Summer's last hurrah?

It was a very warm 98 degrees this afternoon when we went out to the barn. Sweat was dripping down my face and back before I had even half-way groomed Curly. It felt like summer was making one last stand before the coolness of autumn takes over.

We took some time off from horsey activities this past week. I needed to re-energize after the fair, and I think E did too. Today was our first trip back out to the barns since last Monday. I'm not sure if the boys were happy to see us, but I was definitely delighted to be with them!

I spent my hour with Curly making his coat shiny and clean and then working with him in the round pen. E tacked up Monte with her Western saddle and headed out to the the arena to practice riding with one hand. She's gotten into the habit of riding with two lately - not at all acceptable in Western classes!

About 15 minutes into Curly's workout I heard E shouting "Whoa!" over and over. By the time I figured out it was her and got myself turned around, she and Monte were standing in one corner of their arena. After heading over to make sure she was all right (she was -although she was upset and crying) I found out that he had bolted for no apparent reason and it had almost unseated her. Luckily, she stayed on and was able to stop him.

I encouraged her to practice her disengagement exercises (move front legs, back legs, side pass, flex neck, etc.) to regain his attention, and then to continue riding. It was imperative that she regain her control and confidence, as well as practice some patience. All hard things for her to do while her heart was pounding a mile a minute.

But she did it.

E says that he wasn't perfect after his little episode, but was acceptable.

Our barn manager commented that as long as E kept her seat and then made him work after his naughtiness then all was good. And she is actually quite surprised that he isn't naughty more often given that he was a stud.

Helps me remember that Monte really is a good boy...and even good boys cut loose every once in a while.

The importance of saddle fit

Today was a day off - of sorts. E and I took a quick trip out to the barn so she could try out our new saddle pad with Curly.

Old saddle....New saddle pad!

We recently got this pad to help Monte with his saddle issues. It's made by a company called Equipedic and they claim that it goes beyond just cushioning the impact of a rider on a horse's back. This saddle pad is supposed to disperse the downward force over a greater area, thus making the ride more comfortable for the animal. Sounds good to me...and so far it seems to have contributed to Monte's improved well-being. Of course, we also bought him a better fitting saddle.

I started thinking about Curly and all of his behavior problems and wondered if perhaps a poor fitting saddle could be the source of much of his naughtiness as well. We already knew that his saddle was not the best fit, but had always assumed that it was "good enough." Maybe we were wrong in this assumption.

When E saddled up today, I asked her to use the new pad. Remember, this is the first time one of us has ridden him since June - and he definitely enjoys his "retirement" status. So I was anticipating some resistance from Curly - and possibly even his head shaking/bucking routine. But E found him easy and attentive. Watching from the sidelines, he seemed to have a wonderful, full stride...and well, he just looked darn gorgeous!

R working Curly in the round pen. She's been the only person to
really work with him much this summer.

Maybe a poor fitting saddle has had more to do with his behavior issues than we previously thought. I don't really know. E will work with him a bit more, pushing him a little to see what his response is.

I'm crossing my fingers that he becomes the good boy that I so want him to be...and I know that Rachel is hoping too.

Fair days....

Entering the arena to compete at the fair...

Today is the last day of the county fair. (Can you hear the big sigh relief???) And overall, I have to say it was a rather successful one. There have been no tears and E's outlook each day has been generally positive and upbeat. I couldn't ask for more.

Riding in the Open Command Class....

So here's the ribbon count: (4-H uses the Danish judging system)

Showmanship: White
Western Equitation: Red
Western Pleasure: Blue
English Equitation: Red
English Pleasure: Red
Trail Course Challenge:
Team Judging: 4th place (out of 10 ranked)
Individual Educational Poster: Blue
Open Western Command Class: 4th place (out of 6)
Plus, E won the high-point award for her breed class - she'll get a special award for that one.

E receiving her high point award.

In non-horse competition, E entered 8 photographs and received blue ribbons for 6 of them, red ribbons for the last 2. I'm pretty sure she'll forward 2 or 3 of her blue ribbon winners on to the Washington State Fair later this week.

To celebrate, she and I shared a funnel cake topped with raspberry sauce......mmmmmm.......

I'm looking forward to taking the horse home tonight and getting back to my regular life. :-)

Breathe, just breathe....

I feel like I am running on fumes right now. The rush to start school AND prepare for fair is just overwhelming at times. Consequently, I don't feel like I'm doing all that well at either task.

E's 4-H group has been decorating and practicing for competition almost non-stop. "Pre-fair" events were held last Thursday; E competed in a halter/showmanship class. As she and Monte completed their pattern I was hopeful that she would get at least a red ribbon, possibly even a blue. We knew she would get dinged for not shaving his whiskers (she disagrees with the practice, since those whiskers are there for a purpose!) but he was attentive to her cues, picked up his trot right away, did so-so on his fore-hand turn and set up decently for inspection. E was attentive to the judge and quartered nicely. And then the judge told her to hold her lead rope directly under the metal clasp. Huh???? We've been taught from the get-go to leave space between your hands and the clasp - that the rope is to act as an extension of your arm and that this extra space helps you SAFELY lead your animal. E, of course, did as the judge asked, and then trotted her horse off the field.

And that judge gave her a white ribbon. I don't get it....I think of white ribbons for the horses that totally mess up the pattern or refuse to do something. Her horse did as asked - on a loose lead rope!

So I became what I had promised myself I would never become - the parent that blames the judge (or referee or ump....) for their child not succeeding. After hearing the ribbon placements we kept muttering "Stupid judge" for the rest of the evening.

Saturday was a busy day trying on saddle after saddle after saddle..... Turns out Monte will be difficult to fit, so we drove all over attempting to find anything that might work. We eventually found one in Hermiston (about 50 miles away) and the shop owner is letting us borrow it for a week to really make sure. Which is good, since the dang thing costs almost $1K! Plus we are probably buying a new saddle pad (to the tune of $200) to ensure that whichever saddle we settle on is as comfortable as possible for Monte. Geesh!

I feel broke now. And I hate to think what fair will end up costing (imagining food, rides, parking, entrance fees, etc.) for the week.

Okay, enough whining....

On the bright side, E is riding Monte again. He seems to be much better. Curly is getting fat and appears happy in his new herd. I hope to work with him more next week and E said last night that she'd like to ride him after fair is over.

Which I think is a grand idea......

Time off

A certified massage therapist made a visit to the barn this morning...and he ranked Monte's pain level within the top 10 of his experience. Mike has been doing equine massage for 6 or 7 years and he said he could recall only 2 or 3 other horses who he deemed to be in worse pain than Monte was in this morning. (Hearing this made me admire our little man even more...he really has a great heart and so wants to please his young rider. Plus, even when he's in extreme pain, he has trusted us and has not struck out or bit at anyone. I couldn't ask for more in a horse!)

At first Monte did not like having Mike touch him, let alone massage his sore body, but gradually the horse understood that relief could be found in Mike's hands and by the end of the session Monte was actually leaning into the pressure.

Monte is still sore - but he is soooo much better than before. He will have the weekend off, just relaxing in the field. Mike will come out to reassess him on either Sunday or Monday.

We all think that most of this was caused by poor saddle fit. It was okay when E was going at a walk/trot but the addition of cantering - and hard turns - did some damage. So, we need a new saddle. And preferably before fair.....because we are NOT putting the old saddle back on him.

Beyond plain muscle soreness

Monte is a true trooper. Despite severe back pain, he tried to please his rider during the local schooling show tonight. We knew he wasn't in top form - each time a hand was run down his spine his whole body would twitch - but he didn't balk at going into the ring for the showmanship and English classes.

E could tell that he was sore while she was riding, too, but we didn't realize how much until she tried to mount him for the Western classes. The saddle hit him so that he almost fell over in pain. It was horrible to watch. We immediately took his tack off and a friend gave him a quick massage to try to relieve some of his agony. As she worked on his back we could see him relaxing, licking his lips and finally closing his eyes.

Back at the barn E gave him another liniment bath. I will call someone for an equine massage tomorrow.

E was so happy with Monte's performance. He really showed that he wants to give his best to her and she knows that with time and practice, they are going to be an awesome team.

Sore muscles

No riding today - both horse and rider are sore after yesterday's workout.

E spent 30 to 40 minutes giving Monte a massage this evening, and then washed him down with a solution of water and liniment to help relieve any lingering aches. He wasn't too sure about the whole process (It's those scary buckets full of water! We all know they eat horses!) but he definitely seemed looser after she was done.

They did take a moment to practice some halter skills before we left. E was happy with Monte's performance and hopes he can do as well in the show ring.

Curly has also been getting a workout these past few days. He has taken to standing at one end of the field he is in, looking forlornly out towards Monte. The other two horses in his pasture want him to join them in the main part of the field and routinely chase him out of the corner. So he's been doing quite a bit of running. Hopefully he'll fall in with his new "herd" soon and all will settle down. I hate to see him being chased about and bullied. And honestly, I don't know why he's missing Monte so much. Heaven knows Monte bullied him and pushed him around all the time, and even bit him last week!