You win this round, Mother Nature

I'd started to think I was going to make it through this winter without a break for weather.  Work, sure, but Theo was still marching around while I took planes, trains, and automobiles to get to our Manhattan office.

Watching the sun rise over NH with Venus and Jupiter putting in an appearance with Antares just barely showing in the photo, then the grid of NYC as we came in to land

No, seriously, I took a plane from NH to Newark, NJ.  Then I hopped in a car with our CTO who drives like an absolute lunatic.  Then we got on a train to get to Penn Station in New York.  THEN we got on a subway to Greenwich and then we walked about six blocks.  I left NH at 6am and made it to the office at 9:45 am  It took two hours to go from the airport to the office.  I will never, ever live near NYC.

Back to Theo and his work schedule.  I toughed out a lot of cold nights to try to work through the winter and not lose any condition or progress.  On Monday night I saw that it was 18 degrees.  That's below my threshold for actual work because I don't want him to breathe hard.  He did in hand work and some bareback jogging in a rope halter and two coolers.  Thank goodness he didn't decide he needed to do the dance of his people again, I would have slid right off.

  Looking super wild and crazy

Tuesday I packed up his surcingle when I went out for his farrier appointment.  I figured it would be warm enough in the early afternoon to get him on the lunge for 20 minutes or so, but that failed.  It was 16* at 1pm.  I gave up, put him back in his field, and accepted that a break was upon us.

Eyes closed asleep while getting his feet done, this horse is ridiculous

Last night I got caught in a snow squall and had to pull over to wait out the white out conditions.  Today, the high is 3*.  All he's getting is an extra blanket, extra hay, and a kiss on the nose.  Tomorrow will be more of the same.  Saturday we're supposed to pop back up to normal so I'll get him going again (aka stick him on a lunge and pretend I'm flying a kite for 30 minutes while other riders gasp and run in terror).  On Tuesday, I leave for my next work trip.

I am so done with winter already.   How many days until spring?

Being extra

Riding horses makes them tired, right?  I'm not making a fundamental mistake with this assumption?  Because my pony appears to be very confused.  He did get two days off while I was off making money to support his habits (new PSoS outfit arrives tomorrow!), but since then it's been at least one ride a day and sometimes two.  Despite that, he was being quite extra yesterday.  In a ring full of nervous adult ammies.

This is why we don't get invited places, Theo.

Post workout selfie practice

On Sunday he decided that the arena drag being parked in a different corner than usual was unacceptable and after passing it a dozen times, he pulled a spin-scoot on me.  I'd say out of nowhere but he had a hump in his back big enough to require me to have his girth a hole looser than usual.  I suppose it's progress that the land porpoise dance stopped after one jump and we went right back to work, but still.  Really?  REALLY?!

So I did what any self respecting owner of a yak/land porpoise cross would do:  I put him in the biggest trot I could get while doing serpentines and connected circles all around the ring.  If you've got that much energy, you can totally use your back and get your hooves completely clear of the footing.  I like trot for explosive ponies.  Canter makes it too easy to buck, walk just bottles them up.  Trot is where it's at.

He's so freaking studly looking when he does this.  I wish I dared to stop and set up my phone for video.  Or ask any of the slightly horrified riders to take video.  He's like sitting on a ticking bomb, but it's such a pretty bomb.  He gave me one more porpoise jump but that one I had coming.  I got in his face a bit when he tried to go out the shoulder in the canter and he informed me that feeling trapped was not good for his self control.  Right, right, get out of the pony's face before he decides I'm no longer a nice partner that he wants to take along for the ride.

He wasn't nasty or even that naughty, just fresh and full of energy.  Which is nuts because not one but two riders told me he was dead when they rode him last week.  Huh?  Three rides in a row with him right up on the bit for me and yesterday was the hottest one of the bunch.  I don't even know how I'm going to manage him tonight.  Trainer A said he was fresh and sassy with her, too, but dead with anyone else.

Hm.

I genuinely love the fact that he's still a dead head with the beginners.  They don't love it so much, but it's great to see that he can still be safe with them in the winter while we make him very reactive to the aids for the advanced riders.  He has apparently figured out how to do both jobs.  Conserve energy with the riders that don't push him and then let it all out when someone with a hot seat gets in the saddle.

We'll see tonight if he's still dancing the dance of his people or if he's decided that six days in a row with me and Trainer A is enough to take the edge off. 

Lack of adult supervision

I appear to be entering a new phase in my horse life:  no regular lessons and no full time trainer.  This is terrifying, folks.  I've had weekly lessons since I was five years old.  It's just what I do.  Sometimes I even take two lessons a week.  I enjoy taking lessons.

Reality is that Trainer A isn't available when I can take lessons.  I have a 9 to 5 job that increasingly needs me to actually be available during those hours.  During the summer I have early release on Fridays but the rest of the year?  I'm not reliably at the barn before 6pm.  She's usually done teaching by 4pm.  On Saturdays its a parade of lessons that really don't suit me and he's already in the 8am lesson with his other rider.

I took myself completely off the lesson schedule today.  During the summer or when I take a break from work I'll pick up some lessons but I'm no longer in regular lessons.  We have no adult supervision.

Do we look like we should be left unsupervised?

It's not really a surprise to anyone that I'm bringing things to an end with my regular lessons.  As Theo settles in as a Second level pony (got clean changes both ways without porpoise impressions today!), I'm increasingly aware that I'm the most advanced student Trainer A has ever managed.  Mistakes are made, confusion abounds, and there's a certain amount of mutual flailing as we figure out what mid-level dressage is supposed to look/feel like.  Eyes on the ground?  Excellent.  Teaching me how to get that shoulder in down quarter line dead straight?  More problematic.  Knowing when we're ready to go show at Second?  No idea.

Second level pony or not, he sure is pretty

So now what?  Good question.  I've looked at all of the barns that are in a reasonable drive from me and there are no trainers for dressage that are more experienced than I am.  Almost all of the barns in my area are up-down barns or have no training available at all.  So there's no point in moving barns, I'm not going to get more training.  That leaves me with trailering out and clinics.

It's January in NH, I'm not going anywhere right now.  After the last flood and freeze, my trailer is behind a wall of ice that I need to take out with a sledgehammer.  My road is dirt with ice and then a layer of sand on it.  No, I don't want to trailer anywhere right now.  Come March, I'll need to start heading out again.  Mary Howard is an obvious starting spot.  I could work something out with my boss to let me go out for a once a month lesson, I'm sure.  There's also rumor that the clinician I rode with last year that I really liked is coming back.  A couple of repeating clinics, some trailer out lessons, it should keep me from sliding into the abyss.  And occasional sanity checks with Trainer A as opportunities allow.

It's very scary to think I'm on my own now.  In some ways I had been before, but now it's all official.  I'm my own trainer. 

Together again

I got to go to the barn!

It's sad that just putting on my breeches was the highlight of my week.  And then I got to pull into the barn parking lot and that was a new highlight.  And then my pony saw me, whinnied, and hustled up for his cookie.  Definite highlight.

Good gravy he's fluffy this time of year.

I needed to take pictures of my western saddle so I could post it for sale.  I'm lazy, so I tossed it on.  It also meant I could ride in my winter boots.  Double score.

Hopefully it will sell and I'll be able to combine that with a bonus from work for my new saddle.  I was all set on my DP Variofit but then I stumbled on the Harmony western dressage saddle and it looks very promising.  I think I'll have their demo saddle sent up for a trial.  If it fits, I'll order up one of my own.  It's a very pretty saddle with lots of options.

I hate saddle shopping so much. 

Lost time doesn't seem to have affected my fluffy friend too much.  The sass monster is still lurking, but he's keeping it in check.  I appreciate that.  I've got one more work trip and a break out of super cold weather coming up that will disrupt things again, but I'm hopeful he won't lose too much fitness and we'll careen into March ready to break out of the indoor.

Adulting sucks

I found out I'm going to be traveling for work.  Jan 22, I have to go to NYC to meet with a bunch of execs and part of the Board of Directors for one of my projects.  On Feb 5, I'm off to New Jersey for an all company meeting.  For the next two weeks, my project is going to require 12 hours a day, at least, and some weekends. 

Guess what doesn't happen when I'm on that kind of schedule and taking work calls until 8pm?

Yeah, that.  Also sleeping and eating, but the riding is what's actually ticking me off.

My job pays for my horse but sometimes it makes it very hard for me to enjoy my horse.  I called Trainer A today and told her to consider Theo a lesson horse for the next two weeks.  Use him in lessons, ride him, whatever.  His other rider also got a text saying that she can ride him lots and lots over the next two weeks and she sounded excited.  Theo will be well exercised and well loved.  With the cold snap forecasted for early next week, it's really for the best that I just hang up my spurs until this work emergency is over.

I'm still pissed.  Theo and I were really getting into a groove!  Yeah, yeah, gotta save the company so that I can get my paycheck, but can't someone else do that while I go to the barn?  Or maybe tell the Board I need a couple more weeks because I need to go see my horse instead of working all night?  He's got needs!

Reality sucks.  When I was a kid, I thought being an adult would mean I could ride any day I wanted.  Now I know it's quite the opposite.  The more money you have for your horse, the less time you have to ride them.  It's a terrible equation.

The running life

Yup, I still run.  Not nearly the crazy levels I was running for awhile, but enough to keep my cardio up and avoid Theo having the upper hand.  Hoof.  Whatever.

In 2018 I ran around 450 miles and something like 25 races, everything from one mile to a half marathon.

In my team uniform and everything

I made all sorts of friends and learned a lot about being an athlete.  Let me tell you, when Theo has an off or creaky day after a hard work out, I am far more likely to just let it go.  I've had many days with a scheduled work out that got rescheduled for a hip or knee that just did not want to work.  I've learned that prevention really is everything, nutrition is huge, intervals for strength training are not to be rushed, and the right equipment makes a tough thing a bit easier to manage.

My goals for 2019 are a bit different.  2018 was all about learning and trying a little bit of everything.  I did road races, trail races, obstacle races, short runs, long runs, group runs, solo runs, big races, little races, you name it.  I loathe running, so I wanted to find the least awful way to get it done.

My running bff with me for the Snowflake Shuffle 2019 (freaking 17* out)

 I now know that I'm not a really long distance runner.  My knees started to crap out once I was running 8 to 9 mile long runs each weekend.  Ow.  This year, I'm going to stick to 10k or shorter.  I may have that one 10 miler again, but I'll relay it or walk chunks of it.  No more halfs, the body just doesn't tolerate the training.  The actual race was not bad, but the accumulated wear and tear isn't something I want to repeat.

I'm also not a fan of obstacles.  Seriously, how does anyone do any of that nonsense and live to tell the tale?  But I have now actually experienced a friend yelling 'do a barrel roll!' in a non-ironic, non-joking way.  Is that an accomplishment?  I feel like it should be.

I prefer trail races.  I like the challenge of uneven footing, the slower paces, and the scenery.  Something about running through the woods is much more fun and my knees appreciate the break from the pavement.  Down side?  Holy hell the deer flies we get!  So not in deer fly season, but the rest of the year, I want to hit the trails.

I enjoy shorter races where I can get out, knock out my miles, and get my beer.  Because I'm all about the instant gratification.  I got to a sub-30 5k in 2018, I want to aim for a sub-60 10k in 2019.  Interval work and runs that are typically five miles or less should keep the bod happy and the pony on his toes.

Today I tried to give Theo the day off after my 5k and he started rattling and slamming his gate as he realized I was leaving the field without him.  Well, fine then.  You can come out and play.  We played soccer for ten minutes straight with him chasing the ball without my input other than some tricky corners.  I need to buy a Pixio, he's so cute trotting after the ball and shaking his head before giving it a mighty shove.  It gives him an outlet to play and rough house without broncing during our ride.  He was quite well behaved after ten minutes of play time.

Took his braids out to reset them, the long, wavy mane makes him look even more like a Friesian

I still hate running, but the right shoes, company, and rewards makes it bearable.  And being able to kick my pony's butt when necessary is plenty of reward.

The magnificent land porpoise

Theo decided to remind us all that while he's a good boy, he is no saint.  The temps plummeted, the chiro gave him an adjustment, he got an extra day off, and we suddenly have a sighting of the rare and magnificent land porpoise.

One second I'm cutting across the short diagonal, the next I'm hanging on for dear life as my horse leaps magnificently into the air, props and attempts to bolt.  We've got enough miles that I felt it coming and didn't get rattled.  I sat up, halted, and looked over to the door to see someone looking horrified.  Theo heard them walking on the ice outside of the indoor and lost his mind.  It was a pity, he has so much more energy when he's sassy and we were getting some great work.

I dropped my reins to let Theo's brain reset while the teens yelled commentary about how cool Theo looks when he does that.  Yeah, yeah, it's great.  I'll be feeling that in the morning.  Jerk.

I worked him hard, then Trainer A worked him hard the next morning, and then his other rider got on him.  And he dropped her.  A little drop due to dropping his head and shaking it after a jump, but still.  Don't drop her!  We need her!

So I got on him today and did what I could when temps are at 23*.  I don't want his respiration up much, I don't want him to sweat, but I still need to get the energy levels down.  Ha.  Ha ha ha.  I went for forward trotting with bits of cantering on a long rein over 12 inch fences with walk breaks after every 4 fences.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  It certainly did the job.  He never got huffy or sweaty, but he was noticeably happier and calmer by the end.

He did squeal and leap in one of his changes, but at least the change was clean?  It was Trainer A's favorite, but it might have been because of the noise he made.  Seriously, he's a porpoise complete with really high pitched sound effects.

Hopefully he'll be done with this soon.  I don't need a lot of reminders on just how big and naughty he can be.