going into day 4.

Seriously, could not feel my left hand at this point

I'm showing again next weekend to try to get the last score I need to do my freestyle at regionals.  I never show in July but I'm making an exception to do a day trip and try for that last score.  I would enjoy doing my Darth Vader freestyle at regionals if the fates align.  After that its a quick trip for Kiki to a breed show, then I'm on break.  I am off to Chicago for an academic conference while Theo is taking his leaser to D4K for her first big dressage show.  He gets to be an absolute packer at Training level for that weekend and I truly think this is going to be a great experience for his leaser.  Theo can be an absolute PITA but when he hits centerline he puts on a show.

I'm so, so tired after serious riding 2/3 times a week for a couple months but one more show before I get to take my break.  Taking Kiki to a breed show will be a relief after this campaign.  Not that we've been completely slacking on her.

But we'll talk about her next time.

Setback

 So that didn't go the way I'd planned.

"You got me up at 5am, what did you expect?"

I've posted videos, there's plenty of evidence that Theo has a perfectly acceptable change.  But in recent rides, we've been having some extra drama.  That drama means he's out of balance and the change is kind of a mess.  It started when I started really pumping up the canter to counteract that drop change from left to right.  Sometimes he boils over and jumps about before the change.  He's also started to figure out the test for Third 1 and is anticipating the change in the 10m circle.  That means he's starting to pop up while we're still on the circle.  By the time I am at the right spot in the arena to change, he's usually thrown at least one jump or buck which means his balance is out of whack.

Put me under pressure in a show ring and the wheels come off of our changes pretty significantly.  It's frustrating because everyone assumes I entered Third without a real change.  No, I had a change, we just misplaced it this week and I had to enter this show over a month ago.  Some shows are just not great timing and this show was one of those.   I certainly wouldn't have entered if I thought I was going to get a 3 on a movement that defines the level.  Even my right to left change that is usually lovely was described as 'muddled' due to a couple strides of anticipation drama.  The rest of the test couldn't compensate for that much of a mess.  I got a low 58 and a high 57.  No comments suggesting I shouldn't be at the level but definitely comments on needing a more confirmed change.

Sigh.

Love, love, love his show halter from Dark Jewel Designs on Etsy

I'd feel worse but we still got two red ribbons with those scores.  In one class no one broke 60.  Third 1 is cruel because it's such a big move up.  I can cover a blooper in a shoulder in or half passe and save the score.  Flying change?  Nowhere to hide and you need to nail it in one stride.  It's like when I was jumping and I'd know I'd botched a distance four strides out.  I know I've screwed it up as I leave the circle and he's so busy bouncing that he's down on his shoulders.  He can't change clean from down there.

It's a good time for me to drop back to Second 3 and focus on my test riding.  This past show was intended to get the temperature of our Third level prep and we are below the standard.  So we'll take the judge's comments and drop back to get our confidence back up.  Trainer Z is chomping to get me back out there at Third (she couldn't coach for this show which seriously hindered my warm up, not gonna lie) since we're really quite close.  Straighten up this last minute drama and we're right there.  It wasn't just the scores for the changes, it was the effect it had on my collectives.  Judges don't like it when you enter a test where you can't complete the movements and my submission scores took a hit with his drama.  Theo hasn't gotten a 5.5 for submission in a long, long time.

What I saw at 5am when I went to get him

I'm slightly disappointed but mostly okay since I was able to safely ride the test and he never got ugly.  It really does seem to come from a place of anticipation.  We got a 6.5 on his second medium walk, 7s for both of his reinbacks, and 6.5 for his walk pirouettes which were challenges before.  6.5 for his extended trot in one test.  Lots and lots of 6s and 6.5s.  I got a 7 for my rider position on my second test which was definitely a balm.  I think Trainer Z summed it up best with 'that sounds like they don't think you're not ready, they just want you to get your shit together'.  Fair.

It really did hurt to hear spectators questioning whether or not I actually had a change after my tests.  We do, I promise, and its a really cute change.  Just not this weekend.

Next show is three weeks away and we'll be going for our qualifying scores at Second 3 so we can go to regionals and do our freestyle.  I also have a clinic in two weeks so Pam will have a chance to rip into our changes and help find the root cause.  It must be something I recently changed in my riding since he was doing fine.  If there's something I'm doing, Pam will let me know.  In the meantime, we'll just practice that shoulder in on the quarter line for my freestyle.  

And spectators, give competitors the benefit of the doubt.  Horses live to keep us humble and Theo certainly kept me humble.

The Doctor will see you now

 It's not horse related but it is very much part of my horse story.  On May 1st, I successfully defended my dissertation for my Doctorate of Business Administration.  My frantic four years of graduate school has come to an end and I am now Dr. Catie.  Yay!

Some days it still seems like something I dreamed up.  I wake up thinking I've still got homework to do or more reading that needs to be completed or some discussion posts to write.  I expect I'll be one of those doctoral students that needs six months of self care after they complete their dissertation.  After my successful defense I immediately went into a massive funk and felt terrible as my body suddenly stopped producing stress hormones like it was a full time job.  I had to beg Trainer Z for mercy in my lesson and we ended up working my walk pirouettes.  I thought I'd just rebound and be free but no, the past four years won't be that easy to shake off.  It's going to take some time for me to undo everything I did to myself in pursuit of my two graduate degrees.

But the important goal was met, I defended my dissertation before show season.  I am now able to focus on getting Theo out there and chasing that Bronze medal.  We ran through the test again and I genuinely feel comfortable with my test now.  It's not a stretch, it's where we're comfortable.  This weekend we have two attempts with two day shows.  I'm glad it's a pair of day shows since I also had Theo scoped today.  

Guess what, we've got ulcers!  Not 'omg injectables emergency' ulcers but he is on omeprazole and sucralfate for the next 28 days.  He'd been girthy in the past two weeks so I wasn't surprised.  Now I know for sure what's going on and we're going to tackle it head on.  He's always been rather ulcer prone, he stresses.  Even with his ideal set up with Trainer Z, he's delicate.  Vet wasn't worried and thinks they'll clear up with the standard treatment.  We'll rescope in a month to check up on him.

We've also had x-rays done of his teeth and his front feet as a baseline, nothing wrong.  We had his fasted blood work done for metabolic stuff.  Got his hocks done and completed another course of Adequan.  He got floated.  I've really checked him nose to toes at this point and if all we find is ulcers on my 20 year old Third level horse?  We're doing good.  He's been feeling awesome under tack and I can only imagine how good he'll feel after ulcer treatment.

Day shows are less stressful for him since he'll get to sleep in his stall at night and roll in his turn out.  Since I'm going solo (Trainer Z got injured and I'm definitely able to handle showing alone) I'm glad I'm not setting up a stall and handwalking for hours.  We'll show up, do our one test, and head home.  With our ride times, the whole thing will be done in 24 hours with 4 hours in the trailer.  5:30 pm on Saturday and 8:30am on Sunday.  I'm going to sleep in my truck in Trainer Z's parking lot because I'm not unhooking with that short of a time at the barn.  Show, park, unload Theo, flop in my truck and sleep, get up, load Theo, show again.

I don't know how we're going to do with my brain still rebooting and going out on our own but we're definitely chasing that Bronze now.  And all of that brain power I was using on school stuff can start to redirect on Theo.  Poor baby.

"Just let me drive and we'll be fine, mom."

Start your engines

 My dissertation took a bit of a turn when we decided to cram the whole thing in six weeks.  That put me well ahead of the original plan and the rest of my cohort.  Not a lot of folks can say their dissertation manuscript was completed five months early which put me at 2 years and 8 months into my doctoral journey.  I defend May 1st and, assuming I pass, I'll have that Dr. title.  Completing this journey feels amazing and it still hasn't sunk in that I will have no homework, classes, or school work for the rest of my life.  

Why the sudden push to complete?  I've got other stuff to do this summer.  Mostly involving my favorite little trouble maker.

We got our first show out of the way today with a schooling show.  Got to love a schooling show in April when all of the horses are trying to remember how any of this works.  And Theo still looks like a woolly mammoth.  This was also a combined test so there were a lot of eventers knocking off the winter rust.  But when it's only 15 minutes away from the barn and a show ground where Theo feels very comfortable, you absolutely show up.  And it's my local dressage group hosting it so it qualifies me for more year end satin.  Yay!

Theo is such an old pro that his job was to keep a baby stallion company and let me practice being a Third level rider.  He was so good.  He was being very careful with me to start because I was nervous which is sweet but also problematic.  Careful Theo is First level Theo, keeping things flat and boring so he doesn't accidentally bounce me off.  Can't do a lot of Third level stuff in that frame.  I had to settle in and then play with Theo a bit to get him to relax and get into a Third level frame of mind.  We were in the double because it makes me more confident when I know I can stop any of his dramatics quickly.

It's almost hard for me to recognize him.  He's so bouncy and uphill these days.  We got a 61.7% for that test.  Two errors in the Third 2 test got me a 58% with similar scores to my first test.  Third 2 is so much harder than Third 1 with lots more to remember.  I now know I need to work on my ability to collect under pressure, I was struggling a bit with getting the job done with everyone staring at me.  The changes were all completely non-dramatic even in warmup which was nice.  None of them were both clean and on the aids but they were green bean changes, not problematic or explosive.  5.5 for all of them which I will happily take.

It was a confidence booster.  I left points on the table as he wasn't really in front of my leg even in the show ring so there's more points in that test.  the judge's comments were 'willing but needs more power'.  Completely agree, we can do more.  I just need to trust hitting that button when all alone in the show ring.  We've got our first rated outing in May so we have time to work on getting him really up in front of my leg.  It's still hard for me to go into that level of collection since he can boil over so easily.  I got him up into his fancy trot a couple times and it was definitely a moment of pride to show him off like that.  I need to keep doing it until I realize it's just how he works now.  It's fine.  He's supposed to be coiled up like a spring about to explode.  He likes being there.

Yikes.

Before and After

 Not much time to write these days as I'm in the throes of finishing my dissertation but had one of those rides yesterday that make you look back at how far your partnership has come.

This was Theo in July of 2015, the earliest trotting picture I can find.  It's a screen shot from a video of me trotting him around.  For us, this was a good trot.  I was happy with it and proud enough of his progress to post it as a progress video.

This was us yesterday, February of 2024 in our lesson with Trainer Z.

That is not the same horse.  The horse I rode yesterday was uphill, light, and very powerful.  Almost too powerful.  Trainer Z was at the stallion inspection in Denmark so Theo got a week off.  It was 60* out so I figured he'd be too warm to be sassy.  NOPE.  He wasn't physically wound up so much as mentally.  He was offering behaviors very quickly and acting like a kid at a theme park that wanted to do everything as soon as he arrived.  In the interest of not repeating the magnificent capriole he gave me when he boiled over during his canter work a couple weeks ago, we decided to focus on trotting and poles.

Someone was so excited and over trying that he started to offer a passage step at the first pole.  Theo has recently started offering passage when we work on increasing collection in the trot so Trainer Z decided today was the day.  I knew how to ask and what it should feel like thanks to my lessons on her stallion Muffin.  We turned to the poles, I half halted up and dropped the cadence, and mi papi passaged.

Once he realized that bouncing was not only allowed but encouraged?  He ate this up.  All of his excess energy finally had a place to go.  And his passage is huge.  I wasn't asking for big, just cadenced in these.  These are the smaller passes.  His bigger passes almost bounced me out of the tack.  Trainer Z was wide eyed when she got a look at just how big he can get in that slow cadence.  All of that power we see when he's free lunging never showed up in his extensions.  It's been hiding in the passage this whole time.

We also worked his half steps which are starting to look like a piaffe.

No, he'll never go Grand Prix, but these are great tools to make him sit, to add strength, and to give him an outlet for days like yesterday when he couldn't handle his own energy levels.  When we were done he was chewing like a fiend and his ears finally relaxed.  Instead of spooking in the corners and jigging off the wall, he did the big walk with his back swinging.

He also did his first working half pirouette recently.  Another move where he seems to have a natural affinity for it.  I keep telling him that if he wants to do Grand Prix, he's got to be consistent in his left to right flying change!  I can't do tempis if he botches his footwork.  Doing lots of very clean simple changes from left to right seems to be helping him understand how the foot sequence is supposed to go and his new power is making it easy enough that the clean changes are starting to happen.  That drop change will probably never fully go away but it's getting better.  There really is something going on in that change since he will botch it in the simple change sometimes, its like he can't quite coordinate his feet as well in that direction.  It's weird.  

My dissertation is due April 5th.  If I hit that deadline, I walk the stage May 4th.  At that point I am done with school forever and ever.  Theo and I have a full dance card of shows this summer to celebrate and to get that Bronze.  I'm starting to feel real hope that this time we've got it.  Every move except the left to right change is on lock at this point and even that change is weird but happening on the aids.  I just need to trust that we've done the work, he's more than ready, and get in the ring to get it done.

After I submit 120 pages about organizational change and the individual's perceptions of artificial intelligence.  Gross.

Tiny tumble

 You can't ride horses if you're not willing to fall off.  Yes, I'm supposed to be limiting my exposure to rapid decelerations assisted by the ground but the reality of riding is that it's going to happen eventually.  I have only fallen off Theo once and it was for a ridiculous reason while I was goofing off.  I've sat all of his rodeo worthy broncs over the years but while not paying attention, I tipped out of the saddle and landed on my butt.

Did that again today except today it was during a botched flying change heading into the end of the arena.  We had a miscommunication, Theo had no idea what I wanted, tried to do a last minute change with a leap/buck and then had to turn to avoid hitting the end of the arena.  The overly flying change was not a surprise but I thought we were going right.  Theo thought we were going left.  We had a parting of the ways as I expected to have a horse under me to the right while he was trying to carry me to the left but my butt wasn't really in the saddle.  I basically flopped off much to the surprise of Theo, Trainer Z, and me.

Theo enjoying a snack with his PRE stallion neighbor who is ridiculously sweet

I was laying on the ground, looking up at my worried horse, and all I felt was relief.  I'd gotten it out of the way.  Theo didn't try to unload me or do anything bad, we just had a miscommunication and I lost my balance when he scrambled.  I landed on my lower back with not much momentum since we'd been in a collected canter.  Head and neck were not involved.  It wasn't scary in any way.  Painful to fall off a 16h cantering horse but once I'd taken stock of my body, I got up and got back on.  

Poor Theo was horrified.  The first thing I saw when I looked up was his gigantic nose squished against me with the whites showing in his eyes.  I immediately started petting his nose and telling him he was okay.  When Trainer Z reached for his bridle to back him up I swear he shook.  Poor baby, he really thought he'd screwed up.  People so rarely fall off of him and he really hates it.  He'll unload people with full intent but his people?  His special people?  He never, ever drops his people.  Even if I didn't want to get back on, I needed to for his sake.  He was seriously shook.  I got back on, assessed the situation, and then we went back to the canter.  We did most of the exercise again but skipped the change since I was sore and he was rattled.  Then he got a nice groom and back to bed.

And now I'm on the couch with a heating pad for my poor back.  Chiro appointment is tomorrow.  I'm going to have a spectacular bruise.  And here I thought I was going to get hurt putting blankets on all of the babies but that went perfectly.  Kiki is already outgrowing her borrowed 63" so I'm getting her some ridiculous blankets that she will probably destroy.

Such an elegant filly, pity her mom likes silly blankets

Someone is looking pretty cobby these days.  And feral.  Of course she walked into the barn and got blanketed with no drama but then she led the babies on a 'let's try to get rid of our blankets' run once she was loose.  It's now four fillies in that field, the two yearlings and the two weanlings.  I held the weanlings while they got their first blankets on.  The drama was limited but appropriately dramatic.  Glad we did that before I encountered the ground, I don't think I could contain a rearing, spinning weanling right now.

Third

 It's been a bit but I didn't want to jinx myself by talking about my attempt at Third.  I had at least a dozen times where I wanted to back out and a couple times I really almost changed my mind.  But I did it!  I went in the ring and I did the thing!

We had a bit of a tough time with the weather.  The rain rolled in Friday night and stuck around most of the weekend.  Saturday was still relatively warm but bands of rain were coming through.  The footing was getting a bit dicey while I warmed up in a crowd with the rain pouring down.  Grateful for my eventing background that sent me hustling to the tack shop to get some tech gloves.  My reins stayed in my hands where they belonged even when it poured on our test!

It wasn't a weekend for bronze medal scores, it was about getting that first test out of the way and convincing myself I could do it.  And that we did!  My scores were very fair and we got a 55.6%.  We got 6.5s for a lot of our trot work and a 7 for gaits.  We were definitely ready for the level.  We also got a 1 for our second flying change because Theo decided to be an over achiever and do that while still in the half passe so I didn't get to show one.  Sigh.  He also bucked at the start of our release in the canter move which did not help our scores.  But we were still first in our class of 4.  On the day, in the terrible conditions, we were the best.

He added some flair in places such as his first flying change.  Got a 6.  At least it was clean?

Shoulder-in and renver are so easy for him, it's ridiculous.  6.5s across the board with smooth transitions between movements.  4.0 for our first turn on the haunches because he just noped out in the middle.  We can work on that over the winter.  

You can see the mucky conditions.  The footing at GMHA is generally good but nothing holds up under the amount of rain we've had this year.  Theo was not enjoying it but he did march around well.  Got conservative on our extended canter because I didn't want him to slip.

I did my final salute and it took me a couple hours to really realize that we'd done it.  We'd moved up and survived.  And then I totally cried on my tolerant pony's shoulder because that was a long, long time coming.

It poured Saturday night to the point that groundskeepers were out monitoring the flooding to make sure they didn't need to evacuate stabling.  Good news is that the water stayed out of stabling, the bad news is that the footing became soup.  I scratched on Sunday after watching a beautiful, balanced mare retire in the middle of her Third level test because she was slipping too much to do her canter work.  Theo and I are very new to the level, we're not ready to take on the added challenge of footing sliding when he's trying to jump up into his movements.

So the 2023 season is over and we finally, finally moved up to Third.  The judge's comments were very encouraging and since they're from an S judge, I feel like we demonstrated that we are ready.  No, not 60%, but I was very nervous and made some silly mistakes (hard to set up the half pass nicely when you completely miss center line).  We demonstrated that we can do all of the movements in an acceptable way and even got a 6 for the extended trot.  A little more confidence and some dryer footing?  Yeah, we'll get those scores.  

Someone might have talked me into shooting for regionals next year since I'll be done with school.  It sounds like a great way to celebrate my doctorate.

Oil change

 Two steps forward, one step back.

We had a string of great lessons and great rides.  Theo was gobbling up the Third Level work.  Then we had a ride where we couldn't quite get the right hind under him.  He worked into it but he was a little hesitant.  Then a ride where he was guarding the left to right flying change with Trainer Z.  We were watching it, trying to spot what was going on.  With the heat he was only in light work and he never looked lame.  Then Theo lost his ever loving shit during a ride with Trainer Z after the heat broke and she pushed him.

He usually works into a better and better mood.  This time, he escalated and damn near unloaded her.  Everyone's radar went off.  He was very good the next day but the day after that, NQR.  Next day still not right.  Put him on the trailer and took him to the vet because something was clearly wrong.  Theo had told us in the only way he has that something hurt.  Most horses would show a deviation in gait, might even go lame.  Theo gets pissed that you're asking him to do something that hurts and lets you know in no uncertain terms that he will not play.  He goes from vague resistance to violence awfully quick.

The good news is that the vet found nothing but sore hocks.  He was seven months out from his hock injections so apparently he does need his hocks done twice a year at this level of work.  No big deal for a horse his age.  I threw a box of Adequan on his bill as well to top off any other joints that might not be feeling great.  He was an absolute gentleman for the vet and no signs of neck/back/leg pain outside of those hocks.  Even with us pointing things out and really hunting.  No swelling, no signs of soft tissue stuff.  Just a dressage horse with sore hocks that does not tolerate being uncomfortable.  It really is a blessing that he's a clear communicator but we could do with a bit less violence in the communication, papi.

But a perfect patient so he has that going for him

He'll get a whole week off since he was quite sore and we want to make sure he gets some rest and time to let his hocks recover after his oil change.  We're also off to the breed show so he was going to get some time off anyway.  I suspect he'll be delighted to get back to work after his break.  Now we just hope he doesn't feel so good that he feels he needs to share his joy with everyone by doing the dance of the land porpoise across the ring . . . 

Learning to fly

 It seems that the flying change has become my theme or my nemesis.  I'm not sure which.  I write about it all the time as I get closer and then I fall back.  It's this weird, ephemeral thing that low level dressage riders like myself see as a sort of witchcraft.  That's what the big kid dressage riders do, not us.  Somehow, over all of the years and false starts, it's remained out of grasp.  

Except it's actually within grasp now.  Sort of.  Or as was recently said, it was in my power the whole time, I just had to click my heels three times.  Theo's right to left change is completely good, confirmed, takes relatively minimal set up.  He's happy to do it and it's pretty much always clean.  He prefers his left lead so these days, keeping him from changing is more work than asking for the change.  The left to right change is good about 50% of the time.  It's the weirdest thing, Theo really seems to struggle with figuring out how to get all four feet moved through the change from left to right.  We've seen every variation under the sun.  In my last lesson, Trainer Z tried to explain what he did and came up with 'I think he just did one tempis up front and moonwalked behind'.  Neither of us knew horses could moonwalk.  My horse is here to educate us all.

One of our better iterations of mistakes, a little weird up front but not bad.  That's Pam Goodrich  coaching us (love her, there will probably be more clips)

Right now, we are using a ground pole and sugar cubes to help Theo get that maneuver locked in.  Minus the moonwalk, of course.  He has a lovely, clean, uphill change when he mentally computes what it is that he's supposed to do.  These days he knows it's coming, it's just a matter of making it physically make sense for him.  And making it so rewarding that he wants to get it right.  I'm going through a lot of sugar cubes.  

This feels different because Theo is stronger, he knows what we want, and he really is trying.  I've also got enough iterations at this point that I feel like I know how to ask.  I have confidence when setting up and asking for the change.  In my last lesson I succeeded in waking up Big Boy Theo complete with some bucking, jigging, and leaping.  And it was fine.  Riding multiple times a week has finally kicked in and for a shining few moments I was old me.  We half passed from center line to the rail, set up despite Theo's surging and bouncing, and then had a big beautiful change from left to right.  I lost both stirrups but was too busy petting and fussing to care.  I'd stuffed him full of sugar before I picked up my stirrups.

We have a plan for the Third Level debut.  I barely dare to type it after so many years but with one change locked down and the other looking to be well on it's way even when it's me and not Trainer Z in the saddle, an October debut feels comfortable.  Let's face it, if I wait for it to be perfect I will never do it.  Having one change very confident and the other 50% awesome and 50% 'creative' is not the worst thing a judge will see at Third 1.  He knows what he needs to do and gives it the good old college try, he simply screws up the footwork sometimes.  His half pass is lovely in both trot and canter, I'll be struggling to keep him from going sideways too fast.  His extended will get us a laugh and a 5 but time isn't going to change that.  Shoulder in to renvers he can do in his sleep so we may just skip to Third 2 in order to get that nice set up for the change.  But after so many years of fussing and thinking and dreaming, we're setting a date.  October 2023, we're going to start trying for those last two scores for my Bronze.

Eeeeek!

Media Dump: NEDA Spring

 Minimal words, mostly just pictures of our adventures at NEDA's first winter dressage festival.  Held in June.

This first set are all courtesy of Meg McGuire Photography, the show photographer.

These are from Marielle Watson, one of Trainer Z's students who is also a photographer.  Yes, those are pictures of me as the groom, bundled up in many layers and escorting my fancy show pony about.

He's suddenly decided to go so grey.  It's so cute but at the same time breaks my heart.  Not yet, Theo, we've got stuff to do!  The photos of me in the saddle are probably a couple weeks away but I've heard rumor that there may be video.  We shall see.  In the meantime, I will enjoy all of these pictures of Theo with Trainer Z.  They make such a great pair.

The horsiest time of the year

 This whole couple of weeks has been a whirlwind.  The show season in New Hampshire is short, particularly when you ride a black, very muscley draft cross.  We tend to show in June, break for all of July, do a show late in August, and then a couple outings in fall before the snow flies at the end of October.  June is prime show season as well as clinic season.  Combine that with commencement season at the university and I've been sleeping in hotels and driving all over New England.

First was Theo's trip to NEDA Spring.  I went as the groom so I could get back into the swing of things while Trainer Z debuted Theo's freestyle.  Warm up day was 91* and very sunny.  Both Theo and Schrodie warmed up beautifully for Trainer Z.  It's still whacky to me that she has two completely different horses as her competition horses:  Mr. Fancy Pants Grand Prix Stallion Schrodie and . . . Theo.

Over dinner Friday night, the cold front arrived.  We spent the rest of the weekend huddling for warmth as the wind blasted and the rain fell.  It was 50* for a high and drizzling for two days straight.  Theo had to wear his heavy Baker to stay warm.  We were thanking all of our lucky stars that we didn't clip him in the spring so he still had some protection from the ridiculous weather.  Schrodie couldn't have asked for worse conditions for his return to Grand Prix competition.  The energy was too much for him on Saturday but on Sunday, he had a very nice trip with Trainer Z.  

Given the conditions, I was very proud of Theo going into the ring like a total gentleman and not giving Trainer Z too much flack.  He was tight in his back and jaw because it was raining and cold damn it!  Theo does not like to work in the rain and the cold.  Both of his tests went well but it was Trainer Z's first freestyle so there are some tweaks to the choreography in mind now that she's done it in competition.

But she got the scores for her freestyle bar and qualified for regionals so mission accomplished!  Many more photos are coming of their tests, they're being processed by the photographer right now.  The video was a complete bust since you can't hear anything over the wind.  It demonstrates the conditions folks were dealing with at this show that video wasn't possible.  It was utterly miserable and I heard that one ring had 8 eliminations in one day.  That didn't include the folks that didn't make it out of warmup.  Considering the conditions, it was a great success.

The very next weekend saw me loading up the trailer to take Theo to a local show for our first show together in almost four years.  Nervous?  Me?  What would make you think that?  Might be the green shade of my face that made strangers tell me 'good luck' and 'you'll be great!' as I walked to the ring.  Grooming the weekend before did help as I'd at least been to a show recently and the old habits kicked in.  I schooled the night before and realized Second 3 is easy for us now.  I can do a 15 meter circle in counter canter, I can certainly manage that serpentine.

Theo was an absolute saint.  Warmed up just like we were at home.  I was actually wishing I hadn't wimped out and had put on my rowels and picked up my whip.  I chickened out because I didn't want more horse than I could handle.  Then I saw the two big puddles in the competition ring.  Damn it, I could have used the bigger spurs.  Theo does not like to go through ankle deep water and with it in the corners, I wouldn't be able to use them to set up for my movements.  Sigh.

I was proud of my test.  No errors, no major issues, just a cute draft that was not having it with cantering through the puddles and a judge with a (justified) reputation for being harsh.  At one point I growled at him audibly and got an error for using my voice but I needed him to just go through the puddle already!  Kicking like a pony clubber does not go over well at Second.  I got fours for his 'lack of forward' or cutting the corner on any movement going into or coming out of a puddle.  Which was two corners so . . . half my test.  One judge gave me a 56%, the other gave me a 61%.  Theo is always polarizing, no matter how far he goes in his training.  Many pictures are coming of this test as well.  I'm definitely doing my part to support the show photographers.

I am honestly content with my results.  I got it done, looked like I had a clue, and definitely reinforced the idea in my head that I am ready and able to show again.  Which seems insane given the professionals that thought my riding career was over.  I was all smiles during my test because the score didn't matter, I was going down centerline.  That was already a win.  Folks commented that we clearly knew each other and he looked quite content to do his job.  Except for splashing through puddles.

And then I had a clinic the next day.  The plan was to hand my feedback to the clinician and work on that but that plan was made before we had our little puddle problem.  Hard to replicate those issues in an indoor arena!  Turns out I didn't need to worry, she'd seen our test.  She was right, the test was completely fair because everyone had to conquer the puddles.  Some did it better then us, some did it worse.  But as I was reminded during my ride, how could I expect to get through the puddles when I still let Theo spook out of the corners on a typical ride?  He has to go where I want him to go every single ride.  I was also put on blast for my jiggley hands.  I might be getting my possessed right arm tied down with a polo in future lessons.  Not sure but she was definitely discussing some sort of plan with Trainer Z to address that issue.

All of that aside, we got a clean flying change in each direction with no drama.  So I guess we're still on our way to Third!

Now I get a weekend off.  I'll ride Saturday and Sunday as usual but no activities planned.  The following weekend is a handling clinic where Kiki will be learning about her new job as a fancy dressage prospect.  Being fancy is kind of natural for her but doing it in hand?  That may take some work.  Kiki likes to be fancy on her own terms.

Why so complicated, Theo?

 Theo's been doing so darn well and getting so strong that you had to know there would be some new issues.  It's just how these things work.  Moving from one plateau to another isn't usually a smooth process.  For Theo, it usually involves some amount of drama.  It's just what he does, he can't help himself.  Things that worked fine for eight years are suddenly a problem.  Such as his bridle.

Theo's been wearing the same PS of Sweden Flying Change bridle from when we started working together eight years ago.  His browbands have expanded and one cheekpiece was replaced after a lunging 'incident' but otherwise, it's held up perfectly and he's been very happy.  Double jointed loose ring and his snaffle bridle with a plain cavesson noseband has been everything he needs all this time.  He's got a busy mouth but it's not resistant, he's always licking his lips or sucking on his bit.  The judges don't mind since it's all very positive.

He can't help himself

Three weeks ago, he suddenly started to protest his bit.  He went super light and started to open his mouth like he couldn't get his bit where he wanted it.  We had his teeth checked, nothing.  We double checked his bit, it's fine.  We gave him a couple consistent rides to see if he straightened up but no change.  Swapped to his wider double jointed snaffle, nothing.  Rode forward, rode long and low, rode very collected, he kept opening his mouth.  

With his first show of the season a week away, I played wheel of bits and nosebands with Trainer Z today.  I watched from the ground and helped with quick tack changes while we raided her bit box and tack room to try to figure out what his problem was.  Theo was a trooper as we kept swapping his tack.  He liked the mullen mouth with tongue relief a bit too much and immediately laid on Trainer Z's hands so much that she couldn't really ride him.  Egg butt was a bit better but still invited him to lock down.  After messing around for awhile, we popped a drop noseband on him.  Just like that, he settled down.  He can still lick his lips so it's clearly not holding his mouth shut but moving the noseband down his face seems to have stopped whatever was going on.

Trainer Z thinks he needed more stability now that he's working in an uphill frame.  Different angles, different feel for him?  He still needs his loose ring, double jointed snaffle to keep him from weighing 1,000 pounds but he also seems to need something in front of the bit instead of behind it.  He tested it once or twice but he very quickly settled into his happy, tail wagging, relaxed ears frame.  Just a higher frame then what he could do just a month ago.

Seriously, who is this horse?  This isn't even his real collected canter, we were still testing bits

Kudos to Trainer Z for taking the time to go through the checklist and find what he needed rather than just strapping his mouth shut.  We're still not sure just what he needed but if all he needs is a different noseband, we're happy to do that.  Considering his mouth was checked about 1.5 weeks ago with no hooks or issues, it seems to be related to him recently getting strong enough to connect over his entire topline from poll to tail.  We did find some poll soreness when all of this started but after massaging and focusing on loosening that up in the saddle, he's feeling much better.  Maybe today was a combination of the poll feeling better and a more stable connection in his mouth so he doesn't feel the need to try to rearrange it.  It really looked like he was trying to move it in his mouth intermittently, like it would bug him and he had to fix it.

Other side effect of him finally have a topline from poll to tail?  He's now casually offering his flying change.  It appears he's finally ready, mentally and physically, to make that part of his work.  He gave me the cutest flying change this week while I was working his counter flex to loosen him up.  Small problem is that Trainer Z's doing a Second Level freestyle next weekend.  We're excited that he's very ready and eager to start his Third Level career, but couldn't it wait another week?!  Come on, Theo, why do you have to make things so complicated?