Pain management

I knew Theo was going to get sore with the stepped up work.  I'd discussed it with Trainer Z and started shopping around for a massage therapist to get him into a regular program.  Then I got sick and things got pushed off a bit.  I noticed some resistance to pushing into the contact that felt like he was avoiding connecting over the topline.  On Monday, he flat out put down and said 'nope' to a counter canter.  Red flags go off all over my brain.  Theo doesn't quit over stuff he knows unless it hurts.  Pony is hurting more than he's letting on.

I palpate his back almost daily, but he wasn't reacting to it.  If anything, he was leaning into it.  But he had tight, sore spots here and there.  I pushed hard, found a massage therapist, and due to a lucky scheduling coincidence got her out 24 hours after contact.

My poor pony.  He usually loves his massages, but he didn't enjoy this one so much.  Sure, there were some points where he sighed, yawned, and leaned into it.  But there were more points where he threw his head in protest.  He was sore in a bunch of different places.  All the places you would expect with collected work, but it had snuck up on us and I don't think even Theo realized how sore he was until his therapist sunk her fingers into some spots.  At one point he had his mouth open like he didn't know if he wanted to yawn or bite.

One and a half hours of hard work later, large swathes of his body were back to their natural, jello-like consistency.  Some spots, like right over his hips and the inside of his left hind will need more then one session.  I signed Theo up for weekly massages for the next four weeks so she has a fighting chance at getting through all of the accumulated tightness. 

Theo was walking better and had a lovely canter around his field afterward.  Considering the yawning and the big smooch he gave his massage therapist, he already feels better.

Weekly massages are just one thing that's going to happen.  I also signed Theo up to get his stifles done when the vet comes out for their spring vaccinations.  I've been hemming and hawing but he's got some compensation going on while he avoids that weaker right side.  Let's shoot up those stifles and see if that helps me straighten him up.  He'll also get that box of Adequan.  I wanted to time that right before the start of the show season.  Whelp, that time has arrived and pony is getting loaded up.  I want his joints as slippery as possible so he doesn't feel like he needs to compensate.  Compensating leads to whacky muscle problems.

His massage therapist didn't find anything wrong or unexpected, just a sore pony that's moving into collected work.  Once she's got him caught up, he'll go on a regular maintenance schedule.  And since she travels to dressage shows, we might even be able to book him some massages while he's competing!  That would be a huge benefit, he really does love his massages.  Even today when he was quite clearly in pain, there were plenty of sections where he looked like he was in heaven.

I dropped the ball a bit on this one.  I knew it was coming and should have been more proactive, but hindsight is what it is.  We'll just get him all tuned up and ready to prance in the sandbox.

Where's the data?

I've had a complete dearth of Equisense data.  No, I didn't lose it or let Theo step on it.  Turns out there's a safety feature where it shuts off when temps get too cold.  It protects the electronics.  This may be a rare occurrence in France, but in NH?  It was always off and I was usually too cold to take it into the office and plug it in to get it to work again.  So for the dead of winter, no data.

It was 40 yesterday so I went ahead and plugged the unit in so I could put it back in rotation.  It should be warm enough for it to stay on all week.

First, glad to see our symmetry, which had been really starting to concern me, bounce back.  We'd been on a slow but steady downward drift for a lot of rides in December.  For this ride, he popped right back to his 7.5 average.  That's a genuine relief.

Our elevation had been drifting down while our symmetry drifted down, but now it's popped back to usual, at least for the canter.  Slightly down in the trot, but he was also trying to see if he could suck behind the contact for half the ride.  Using the topline is hard, mom!  How about I arch my neck so I look pretty and drop my back while not allowing you to take any feel, does that work?

Ugh. 

Our regularity scores were terrible, but I've found protest bucking in the canter will do that.  Theo was having an extreme case of the opinions.  By the end he was stretching into the contact again, but I could tell he'd had other riders for awhile.  He is so good at setting that false frame and making everyone think he's light and soft.  And then he props and threatens if you try to push through it.  Yesterday was a bit of a difficult ride and I explained to him that moving your legs super fast does not equal forward.  I ended up holding my outside rein and kicking until he realized sucking back off the aids wasn't actually going to make me go away.  He's such a smart little puke.  He's not afraid of my hand, he's just learned that if he curls back, I will put my hands forward and kick him.  He can fall on his shoulders when I do that, so yay for Theo.  Now I'm holding my hands no matter what and driving him forward.  He's not a fan.

Thank goodness I have a lesson on Friday.  Dropping behind the contact and behind my leg at the same time is not my favorite evasion.  Fiona was the master of dropping behind all aids and then taking off like a bat out of hell.  I'd like to not have that happen.

Out sick

I haven't had the flu in a long, long time.  I think I last got it in 2009?  At least that's the last time I remember being bundled up in a blanket with tissues and wishing for the sweet oblivion of death.

On Sunday I was sneezing a lot.  I'd body clipped my horse the day before, so okay, allergies flared up.  I have allergies year round so I stepped up my allergy meds but nothing happened.  What the heck?  I was dosing like it was the height of spring and I was still sneezing and going through a box of tissues.  It didn't register yet that something was different.  On Monday I worked from home since it was snowy.  I sneezed a lot and started to cough.  Hmm, maybe not allergies?

Body clipping, not for the faint of heart

On Tuesday I woke up with a real cough and decided to stay home so I wouldn't get my coworkers sick.  One of them has a brand new baby so that wouldn't be okay.  I took some Robitussin and messaged my boss to say I would be on and off due to cough syrup.  General policy, I don't do analytics while drugged.  I always regret it when I look back.  And then I conked out at my desk.  I seriously put my head down and fell asleep.  When I woke up, disoriented and with a crick in my neck, I was quite sure I was sick.  I took my temp and yup, low grade fever.  I was also nauseous which is fun.  I gave up on work, huddled on my couch with multiple blankets, and accepted my status.  Yuck.  I barely moved all through Wednesday.  Fever broke Thursday morning and I felt normal again on Friday, so I don't think it was a full blown flu but it was a virus and it was not friendly.  I continued to stay home on Saturday since I really didn't want to share whatever I'd had.

I finally left the house on Sunday after a whole week spent at home.  Cabin fever barely covers the state I was in.  I was so excited to get out that I went to the barn despite the fact that it was spitting snow/sleet/rain and some of the roads hadn't been treated yet.  I wanted to see my pony!

Pony was so happy to see me that he cantered up to his gate despite the neighbor running the snowblower behind me.  It was cute.  He stood at the bottom of his field, snorting and watching the snowblower.  Then he decided the cookie was worth it and jumped into a canter to book it up the field.  Got to me, stopped, threw his head all the way up, and let out this huge HONK at the snow flying through the air.  He let me put his halter on but he was quivering.  Thankfully years of ground work kept us safe as he pranced sideways to keep an eye on the neighbor.  Clearly a very dangerous demon.

Okay, I'll admit it, the long hair does make him look more like a Friesian

I spent almost an hour grooming him.  I'd thought he'd been ridden most of the time I was out but I found out both of his lessons didn't happen.  Ugh.  I curried and curried while he wiggled around.  I like to curry him loose in the aisle because he can point out exactly where there are itches.  I dressed him for lunging because he'd apparently had almost as long a break as me.  Loose side reins kept the sass monster focused and while he threw his head and jumped about a bit, he didn't haul me anywhere.  I worked him till he was blowing a bit and he'd lost the quivering, losing his mind look.  Then back up to the barn for his blanket and back into his field.

Tonight I can actually get on him and get him really over his back.  The break was a bit of a blessing in disguise since he'd acted like his back was tight when I rode him before I got sick.  He's using a lot more topline, it's not unexpected.  He looked quite loose and happy after he got the bucks out on the lunge.  A day or two in downtown and we should be ready to get back to work.

My spring shows are starting to open.  We've got feet of snow on the ground, but it appears that winter really is going to end.

Getting there

I managed to get something approaching media.  I propped up my phone on the arena wall and let it record for five minutes.  The end result is this rather boring but hopefully representative video clip.

I love being able to see what he looks like since I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that collected feels like this.  This was our third take and he was cooking in the sudden turn in temperature (first two takes the phone fell down).  It's not our best with him hanging out a bit behind my leg due to fatigue and heat, but it's a very good snapshot of what our work now looks like. 

My turn on the haunches didn't make it in frame, either.  I'll try again with an actual camera mount and see if I can make this work.  I've also found a remote control that will start the recording so I don't have to muck around with the phone to start a new clip.

Considering where we started, I'm very happy to see where we're at.

Noping out

It's terrible when your momentum is shut down due to things you genuinely can't control.  Yes, I'm whining about the weather.

We had a windstorm on Monday with some snow squalls mixed in for fun.  I did manage to drive to the barn all dressed to ride, but those 50mph wind gusts are hard to handle.  I had to dodge a lot of downed branches on the way in and the blowing snow took visibility down to 0 at times.  Theo needed a blanket swap so I didn't have an option.  I had to stop and visit him after work.  I fought the wind to get to his gate and called him.

He's a good boy.  He poked his head out of his shed, spotted me, and started heading up just like he always does.  He was about halfway up when a huge gust of wind hit, bad enough I had to hunker down and hide my face as I got pelted with snow and sand from the road.  My beloved jack ass turned his butt around and went right back in his shed.  I've never seen a horse so definitively nope out in my life.


It looked just like this.

I agreed with him, but he still needed his heavy with temps dropping through the night.  He wasn't coming out no matter how I called or waved his muffin treat at him.  I had to slog down the hill to his shed to get him.  We kind of huddled together on our walk up to the barn, trying to keep our faces out of the blowing snow.  I pulled off his medium, popped on his heavy with the insulated neck rug, and then sent him right back out.  Could I have ridden?  Probably, it was only 25* out and there is an indoor, but I didn't have the heart for it after fighting out to this field and down to his shed.  It was so miserable and with the breaking trees, I couldn't imagine that our ride would have gone well.  I don't need the kind of impulsion that comes with branches snapping loose and hitting the arena.

Today it's still windy and freaking cold.  That'll be a second day off.  This time it's too cold to safely breathe hard or risk sweating.  Stupid weather.

I really wanted to keep up the momentum, but I have to accept that it's February and the hands down worst month to ride in New Hampshire.  Five days a week of real work is actually very good for this time of year.  That doesn't change my grumbling or glaring at the weather reports.

There it is!

Today was session 2 with Trainer Z.  I've been diligent with my homework, so I was feeling nice and prepared.  Theo go forward is becoming just another day at the office.  No repeat of the broncing incident, so we appear to be past that wall for the moment.

I met Trainer Z down at the ring so she wouldn't have to sit through our long walk warmup.  Theo's 15, so I won't rush our ten minutes of walking, especially in the winter.  He needs that time to get the muscles warmed up and moving.  I trotted him on a long rein so he could get the cobwebs out, then right up into his new big boy trot with a light contact.  It takes about ten minutes of encouraging trot and canter for the engine to really kick in.  I'm finding that he does need to ease into the idea mentally or I end up with him in the bad mental place.  So we take about 20 minutes to physically warm up these days.  By the time we're done with that, he's on a contact and happily motoring along with his new big gaits.  Cool, time to work.

First thing was that I needed more contact.  The whole circle of aids things isn't going to happen if I just let it all zoom out the front.  I, of course, struggle with any time I'm told to have more contact.  More contact usually sucks because it's heavy, unpleasant, and I feel like I lose communication with the bit.  This, however, feels different.  I don't feel like I'm hauling on him, I feel like I'm just closing the door a bit more and his pushing into it.  I'm not pulling, I'm holding as he pushes.  No shoulder pain and I don't feel like I'm losing communication, I just feel like I've got a lot of horse to hold back.

Good gravy look at the neck he's developing

I could tell when I got the right amount of contact because suddenly, magically, that last bit of topline connected and I could see everything in front of the withers lift up and his neck felt like an expanding fan (love that visual for this stage in my training, make his neck open up like a fan, keeps me from getting him short in the neck).  His shoulders freed up and I could see them swinging in the mirrors.  And it makes sitting his trot freaking impossible but that's beside the point.

I heard 'There it is!  That's your Second level trot!' and realized I had definitely made the right call getting help.  Because that?  Is not at all like anything I'd ever asked Theo to do before.  It was not at all small, little, or slow.  It was big and powerful but I wasn't letting it get away from me.  I was keeping all of that new, big gait boxed up underneath me.  That's what I was aiming for, to have that much power but not let any of it get away.  Ohhhhhhhh. 

It's hard right now because I'm fighting with my hands.  My motor memory keeps letting go because it feels like too much pressure.  My conscious mind is going 'nope, that's fine, we're in a good spot' but the second my attention wavers or I dare to think about a different body part, I let it go.  Poor Trainer Z.  'Look at that fancy trot!  Why would you let go of that fancy trot?!'.  I dunno, my hands are crazy and possessed by the devil.  Especially my right hand that likes to go for a wander.  Where the hell are you going, right hand?  Is it really that much better over there?

We worked the canter transitions, really getting the idea pounded into my head that I am not to release my outside rein for that transition.  Release the inside, not the outside!  Theo is totally cool with this and has no issue with pushing into the aid so long as I can convince myself to hold it.  That one is going to be hard for me.  Theo continues to show that he's 100% ready to move up while I'm the one questioning if this is okay or if I'm asking for too much.

We did have to discuss his odd habits with his mouth.  She mentioned she could see his tongue while we were doing traver/renver/shoulder in transitions.  I said yeah, he licks and chews a lot and does it even more when he's thinking.  Even during tests, he licks and chews.  Judges like it because it's very clearly not an evasion, he doesn't stick his tongue out in a bad way.  When he's thinking super hard, he sticks the tip of his tongue out and just keeps it there.  I think it's cute.  She was a bit less sure about that, but if it's not something judges are marking down, then it's not a problem.  I shrugged.  Pony is weird.  If he's evading me, she'll see his mouth completely stop moving.  If she can see his tongue, it's a good sign.  It means he's thinking and engaged and playing with the bit in a good way.  I'm not sure just what he's doing with his mouth when he's sticking the tip of his tongue out, but the bit is definitely moving and both of us are working with it so whatever.  You do you, pony.

Trainer Z is super happy with his progress and excited to help us get ready for his Second level debut.  No doubt on her part at all, pony is ready.  Probably more ready than I am.  I'm supposed to work on the S turn from Second 2 as my homework (10m half circle to 10m half circle) since that revealed some balance weaknesses for me.  Also need to make sure my hands understand the new rules with contact.  Theo's settled into it just fine.  It appears I'm the one that needs the miles.

Seriously, Theo, quit making me look bad, being all perfect and willing.  Geeze.  And while you're at it, stop looking so freaking fancy when I get it right.  It's kind of addictive seeing that last bit of topline fill in and feeling like I actually got the whole horse together.  Just knock that off.

I'll try to get video.  I'm too polite to ask my trainer to do it.  She's busy dealing with my hands going rogue, she's not going to take video of me.  When it's warmer I may draft the hubby to do it.  I'm kind of desperate for media, but I'll make due with what I've got.  My truck has a cracked exhaust manifold, so I know where my annual bonus is going and it's not for a Pixio.  *sobbing forever*

Protest

My horse is so predictable.  When we introduced the idea that leg = go forward, he threw a temper tantrum three rides in.  When we introduced the idea that blowing through my left rein was not an option, he threw a temper tantrum three rides in.  Monday was my third ride of our new 'make him crazy forward' homework.  Guess what happened?

It started out fine.  I dressed him in his western gear while I fiddled with his saddle to see if I can make it work for me, we warmed up, and then I put my leg on and said 'big trot'.  He humped his back at me and tried to haul the reins through my hands.  Uh, no, go forward.  Big trot.  He decided that he no longer had a big trot and started breaking to the canter.  I said fine, if you want to canter so bad, big canter.  The wheels came off.

All of a sudden the window at C was terrifying and he flew off of the wall in his patented spin/buck/bolt combo.  I had to stop the bolt for safety reasons but immediately applied spurs to ribs and sent him back into his big canter.  He dove down on the bit and started popping his butt.  Haul his head up, get way in the back seat, and continue to push.  No relief until he goes forward, no matter how much he threatens and twists and bucks.

It was not a fun twenty minutes.  He was flat out looking for a way out of this work and when in doubt, try scaring the rider.  Bucking and bolting is a great way to get someone to take their leg off.  I had to keep my leg on even with him bucking and diving sideways because I know I need to get through it or it will be worse next time.  I used some circles to keep the bolting at a reasonable level and micromanaged his left shoulder to keep the spin from happening on his strong side.  He'll spin right, but it's slow and not very committed.  If he spins left?  I'll be spitting out arena footing.

After twenty minutes of loud protest while I made him transition between big trot and big canter, he decided that he was tired and just wanted to stop.  We got one lap around the arena with a big, well behaved canter on a soft contact and called it a day.  He was blowing like a freight train and I was coming down from the adrenaline that comes with sitting on a barrel of TNT.  Nothing else was going to be accomplished after that, so we went for a walk in the snow.

By the time we'd moseyed around the property for half an hour, we'd made up and his ears had gone soft again.  No more spooking and spinning, even when we went for a walk down the road. 

Today he has the day off.  I knew this was going to happen so I planned out his rides accordingly.  He needs today off to mentally reset and rest what are probably some sore muscles after that nonsense.  Hopefully that was the wall and we're now through it.  Tomorrow Trainer A rides him and she'll happily kick him up as far in front of her leg as possible.  Thursday is his lesson with his other rider, so that will be a bit of a slack day for him.  I'll jump him on Friday to make sure all of the negativity has been shaken out while still getting him super forward.  Trainer Z is in the area on Sunday so we're going to have another session to check on our progress.  I'd like to have that lesson be something more productive than watching my horse throw a temper tantrum over these new rules.

I have my lumbar support pillow and a Salon Pas patch for my lower back.  I thought fifteen year olds didn't do this nonsense anymore.