Onward, Noble Steed

 Ever since Thunder came back into work a few weeks ago, I have one thing on my mind with him: forward. It's been a struggle ever since I backed him, but I have the tools these days to deal with it so much better.

I was actually amazed by how much I progressed as a rider in the six weeks that Thunder was out of work. When I got back on him again, there was so much that I could actually fix - stuff that had been bothering me for years but that I just couldn't quite get sorted out. And now we're finally getting to a place where I'm much happier with him, and we're starting to touch on this amazing horse's true potential.

I did take my whip back, though. I generally don't need to do very much with it, except maybe a few touches at the start of the ride to reinforce my ever-useless right leg, but riding him only with the spurs was beginning to devolve into an argument. He will need to carry his own butt a lot more forward before we try that again. At any rate, I can pretty much abandon the whip somewhere near the middle of each ride, which is just fine; even at a championship show I'll be allowed to warm up with it.

As a rule, though, he has been SUPER forward for his past few rides and so we can finally move on. We've still been doing most of the EM/M movements (single flying changes, half-pass, shoulder-in, even started playing with canter to halt), but focusing more on the gait quality with each ride than the movements. He really learns the movements quickly, they're never a problem, but the quality of the gaits is something I really need to pay more attention to.

Last week I got him a lot more straight and forward than normal and let him grow up into the contact more as well (obviously I've been overbending him without knowing it - welcome to the struggle bus, y'all) and honestly he felt AMAZING. He felt like he grew two hands and started taking much bigger, more swinging strides as well. It was a pretty wonderful feeling. I don't think I've ever felt him trot like that before.

I also put his mane into plaits because the beloved could no longer stand my awful mane-trimming jobs and begged me to let him grow his mane out instead, and I can't say no to that man

He's also so much more cheerful in his work now that I've made it clear that I'm not going to let him slop along behind my leg. Instead of arguing with my leg all the time, he understands what's expected of him and happily does as asked. In fact, he's positively enthusiastic about many things these days in a way that super-chill Thunder has never really been before. He LOVES his flying changes, especially when we play with the four-tempis, and even gave me a row of two-tempis recently. OK, so I was asking him to just canter down the centreline, but I couldn't exactly be upset about it regardless.

A big piece of the puzzle, I think, is physical fitness. I burned him out in late 2019 by schooling him every single day; he was fit, but it frazzled him mentally, more than I realized. Then I overcompensated by schooling him only three days a week, and sometimes missing a day here and there, and that was no good either. He just isn't fit enough to do what he knows how to do. Hacking is an absolute disaster on this animal (and not remotely relaxing for either of us), so at this point I've incorporated jumping back into his schedule once a week. He's a heavy dude and I have no interest in pounding his precious joints over big fences, but he does like doing his little gymnastics, and honestly it doesn't do me any harm to sharpen up whatever jumping skills I do have.

Another thing I need to work on is strengthening his left hind. He had a locking stifle on that side when he was younger; it hasn't locked for about two years at this point, but it's always his weaker side. He tends to twist his neck and lose impulsion in the shoulder-in left as a result, and struggles with really stepping over with his left leg, which makes his half-pass right a bit stiffer and less active than it is to the left. I think that some gymnastics will only serve to strengthen his hind end as a whole, as well as all the usual things I've been doing for his stifle for years - lateral work and rein-backs.

His top line is starting to reappear (and his beer belly is shrinking, lol)

Now that things have opened up a bit, I'm also starting to think of his show calendar for the rest of the year. Gauteng Dressage Champs ended up being postponed to the end of November, but SA Champs is in September, and I will likely ride at least one of the Friesians there so I would like to take him as well. It all depends on how he feels. We have a lesson next week, so that will probably be the deciding factor.

In other news, working chronologically through the Bible continues to be fascinating and rewarding. I feel like I'm looking at these familiar words and stories from a whole new perspective now that it's all in historical context. I'm into the later chapters of 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings, and studying the prophet Isaiah at this point. Isaiah is an absolutely remarkable book, and it's astonishing how much Jesus actually refers to this book in the Gospels. One chapter that particularly struck me was Isaiah 5, in which God describes the unfaithful nation Israel as being His vineyard: He has tended it and protected it, yet it has yielded no good fruit (faithful people doing His will). Then, in the Gospel of John, Jesus calls Himself the true vine, and tells us that we are all branches abiding in Him. It absolutely gave me goosebumps to stumble upon that comparison in the Old Testament, showing us how the coming of Christ utterly transformed our relationship with God. In the words of C. S. Lewis, "The Son of God became a man so that men could become the sons of God."

He is just magnificent. God is good.

Long Mane Care

 I've learned more than better dressage working at the Friesian farm. The management there is incredible, the best I've ever seen, and no detail goes unnoticed. One of those details is managing the pride of any beautiful Friesian: a long, flowing mane and tail.

Henson Anke's mane isn't even that long by Friesian standards. Photo credit Ashley K Photography

For years, I'd been keeping my own horses' manes trimmed. I'm not on board with pulling but one really can't tell the difference when the mane is plaited, and anyway, I kinda like the cute cut-mane look. I could never get long manes to grow properly long - below the neck - and they were always getting tangled and gross.

The only horse whose mane I didn't cut was Lancey's. It just seemed like a crime to cut an Arab mane, and his was always decently long, but it bugged me that it was uneven and never grew longer than the bottom of his neck.

The fabulous head groom at the Friesian place has been maintaining Friesian manes possibly longer than I've been alive, and he showed me how to handle long manes and tails. I've been using this method on Lancey for about a year now and the difference is just amazing! Here's how we do it.

On a day-to-day basis, we do our best to leave the manes and tails alone as much as possible. We'll pick out the straw and shavings and maybe put a little coconut oil on the roots of the tail, but otherwise, nada. We only brush the manes and tails when they've just been washed and conditioned (once every 2-3 weeks). 

It's also vital to have any kind of parasites or allergies under control. No amount of product or care will be any use if the horse is rubbing his mane and tail. Ticks, pinworms, and midges (no-see-ums) are some of the most important parasites to control.

Obviously, good nutrition is key, too. Hair is just protein, and the horse is only going to use his protein to grow hair if the rest of his body has got enough. Having enough fats and oils in the diet also helps to keep things really silky. The Friesians get a scoop of canola oil in their feed every day, and we have really high-quality, well-balanced diets at both stableyards.

Also, some horses just don't grow long hair. Arabs, Friesians, and Nooitgedachters almost always do, but there are other breeds who might just never grow much of a mane no matter what you do (looking at you, Appaloosas).

Once all that is covered, we have a bi-weekly pampering routine. It's just the cherry on top of good management, but it really does seem to help the hair get that extra bit of length, thickness, and waviness that makes a show Friesian (or Arabian) so spectacular.

Step 1. Washing

washed and dry unicorn actually looking white for once

We redo the manes whenever they start looking a little messy. For horses with long, even manes, this can happen every 2 or even 3 or 4 weeks. Some of them tend to rub their plaits out early, though. If it's been less than two weeks since the last session, we usually just skip the washing.

When we do wash, we often take the opportunity to just wash the whole horse (especially since I cannot handle Lancey being yellow and gross all the time). Both at the Friesians and here at my yard, we just use whatever cheap shampoo we have on hand. My super groom at my own yard uses Endeavon's Lemon Fresh shampoo, and the Friesians use Easy Waves Herbal Shampoo (which is for people). The Friesians follow up with Easy Waves Herbal Conditioner. While washing, we detangle any knots with our fingers while the mane is wet and conditioned. Then we rinse everything out very well.

Step 2. Gather the equipment

You can do this on a wet or dry mane. With Lancey, I prefer to do the mane when it's dry, because he naturally has a bit of frizz in his hair and plaiting it wet is just a recipe for explosive poofiness. The Friesians are generally plaited wet because then their manes look super wavy and cute when they're loosened again (we especially plait them wet the night before a breed show, when they're shown natural).

I like the elastics that come in a tub from Solo Saddlers - the tub is very nifty and they don't seem to break as easily as the cheaper ones that come in a packet. The colour doesn't particularly matter but I guess if you wanted to be pedantic you could use elastics that match the mane and tail.

I also really like this tail brush from Solo Saddlers. It's not cheap, but they do last really well and they don't pull the tails too much. Once again, this isn't for daily use - only for special occasions - and I tend never to use the tail brush unless the mane/tail has just been washed and conditioned. If washing wasn't an option, I use a leave-in detangler or conditioner to let it glide through the mane easily.

Whenever I redo the mane, I also use this Black Chic Hair Food product. I'm not sure if the exact product is available overseas, but the BEST tip for Friesian manes and tails is to use products designed for afro hair. This particular product is extremely inexpensive and really works well. You can get it in big buckets too.

The purpose of the Hair Food is mostly just to make the plaits neater and add a bit of conditioning to the mane and/or tail. It also smells SOOOO GOOD, especially the coconut one. I meant to buy the coconut one and grabbed the lanolin one by accident, but this one is just as good. It's supposed to help the hair grow, too. I'm not sure how much I buy into the idea that anything you rub on the hair really makes it grow, but I do like using this.

My one caveat is that dirt/dust do tend to stick to this stuff once it's on the mane. It washes off easily enough, but Lancey looks pretty gross after a roll or two. For that reason I only use Hair Food every second time I do his mane, otherwise the dirt just drives me nuts. I don't actually notice it on the Friesians, probably just because their black hides the dirt.

You could obviously also use a step or something to stand on while doing the mane, especially on a bigger horse.

3. Secure the horse

Most of the Friesians (and obviously Lancey) are very cuddly and love having their manes done, but the younger ones tend to get really fussy and fidgety. It can take a while to do everything - half an hour or so - and it's just not fair to expect the younger ones to stand for that long. We usually give them a haynet (with a little lucerne mixed in to tempt the more wiggly ones) to help them stand still, and usually put them in the cross ties for this.

Lancey is angelic in the cross-ties but Titan still offered to assist

4. Brush out and plait the tail

Lancey's tail was really smooth and silky after his bath in this example, so I just gently brushed through the tail from the bottom upwards. If it was knotty, I would definitely have used copious amounts of baby oil to work through the knots. Because he's white, I do tend to avoid oils where I can because dirt sticks to it, but the Friesians always get baby oil for brushing out.

Then, I work some Hair Food into the very top of his tail where he's rubbed it a little bit. Finally, I plait the bottom of his tail in a big, loose braid. It looks pretty silly, but it does protect the tail from dirt and helps it to look fuller and thicker once the plait is taken out. We generally don't do this with the Friesians just because their tails are SO thick and will knock you flat if they swish one of those massive plaits into you (and it's probably uncomfortable to have all that weight tied up for them). Some of them tend to get very knotty and soiled tails, so we'll braid those into four or five smaller braids, depending on the individual. The day before a show, we wash the tails and put them into a bunch of small plaits to make them look extra thick and wavy the next day.

5. Brush out the mane

Next, using the tail brush, I gently brush out the clean, conditioned mane from bottom to top (or put baby oil in an unwashed mane to get the knots out). There shouldn't be a ton of hair coming out in the tail brush, unless it's been three weeks or more since the last brushing - some dead hair is inevitable.

exactly one year's growth since starting to keep his mane in plaits

6. Plait the mane

These plaits are very different to the ones we make for a show. It's really important not to make the plaits too tight at the top - this pulls and gets very uncomfortable after a while. I also prefer not to plait right to the end, since that damages the ends of the mane.

I start by separating out a fairly large chunk of mane. I generally do fewer plaits than I would for a show - maybe 7 or so on Lancey's neck instead of 9 or 11. Smaller plaits do stay in for longer. Then, I rub some Hair Food into the roots of the mane and into the skin at the base of the mane. Keeping the plait loose at the top, I plait it neatly but not tightly until about two or three inches from the bottom, and then secure it tightly with an elastic.

I repeat this for the whole mane up until the bridle path.

Having the long mane plaited doesn't really stimulate its growth or any of that, but it really does protect it from getting caught on things, and especially from getting bits of hay or grass stuck in it and causing snarl-ups. What's more, especially for the Friesians, those long, thick manes are intolerably hot in summer when they're left to float in the breeze. Plaiting them gives the horse a nice flow of air over the neck and really helps them to keep cool. It also keeps the mane from getting all snarled up in the saddle and in the rider's hands, or rubbed by the blankets in winter.

I suppose, theoretically, that a particularly accident-prone horse could hook up a plaited mane on something more easily than a loose mane. I've never had a problem, though. Sometimes you can see that they caught the mane on a twig or something, but the plait simply pulls out, no harm done to the horse. The time that one of my Friesians came in from the field with half a branch stuck to her mane was when she happened to have her hair loose at the time!

7. Plait the forelock

Sometimes I skip this step if I'm busy, but I generally like to keep forelocks plaited so that they stay out of the horses' eyes - long forelocks in particular tend to irritate the eyes and get all snarled up with grass and things. I apply a generous amount of Hair Food into the roots of the forelock, then braid only the bottom loosely - not a French braid at the top like you would do for a show (this would pull and get irritating). Some of my Friesians have forelock plaits that go all the way past their nostrils!

apples for a good boy

8. Admire your pretty pony!

The plaited look might be a bit unflattering in the field, but I've found that it really keeps long-maned horses looking their best - and feeling cool and comfortable. It's a lot of work, but if the mane is even and the horse behaves, these plaits tend to last up to three weeks without needing to be redone. The longer you can leave them, the better. Undisturbed hair is happily growing hair!

Now I just need to practice doing a proper Friesian stallion plait for shows...

God is so good!

Lancelot's First Elementary

Two weekends ago, Lancey had his dressage debut with me.

It was quite the experience for the little guy, and I was pretty nervous going into it. Firstly - I'd entered him in Elementary 5 and 6, for better or worse, and I knew that it was a big ask. What's more, we were going to a venue where neither of us had ever shown before, and we were traveling with Vlinder so Lancey would have to ride in a box he didn't know with a horse he didn't know. He also spent the night before the show at the Friesian farm, and he's never had to overnight anywhere except his breeder's.

Still, he's a good lil dude. He traveled and overnighted absolutely great, enjoying his sleepover with all his big, black buddies. It was very strange to arrive at the Friesian farm on the morning of the show and see a little white head looking over the door at me. He'd even had a nice sleep in the straw, so that clears up any worries I'd had about how he'd be at overnight shows.

(Thunder and Arwen are both horrible at overnight shows, so thank you, Mr. Lancey).

He was a little sticky to load, but not too worried, and traveled like a little pro as always. When we arrived I hopped straight onto Vlinder and left her groom with Lancey, who ate his hay and ignored the rest of the world completely.

I was totally exhausted when I got off Vlinder - she was good, but gave it everything I had - and it was so pleasant to get to work plaiting my own horse and not get pulled all over the showgrounds. Don't get me wrong - I adore Arwen and we had a really, really wonderful time competing together - but it's so nice to have a sweet quiet little gelding who just nibbled on his hay while I sorted out his hair with his lead hanging over my arm.

We walked over to the warmup to find it fairly busy and full of relatively stressed people frantically practicing their simple changes. (I very quickly became one of them; Elementary is dang stressful, y'all).

I had changed my approach to the mental side of this competition. I knew going in that Vlinder was going to get her grading points pretty much regardless of what I was doing up there, and I wasn't worried about getting a certain score on Lancey - we were going for the experience. So it seemed like a good opportunity to tweak my approach a bit, even if it was taking a little risk. I have heard such great things about visualisation and for the last few shows on Thunder I was using it a LOT, especially the night before the show if I couldn't sleep and on the way to the show. For some reason, if I woke up in the night and rode my tests perfectly in my head, it would always go well, chill me out, and I'd go straight back to sleep. But if I tried to visualise on the way to the show, I always, without fail, forgot my tests and panicked. It ended up making me even more panicked once I was riding the actual tests.

I think I was overthinking my attempt not to overthink, which would just be typical.

my face though

So this time, when I woke up in the middle of the night before the show, I ran through all my tests in my head like I always do. But the morning of the show, I skipped it. I ride my tests at home foot perfectly without visualizing or doing anything different - I just ride them, and a dang sight better than I ride at shows, too. So that was my tactic: stop overthinking and just ride like I always ride.

The other new piece of kit I have in my anti-show-nerves toolbox is box breathing (inhale for a count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, wait for four, repeat). I synced my breathing with Lancey's strides as we walked around the warmup, and it didn't take long for that tingly nervous feeling to leave my hands, and my brain actually began to work. Amazing how oxygen will do that.

Lancey himself was super in the warmup. He couldn't care less about the other horses zooming around; he was a little looky at his surroundings, but went on with his job very nicely even though he'd never been to this venue before. To be fair, he's always a bit looky. It doesn't mean a thing.

We ran through our test movements and he was just fine. After a few minutes, I checked the time. It was nearly my ride time, but we were number 18 and number 17 was still in the warmup. I assumed that number 17 would be riding before me, but actually, they had only entered test 6 - I'd entered both. Something I definitely could have like... looked up on the ride times, but apparently my organization skills - which keep 10 kids together through 20+ classes on a SANESA day - had completely failed me. So I sat around happily waiting for number 17 to go, and when my ride time came and went, decided to head over to the arena anyway.

We were standing on the outside of the arena and I was shrugging on my jacket when suddenly the bell went. I looked up, and there was no one near the show arena except me. Normally I think riders have to be allowed to go around the outside of the arena at least once before the bell goes, but I was late anyway, so I decided to just roll with it and off we went down the centreline.

why yes that is a dirty patch on his bum

He did a nice little halt and then saw the judge's box at C and hesitated. I could have spurred him through it, but knowing Lancey, that would have resulted in tension through the rest of the test, so I let him stop and petted his neck and talked to him until I felt him take a deep breath. Then we carried on, and he didn't look at it once. I think if we'd gone around the outside before the test, he wouldn't have cared about it at all.

Of course, because I was busy sorting out his spook when K read the next part of the test, I then got promptly lost. The judge must have thought I was certifiably insane. No big deal, though; we went back around and started again, with an exasperated K yelling everything extra loudly (sorry K).

Overall, I felt like the first test went pretty well. I asked him for too much angle in one of the shoulder-ins, and he got a little stuck behind in the turns on the haunches, but that's something we have yet to iron out at home so I wasn't too bothered about that. His canter work was extremely obedient - I think he took a trot step or two going down into one of the simple changes, but they felt pretty good, and the counter-canter felt balanced and together.

I was really happy with him when we came out of the test. Despite the mistakes in the beginning, he had been identical to the way he always is at home, and best of all, I had ridden the way I ride at home. I didn't once get that wobbly, disembodied feeling that always means I've stopped breathing in the middle of the test. In fact, I felt normal and natural in the saddle and I breathed like a human being throughout. I don't think I've ever felt so good coming out of a dressage test. He really is the best boy 💜

The second test was in the next arena, which had a little shed/judge's box thingy near P which was full of jump uprights and things. It didn't seem particularly spooky just looking at it, but a lot of horses had been very nervous about it - Vlinder even had a little look at it and she's not even remotely spooky. Lancey is the BEST boy but Arabs gonna Arab so I had some concerns.

He looked at the judge's box at C, but again, I just stroked his neck and talked to him and he went right on past. The judge rang the bell before I could get to P but I decided to use my 45 seconds for good and spent some time letting him look at the spooky box. Still, he didn't take a deep breath, but my time was running out so I just walked him past and headed down the centreline.

He didn't look at the judge's box even once, and we started our test very happily and obediently. He was behaving pretty much exactly as he does at home - until we reached the last part of the test. It involves a half-circle E-B in counter canter, a simple change over P, a canter-to-walk at K, and then the walk tour: turn right at V, turn on the haunches right between L and P, turn on the haunches left between L and V, trot at L, centerline at A, halt at X.

It's a lot of movements packed into one small part of the arena, which would be no problem except that that happened to be the spooky part of the arena. Lancey was OK going past the spooky box, but when we did the counter-canter half circle, a bunch of ducks came running across the field right behind the box. His canter gave a big stutter, and he trotted sideways down into the simple change. We picked up the canter again but he was quite discombobulated and I didn't get him put together quickly enough for the walk transition. Of course, when we turned across the arena towards P, we were heading directly towards the box. He kept it together, but the turns on the haunches were a joggy, wobbly mess (and they're honestly kind of a mess in general).

When we finished that test, I had already mentally discarded the score. He hadn't been naughty or difficult, but tense enough to mess up all those movements in the end, and I chalked it up to experience. The little guy just needs to get out and about and see more things for that to go away; he stayed rideable, he stayed listening, it was just a bit of greenness.

I was unsurprised by my score of 51% for the second test; that whole last section was a slew of 3s and 4s for breaking and hurrying and doing all those fun things. But I was honestly pretty shocked when my score came in for test 5. It was 55%. I wasn't expecting miracles - I was hoping for a 60% - but it was a lot lower than I'd been expecting. We did have those two mistakes in the beginning, but overall we did just get a whole lot of 5s.

I was honestly a bit disappointed by that score, but I think it all comes down to the fact that he doesn't always let my aids go through him, and when I'm being a little conservative then I'm not consistent enough about really asking for those aids to go through. He doesn't quite carry himself right yet, but because he's such an obedient and willing little horse - and has three lovely gaits - he can do the movements of the level cleanly, just not well enough to get a better mark. Comparing the photos from the show to the photos from our last lesson, I think I let the gait quality slip in favour of the movements over the last week or two.

Still, scores or no, I was really, really happy with my first dressage show on Lancey just because of how relaxed I was feeling even though he was spooky. I don't know if I've ever trusted a horse like I trust him, barring old Skye when I was just a kid. It was genuinely fun and relaxing even though we weren't doing it perfectly. He gave me a feeling I've never had in the dressage arena before - a really, really good feeling.

I'll chat with my coach about what we do with him competitively going forward. I think I might show him at Novice for a few shows, mostly because shows are expensive and it'll be easier to get our grading points at Novice, which is mostly an obedience test (Lancey's got that covered). I can always skip Elementary entirely and ride him at EM once he goes up a grade, which is honestly a very attractive option (down with the simple changes!).

Either way, I was really happy with how this show went, and with this wonderful little horse. I'm going to have a lot of fun showing Lancey in the years to come, God willing - and I'm grateful for every minute I get to spend on his back.

God is good!

Show Photos: Vlinder

 So, before I dive into writing about Lancey's first dressage show (to summarize: felt amazing, scores less amazing, didn't care), I just have to share these gorgeous photos of one of the Friesians.

Vlinder is the cutest Friesian ever. Despite having huge parents and a great upbringing, she only grew to about 14.3hh, but that pint-sized body holds all of my favourite things about the Friesian. She's schooling Elementary/EM, but we don't have points to show those levels yet, so we were just trotting around at Novice and picking up some grading points.

The photos are by SashaRey Photography, and Sasha Chelin Physiotherapy very kindly sponsored free photos for every single competitor at the show. What a wonderful gift! I can never choose just one or two.

These photos are from Novice 6, her second test. She had a lot of nice moments in this one, but her first test, Novice 5, was the better of the two - she won it with 67.8%. This is the start of a 10m circle on the centreline. 

Finishing the circle. I could have kept that outside hind a little more under her, but I love how nicely she stayed up in the bridle through the circles.

It's a real pity this photo is a little unfocused, but it does show that despite her small stature, she definitely doesn't lack expression in her lengthening.

More lengthening.

This is my favourite of the bunch, I think. After another centreline and 10m circle, the start of a leg-yield. I can hardly believe that I'm actually sitting straight here - this is my harder side, too, and I struggle to keep my torso straight especially in rising trot. But it seems to be working.

Left hip coming up a little here. Dressage is hard, y'all. Vlinder is a good sport, though.

Starting the walk tour. Dressage is hard, but also fun.

This was walking straight towards the spooky corner where Lancey and I lost a bunch of points. Vlinder was a little wary of it too, but she was soooooo good and rideable. Good girl.

Prepping for the canter transition.

Her canter is frankly amazing, and a 12m circle is really not hard at all when you're 14.3hh, LOL.

She is SO shiny!

Gathering power for the canter lengthening coming out of the corner... 

... and we're off! Who says Friesians can't do a little tail flip too?

Going past the scary corner like a very good girl.

K was reading for me, which made a really big difference. I usually ride from memory, and honestly I almost never forget my tests, but I always worry about forgetting them. Having a reader just gave me one less thing to be quietly freaking out about, especially because I was riding four tests, none of which I've ridden in the last year or more.

I definitely felt pretty good riding these two tests with Vlinder. Vlinny is one of the few horses that I trust 100% and have just never, ever felt nervous on, so that definitely helped, and so did the lower level - but I think that having a reader also made a big difference. I also tweaked my mental show prep a bit (more on that later).

Riding in the Friesians' proper dressage saddles - a new Wintec Hart which I love, and a Bates Isabell Werth - has done a LOT for my position. Still imperfect, but that stupid chair seat I've been wrestling with for like 10 years finally seems to be better.

Levitating Friesian!

Friesians are so fun 💜

Trotting down for the last centreline.

She is just too gorgeous. I think she needs to go to a really ambitious kid - she's quiet enough for a beginner, but there is just so much talent here. She'd absolutely own the higher pony rider levels.

All done, time for big stretchies!

I have to pinch myself every day to be sure that riding these incredible creatures is even real. God is so gracious!

MS Lady Erin

 All the way back in 2016, I made my second foray into breeding horses. I had just bought the sweetest thoroughbred I've ever sat on - Magic Lady (now belonging to K), expressly for the purpose of breeding something both kind and athletic. Milady came off the track quiet enough to hack around in a halter, and I was smitten.

Milady in her racing days

Milady's first beau turned out to be the first and last warmblood I ever owned - an exquisite jumping-bred colt by the name of Exavior. Exavior ended up with me through an unexpected little twist of either fate or Providence; he would ordinarily have been worth more money than I could really even conceive at that point. His sire Esaro W and damsire Rivale d'Or had both been and produced A-grade jumping horses (if I remember correctly), and his dam, Cointreau d'Or, had herself jumped up to about 1.20m before retiring to stud.

Exavior was exorbitantly too much for me from the start, however, even after I gelded him once Milady was pregnant. I eventually realized this and sold him - one of the smarter decisions of my teenage years, honestly - and he went on to jump up to the 1.20m before he sadly passed away while he was still quite young. He was being produced by an Open rider at the time and I'm pretty sure he would have jumped the big grades if he'd lived long enough.

The result of this match was born at a quarter past four in the afternoon on October 21st, 2016, with a gaggle of adoring riding school teens staring in awe. 

The foal was a tall and precocious little filly who was on her feet before she was an hour old. I named her Lady Erin after my best-best-best-best-best friend, who was suitably flattered. We had to give her a little help suckling, but overall, it was absolutely textbook... until it wasn't. 

Ladybug, as she eventually became known, was only five days old when I noticed that Milady had swollen lymph nodes and a slight temperature. The vet was out pronto and pronounced that she had strangles... and that she would likely be the first of many. I was nineteen years old, had not yet passed my stable manager's exam, and had only a measly few months of experience when I was plunged into the unbelievable disaster that is managing an outbreak of a massively contagious disease in a herd of horses living out. The one consolation was that strangles is not typically fatal... except in the very old, the immunocompromised, and the very young. At five days, Ladybug certainly fell into that category.

Three very intense weeks followed. Milady took a long time to recover fully from the strangles and lost an unbelievable amount of weight. Ladybug, however, soldiered on with the type of cheerful sassiness that can only come from a few-day-old baby chestnut mare. She didn't have a single day of sickness and by the time it was all over, she was so used to being hugged and cuddled and kissed and carefully inspected that she was ready for the flood of riding school kiddos to fawn over her. She became the darling of the whole yard and had all the attention she could ever want.

When Ladybug reached weanling age, the yard hit a major financial pothole. I had started out with rather more ambition than sense, and between schoolies, resale projects, and my ever-growing herd of own horse, things were getting ridiculous. I had to put her on the market, and she was quickly snapped up by a lovely, experienced home hours away on the southern coast.

I thought that that was the last time I'd ever see Ladybug. Erin and I were both doing some serious social media stalking, but there's not a whole lot that most people post about 1, 2, or 3-year-old babies growing up in the field.

Then, in January, Erin stumbled on a sales ad. A horse matching Ladybug's description was being sold for a song. We got in touch with the owner, who was heartbroken to let Ladybug go, but didn't have a choice; circumstances had grown hard, as they did for so many people at that time. I started putting out feelers, hoping desperately that someone would buy her and offering a year's free livery and schooling to anyone that would. I couldn't bear for that lovely sweet filly to have anything other than a soft landing.

Of course, my stableyard is filled with the most wonderful people. Within a day, two people had stepped forward offering to buy Ladybug even though neither of them were really shopping for horses at the time. In the end, it was Erin herself, Ladybug's namesake, who bought her. We had her shipped up to my place and the moment she stepped off the truck it was as though she knew. She looked around, sighed deeply, and seemed contented to be home.

I'm so delighted that Ladybug is here with me again. She ended up a little small - about 15.1 or 15.2 - but that's not an issue for Erin. In hindsight, I don't think I'll sell a weanling again. They're just too fragile at that age to have their lives shaken up like that.

Starting to look like something!

Anyway, so Ladybug and I have been getting along famously. I've grown very used to my super sweet Friesians - they are definitely very different from the other breeds I've worked with - so I was a little worried about working with this young warmblood. But honestly, despite the fact that her training schedule is more patchy than the Friesians' thanks to my hectic life, Ladybug has been one of the easiest youngsters I've ever had the pleasure of working with. She definitely has a sassy streak in her, but she's hugely willing and kind and surprisingly unreactive for her breed. True to being a warmblood, too, she doesn't muscle up as easily as the Friesians, but she does hold her cardio fitness a lot better.

Also, her canter is absolutely incredible. Little short in the neck in this moment, but soooo balanced and engaged for her age and fitness

Accordingly, when Erin came over Sunday two weeks ago (dang I'm so behind), she could have a little sit on the Ladybug.

First I did a spot of groundwork, doing a five-minute lunge like I always do just to check in with her brain and body and give her a little bit of exercise - her actual ridden work won't be real exercise for a couple of months yet. (Am I the slowest young horse starter in existence? Yes. Do my horses learn in a low-stress way, both in mind and body? Also yes. I'll go with slow).

Like she always does, Ladybug came out focused, relaxed, and ready for work. After a brief lunge, we went on to a little bit of turn on the forehand from the ground. I usually like my babies to have shoulder-in on the ground as well before jumping on, but Ladybug's in-hand work has come on just a touch slower than my Friesians because she's less food-driven than they are. In other words, she won't turn herself inside out for a bit of carrot, LOL. We're still getting there.

After rewarding each effort, I always give the horse a couple of moments at liberty for chewing time and thinking time, and also to check in with her mental state. Liberty - whether it's full-on join-up or just dropping the contact for a few strides - is always a great check-in. Ladybug is very happy to be connected to me, and stayed locked onto me even after moments of tension while she was figuring out her work.

Once we'd worked on those a little, it was time to head over to the mounting block. Normally I prefer to do the first few rides in the ring, but she's so chill that I didn't mind riding in the big arena. I'd sat on her a time or two before this and she was as relaxed as could be.

I started with some of my usual mounting block work. She really doesn't mind standing still while I'm on the block beside her, so I flapped the stirrups,

 

then flapped the saddle flap,

then leaned over and patted her loudly all over. As you can see, she tipped back an ear to listen to what I was doing over there, but wasn't worried about a thing.

Finally, I gave her a little treat on the off side - preparation to reward her for standing at the mounting block.

I do my preparation work carefully so that I can gently drag my toe all the way over her butt when I go to sit for the first few times. That way, if she gets an accidental toe-poke later on, there's no freaking out to be done.

Her expression here is just perfect. She's listening and paying attention to what's happening on her back, but she's not afraid at all.

Of course, she didn't worry one bit about me being up there. She flicked back her ears while I got on, just to listen to what was going on and to focus while she kept her balance, and then she got a treat and was perfectly happy.

Every time I sit on a young horse those first few times, it's a moment that feels so precious it's almost sacred. There is so much at stake in those moments. You could ruin so much if you did it wrong, and gain so much if you do it right. More than that, it's a glorious thrill of venturing into a place where no one in the world has ever been before; that secret plane inhabited by horse and rider, spine to spine. That feeling is a thousand times more special when the horse is one that you bred. And while her previous owner did sit on her a little, so I wasn't the first one up there, it was still a really wonderful moment. I watched this little mare take her very first steps, and now here we are.

She got a little bored of me just sitting there and petting her, so she turned around and went to chew the mounting block. I don't get after babies for moving in a relaxed manner the first few times I'm on board, so I just went with her and kept on petting her. After a few moments I hopped off - it was Erin's turn.

Ladybug didn't even tip her ears back this time as Erin got on. I kept a finger on her nose to hold her still while I stepped back to take a picture.

Erin was extremely chuffed.

We took the opportunity for me to walk a circle or two - not holding her, but joined-up - and she happily followed me around the arena with Erin on her back, not worried in the slightest. They look so great together even now - I can't wait to see a schooled Ladybug being ridden by her doting mom.

This little horse and this lovely person are both intensely special to me.

And I'm so grateful for the wonderful plan of God, Who brought our precious Ladybug back into our lives at just the right moment.

He is so good!