My oh so productive week comes to an end.

The week started with so much promise. I was super excited with the start of it last Sunday. However today was the last day I'll be able to ride this week. So to sum up I rode Sunday (amazing), Wednesday (scary cow ride), and today (friday = hack day). Wow! Oh well best laid plans right?

Today the scary cows that were horse eating on Wednesday never reared their ugly heads today. Thank goodness! However we did have a ton, ton, ton of people in the area (not too close) out hunting. So guns were going off left and right. Poncho is of course the only horse on the property who thinks the sound is earth shattering. However with the fact we were riding he kept his cool. I was actually pretty damn amazed. It could have actually been worse than the cow episode BUT it was not, go Poncho! However with all the "chatter" he was less than focused on doing any productive work. So after a little I just let him wander around on a loose rein and do his pony man thing. Which led us to going through the woods in his field. However we couldn't get all the way through with me still in the saddle. I had to hop off and lead us out. Oh well. He had fun.

Then I rode Midnite. My mom has decided that since she can't work her enough she would like me to try and squeeze in as many rides as I can. Right now we are doing nothing exciting basically just building up her stamina for the most part. She's not a fan on working from behind. She's more run around on the forehand and pull my arms out kind of girl. So we worked mainly on that today.

Settling In

The ponies are settling in quite well to their new home I think. It was touch and go the first day on what they though. Of course the one day it rains all day - with a lot of wind I may add. Combined it did not equal the most calm of ponies. However they held it together and didn't look like total out of control beasts. Success?

The next day when we got out they were running about having a grand old time. So I snapped pictures for a while. Then to wait them out some my mom and I went exploring on the trails around the property. Once we got back the ponies had calmed down considerably. So I tacked Poncho up and headed to the ring. We only did a quick ride w/t and the hack back the field. He was super duper for his first time down there. Not too spooky.





Monday I felt like death, my arms were going to fall off and I couldn't even put my car in park without my back killing me. So no barn.

Tuesday it was HOT by the time I got out there and the bugs were out with a vengeance. I still attempted to ride. We hacked some in the field which was not a raging success. I didn't think anything of leaving Midnite in there with us because why would she be a problem? Wrong. She was up his but the whole time or running at us on into us. FAIL. So we left the field. Rode in the ring for a few where he got a little pigheaded about falling in again. No surprise there. He cantered once - I didn't ask for it but it was nice and calm.  Then I rode down the driveway and back to the field.

Wednesday was an epic bug failure. I couldn't do anything on him. He was just hopping and twisting all over so I quit and called it a day.

Thursday I got there and someone else was riding his new pasture buddy. So he was back in with the ladies. I take him out to tack up and he loses his sanity. After several failed attempts I give up and turn him back out. Head back to the barn to grab some ointment for Midnite and the flyspray. Get back out to the ponies and Poncho is now lame. WHATTHEHELL! So I go back to the barn to grab bute and a halter to further assess situation. Although it turns out after about 15 minutes of me leaving him alone it was just a bug that got into his bell boot. 1g of bute wasted!Oh well.

Today I got a fairly productive ride in. Rode with the BO. In the field. W/T/C. Still didn't ask for the canter but he was just happy and wanted to go so I let him have some fun. I felt like I was 75% in control during canter - much improved. His trot work could have been smoother but he's not used to such a hilly area to trot. It'll just take some time. Ponyman just rocks. He's pretty much acting like a total rockstar. You'd never know he hasn't even been at this barn a whole week!

Perfection to "okay" to scared to great, all in a week.

Poncho's first ride in his figure 8 was perfect. He was going on the bit and just moving out beautifully! I was over the moon impressed with him. Just a lovely, lovely, lovely ride. The next day he decided he was a bit tired of the ring and put on his pouty face. I also had lowered the bit a hole to try and make it more comfortable (however he said he likes it better higher - go figure). After riding in the ring for a while we hacked out in the mare field he looooved that. We even trotted all they way back up the field, although Poncho thought we should go faster. He obliged and trotted, just really fast.

Monday he was off, then on Tuesday we headed back out to the mare field for a change of scenery. However the cows were out next door. That blew his poor mind. He finally conquered the cow then they moved and we had to start all over. We ended up just trotting around the area by the barn and even though he wasn't 100% focused he was good.

Wednesday we hacked out in the gelding field with Mom and Midnite - just walked. Poncho was not too amused with all the slow work. So after he had Thursday off on Friday we headed back out to the gelding field to let him let loose. After trotting around the field (in all two-point for me) I let him just go down the field. And boy did he appreciate it. He was flying, not really just for the work we are doing now. After walking around for a few then I wanted to just trot back down the field. He didn't agree. About 1/2 way down I couldn't hold him back anymore. So he had a nice collected canter all the way back. Silly.

Yesterday he was a superstar! He was soooo hyper we had to canter it out before we could do any productive work. Although he still really doesn't want to pick up his left lead in there we finally got it. We even did some jumping! Only a little cross rail but it's the first time he's jumped without refusing when he has a bit in his mouth. I was just so so so happy! I didn't get the best trot work ever he just wanted to go go go . But I was still super pleased with him.

Today I was planning on just giving him a bath. Good thing too it turns out he pulled a shoe this morning. Apparently he had it when he was leaving the pond field this morning and pulled it in the few hours he was in the mare field with Midnite before we got there. Luckily the farrier is coming out Wednesday for another horse so Pony gets a new shoe. I couldn't find his lost one though, not for lack of trying. My mom and I were out there looking for over an hour today. Poncho and Midnite even helped us look for a while. It was pretty adorable! Nothing though! Needless to say on the way home I stopped to get some bell boots.

Squeezing in a few more rides.

On Saturday, after our wonderful hack out in the gelding field, I went out wayyy late to ride so I could ride with my Mom. We ended up going in the ring due to all the other ponies being turned out. Poncho was definitely less than pleased but was a gentleman nonetheless. He did have a nice pouty face going on however. We walked and trotted around for awhile sorting out his bolting issue from the last time we rode in there. Don't know what it is with that one spot in the ring but ohwell. After he got over that little issue, before we wrapped up the ride I wanted to try a quick canter with the hackamore in there. It wasn't horrible but the hackamore didn't cure his issues. I didn't really think it would though.

On Sunday Mom wanted to hack out in the gelding field with us. So we meandered around for awhile enjoying the nice weather.

Yesterday, Wednesday, it was so humid out I felt like I couldn't breathe. But I really wanted to ride. So I planned on doing a quick-ish conditioning ride out in the gelding field. We walked a lap, trotted a lap, changed directions, trotted a little more, then walked some more. When we turned for "home" I decided on a whim to let him open up a bit. We started off at a nice brisk canter - then I asked for a smidge more. He readily complied then about 6 or 7 strides in to our slow gallop he went full on bucking bronco on me. He was feeling GOOD! It was kind of adorable. I got him back under control in a matter of seconds and we trotted off to regain our balance. Then we picked our canter back up and finished going down the long stretch in the field. He felt wonderful! He was even straight! Ohmy! It was sooooo nice!

We also had the vet out for Midnite's recheck from her adequan. She passed with flying colors. Score now I can start really diving into her conditioning work. However the visit did yield some more expensive results with both ponies. Farriers Formula Double Strength - both ponies. Accel - both ponies. Four shoes - Midnite. Front shoes - Poncho. Joint supplement - Poncho. Wow they went from easy keepers to high maintenance in one short visit. HAHA.

I am a ninja!

That's right. But before I get to the juicy details I need to mention that last week I only was able to work monster man two times. And our ride on Thursday was literally  10 minutes(in the pond field) - wayyy too hot. Then on Saturday we was HYPER. He got the notion in his head that when trotting around the far side he need to take off and run the other way. Possibly even smack into a fence. It took some coaxing but he finally managed to get it straight in his head. Other than that he was fantastic. He gave me some of the best trot and canter work we've had in a while.We even did some canter pole work - FANCY I know!

[caption id="attachment_109" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I don't like the heat![/caption]

So all  of that leads us upto yesterday. We headed back out to the pond field to spice things up a bit. I had envisioned a nice trot set up and down the nice little hills out there. We warmed up and walked around for a few. Then I asked for the trot. He was nice and forward, as we went along he started to loose forward and begin to rush. I might add I was in two-point through all of this. Then next thing you know we are running down the side of the field heading for trees and a hill. I nicely ask him to slow back down - benefit of the doubt right? He emphatically said no. Which then led to him jerking his head down and proceeding to do his best impression of a bucking bronco. I have no clue how I didn't come off. I mean I was in two-point I should have flow. But no I am a NINJA. After I finally got his head and got him slowed down we went back around for round two. He was nice a polite then. Go figure. Then for the remainder of our hack he was a perfect gentleman. Goober boy.

[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I'm innocent, I'm no bucking bronco.[/caption]

Also little man had decided he's too shy to pee while I'm on him. I know he has to go, he stops likes he's going to then doesn't. So when I get off almost immediately he pee's forever. Poor guy if only he knew.

I also worked Midnite for a bit yesterday. You can tell the adequan is making a big difference. However she has decided that outside aids are a no go. So we spend the majority of our ride working on yes you really do have to listen to these. Silly mare. She tries her hardest to get out of work. But I guess she doesn't realize what all I go through with Poncho so that her little "tricks" are nothing to me. haha.

Just in the nick of time and the pinnacle of Poncho's weekend.

To start off I'd like to mention that Poncho has been "punished" by the barn. Apparently they think he's been liberating his friends from their grazing muzzles. Because apparently they are too stupid to realize they can rub them off, or pop them off (some have breakaway ones). Even though I have witnessed some of them do just that. But noo it must be Poncho ruining their best laid plans. So poor little man has been kicked into the "diet" field again (atleast it's only at night time - although that does mean he misses his friends). Poor, poor Poncho.

Moving on yesterday started out as a beautiful sunny day, a little cool but beautiful non-the-less. I got out to the barn around 11 and it was just starting to get slightly cloudy - no worries though. I went to get Poncho and he whinnied for me and came halfway to me (come on he can't give me coming all the way over - too much effort) so I met him halfway. He was so super calm while I was grooming and tacking up. To speed up the process he even stretched his legs out for me. It was priceless. I decided to ride out in the gelding field so we cut across the ring so as to not walk across to much gravel. (I think I'm going to have to put shoes back on him for the summer BOO.) Since he did just exfoliate his whole sole on his fronts. We lucked out and managed to snag a few minutes riding with another lady at the barn. I love the opportunity for Poncho to work with others and still keep his focus. He was a smidge uppity jogging and jigging sporadically. No biggie I mean for the last two weeks he's only been worked 3 days a week when he clearly needs and likes 5-6 days. Once our riding buddy finished we headed to the ring to blow off some steam with some nice trot work. I didn't feel like pushing the canter. Good thing too. He gave some lovely trot work and is improving on softening to the bit with each ride. After about 8 minutes of that we called it a day. And once I turned him out and was giving him a nice wither scratch (I might add he liked it soo much he groomed me back too so cute) it started drizzling. So I figured okay a little mist while I work Nite no biggie. Then it really started to rain. DAMN I didn't bring my rain coat. So I called up mom and she gave me the okay to not bother. Score. As I was leaving Midnite was hiding out in the run-in. Poncho true to form was out in the open getting poured on. What can I say he's a nature lover.

Today I was planning on hacking out in the mare field with Mom and Midnite. Poncho was ecstatic. He finally infiltrated the lady field with all their lady like smells. He was nice and forward and coming on to the bit. However Miss Nite decided she was not having it there could be no boy in her field. She got real cranky and unresponsive to mom. So we left and headed to the ring. Poor Poncho he was so upset that he had to leave since he had finally reached his ultimate goal. However in the ring he was a superstar. Even though it was majorly sloppy from all the rain (luckily mainly only on one side). His trot work was some of the best I've had in a while. His canter to the right wasn't half bad. To the left he just didn't want to give me the lead, he finally did but I had to work my ass off for it. Then we took a mini break. To keep up with his memory we were going to do the cross rail again. I clearly need to come up with a new plan of action for our rides now that we are adding a few jumps in. He gets so frazzled with his lead issue that jumping is just too much. After two tries and knocking it down I hopped off to fix it. Then walked around to regroup some. We came at it from the other direction this time. It took several tries he just wants to rush. (Que placing poles next time -coulda, woulda, shoulda) Finally we managed to get over it twice. It wasn't pretty by any means but I praised him like crazy anyways. We just have to work through this small mind block he's got going on and then we'll be golden. I know he can jump like a beast.

A visit from the Farrier and the Vet!

Poor ponies had such an eventful day yesterday. And to top it off it was super windy and cold! Just the perfect equation for success - not. Luckily they were both very good for the farrier. We did end up not planning things out perfectly for time so the ponies had to wait for awhile in the paddock behind the barn for the vet to get there.



Poncho did not appreciate that he was in the same paddock that the friesian was in last week. He thought he was quite smelly. Anyways once the vet got there the wind was HOWLING! And of course the first thing they wanted to do was watch Poncho go undersaddle. I think overall he held it together fairly well. He was ouchy walking over the gravel going to the ring but he did just have his feet trimmed a half hour ago, roughly. So I get on we walk a lap then I pick up the trot - then the next thing you know we're cantering down the ring and he slams me into the fence as we're turning. Nice way to start off. Silly, silly pony. So from then on we stayed in a 20m ,give or take because Poncho was not really paying attention, circle at the trot. Until it came time to actually canter. He did not want to pick up his left lead and on his right lead we had the same issue as always. He still did offer to round up several times so he wasn't totally checked out. But because of the weather it was hard to determine if his issues are physical or training. The good news is that he is in fact sound which is what the whole point of his re-check was. So the adequan is most definitely working! Our current plan of action is to see how he progresses when put into a mini traing boot camp to "fix" his canter and re-evaluate if there is no improvement. Simple enough I suppose.

Moving onto Midnite, our initial goal was to continue on with her chiro work but after watching her on the longe and doing some flexions we have determined that her issues are not all fitness related. We weren't quite sure last time due to her lack of work. But after being in some fairly consistent work for the last few weeks we can rule out that it's all fitness related. So Miss Midnite will be started on some adequan too. Luckily with her though we can shop around for a better price since I no longer have my employee discount (I worked at my vet for a temp. position) we can browse. Also luckily she is not bad enough that we have to stop working her in the meantime.

All in all not the best work-ups ever but not the worst by far. I just wish the weather had been more conducive I don't know if things would have gone a different way if everyone wasn't so distracted. Oh well we'll see how things look in another month or so.

Getting out and about!

Since Poncho was struggling with his canter in the ring I decided to take a different approach these last two rides.

On Tuesday I was riding solo and didn't want to be bother with the ring. So we ventured out to the big gelding field (for those who don't know/remember it's 14 acres). We walked up and down the field once each direction. Then we cantered. The first canter I did on his "good" lead, his left, it was a bit bouncy you could say. He was hopping and tossing his head around for the first half of the field. Until he realized we were simply cantering down the field, then he got right down to business and cantered on. Ha. When we turned around he started to get a little fired up his trot just got totally pumped up. Then we broke into the canter. And boy was he moving out nice! He still drifted out majorly, majorly. I didn't push the issue at the time though. Since it was his first time doing that as long as he was content to go I was happy. Then we hacked around the field for awhile. After a lap of the field we went to the back where there's a nice hill and did a bit of hill work. All in all it was a nice change of pace and I think it's a ride type we are going to continue adding to our routine.

Yesterday (Wednesday) by the time we got out to the barn it was HOT. I felt like dying I can't even imagine how the ponies were feeling. So I knew right away it was an easy day. Mom came out with me so we both headed to the pond field. Poncho thought there were some monsters hiding in the woods and on several different occasions felt like he may just explode at any moment. He didn't though. We only walked around for about 20 minutes because it was just sooo hot and Midnite isn't used to working on varied terrain as much as Poncho. But still even with that poor Poncho broke a sweat.



On Tuesday I only longed Midnite I was tired. It was extremely brief because it seems that dragging the ring isn't a priority at the moment and it was like concrete in a couple of spots. So I didn't want to stress her joints out too much. Then on Wednesday in the pond field she was a super star. She seemed to handle the terrain exceptionally well.

Bit by bit.

We're getting there. Slowly but surely.

In the last three rides (Friday, Saturday, and today) there has been immense improvement. Friday we started out a bit rushy and very stiff at the canter. Although he still listened to what I asked, he wasn't quite "there".

Saturday started off much more consistent. We even ended up going out to the gelding field for a hack to cool-out. While we were in the ring we worked on our figures and consistency in the gate. I think things are starting to stick. YAY.

Today he seemed to almost pull it all together. He was much more consistent in his trot work. We did lots and lots of cantering it's still got ways to go. On our right lead we still epically fail. I want to take him to the gelding field and just canter up and down it - so that he can just canter and not worry about turns. The adequan is for surely making a difference i've noticed that he's trying to come on to the bit more often now. Today we got some glimmers of it in the trot. And then when we went out to the gelding field with mom and Midnite he was full on going on the bit 85% of the time. So he's definitely pushing much more from behind now.

Midnite is now officially trotting undersaddle, about 5 minutes total. Luckily she seems to be having no problem with it whatsoever!

Such a superstar.

Poncho is such a little dude. I am just over the moon with how well he seems to be taking this whole adequan thing. He got shot number 2 on Tuesday. I gave it on the other side and he was even better than last time. He's just so grown up now. I feel silly for being so excited about how well he's doing.

In other news we also handwalked through the trails yesterday. He was a superstar. We had  a buddy which I think made all the difference with him. He did have a couple moments where he was on the verge of losing it. But held it together like a champ minus one little, mini, tiny bolt.

Also Miss Midnite was moving out much better on the longe for my mom yesterday post chiro work. Quite promising. We are just focusing on the quality of work she's getting right now and conditioning her up. It's so nice when something goes according to plan.

It started with so much promise.

Last Sunday I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with Poncho, so we tried some longeing. He was much better than the last time. I like to think we are making progress with it. Since I do really love to see him go.

Then Monday and Tuesday passed with no time left for the barn.

SO I didn't get to see the ponies again until the vet visit I scheduled for Wednesday. We started with Midnite on the longe because of how she had looked on Sunday. Ultimately we ended up re-testing her for EPM on the spot. Luckily it came back fine. Which led us to decided to hold off for the day on her chiro work for fear of doing to much too soon.

Onto Poncho we decided it would be best to see him go undersaddle. I am so glad we did that. It was the first time I got some real feedback on what has been feeling "off" to me. It turns out he is in fact sore in his hocks. So I am not crazy. I feel horrible that it took so long to get to the bottom of. But after watching him go we decided we wanted to do flexions. However we wanted to see him flex cold, not warmed up. Which meant on Thursday we had to go out again. He ended up flexing slightly positive in his hocks - no big surprise though. So he's now on adequan and in 3 weeks we will re-evaluate. Luckily Poncho decided it's okay for me to give him shots, just not the vet. So as long as this thinking continues the adequan is a-go.

In other news I had to have a discussion with the Barn Manager about our horses weights. Apparently only she, because my vet says they are perfect, thinks that they need a major diet and grazing muzzles. GAHH. So poor Poncho is so depressed stuck in the diet field during the day longingly looking at "his" field and friends. I feel so bad for him. He even whinnied and met me at the gate today. That n-e-v-e-r happens.

Today we ended up just walking and minimally trotting around the ring - it was mega soupy. Too much darn rain. He is still mega stiff and resistant to bending and stretching at first. He does improve somewhat through out the ride. Hopefully with a few more shots of adequan he'll be a new horse.  Only time will tell...

The spurs go on, the bit comes off, and we leave the ring.

Lots of things changed since our last ride on Tuesday. Friday I decided to put on my little spurs just to remind Poncho, hey mister my leg really is there. He got a little annoyed that he couldn't just ignore me. But listened well enough. Spurs aren't something I ride in all the time every once in a while just to remind him. We only walked and trotted mainly because he was just so resistant to the bit. We got some quality, quality trot work. However when he was not he was bracing and crossing his jaw. I felt so bad for him he was clearly unhappy with it. So to make it up to him we hacked back around the barn again. We even opened and closed the gate this time. I also promptly switched back to the hackamore once I put him back. We'll use that atleast until I can buy a nathe bit to try.

Today we ventured out to the pond field! Poncho was elated, of course. We just walked around to give him a mental break day. Although towards the end I did ask for a trot. I must say he does have a time limit. If he doesn't get put to work after a certain amount of time it just doesn't happen. Well that happened today. He was lazy x10 at the trot. He did it but put no effort into. Way to go. haha. Oh well he's aloud to have a lazy day every once in  awhile.

In other news I got new tall boots today. Instead of getting new half chaps and paddock boots I found at my local tack store a pair of Ariat Volants $100 off the regular price - hard to pass up. So I had an impulse by. Also we got Midnite some new joint supplement. Hopefully in another week or two she'll feel better. Those mares are crazyy running around like lunatics at all times of the day.

Alas, we put the bit back on.

Today was Poncho's first day back in his bit since before the new year. Crazy to say that but true. I must say I've been in love with how he's going bitless. However with the bit today he seemed to be thinking "what-the-heck". I guess since it's been over a month he just forgot how it worked? I don't really know. He was a bit resistant - we will work on more softening tomorrow. He was semi-rushy (a really bad habit he gets into when his teeth need to be done, guess he forgot they were done two days ago.). He was falling through his shoulder in some of the turns. But once he figured out how things worked again that was solved. We only walked and trotted today just to let him process this sudden change. Ha. After I don't even know how long another boarder came into the ring to jump. So Poncho and me just meandered around in the grass section for a few.

I pampered him a little bit once we were done. He's got to look mighty fine for his coggins pictures tomorrow. So I trimmed up his mane. It's not spectacular but in my defense I didn't have clippers (I usually roach it) or anything but scissors. Needless to say I made due.

Then I grabbed Midnite, she's getting ready to go into boot camp. Except a very wimpy boot camp, EPM version if you will. She was much better at the crossties today she didn't really try to pull back at all. I just let her sniff around everyone and look where ever she wanted to before we got down to business. Luckily my saddle fits her too, so I didn't have to switch to western. We did very minimal work. She is all over the place at the walk. At the trot she threatens to throw temper tantrums - she doesn't follow through though thank goodness. All things considered though she's not doing to bad.