Money money money!

 I went and got myself something pretty.  And huge.  Massive some would say.

The Behemoth had picked up enough gremlins that we decided a 20 year career would be enough.  The Behemoth is going to be moved on to a job slightly less demanding.  This is Betty.  Betty is a 2023 GMC Sierra 2500 HD so basically the exact same truck but with only 10 miles on it when purchased.  It's nice having things like a back up camera and integrated Android Auto.  The payments are less nice.  I traded in my daily driver car so the hubby and I are sharing his little compact hybrid and saving Betty for hauling.  We both work from home so one commuter car works just fine.

I still need to get the gooseneck hitch installed but that can wait until after Christmas.  My first hauling expedition looks to be April when I bring Kiki up to live with Trainer Z in her youngster field.  She's got a filly that is just one week older than Kiki that will be looking for a new pasture mate in April when her current friend is due to foal so it will all work out beautifully.  The two yearling fillies will have a friend and Kiki goes straight from her breeder to Trainer Z.   This means I'll have both of my trouble makers at the same address and I can start teaching Kiki to go for walks in preparation for breed shows that start in July.

Two ponies and a new truck means a certain amount of strain on the ol' checkbook.  But that's fine!  I calculated and simulated and it's a totally reasonable lift.  It's fine.

So yeah, right after I did that Theo made it clear that he only wants the Custom Saddlery Wolfgang Solo saddle that Trainer Z had been using because it fit her better.  It also fits me better so no loss there but it's still a saddle purchase.  Ugh.  I'm hoping the good mojo from it being Schrodie's former saddle will rub off on Theo.  I'll freely admit that I really like the saddle and Theo goes like a dream in it so it falls under the heading of buying Theo anything he wants to make him happy.  There is actually a category with that header in my budget.  I'm also keeping the Frank Baines because it's the same make and model that Kiki's breeder uses on her cobs so I'll probably want that in a couple years.

Theo's also scheduled to get his hocks done this month because next season is Third Level work and he's turning 19.  He's sound and we want to keep it that way.  He he also made it clear during his fall crazies that he could use a round of ulcer treatment to get him back to a blank slate before the next show season.  Both omeprazole and sucralfate, please.  As the kids say, I'm broke as a joke.

On the plus side, the crazies were brief this year and I only missed two lessons.  One for crazies, one because I went on vacation (gasp!).  We're already back to work figuring out how to get a quality half passe at both the trot and canter.  We may skip Third 1 and go for Third 2 as it suits Theo better.  The quicker the transitions and movements, the happier he is.  He'll also be hitting the circuit with his Second Level freestyle with Trainer Z in 2023.  We're talking about him qualifying for regionals.  He did so well at Saugerties that it seems like a good idea.  At least it seems like a good idea when it's months away.  It's more a Trainer Z problem than mine, I'm going to be working on my dissertation next September when the championships roll around.  But with a professional in the saddle and new ulcer meds on board, he may actually have a chance at Second Level freestyle.  Stranger things have happened.

Life with an aluminum trailer

This is one of those 'learn from my mistakes' posts.  I have found very little information out there for just what to do with an aluminum floor trailer to keep it in good condition.  I figured I'd be good about sweeping and pulling my mats once or twice a year and I'd be fine.  Aluminum doesn't rust, right?

Last winter hit very suddenly and we got buried in snow right out the gate.  I'd cleaned out my trailer, but snuck in one more use with the intent of pulling my mats for the winter afterward.  When my trailer got buried, I shrugged and let it be.  I'd just cleaned my trailer, surely it would be fine through the winter.

Fast forward to April when I finally got my trailer free of the snow and ice.  I pulled the mats for a quick spring clean up and got an unpleasant surprise.  A slow leak due to snow melt had let water into my trailer.  It had run under the mats heading to the drainage hole (good news, trailer was at least angled the right way so the water drained out).  Since I didn't pull the mats after the last use, the water mixed with some used shavings that had worked their way under the mats.  Gross.  I swept the mess out, hosed off my floor, and reset.  I noted some white powder while sweeping, but with all of the mess, it didn't really register.  I was more upset about the set of Dansko clogs in the gooseneck that got ruined in the leak.

It looks like a safe, well maintained trailer, right?

I did some research on products to clean up the aluminum floor properly and realized that I had corrosion on my hands.  Huh.  I ordered up some products and scheduled this weekend for giving my trailer a thorough scrub to make sure it didn't get damaged.  I parked it, pulled up my mats, and stared in horror.  I hadn't done a good job getting my floor dry before and it was a royal mess under the mats.

White is corrosion, black is from the mats, brown is from old shavings working their way underneath and grinding into the metal

I thought I'd ruined my trailer.  Now that I knew what I was looking at, I was in a panic that I'd put my horse on that trailer.  I called my husband and told him my trailer was done, my show season was cancelled, etc.  Fortunately he does metal working and told me to clean it up so he could check it out when he got home. I agreed and got out my supplies.

L to R:  Car washing supplies, nitrile gloves, drill with brush, clear goggles, Bio Kleen Alum Kleen, Oxi-X Oxidation Barrier, Bug and Goo remover, car wash

First thing was to hose out the trailer.  I attacked the floor with the brush on the drill to take care of the spots where the water/shavings had turned into a paste and adhered to the floor.  Goggles are important if you're using a drill brush while removing manure/urine soaked muck.  Things were already looking better.

I hit the floor with a 50:50 dilution of the Bio Kleen as an acid wash.  I let it sit six minutes, then hosed out the trailer.

Excellent progress.  The oxidation is very visible, but at least I know what I'm dealing with.  The half of the floor that doesn't usually have a horse is already looking very shiny, so Bio Kleen is a great way to clean up a floor with minimal scrubbing.  For the damaged half?  Well, I've got a lot of work to do.  I tried the drill brush to remove the brown muck and oxidation.  No dice, had to go manual.

RIP kitchen sponge

My secret weapon for this battle was my jar of Bar Keepers Friend and the scrubby sponge from the kitchen.  With these as my companions, I was able to attack the floor and remove all of the muck and oxidation so I could truly see what the state of my floor was.  Yes, I sat on my butt in my trailer for the better part of an hour and scrubbed out the floor by hand.  That sponge had a hard, hard life.  I hosed everything out again and gave it another hit of Bio Kleen at a 4:1 dilution.  One last touch up scrub, then I final hit of Bio Kleen at the weaker dilution.

At this point, my floor is clean enough to eat off of.  Any discoloration is from the damage to the aluminum making it not reflect light the same way.  This was when I had to walk away because I was still convinced my trailer was ruined.  The hubby and the neighbor that does auto body came over to inspect my trailer.

Did you know that you test structural integrity of an aluminum floor by having two grown men hit it with a phillips screwdriver to see if they can punch through or if it sounds different?  I didn't until the two of them started hitting my poor trailer floor.  After this highly scientific inspection, followed by me crawling around with a flash light to inspect the floor in detail, the trailer was declared ugly but totally sound.  Yes, there was some pitting on the surface, but no pin holes or soft spots.  I'd caught it in time.  Or I got lucky, depending on who you ask.  Either way, I still have a functioning trailer and a very important life lesson.  PULL YOUR MATS.

Since my floor was completely pristine, I went ahead and washed the walls using my car wash.  I hit the padding with some Amor All wipes and was happy to see them come right back to life.  I followed that with my Oxi-X protective coating for the floor.

Knee pads and gloves are important when putting a coat of sealer down on your trailer floor

It's for marine use to protect aluminium from salt water.  It's a clear coat that goes on like a thin paint.  I figured why not, I'd give it a try.  I let my trailer completely dry over night (fun fact, the oxidation is much harder to see once dry), then attacked it with my protective coating.  I put down two coats, very grateful that mats were going over top.  Hay kept blowing from my gooseneck onto my coating, so the finish is not exactly pristine.  But who cares, so long as it protects my aluminum for a season or two.

The finished product:

Looks like a completely different trailer

It took me hours and hours of work, but my floor is clean, inspected, and sealed.  My mats got a wash with some Simple Green, then dried in the sun (completely bone dry, both sides, I checked very closely).  I dragged them back in, then ran some black duct tape along the seams to keep the sawdust out from under my mats as I will be doing three horse show weekends in a row.  I can promise my trailer won't get another serious clean out until July, I just won't have the time or energy.  I've learned all about the importance of prevention.

All my goodies went back in and my trailer is ready to hit the road again!

Mission accomplished

I finally got some hooks up front, it is a wonderful thing and keeps me much more organized when showing out of the trailer.

I learned some very important lessons.

1.  ALWAYS pull your mats before putting your trailer away for the winter.  So important.  Totally worth doing even if you have to dig it out of the snow to do it.

2.  Cover the dang trailer when it's chilling during the winter if you get a lot of snow.  Snow melt has this nasty way of oozing into seams that are usually water tight.

3. Pull the mats more often and scrub out your floor.  Yes, mats are heavy, but spending hours undoing the damage is worse.

I'm glad that's over and I can carry on with my show season.

Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 3

Sunday morning was an early start.  I needed to get to the barn so I could try to arrange for an earlier ride time and get my truck towed to the shop.  I cleared all of my stuff out of the truck and loaded it into my trailer.  Then I got mi papi out for his morning hand walk so they could clean his stall in peace.  Apparently he was trying to escape when they came to clean his stall. 

I'm out handwalking and spot a big flat bed pull into the driveway of the house the barn owner lives in.  Whoops, wrong driveway, but a common mistake.  I see the driver looking around and I put my hand up.  I meant to signal I was on my way over.  He took it as 'hey, come over here'.  There's no route for a truck to come over.  It's their outdoor ring, a wide path for horses and wheelbarrows, and then their beautiful barn.  The driver took the wide path without batting an eyelash.  He barely had inches between his truck, the barn, and the railing of the outdoor.  One of the barn managers was standing there, staring in horror. 

At this point, I was so overwrought that it barely registered.  Of course the tow truck is driving through the middle of the very fancy barn where I will never be invited back.  I pointed out where my truck was and he hustled right off to load it up.

I'm standing out there watching my truck get loaded on a flat bed when I get told that no one will trade ride times with me.  I was the last ride of the day and my emergency pick up didn't want to wait until 5:30pm to pick me up because he still had to haul me home and he gets up insanely early on Monday mornings.  How could I ask him to lose sleep on top of driving down to pick me up as a favor?  I gave up, told him to pick me up after lunch, told the organizers I wouldn't be riding, and hid in the observation room while crying.  Because really, talk about a waste of a clinic.  And it's not a cheap clinic.

One of the organizers found me, freaked out, and tried to make it better.  They offered for Theo to stay an extra night.  Which really didn't help because my ride works on Mondays and that would mean Theo spending another day in a stall.  What if I had a shipper move him on Monday?  I don't know any shippers and I'd have to do it all on the phone from a distance which is terrifying.  Okay, maybe a friend could pick him up on Monday and I could just leave my trailer with them until my truck was repaired?  They're not used to working with people that aren't independently wealthy, I guess.  Yes, I have to go home and go to work in the morning, it's important.  And even if Theo stayed the night, I still need a ride home.

She eventually got someone to trade ride times with me and while it was still going to be late for my ride, it wasn't bad.  I had my trailer completely packed and the plan was for Theo to carry his tack to the trailer after his ride so we could leave right away.

After that kind of a morning, I zoned on the couch and tried to convince myself not to get a migraine.  It mostly worked and I was able to mount up in a generally acceptable frame of mind.  I'm glad I was able to get that last ride in since we were really trying to dial in the combination of keeping my zipper and chin over the middle with both seat bones sharing the back.  Because once I have both of those things?  I'm not collapsing to the left.  It's a correction I can manage on my own.  It's very hard right now, both of my hips were screaming after my ride, but it's a missing piece that's plugging in.  Canter left my right seat bone was off doing it's own thing.  I have to kind of aim it at his left shoulder to keep me in the center.  Then I drop my right shoulder a bit to keep my zipper and chin over his spine and pop, I'm in the middle.  Our canter felt much more organized without me ping ponging around up there.  I felt more plugged in, which was lovely when he decided to spook at a falling broom in the corner.  Theo relaxed and gave me more of his back once I was settled in.

We also started working on how to inflate the right side of Theo's back so that he's more even.  While keeping my seat bones close to his spine, I have to draw more of his barrel to the right.  Like there's a suction cup on the inside of my thigh and I can kind of pull him over with my leg.  It's tricky, I don't have it, but it's a concept for me to play with over the winter.

And then I bolted out of the arena, threw my horse on the trailer, and got hauled home.

I just got the message that my truck blew it's transmission cooler.  $1,600.  Then they can drive it and see if the transmission is okay.  Plus $400 for the tow, but at least that's reimbursable through my insurance.  All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that the actual transmission is okay and we don't have to pay for a new one.

On the bright side, Theo is home and safe.  The trailer is safe and at the barn.  The truck is in the hands of a shop that I trust to not screw me over.  I'm at work, at my desk, safe and sound.  I have lots of sore muscles and some new concepts to work on.  So it certainly wasn't the worst possible weekend.  I didn't end up on the side of the road with a dead truck or anything.  It also wasn't the best weekend.  I did feel like I missed out because I didn't get to watch as many rides, I didn't get to go out to dinner with everyone, and generally was stressed out.

Going to a clinic like this by myself was challenging.  Everyone else had an entourage to take pictures, carry things, be supportive.  I was totally on my own and that seemed to weird people out.  I got a lot of compliments on my nice horse, my riding skill, etc., but I was definitely the odd one.  Also the poor one that had a backyard horse.  Not an easy weekend, even without the truck problems.  I'll have to think long and hard about whether or not I'll try to go next year.  While the progress is great, it's expensive and being completely on my own took a lot of the fun out of it.

Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 2

Trailering isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Saturday morning I got a lesson on how quickly complete freedom can become complete panic.

I headed out of my hotel this morning thinking about managing mi papi and life in a stall.  I was worried about him overheating since I blanketed him so aggressively (a Baker blanket and a medium weight turn out with a neck rug). 

 
By my second stop sign, I was only thinking about how I would get him home.  My transmission wasn't acting right and slipped twice when I was at stop signs.  My 'service engine soon' light came on.  What the hell?

I completed the twenty minute drive to the farm and called the hubby.  I also texted Trainer A and told her to alert her dad as he was the only person I knew that could haul a goose neck.  If my transmission is slipping, I'm not going to try to haul my most precious cargo.  It was scary enough trying to get around without the trailer.

Fun fact, Trainer A's dad runs a GMC repair shop.  I own a GMC truck.  A couple of texts and I was told to check my transmission fluid.  Yup, it's low.  I located an auto parts store and headed out after the lunch lecture (and a long hand walk/hand graze for my horse that's convinced he's in jail).  At the auto parts store, it occurs to me that I can get my error codes printed.  This is what I get.

That's freaking terrifying.  I went back to the farm with two quarts of transmission fluid and a funnel.  I added a quart, but something was bothering me. The hubby is good at truck maintenance.  Why was my fluid low?  I climbed under the truck and saw this.

Mother fucker piece of shit.  I've got a leak.  And guess what I learned when I sent the picture to Trainer A's dad?  Transmission fluid is highly combustible.  Like diesel levels of combustible.  So not only did I run the risk of my transmission acting up, there was the chance of it igniting on a hot engine.

I called in the rescue crew and arranged for being picked up.  Fortunately I'm only 1.5 hours away from home.  A tow truck was arranged for my truck and another truck arranged to bring my trailer and my precious cargo home.

Oh, right, I'm at a clinic with my horse.  As my hubby said multiple times, I need to get something out of this weekend.  And my session with Mary yielded the usual plethora of observations.

I need to weight my seat bones 50/50.  That's much harder to do when my horse isn't 50/50.  Theo tends to have his right side more stretched out, extended, and not tight.  I need to make his right side as high and tight as his left side.  I shouldn't feel like my right side is just falling off the right side of his back.  If it is, I need to make his right side tighter and higher to support my seat bones as I pull them in to his center.  He likes to bait me, lure me to be less effective.  Also, my seat bones don't like to share.  When my left seat bone comes in to his spine, my right seat bone gets shoved off.  It's like managing temperamental twins.  Share already, damn it!

We refined my feel for a narrowed pelvis.  It's not a minor task and will take me awhile.  I'm taking notes to bring back to Trainer A.  Theo likes to turn like a semi and jack knife at his withers.  He doesn't like it when I straighten him out and tell him to turn like a bus.  As much as he doesn't like it, it's been very good for getting him even behind.  I'm also being told that I've started to drop behind and I need to advance my collar bone.  That's going to be interesting since Trainer A has been yelling at me for leaning forward.

So I trotted around, trying to keep my seat bones together, keep his back as a wide, even shelf, and turn him like a bus.  This will all be important because when I asked him to leg yield to get him off my leg, I immediately felt myself fall off the side of the saddle.  Ah ha!  We may have a clue on where my leg yield troubles start.

And then I limped my poor truck to the hotel, parked myself at the bar, and poured out my sorrows to a very patient lady.

 
Stay tuned to hear the final installment of As The Transmission (Doesn't) Turns.

Mary Wanless Clinic: Day 1

Despite my worries, I arrived at my clinic all of fifteen minutes behind schedule and with a full seven hours of sleep.  The hubby was done with his distillery showcase a little earlier than planned and I was able to get my own packing done before heading to bed.  By 8:45am, Theo and I hit the road.

I'm kind of glad I was running a bit late.  This was my first foray into Massachusetts with the trailer and the jaunt down 95 is no joke.  Especially not where there's construction and I had a bare few inches between my trailer and the concrete barricades.  YIKES.  The term Massholes is very appropriate for the drivers and Theo had a few less than ideal moments in his ride when I had to hit the brakes to avoid idiots whipping across three lanes of traffic (in a construction zone) to make their exit.  I'm so glad I did my trailer training in New Hampshire.  The interstates in Massachusetts are terrifying in a passenger car.  With a horse trailer?  I totally ordered a margarita at my hotel.

The clinic is a bit bigger this year.  More auditors, more people trailering in.  The parking is a bit nuts and I got some good practice backing in with the trailer.  I didn't manage to get into my assigned spot, but the lady I blocked in is also here until Sunday so it's all set.  We know each other, it's fine.  At least I turned around without help. 

The cold weather and high winds put a little extra pep into Theo's step.  He's in a tent stall this year and he spent about an hour figuring out that he wasn't going to die.  I'm glad I packed his turn out since he's not actually in a barn and it's down to 16* tonight with a wind chill.  His beautiful new Baker blanket is under his medium weight turn out with a neck rug.  Not that he minds, he has a beautiful young mare as his neighbor (he moved his hay to that side of his stall) and all the food he can stuff in his face.

For my ride, Mary remembered him once I said he was half Canadian.  She commented that he was much better at going forward than she remembered and complimented me on my insistence on him being correct.  He was also a very good doobie in the contact, keeping his neck long and his moments of resistance to a minimum.  I was genuinely proud to unleash his new trot in that fancy indoor ring, showing his progress.  Unfortunately, this means that all eyes were on the rider.  Clearly the horse was fine.

I came in with the goal of addressing my collapsed left side.  I've been riding like that for so long that I think I'm straight.  I'm not, so that means I don't know where the center is.  We started out with a check of my current status and I got another compliment for hanging on to what she'd asked me to do two years ago and sends her compliments to Trainer A for helping me hang on to the right things.  Woohoo, not having to start over!

When we started to address my asymmetry, my weight on my seat bones popped right to the front.  I tend to weight my right seat bone, but I'll ping pong around from side to side when turning.  That's incorrect, of course.  So she flagged me over and apologized because things were about to get crude.  I need to stay balanced and symmetrical over his spine.  Okay, yes, that makes sense.  The human pelvis tends to be rather wide and because of it's structure, kind of flops on either side.  I need to tighten up my pelvis, almost make it more narrow so it can stay tight and balanced over his spine.

I need to pull my asshole up into my buttcrack.

Yeah, that's a direct quote.  Followed by a discussion on whether a zipper, sutures, or super glue would be the best visual for me to think about tightening up my pelvis.  Theo voted for super glue.  No, seriously, she suggested super glue and he turned his head around and touched her arm.  So I'm . . . supergluing my butt cheeks together to keep from letting my asshole drop down and my pelvis get wide.

It's a strange, funny way of describing positive tension in the rider.  I'm taking control of my pelvis and putting my seat bones in the right place so they don't ping pong around and keep me off balance.  But suggesting that I should superglue my butt cheeks together is much funnier.

Tomorrow we'll start addressing the fact that I don't know where center is anymore with my upper body.  I can tell when I'm ping ponging in the seat and correct it.  I can't tell if I'm straight or not, and that's a problem.  I can't correct if I don't know where center is.  Mary said she has a plan, that she knows how to show me where center is, so I'm confident that I'll have new descriptors and exercises after tomorrow to take home.

Tonight I'm chilling in my hotel room, thawing out with the thermostat turned way up and recharging for tomorrow's adventure.

The art of procrastination

I travel with my horse a lot.  It's something I do.  Clinics, camps, shows, I'm totally comfortable packing up and heading out with my equine partner.

Keeping that in mind, it is a damn wonder I get anywhere with appropriate gear.  I am the queen of procrastination and this time I might have taken it a bit too far.  I leave tomorrow morning for a three day clinic with a big name clinician at a very fancy barn.

 Said fancy barn with the infamous Dorkzilla

Have I packed?  Not a damn thing.  When I left for work this morning, my truck and trailer weren't even facing the right way.  I hope the hubby has got them turned around.  I'm supposed to be there at 10am, so I need to leave the barn around 8:30am.  So far this is all pretty standard.  I pack up the night before, show up, throw the horse on the trailer, and go on my merry way.

Two things have derailed me.  One, Mother Nature is off her meds and the temps are plunging tonight.  We're getting down to 15* this weekend.  This necessitates some extra packing to keep mi papi warm, even if he's in a stall all weekend.  I had a mad scramble last night busting out the full winter gear, including his square cooler to go with the fleece dress sheet I was planning on packing.

Two, I apparently have plans tonight.  A couple months ago I agreed to go to a distillery showcase for the hubby's birthday.  There will be lots of fancy food and spirits and we'll be out until about 11pm.  I need to leave the barn at 8:30am.  I have not packed.  At least I'm the designated driver so I won't be hungover while trying to load Theo into his trailer.

If you're doing the math and coming up with the same numbers as me, you can see where I'm starting to regret some of my life decisions.

 And judging by my artwork, this is an ongoing situation.  I'm a very slow learner.  I am expecting to get up around 6am, throw everything horse related that I own onto my trailer, and sort it out once I'm there.  At least I don't ride until 4pm so if I'm running a bit late, I'll just miss lunch lecture stuff.  I really don't want to miss anything, but it's better than having the 9am ride time.  Though I'll be wishing for that ride time on Sunday when it's time to ship home.

Fingers are crossed I get there on time with a saddle, a girth, a bridle, AND a helmet.  Anything more than that is a nice bonus.

Still alive

And nothing dramatic going on in my life!  I went home to Minnesota for my scheduled visit, went for some nice walks, and helped out while my mom recovers from a knee replacement surgery.  The only downside to this vacation was a complete lack of papi.

Minneopa State Park

Now I'm home and preparing for my next road trip.  This one will feature mi papi time!  We're heading to our Mary Wanless clinic on the 10th.  Oh, the joys of having my own trailer.  I was able to just sign up and not worry about arranging for a ride.  We'll have three days of torture.  This time I'm staying at a local hotel rather than driving back and forth.  I'm going in with the goal of getting a strategy and or image to deal with my collapsing left side.  This also means I need to get my trailer cleaned and packed this weekend.  I might have been dumb and bought a ticket to a distillery showcase on the evening of the 9th.  Hungover dressage clinic?  Sure, that'll be fine.

I'm still working on that super basic idea of not letting my hobby start to suck.  We've been doing jumping lessons, both me and his leaser.  Papi is a fan.  It's sad that he's still got an 11' stride, but that's just how papi does and I'm used to it.  He likes to touch the ground as many times as possible between jumps.  He'll do a grid at 12', but a line?  He wants that extra thinking time, kthx.  But he looks really good and is learning to not brace his neck between fences.

We still have zero selfie skills

I'm also fitting him for his western saddle.  After watching obsessive amounts of video on western dressage, we're going for it.  One of our local shows (30 min away) is doing recognized western dressage next year and bringing in a clinician over the winter.  Woohoo!  I think the emphasis on obedience rather than huge gaits will suit him.  Jog and lope are still hard work, but the fact he wants to take his time about it is a benefit rather than a problem.  I still have to get him well up in front of my leg, but his little strides won't be such a problem.  He's definitely a semi-QH bars boy and it appears I need a 15.5" seat.  And a 32" cinch.  And probably custom cut fenders for my stubby little legs.

Big saddle that looks very tiny on my boy, still weighs a ton lifting it over my head

I do have a bitch about the saddle shopping process.  I researched, put saddles on him, and picked out my saddle.  The Circle Y Performance Monarch with Flex2.  If I'm going to get a saddle, I'm going to get a nice dang saddle.  I like the Flex2 concept and the cutaway skirt.  It shouldn't put me into a massive chair seat, either.  It was made with western dressage in mind.  But used western saddles in New England are kind of sparse.  No one sells this dang saddle used!  Which is usually a good sign, people seem to keep them and love them.  So I decided to just bite the bullet and ordered up my test ride through SmartPak, along with some Baker blankets for Theo's trip.

So pretty, not sure what's up with the strings

Wouldn't you know it, my favorite company that never ever lets me down is dropping the ball hard.  My blankets were scheduled to ship yesterday.  Nothing.  My saddle that was in stock when I went to bed last night and is scheduled to ship tomorrow in my confirmation?  Suddenly out of stock and may not be available until the end of the month.  I've got different 'back in stock' dates on different pages.  I called customer service in a bit of a snit because I need to make sure I can ride as much as possible in those five days.  I can't be playing 'guess when the saddle is going to show' for a month.  And I need those blankets!

I've been assured the blankets are going out today or tomorrow.  Surely, they're going out, don't worry, you'll have them in plenty of time.  I've been hearing  a lot of horror stories recently about SmartPak shipping and it's not giving me confidence.  I'm supposed to hear from the Test Ride person when she gets back tomorrow so I can find out when this dang saddle is supposed to show.  I can get the saddle right from Circle Y for the same price, but I'm hesitating.  I'm discovering that western saddles are an absolute do not ride in it if you want to return it, so I don't want to change companies.  I want to know I can try it out and still return the dang thing.

My mom's kitten

It's just shocking after years of stellar service to have them drop the ball so hard.  My last order was slow, but I thought it was a one off.  Ugh.

I guess I'll have to wait until after our clinic to try out the new gear.  No one wants to wait for shiny new tack to show up.  It's the worst.  I'll distract myself by doing a fall clean up this weekend.  I need shiny clean tack for the clinic and people are starting to talk about the condition of my locker.  There may be a dead body back there.

Not the most welcoming sight outside of the barn.  Happy Halloween!

Push

I knew I was jinxing myself, posting about how my horse is so good with the trailer and how well it's been going.  I got up on Friday to absolute downpour.  The forecast was for the rain and storms to continue all day and into the night.  Local flood advisories were going up.  But my lesson was already scheduled and I'd already taken the afternoon off from work.  Hell or high water (literally), I was going to my lesson.

I budgeted a lot of extra time since I figured the drive would be slow.  I arrived at the barn and tried to back into the paved parking lot.  Nope, not going to happen when it's raining so hard that my back up camera and mirrors are borderline useless.  It's an angle going down hill over uneven terrain, the trailer just was not going straight and I didn't want to hit the rock wall.  I gave up and went to my usual turn around spot.  I didn't want to turn my truck around in a pasture in the pouring rain, so I tried to turn around by backing out.

I'll just skip to the part where I got myself so tangled up that I ended up between two paddocks with no wiggle room and a horse laughing at me.  About this point, I realized that I am really not that good with the trailer yet, especially when all of my mirrors are useless.  I extricated myself enough to point my hood at the Ritz, opened the gate, apologized to Trainer A, and turned around in the Ritz like the rookie driver I am.  With four wheel drive the truck had no problem with it and fortunately left only one small mark.

I got all of my junk moved to my trailer without getting it too drenched.  I pulled in my rather wet horse, cleaned him up as best I could, and let the summer campers rub his ears while I put on his shipping boots.  I tried to wait for a break in the rain, but it just kept coming down harder.  I finally gave up, grabbed my horse, and headed down to my trailer.  Important note here:  I couldn't find a chain shank anywhere, so I went with a regular lead.  And his regular halter.

I dropped the ramp, said 'Up-up!', and walked him up.  He got his front feet on the ramp, stopped and backed up.  Huh.  He does that sometimes.  I shrugged, turned, and started over.  Nope.  He suddenly decided that he does not know anything about loading into a trailer.

I did figure out that it was the absolutely torrential rain on the roof of the trailer.  It sounded like a freight train in there and papi wanted no part of that.  But I had a lesson to go to, so we spent about fifteen minutes getting his butt on that trailer.  I eventually got some help so they could grab the butt bar (and lend me a chain shank).  I was ten minutes behind schedule, absolutely drenched, and my horse was throwing a temper tantrum in his trailer.  Great.

I hit the road, dropping down as far as 35mph in a 65 zone when the rain was just unbelievable.  And all the cars around me were doing the same, so I know it's not just me.  I managed to still make it to the lesson with 20 minutes to tack up.  Mary is really sweet and let me park my wet, upset horse in the aisle to tack up.

After all of that drama, I was not expecting much from my lesson.  And Theo has been rather studish this week.  I think the mares are cycling and I looked back at my August entries for the past two years.  He always acts up this time of year.  It's little things, like being a bit too quick with those front feet and looking to bite when we'd mostly stopped that behavior.  He didn't want to focus and was giving me little temper tantrums while I walked and warmed up for Mary.

In the end, we had another good lesson.  Once he stretched and started working, it was okay.  It wasn't his best, but as Mary said, she doesn't want to see him at his best.  She can help more if he's at his worst. And as Theo's worst is being distracted and some head shakes, I think Mary is starting to actually like him.  She was very happy with our work on stretching and the much more honest, even connection.  She tested us with some leg yields and while we've got work to do, he can now leg yield neatly without bracing through his neck and throwing his head up.

Our new focus is going to be the push.  He doesn't have enough thrust right now.  His neck is now lovely, the connection is an actual thing, so now we're putting all attention on the hind end.  A lovely connection is worthless if there's no energy coming forward.  She described him as having this big gap in the middle and the energy isn't cycling from the hind to the bridle.  It has to cycle or nothing works right.  His trot is currently his natural gait, the one he chooses.  It's not a working trot.  He needs more push and not because I'm begging him.

First exercise was a lengthen canter right into a 10m canter circle.  Papi did not like that much.  The reasoning was that he doesn't have enough oomph to do a 10m canter circle right now unless he comes in with some extra power.  Getting him to come back without breaking to trot is doubly hard when he's in a bad mood and wants to suck behind my leg and stomp his feet.

Mary nodded, got up, and picked up a lunge whip.  Wuh oh.  20m circle, trot - canter - trot, with a little outside influence to get him in front of my leg without me begging for it.  She wanted me to feel the correct transition with no hop or head pop.  I have to say, the powerful, correct transition?  That's something worth working for.  It felt awesome, and frankly, I think Theo enjoyed it himself.  Once he was actually up in front of my leg, we went large.  Mary would get behind him in the corner and help drive him forward into a lengthen trot.  And we never came back down.  We just added and added, pushing him to really find what he can do.

By the end, he was over tracking by about half a hoof print.  Mary's sure he's got a medium in him which by her definition is overtracking by a lot (it looked like a foot, she put her hands up about that far apart), he just has to find it.  He was puffing hard after that trot work.  I can't remember the last time I felt him stretch and push like that and certainly not down a whole long side.  I may have never felt it before.  I can't do it on my own currently, he just says no.  So we have been assigned fitness for our homework.  Yes, work on the connection and softness and transitions, but mostly go forward.  Not our current forward.  More forward.  Still more forward.  Take him out for a gallop, do hill work, jump, raised trot poles.  Anything that gets him forward and using his hind end.  He's too weak right now, he needs to be stronger and his cardio needs to be better.

Well, gee, that I can do.  That I know.  And I'm sure Trainer A will be more than delighted to chase us with a lunge whip to assist with our trot sets.  Gallops and hill work and gymnastics are a go!

I told her about our schooling show and getting an 8 on a stretchy circle.  She said 'See?  Stick with me, kid, I'll get you through this'.  She also reiterated that I'm not to show First right now.  When I go back to First, she wants us completely confirmed in the bridle, in the impulsion, and in the movements.  I will be going back into the ring to win, not to get a 60%.  Which is kind of a new world for me.  Me?  And Theo?  Winning at shows in New England?  I'd never considered that.

This is what I needed.  This is so simple for her.  She's been doing this longer than I've been alive and for her, getting a perfectly reasonable horse ready to go First is bread and butter.  Well worth driving through a monsoon.

Solo

The adventures just keep coming.  Now that I've got a trailer and I've had my first couple of trips, I'm off to my very first show on my own.  Completely on my own.  No trainer, no groom, no buddies.  It's a schooling show about 25 minutes from the barn and a great opportunity to practice getting Theo around the ring without theatrics.

I'm now realizing what a team sport horse shows usually are.  Who's going to hand me my jacket?  Pick up my whip if I drop it?  Remind me to not ride like an idiot?  Hold my hair if I puke?  No one.  And that's kind of scary.  But I'm a big girl, I'm quite used to warming up on my own for a show, and my two rides are only 30 minutes apart.  I only have to tack once, properly warm up once, and then head home.  I'll be on the grounds for about two hours total.  It's not like it's an all day marathon.

Huge bonus?  I don't ride until 3:12pm.  It's a small show, so riding in the large arena makes me one of the 'big kids' and we have to wait until the end of the day.  If I was going with the barn, I'd be there for the intro tests that start at 9am.  Instead, I will sleep in, braid my horse the morning of, and show up around 1:30pm.  Easy peasy.

Except the part where I'm showing with no one to remind me of the essentials.

I'm combining check lists today, starting with the trailering check list and then working my way through the show list.  The truck needs to be fueled up (sob), the usual check done on the trailer, and all of the essentials packed.  Then I get to throw all of the usual show equipment in.  Then I get to start with the grooming and prepping of mi papi.  It's insane the amount of work that goes into showing when you're doing it all.  And I'm still fumbling with getting a system.  My system currently currently consists of throwing everything in the gooseneck and managing it when I get there.  That won't work as well when I have no one to hold my horse.

But at least I get to sleep in.

Mobility

I'm loving life with a trailer.  I want to go somewhere?  I go!  There's a very local schooling show next weekend, I'm going to pop out and do a T3 test.  It's good practice.  Is anyone else from the barn going?  I dunno, but it doesn't matter.  I can go!  I can take my horse wherever I want, whenever I want.  Trail riding on the big network I used to ride with Fi?  Sure.  Pop out for a clinic?  Done.  The world is my oyster.

Living with a trailer is also a complete pain in the ass.

I still can't turn the damn thing around.  The hubby pivots it around after I get home because he likes me and doesn't want to watch me implode or set my new trailer on fire.  I turn around in the Ritz at the barn.  I can back up and do so to turn around when at Mary's, but I'm generally a straight ahead trailer driver.  Backing out onto a road is an absolute no go.

It took me thirty damn minutes to line up my truck and trailer this morning.  It is damn near impossible to line up a three quarter ton truck with a hitch when being one inch off is too much.  I take my foot off the brake, it moves more than the width of the ball I'm aiming for.  I was worried about being lined up vertically and it turns out that horizontally is just as awful.  So many attempts, so many restarts, so much profanity where my neighbor could hear me.

Believe it or not, that isn't close enough.  Too far to the left.  This is about the point I started swearing very loudly.

I'm not proud of the things I said but I meant every damn part of it.  I was hitching at 10am so a drink wasn't appropriate, but I was tempted.  Very tempted.

Once I finally got the thing hitched, I realized that I needed to move my mats back in.  After my last use, I pulled my mats out to make sure the floor was completely clean and dry.  I found some moisture and sawdust that had clearly been under there for awhile, so I suspect the previous owner didn't pull the mats.  I dumped them in the driveway to be cleaned and completely dry.  That part worked, but mats are super heavy and hard to manage.  I didn't want to put them back in without help.  I figured I'd wait until the hubby was home.

This morning I realized I never got them back in and the hubby was on a conference call for work.  Damn it.  So I dragged the mats back in on my own with a great deal of cursing and slipping.  They were clearly produced to fit the trailer, which is good, but that means they're a very tight fit.  So much profanity as I got them settled and then got the shavings down on Theo's side of the trailer.  But I got it done!

Ready for the pony! 

The driving part is getting easier with every trip, but this trip I had a serious thunderstorm land on me on the way home.  Massive downpour, everyone was doing about 35 in a 65 zone.  And lightning hit the hill right next to me!  Instant thunder, blinding flash, the whole thing!  I screamed like a little girl.  I'm not even embarrassed.  It was so scary.  I had my camera on Theo and could see him throw his head up at the boom, but he's so good in the trailer.  I stopped at McDonald's again and got him a treat.

How did it take me so many years to realize there's something on the menu for the ponies?

Slowly but surely, I'm getting a system together.  My tub from my away shows has moved to live in my trailer, keeping my odds and ends together.  My coggins, a checkbook, fly gear, and basic gooming equipment lives in the tub.  I keep a broom, pitchfork, muck tub, some shavings, a spare hay net, and two water buckets in the goosneck.  I use a five gallon jug for water right now, but I have a 29 gallon water caddy pending to make water super simple.  I really love the layout of the trailer.  Everything feels so open, especially when I'm hauling one horse.

All neat and tidy

I'm definitely struggling with making my trailering routine and easy.  Showing up to the barn completely packed and ready to go is definitely awesome, but it's taking time for me to figure out my own routine that results in being on time and not forgetting anything.  I suspect I'm going to need two sets of a lot of things.  I stole my dressage gear last night so I could pack it ahead of time.  That meant Theo's leaser needed to ride in his jumping gear.  So I might have stuck around and given her a private jumping lesson to make it up to her.

There is no greater feeling of pride than watching your horse carefully add in a step to take care of the adult beginner he's carrying.  He was a saint, carefully avoiding bad distances and ignoring her mistakes.  He never wavered.  He went forward and gave her a fantastic jumping ride over 18" verticals.  She had nothing to worry about accept her position and remembering to grab mane because a certain someone likes to jump for real when he's ridden correctly.  His leaser grinned so much I was afraid her cheeks would split.

Oh, my lesson?  The actual riding part? My second ride with the fancy dancy dressage trainer?  I'll write that up tomorrow.  But I will give you one preview:  we were called fantastic more than once.

First impressions

I should be working.  I'm not.  I'm sitting here running through the checklist for my truck and trailer over and over again while trying to remember how to breathe in this damn bra.  If I'm going to a big time dressage-ing lesson, I'm going to strap down my boobs.  Whatever helps, right?

I've known enough professional trainers to be included in some of the behind the scenes chatter.  One topic that I've heard come up several times is trailer in lessons.  Trailer in lessons are a complete mystery for the trainer on that first ride.  It could be someone completely together and ready.  It could also be someone with an unfit horse, badly shod, ill fitting tack, and no clue that thinks they're ready for the Olympics.  I really don't want anyone to think I'm a random hobo that wandered over to learn to ride horses good.  I don't have many ties to the dressage world and I'm hoping to gain some.  I'd like those future acquaintances to not think I'm clueless.

Serious business dressage horse

I've picked out my outfit carefully.  Pretty new full seat Pipers in Monaco blue with lilac piping and a white polo with blue seams.  I put on a floral belt from Equine Coture because I've still got to be me, but it's a very conservative outfit overall.  Black leather gloves, black helmet with hair up, tall boots, little spurs.  No jewelry other than my Fitbit.  I'll carry my show whip.

Theo is also going conservative.  Navy PS of Sweden pad with white trim and his silver clincher browband.  White boots just came out of the dryer.  It's really the best time of year for anyone to meet him, he's sleek and shiny and sporting the kind of dapples usually reserved for toy horses in plastic boxes.  I'll braid his forelock up so he looks a bit less like a mischievous pony and I'll take the time to fully brush out his tail.  I also treated him to some brand new shipping boots in navy.  I'm starting to pick up a theme.

I gave the Behemoth a quick wash last night to get the pollen and pine needles off.  I don't think it's had a bath since we bought it last summer, so it was very due.  Pollen + pine tree resin + dust + sitting in the rain = yellow sludge in a line along the side of the truck.    Not attractive.  So I scrubbed the sludge off and cleaned all of the pine needles out from the bottom of the windshield and the roof.  The trailer is still spotless and new, so nothing to be done there.  The hubby hitched it last night for me since he knows me and knows I'll be nervous and frazzled trying to hit the road by myself.  He also got the back up cam and the camera that watches Theo set up for me.  I'm taking him out to dinner tomorrow.

So that leaves me with just the riding and having a clue part.  Well, I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers on that one. 

Very serious competitors

The weather sure isn't cooperating.  86* for a high according to my phone, but all week we've been blasting up to 90* with tropical levels of humidity despite the forecast.  My lesson is at 3:30pm.  Ugh.  I'm not too worried, all of our cardio work means he can hold up in the heat for at least an evaluation lesson.  He'll be melting a bit, but he demonstrated for me this week that he's got more in the tank and can cope. 

So I sit here at my desk, dressed for my lesson, waiting for the clock to strike noon and send me on my way.  I'm not getting a thing done.  All I'm doing is thinking about how long the drive will take, where to park my rig, my checklist.  Today is kind of a big day for me and I just want it to get started already! 

Mobility

Guys.

Guys guys guys guys guys.

Guys!

I use guys as a gender neutral pronoun.  Sorry, it's a Midwest thing.  I should be using y'all.

Y'ALL!

I got my trailer!

I need to rake my driveway

This was taken in my driveway.  It's here!  I HAVE A TRAILER OF MY OWN!

 Not the Behemoth, but the same size truck that I'll be using

You have to understand, my entire life I've had to beg or hitch rides or go where the barn is going.  For the first time, I can go where I want when I want!

I am too excited to breathe properly.  I need a paper bag.

It's a 2008 Sundowner Sunlite 777.  Two horse straight load goose neck with the side ramp and escape door on the driver's side. Yes, I know about the frame/floor issues in Sundowner's with a steel frame from 1999 - 2008.  This trailer is already 9 years old with zero rust and was produced after the issues were resolved.  Little known fact, Trainer A's dad is a mechanic so I'll have an expert to help me keep on top of any potential rust issues.

I got it from Theo's massage therapist and it has about 1k miles on it total.  It still has that new trailer smell.

So much space

It's warmblood size and very roomy.  I love the fact it doesn't have a seperate dressing room because that takes 3 feet off of the total length and gives Theo so much head room he won't know what to do.  I still have a whole goose neck for storage and enough room to stroll around in front of the hay bags.  My saddle will probably ride in the back seat of the Behemoth to prevent any possible scratches, but that's the only concession.  It came with a camera to watch mi papi and to back up without running over anything!

There's a bar to keep things from sliding out of the goose neck part, very nifty

I've shown out of trailers with this lay out and they're breezy in summer.  I don't trash my joints jumping in and out of the trailer.  Storage space won't be an issue.  With a nervous horse, I can just walk them out the side ramp.  Theo will have to back out because I'm not pulling down his hay bag every time I unload.

So now I the easy part is done.  I own a trailer and a truck.  Now comes the hard part.  I have to drive the damn things around.  And I have a lesson on the 21st.  Brace yourselves, my blog is about to veer off from trying to dressage and will enter the land of trying to trailer.  After my show tomorrow, of course.

I like to keep things interesting.

I HAVE A TRAILER!!!!!!