First Three-Phase

"Aw, beat out by half a point!"

Ruby decided to behave and load on the trailer for our Riverdale show (thank God!). This was our first time ever being judged in a dressage class. Since we have not worked much on cross-country, we decided to enter in the tadpole 3-phase (USDF Intro C, 2' stadium, 2' XC).

For the dressage: not our best performance. Mostly from nerves on my part- our warm up was absolutely beautiful, but once we were in the ring I started getting overly anxious. This resulted in messing up a cue for our sticky left lead, so we picked up the wrong lead for that canter circle (ouch).

We scored a 73% with scores at:
1. 8
2. 6.5 (not deep enough in corner)
3. 7.5
4. 6.5 (awkward circle)*
5. 6 (abrupt)
6. 8 (very good rhythm)
7. 7.5
8. 3 (picked up wrong lead)
9. 4 (still wrong lead). Didn't fix it, so my bad haha
10. 6.5
11. 5 (needs to stretch down more)
12. 7.5
13. 7 (not straight but beautiful halt)

*awkward circle- I practiced my tests at home in a full (large) dressage arena...which  means I was missing a whole circle in there and had to do some interesting calculations quickly.

Collective remarks:
Gaits 7, Impulsion 7, Submission 7, Rider Position 7.5, Aid Effectiveness 7, Geometry and Accuracy 7.

Overall comments: Very nice test; circles and bends very good. Need to pay attention to your corners.

Not too shabby for our first time :)

The stadium jumps were fairly straightforward. Very simple hunter course with an outside line, two diagonal lines, and another outside line. The first jump was the most difficult/spooky since it was a plank. I had Ruby trot in and canter the rest of the course. Clean round.



Thanks to Dan for the pictures!



I did not get any pictures of the XC round because Dan had to leave (to make me dinner!). Since we have only ever had one XC lesson at Debi's I decided to start out trotting all the jumps. By about jump 7, Ruby broke into a nice quiet canter so I figured, why not? Completed the course like a champ!

From an artistic standpoint, Dan snagged an interesting shot for me (which I tweaked a bit with my "I am too poor and cheap for PhotoShop alternative, Picasa").

Next show is on June 6th at a new venue: Chatt Hills. Can't wait to see how that goes.

Trailer Failure

"Well, guess I can go back to bed"

Nothing is more frustrating than having a horse that doesn't load...especially when the issue arises out of nowhere!

Debi trailered Ruby to a show earlier this season with zero issues, so when I scheduled Ruby for her next Riverdale show, loading was one of my last concerns. I was more worried that I would forget my dressage test! (This was to be our first dressage show).

Here is the interesting thing: Ruby walked on the trailer fine. She would go in, get up to where she was supposed to be, and have an exceptional panic attack resulting in her 900 lb (eh, give or take a few) pony body flying out backwards at ten million miles per hour. Yeah, okay Ruby, let's decide to be a serious safety hazard shall we? In this situation, the key was to get Ruby in, calmly stand there, and back her out quietly. Debi had me walk her in, stand, praise her, and keep contact off if she bolted back out; once out, we immediately walked back in. The first few times were terrible! At one point, I went under the escape bar thinking if I were in front of her she would, I don't know, chill out. Except instead, she bolted and I couldn't do anything but let go of the lead rope...

Que Ruby's catching issue.

Chased her around the property both confusingly fearful and yet almost hoping she would run into traffic and get hit by a bus. Really not pleased with the pony at this point- the only reason I caught her is because she stepped on her lead and jerked on her own face- we did have a chain on her.

Back to the trailer to try again. This took quite a few tries before she settled down. She never got quite where we wanted her to be, but she got on and waited for me to ask her to back out without killing anyone, so we called it quits at that point and decided not to take her to the show.

Debi met me at the barn on two other occasions this week to practice some more, with much better results. We are schedule to go to another show this Sunday- we will see if we make it there!

Bumps and Bruises: Hematomas

"It looks like Ruby has a chesticle..."

I showed up at the barn on April 13th to Ride after being away for 10 days (Dallas, TX for business travel). At first I did not notice anything was wrong with Ruby- until I tacked her up and she made a face as I tightened the girth (which she never does). I hopped on, took her to the ring, Debi looked right at her...and she asked "are her boobs usually that big?"

The lesson went fine and it didn't seem to have bothered her. I do not know when the actual incident happened, but the fist-sized lump was mildly squishy, not warm to the touch, and did not bother Ruby unless I squeezed pretty hard. At this point we decided it was probably a hematoma.

As you can see, there is also some slight swelling on the right (her left) side. This felt like it was all just stretched skin. These pictures were taken after the lesson, so you can see the swelling in relation to where the girth sits.

Typically, you want to hose a hematoma with cold water right when it happens to encourage the bleeding to clot. Most vets recommend not riding until the form has hardened so that you don't inadvertently cause more bleeding/swelling. The interesting thing about hematomas is that they occur post trauma- but the location of the hematoma is not necessarily where the trauma occurred: Ruby could have been kicked higher up somewhere, but the swelling was pulled down (thanks gravity) to where it sits now. Hematomas on the chest and under the armpit are pretty common for this reason.

Since Ruby's lump had already hardened by the time we noticed it, I missed the early treatment phase. Now, we wait. Smaller hematomas usually resolve on their own, but it can take months for the body to reabsorb the mass.

Here is an article about Hematomas.

By April 22nd, there was already some improvement:

All of the swelling/lose skin is gone on her left side, and the main mass has reduced. The hematoma is still hard and it does not bother her when I mess with it.

I will continue to monitor her each time I come out to make sure nothing changes. If you, at any point, notice that there is more swelling/heat/discomfort- call your vet.

Since Ruby's hematoma is pretty small (most vets consider 'tennis ball' sized as small), I will probably not end up doing anything to hers. However, larger hematomas can be lanced to drain them. Although this can speed up the healing process, you do run the risk of introducing infection/bacteria to the wound. Again, if you think lancing is an option in your case, discuss with your vet the risks of doing so.



It is ugly, but hey. I am hoping the judges won't notice in our next show.


Update (May 15th):

MUCH better-the lump is about the size of a small egg; it is hard to see at this angle because it has migrated a little farther back towards her belly. Still no signs of heat or swelling so everything looks good so far. I am hoping that in another couple weeks it will be gone completely. We have been continuing our weekly lessons with a few rides between (I would say about 3 rides per week) and she has been doing fine. Some people told me not to ride while the hematoma was healing, but it has not caused any negative effects and may actually be helping.

I will continue to monitor her 'chesticle' and update on here when it does finally go away.

Trying Cross Country

"Meet me at the top of the hill."

I have been at my current facility for over a year and have never made it out to the xc field...until now!

Other friends have mentioned that they thought Ruby would do well in xc, but it really isn't something I have seriously considered- you know, since people/horses die doing that shiz all the time. However, I have slowly been moving away from the hunter scene since xc/dressage events don't see to care that I am an adult and Ruby is a pony.

Debi had us warm up in the riding arena just to see what mood Ruby was in that day. We worked our way up to 2'7" (we did measure it), then headed out to the field.

Warming up in the arena

First jump out there! Little bitty log

Worked our way up to jumping small elements

                                                                                 
Since Ruby is a little mistrustful when I ask her to jump something 'new,' we took things nice and slow to give her plenty of time to look at the jumps before going over. By slow, I mean SLOW- we walked up to jumps and trotted a few strides away to give her PLENTY of time...no reason for her to go "oh wait wait?" like she usually does. This was a great idea for me as well, since it allowed me to just relax and let her do her thing. After the lesson, I thought maybe there was hope for us after all :)

thanks to my sister, Julia, for the photos.

First Alabama Show

"That's why you need a crop..."

I (by "I" I mean Debi) took Ruby to her first show/first offsite excursion last Saturday at Riverdale in Fayetteville, TN. We have not registered or joined the show association since we really just wanted to get out there and school, but these are MTHJA (certified?- not sure what exactly the lingo is these days).

My initial thought was to take Ruby just to hang out for a bit...maybe do a w/t flat class. Debi had other ideas, and she ended up convincing me to do put my big girl pants on and jump in (ha ha).

Our first class was a simple 6 jump 18" course (apparently, you were just supposed to trot the jumps, but we cantered because...well, we had no reason to trot those). Ruby went right over everything so we decided to scratch the others in the division and wait for the 2' division (the standard 2 trips+ flat class).

The course was the usual line, diagonal line, diagonal line, line. However, the first element was a 2 stride- usually there are a good 5-6  strides between jumps; at least, there are at other shows I've seen. We went over the first jump and Ruby went "wait what?!" and darted out at the second one. Brought her right back and went over and continued the course with no other issues. Second trip was 'clean' except for one lead change (or lack-thereof). Flat class was, well, the usual: one thing I know we are super good at!

The show got pretty far behind schedule, so I will have to find some other barn gals to go with to make it worth Debi's time (seriously we were there all friggin' day!)

Obviously we have a few things to work on, but I can't say I am disappointed for our first time out in over a year and our first time jumping at a show.

Thanks to Debi for trailering us out there and taking up an entire Saturday to pretty much sit around!

My First Clinic

"She is just the cutest thing..."

I have been riding with a group of fantastic women for a year now- all of them ride dressage. When I moved to Cotton Meadows, I had only a rudimentary understanding of the dressage world. At first, I was super determined to stick with hunters, but after a full of year of nagging, these ladies finally finagled me into a dressage clinic with Wolfgang Scherzer.

Shout out to Tammy, who gave me her lesson spot and was kind enough to let me use her dressage saddle (since I don't have one)! And thanks Karen for helping me tack up (lol) those dressage saddles have super goofy billets...

I told Wolfgang that Ruby and I had only done about a half dozen dressage lessons plus a few training rides with Debi. He was still very polite and patient, although I am sure I am much below the skill level of his usual students.

We started out with the basic warm-up: walk, trot, accepting the bit, getting round, etc. Ruby has a tendency to lock up on the right, so we spent a fair amount of time trying to get her to be more supple in the neck. Next, we focused on me: I lock up on Ruby, especially when I have a short rein: to help with this, Wolfgang had me go around on more of a 'half/medium' rein, working on keeping my shoulders and elbows flowing: at one point, he took the rein (with me continuing to hold them as well) to show me the amount of pressure I needed for contact (yup, I had WAY too much haha). The canter has always been difficult. Ruby will be super nice at the trot, but the second I ask for the canter transition, she wants to take off running. It took a God-awful number of circles, but she did finally come back to me, relax, and take contact with her head nice and supple/relaxed. Maybe he was just being nice to the newbie, but he seemed to like Ruby and thought I did a good job.

Many of the things we worked on where the same things Debi has been telling me. I will ride with her in my lesson tomorrow and compare notes I guess. I did find a way to work the splint and gloves for my broken finger today as well,...yay for that!

Poor pony is going to get a spa day after having two hard rides back-to-back.

Thanks to Dan for coming out to watch me ride!

Ruby Gets a Truck

"I bought a show pony and can't get to shows!"

There are 7 horse trailers at my barn (last time I counted)...and I still have not been able to get Ruby a ride to a show. I have one friend who would take me but I hate asking her to go to a hunter show when she rides dressage.

So...

I bought a truck (which has been dubbed 'Hedwig'). Step one in getting pony to shows!

I did a TON of research on trucks for towing horses. That was the easy part- shopping was its own terrible beast. Some tips:

1. Do your research: know what you will and will not accept in a vehicle- towing capacity, engine size, 2wd or 4wd, cab size, mileage, etc.
2. Make sure the title is clean! My truck had a lien on the title and it has been a nightmare getting the auto loan and registration paperwork done.
3. PRE-PURCHASE INSPECTION (PPI)! This will cost you about $100. If the dealer is uncomfortable with you taking the vehicle off-site for inspection, walk away. I took mine in, and it ended up needing about $2,000 of work- which the dealer agreed to pay.
4. I had multiple dealers flat out lie to me about towing capacity. If you don't know, check the manufacturer's specifications (usually online). The easiest way is to pull the manual out of the glove compartment and look yourself. 
5. Online tools include: AutoTrader, Kbb, TrueCar, and RepairPal
6. If you can, look for a vehicle sale that comes with a warranty. My truck was an auction purchase which meant I saved a lot of money, but it was sold "as is" (making that PPI even more important).
7. Always test drive. Listen and feel for any abnormalities and make sure you are comfortable driving the vehicle. 
8. Never pay full value for a truck. Many dealers set prices high knowing the buyer will want to haggle. Look up the vehicle's trade-in value; the closer you can get to this price, the better! Holidays are always a good time to buy, as many dealerships run specials. Also consider how long the vehicle has been on the lot, as well as the vehicle condition.

A lot to think about, but a vehicle is an important piece of equipment. The last thing you want is to purchase a vehicle that ends up not working for you!