So far so good

 Another Saturday, another lesson.  After our success last week, I came into my lesson today with the goal of seeing what the world of the possible is.  Can I really ride my horse?  What is my limit?  I tacked up and hopped on with the intent of not riding like a w/t up down student.  I was schooling Third, damn it, I can at least pick up a contact.

Trainer Z left us mostly to our own devices since the whole goal is for me to figure out my new normal.  I pushed Theo's buttons a bit and he tested me to see if I was serious about things like taking a contact on the right rein and listening to my left leg.  Seriously, Theo, it's been seven damn years.  Yes, I am serious about you getting off my left leg.  I even did a canter lengthen while saying 'wheee!' at him to encourage him to actually push.  

In some ways, it's like I never left.  We worked on shoulder in, filling the outside rein in both directions, and transitions.  A million and one transitions.  It's lovely sitting on him when he's in professional training because he's already supple, fit, and symmetrical.  I just have to work on me.  I sat trot a bit to see what I've got.  I don't know if I'll be able to sit a medium but the collected wasn't bad.  I ended up working him for 45 minutes and it was an actual ride.  He actually yawned with his post-work super soft eyes in the cross ties so I felt like I accomplished something.

As for me?  I'm not perfect.  I'm comfortable but I can tell I've got some inflammation.  I took some Advil and I'm doing some ice.  It's not bad but I'm being cautious.  If I'm good tomorrow, then I'll say 45 minutes of actual riding with some sitting trot is in the realm of the possible.  Not enough to keep Theo in work all by myself but enough that I can ride him in a lesson once a week and start to get my groove back.

Trainer Z was very happy to see us actually working with him on the contact.  Not a Second level frame yet but a lot better than last week.  And Theo is such a ridiculous cuddle bug.  I swear if he could fit in my pocket, he would.  Not everyone knows how much he likes having the insides of his ears brushed with his tail brush and he appreciated my knowledge of the details.  It may just be me projecting but he does seem happy to see me.  

Trainer Z and I also had a talk about the future.  Theo has a clinic on Monday and has entered his first show of the season in June.  I've also booked a choreographer to get his Second level freestyle started for a hopeful fall debut with Trainer Z.  And one other exciting potential plan but we'll see what comes of that.  

What the heck happened?

 This is a question I've asked myself a lot recently and Trainer Z asked before my lesson.  How did I go from riding 5 times a week to not being able to ride at all so quickly?  In 2019 I was riding very regularly.  Sitting trot, big bucks, all of it.  My last show was fall of 2019 and I was riding Second Level complete with multi-day show theatrics from Theo.  By February I was seeing a doctor because of my involuntary head movements.  By spring I was out of the saddle and by summer, I had a diagnosis I didn't want.  If this is a decade old injury, what the heck happened?  Why did I have to stop riding?

Sitting the trot, NBD

There's two working theories after talking to my PCP, neurologist, and chiro.  Both link to the summer of 2019 and my two ER visits.

I had that nasty bout of Lyme disease that sent me off to ER due to high fever and not being able to turn my head because my neck was in so much pain.  They thought I had meningitis.  In hindsight, my whole body was inflamed and it certainly set off the damage in my neck that I wasn't even aware of yet.  I've had trouble in the past with my neck being stiff and sore but never enough to really register as a problem.  Lyme certainly made me aware that neck pain SUCKS.  Anytime I mention Lyme occurring just before symptoms start I get sighs from the professionals.  Lyme is such a pain in the ass.  It was treated promptly and I shouldn't be a chronic case.  Shouldn't being the key word.  It's not like they can test for it.  It will forever be just a coincidence.

I also had that incident where I got clobbered by a 2x6 when Theo tore the fence apart at GMHA.  No concussion but I took the hit across the back of my shoulder and my neck.  I remember laying in that ditch while my body felt like it was rebooting.  I also remember my neck and back hurting quite a bit afterward.  

Either incident could have taken my neck from potential problem to actual problem.  The two happening about a month apart?  Yeah, that was not ideal.  Of course my little head tic was assigned to my anxiety since no one ever saw me do it and it's not a typical symptom of nerve impingement.  It wasn't until a doctor actually saw it and tested some of my neurological functions that they realized something else was going on.

Everything in the imaging is old, cold, and set so if the head clobber incident caused problems, they should be over.  Lyme, on the other hand, can take a long time to settle down.  Like years.  It's only been in the last couple months that I've started to feel normal again.  My involuntary head movements have stopped.  After my ride on Saturday, I saw the chiro on Monday.  She said everything felt good and my body was completely normal.  Well, normal for me.  Woohoo!  I still have scoliosis and a twisted pelvis but that's normal.  For me.  Seriously, it's whacky sitting on Theo when he's all symmetrical and almost forcing me to ride him evenly.

Told you you're crooked, mom

Oh, remember my left shoulder that would just fail sometimes?  The one that plagued me with Fiona when jumping and Theo would cause to fail?  Guess what that is now attributed to?  Impinged nerve.  So glad I didn't let them talk me into rotator cuff surgery.  Apparently my scoliosis is the reason I ride crooked and the reason my left arm is prone to problems.  My arm has been consistently functional since I started getting regular adjustments.  The lingering issues from my little neck flare up consist of occasional episodes of pain from my neck trying to stabilize itself and my left hand not being able to help me open candy wrappers.  Lost some fine motor skills on that side.  I dropped my left rein once during my lesson which is a nuisance.  

Can I just get a new body?  This one is defective.

But I'm starting to feel like my old self again.  I have to stay on top of anti-inflammatories and use ice if I'm starting to get symptoms but it's all pretty manageable.  The hubby still insists that I not jump or ride unsupervised but that seems reasonable considering my latest x-rays and the horse I have.  I do have bone spurs and issues that would be a problem if I fell again.  There's no shock absorption left in my neck.  I know as well as any equestrian that falls are a matter of when, not if, but I can avoid courting disaster and can remove situations where I'll be moving at high speed toward an obstacle.

My next lesson is set for this Saturday since I feel fine after my first lesson.  We're scheduling a whole 60 minutes this time but planning on lots of breaks.  My legs were sore and tight after my first lesson.  I forgot what a lazy ass my horse is.  Since I don't seem to have completely lost my seat, I've been greenlighted for spurs.  Thank goodness.

Back together again

 It took a month longer than planned but it happened!  My first lesson in over two years.  Also my first ride on Theo since he was summarily thrown out of his barn and his job as a h/j horse which led to him needing some rehabilitation.  

We waited to make sure we'd have good Theo.  After his spring clip, evil spring Theo came out for an extended visit.  The usual week of chaos around the equinox turned into two weeks of chaos with the early clip.  After that he had a week that was mostly good but not consistent enough for Trainer Z to call it safe.  This last week he was consistently very good so I got the green light to come out for my first 30 minute lesson.

I was so damn happy to be tacking and grooming my pony.  He was so quite cute and cuddly, it's like we never spent a day apart.  I swung on and settled in.  After a few seconds, Theo recognized the babbling creature on his back and stretched out into this long, chill walk.  Trainer Z was in the middle of the ring, his girl had cookies, Theo knew the drill.  

We walked, we trotted, we cantered.  We even leg yielded and shoulder-in'd.  Trainer Z is mostly occupied with us getting our groove back and my confidence being rebuilt but she's also taking this as a chance to rebuild me.  I'm very out of riding shape and Theo is completely tuned up.  I only have to work on me so it's a unique opportunity to do something about my possessed hands and twisted position.  Theo was a very good school pony for me and I was grinning in the canter work.

I'm scheduled for another lesson next weekend.  This will hopefully be my new lesson time going forward.  I'm so, so excited.

OMG

 Who's got two thumbs and a riding lesson for this Saturday?

This girl!

Me and the hubby at Beyond the Eats with Alton Brown.  I'm such a fangirl of his.

Yes, all my lovely readers, I get to ride Theo in a lesson!

It's not as exciting as it sounds.  It's more like a 20 minute pony ride with supervision but I'm excited.  Super, super excited.  I visited Theo last weekend to give him his spring shear.  I removed half a wheelbarrow worth of fuzz.  I'm not exaggerating, I had to use a wheelbarrow to clean up the hair.  I didn't get a picture but it was ankle deep on him.  I was up half the night sneezing up a small pony's worth of hair that I'd managed to inhale.

How about a picture of me and the hubby at a 5k instead of me sneezing up horse hair?

After clipping, I ended up hanging out and talking to some riders while watching some rides.  I had so much longing as others tacked up their horses and rode them and discussed their show season.  I wanted to ride my damn horse!  But I agreed with my husband (and my mom and the chiro and half the eastern seaboard) that I would not ride Theo without supervision.  By the time I left, I was knew I needed to message Trainer Z and try to set up a lesson time.  She was eager for me to have a lesson and booked me for 30 minutes on Saturday.

OMG.

Now I have to find my stuff!  I last rode in June and it was all in my Western tack.  I had to actually order a new set of breeches (the Covid 15 is no joke).  I found my tall boots in the back of my closet and my helmet was hanging up near them.  It's supposed to be 46 degrees so a long sleeve shirt and a vest will round out the outfit.  All the rest of my gear is already there, waiting for me with my horse.  I may or may not have taken advantage of a discount code to get Theo a whole new set of gear in lotus pink from PS of Sweden . . . 

And yes, Theo is still mine in the ways that count.  We had a major make out session during his post clip groom.  He loves getting curried right after a clip.  Even my fantastic Haas curry comb can't get right to the skin when he's in his full winter coat.  I was grooming him, he was grooming me, it was like nothing changed.  He still comes when called, even with his buddies and his ridiculously large hay bale waiting for him.  I wormed him for Trainer Z since he's still easier for me to handle.

Oh, and he's still an asshole.  He apparently escaped from his stall one day just to show a new employee that he could do it.  Stood in the aisle and chilled until someone made a fuss about him being loose, then scooted back into his stall.  They added bars to his stall so he can't hang his head out since he's basically unstoppable when he can reach the latch.  He also busted loose on the lunge again.  Seriously, Theo, you're nineteen.  Knock it off!  I warned Trainer Z to lunge him after his clip since he does enjoy doing his naked dance after a clip.  Those toddler stallions have nothing on him.

If all goes well, I'll get set up with a once a week lesson.  It will be the only riding I do in a week but it's a hell of a lot more riding than I'm doing right now.  Theo's actually training will be with Trainer Z, I'm just the owner that comes out to flop around once a week.  But I'm looking forward to it.  He looks so good under saddle now, I want to experience him when he's all fit and tuned up.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my body is up for this.  I feel good, though.  I really do think it's time.

Big boy clothes

 So how is Theo doing?

He seems to think he's awfully fancy.  Hanging out with all his fancy WB friends is a good influence. 

Theo free lunging on a cold day

Don't tell him he looks a bit ridiculous trying to keep up with the four year old stallions.  He thinks he's utterly magnificent and I'm just impressed he's got all four off the floor and some actual elevation.  Trainer Z appears to have pushed through the wall and gotten to the wonderful, sweet, hard working core of Theo.  He thrives as a show horse in training since that's lots of exercise, attention, and puzzles for him to solve.  Also all he can eat hay in the form of a large bale in his paddock.

In a lot of ways, Trainer Z is going through all the stages I went through in six years, but she's doing it in six months.  Like some sort of fast forward montage.

They had a rough period in the fall.  There were a couple 'incidents' and he got a week off because the changing weather appeared to have disconnected his brain.  I don't remember what Trainer Z said but we swapped his supplements and treated him for a potential ulcer flare up.  Bingo.  He stopped kicking at his fancy new stall and stopped offering to lose his shit under saddle.  About the same time Trainer Z managed to get his hind end connected to his front end and give all that excess energy a place to go.  Like a light switch, he was back with the program.  By January, he was lifting his back and a happy participant again.

Now he's back in his double and schooling Third.  He's muscled up enough that Trainer Z's saddle fits him again which is great to see.  Counter canter is back on board so the changes are on the agenda.  Trainer Z is even talking about shows for him come spring since he's so completely with the program.  Third in 2022 and then who knows?  His strengths are really in collection and balance exercises so if he decides flying changes aren't a big deal, he might even touch Fourth one day.

Not bad for a nineteen year old mutt former school horse.

As he refreshes his buttons and we manage his tummy, I still hope that he'll find a partner that he can cart around the shows and show them the ropes.  It's not a big deal, he's quite happy with Trainer Z, but I would love to watch him share all that he's learned.  However, that might not be for a couple more years.  He's gotten a few gray hairs but otherwise, he's pretty sure he's a four year old stallion.  Not quite ready to be a chill school master.  

But one day.  He does like the tiny ones.

The bratty times

 You'd think I'd be used to getting texts involving my horse's exploits.  And yet, I still feel a bit embarrassed when I get texts about my horse doing things like throwing a fit and threatening to rear because he didn't get a cookie as fast as he wanted.  Or trying to bolt out of the arena because jumping 6" cavaletti are just too exciting.  Fall Theo is in full force and he's living his best life.

Theo.  THEO.  This is how you end up having your workload increased!

Sorry not sorry, mom

Yes, I sent Trainer Z a cookie bouquet because we both adore Theo but he is a freaking handful at certain times of the year.

Normally I would take this as a sign that he does not need help regulating his temperature but Trainer Z wants to take advantage of all that excess energy so that means it's time for a clip!  We're running a couple weeks later than usual since he's been in relatively light work as he builds up strength.  Which is also apparently causing some of the shenanigans?  So in the interest of Trainer Z being able to work Theo hard enough to actually find the bottom and bring his theatrics to an end, it's naked pony time.

So after running a 10k and before finishing up my final project for my first class in the doctorate program (because I'm an idiot), I drove up to visit mi papi and shear him like the feral yak he is.  Trainer Z was kind enough to give him a bubble bath the day before.  Theo was not impressed.

He just deflates when he gets a bath

But that meant I had a dry, mostly clean, mostly exercised pony to work with.  I'm not sure I'm doing the dressage horse owner thing correctly.  I mean I'm really good at writing checks but I thought it was supposed to be all fancy dancy.  I don't think it's supposed to include half a horse worth of hair up my nose and the other half down my bra.

Theo post clip, hanging out with his BFF Sparkle Pants.  Sparkle Pants is a very fancy young WB that's currently winning a lot at Second.

But it's done now and Trainer Z can commence with working the sass out of Theo.  He's back to feeling like a First Level horse in his balance and power which is great for 2.5 months of work.  He had enough muscle around his stifles to guide the lines of his clip!  Still hoping he'll be back to his Second level self by the new year.  Trainer Z is feeling confident and Theo is just gobbling up the consistent work.  I wasn't sure if he was going to want to get back to big boy work at his age but apparently, he can't get enough.  It won't be that much longer before he's back to working that half pass and those changes.  And the new indoor is so close to being done!

Theo's new very fancy show horse digs

Starting in November, Theo will be living the super fancy life.  He'll have a stall in that brand new arena/barn with a run out paddock and gossip doors.  The horses will even have skylights!  I suspect Theo's doors will end up shut because he's a bit destructive but we'll see.  He's on unlimited hay 24/7 so his chewing behaviors aren't too bad.  It also means that he'll be in full training straight through the winter since he doesn't even have to go outside to get to the arena.  Knowing him, he'll be out in his paddock straight through the winter.  Feral pony is feral.  But no more having to wade through knee deep snow to retrieve him and bring him in for his workouts!

There will be more pictures of the new digs after the new barn party in November.  But things are looking very up for Theo.  He's happy as a clam and Trainer Z is weathering the storm known as fall Theo with grace and humor.  Very glad I decided to send him to a trainer that specializes in toddler warmblood stallions.  That makes Theo the good kid on the roster.  Relatively speaking.

One month update

 Theo has been with Trainer Z for a month now and it's going as well as I could've hoped.  I went up to visit this weekend (and drop off supplements, fly spray, detangler for his ridiculous hair, and a new saddle pad that I couldn't resist in the tack shop).  He is happy as a clam in his run in with a younger gelding to play with over the fence.  He's also managed to mow down the grass around his paddock for several feet and I really need to get pictures of the gymnastics he uses to reach just a bit more grass.  Shoulder in?  Much to hard.  Kneeling to get all of his neck under the fence and reach grass?  No problem.

Hi mom!  They had to move part of the g

He's working 5 - 6 days a week.  Half the time on the lunge so Trainer Z can get him going forward, half the time under saddle.  Each week he looks a bit stronger and a bit more like his old self.  The stifle stumble is already gone and he's starting to offer more.  She even got to do a bit of shoulder in one day when he was feeling spicy.  He was tired quickly but he certainly remembers the fancy stuff.  As he gets stronger, he's offering more and more behaviors.

I had to laugh watching Trainer Z manage my beast.  He's 18, a bit of a school master, and knows how to have a negotiation.  Mount, sugar cube.  Start trotting like a western pleasure champion, cough three times, then start warming up like a dressage horse.  Once warm up is complete, walk, sugar cube, then he'll pick himself up for the real work.  Like he gets that sugar cube and immediately picks up his tummy.  He will NOT pick himself up until he's had a warm up, a walk, and a sugar cube.  That is the routine, so sayeth Theo.  Trainer Z has decided that it's definitely not a fight worth picking when he's so good about getting to work after his warm up.  He's just very set in his ways.

More potato vision but you get the idea

Full disclosure, the warm up habit is mine and I taught it to Theo.  I require 5 - 10 minutes of warm up before I can get to work, always have.  It takes that long to work through my various aches and pains and make my brain settle into the here and now.  At 18, Theo's got some stiffness to work through as well.  A clearly defined warm up is non-negotiable for either of us.

Most importantly, he looked happy.  The tail was swinging, the ears were soft, and the lip licking was pretty much constant.  There are issues with him trying to duck behind the contact as an evasion right now but that appears to be due to him getting tired quickly.  He's also crooked as the day is long but that's not exactly new.  It just hasn't been managed well for about a year.  His back is coming up and the dip in front of his withers is starting to fill in.  By spring, he should be back to being a very confident mid-level dressage horse.  He looks very comfortable now and is tracking up beautifully.  Canter is a bit lateral but we've got to have him near PSG fit to get that canter really clean.  Right now, it's all about muscle building and endurance.  

All braided up with nowhere to go

Since he's behaved himself, only busted loose on the lunge line once (caught Trainer Z off guard, he got a firm reminder on his manners afterward and didn't try it again), and has kept his protests below the level of the toddler stallions he lives with, he gets to stay indefinitely.  This is a huge relief to me.  Come spring when he's fit and ready to show off his tricks again, Trainer Z expects it will be easy to find him a leaser.  Just have to find someone with a sense of humor and pockets for sugar cubes.  He'll remain under Trainer Z's watchful eye hopefully until he's ready to fully retire and be a pasture potato.  He's had a lot of change in the last two years and I think it's time for him to settle in and have some consistency again.  

He's started nickering for Trainer Z when it's his turn to be worked.  Apparently he was very sullen and pouted when he had his ride time moved and thought he was skipped.  I think he's missed being a show pony.