Free Again

With Thunder at school and some of my time free for both greys, I was hoping that Lancey would make comparable progress to Arwen this winter and finally break through this connection issue we've had forever and ever. Instead, we've had kind of a rocky winter.

It started when K and I boxed Lancey and Faith out to Caesarsvlei to ride with EM and Anke on 16 June, which is a public holiday. Anke, who has had very little hacking and travelling experience, was absolutely amazing. For the first time ever, Lancey was not. 

He started the ride on the wrong foot by spooking hugely at a dog popping out of the bushes - a legit spook, but the first time he's ever actually turned and run. It rattled me and things got worse when he started to nap and I could have handled it more kindly, but instead insisted he go forward, which only made him nap harder. He was pretty solid for the next while and then halfway up a mountain he lost his mind completely and gave four or five BIG rears. Totally out of character for him; I bailed out when he landed from the last one, and he stopped and stood there snorting for a moment, then relaxed. I brushed my hands over him to make sure there was nothing on him and didn't find anything, but when I got back on, he was back to plodding on a loose rein with no issues. He hasn't done it in the two months since so I'm pretty sure something stung him or poked him or pinched him or something, but it rattled me half to death.

the snow ride (July 10) was joggy but so worth it

Not coincidentally, he pulled, fussed and jogged toward the end of the ride, and we had several joggy, pulling hacks in July. I'd just tweaked his diet to put some weight on him so I'm sure that had something to do with it and my nerves certainly weren't helping.

yes it does snow here... every 10 years or so

Things kind of went down the toilet toward the end of July. Our dressage rides were downright horrid. We'd make okay progress, then go back to being unable to trot a serpentine without throwing his nose in the air. He kicked at my leg. He bucked through the changes so hard that I stopped trying them and went back to basics, again. His body didn't feel great, although the bodywork fixed that. Things were just kind of crappy and we weren't getting along.

Two things happened to change that. Firstly, DRASA - our national competitive trail riding organisation - launched a virtual competitive trail ride which looked really fun. You could pick a distance and had three weeks to track and submit your miles, which could include arena miles, as well as a short horsemanship test. I entered the 20km division to challenge me to get him onto the trails and rebuild our confidence a bit.

rebuilding courage with E2 and Leia

I started out straight away by doing very slow, short solo hacks like I'd done when I'd just gotten him, and they made a magical difference. Lancey instantly reverted to his perfect self (honestly I don't think perfect Lancey ever left - it was me who needed to remove my head from my posterior) and we had some really good times together.

Secondly, I made a decision to back off on the dressage with him. Is he good for me to learn on? Absolutely. Will I continue to improve his schooling? Yes. Do I really have the time to keep three horses in competitive dressage shape AND enjoy trail riding with friends, playing with liberty, and attending breed shows? There is absolutely no chance. 

Arwen and Thunder are both farther along in their schooling, more enjoyable to ride, and actively enjoy dressage more while needing less bodywork and maintenance. We have a two-berth horsebox so usually only show two at a time. It was an obvious decision to focus my time and resources on them in terms of dressage work... and free up a frustrated Lanceycorn to be what he really wants to be: a cherished pet, trail horse, and show pony.

Maybe we'll make a return to the dressage ring sometime, but right now it feels good to take the pressure off and prioritise our relationship over show ring goals that I'm already privileged to be achieving with my other two amazing partners. I feel like it's time to celebrate Lancey for being Lancey.

In that spirit, outrides with friends have been the name of our game lately. We've done a lot of short, quiet hacks at home, solo and in pairs, on trails that we know and are comfortable on, and they went a long way toward rebuilding our trust in one another.

A good test came on Friday, when we headed out with Anke and EM to check out a venue for a mountain biking event where we were thinking of using the mounted unit. Lanceycorn was, of course, impeccable to travel - even when we dropped Anke off at her yard and then took him home on his own - and even pretty impeccable at the very spooky venue itself. There were a lot of random things to snort at, like signs and rocks and piles of wood and (most memorably) a stick that nearly murdered both of us, but he was doing his trademarked spook-in-place which doesn't worry either of us. He was a little nappy at a few points, but didn't mind if Anke left us. Almost back to his perfect self.

he was bathed for the occasion and I had to record an actually white Lancey for posterity

Even when a bunch of enormous trucks, tractors and things went past, and a whirlwind caught the copious danger tape being used to mark out the parking, Lancey didn't really care. We ended up not going to the event because of a HUGE loose dog that chased us (luckily not coming within biting range - I have no faith in Lancey's ability to fight off angry dogs; he'd happily offer up his legs as chew toys) but it was a confidence-building outing all round.

Anke as voluptuous as ever

That did leave us without the long, long ride that I'd anticipated to finish up our 20km for the online CTR, so on Monday morning, I dragged E2 along on Toy Town and we had a long ride around the farm instead. This was the first time that Lancey and I felt entirely like our old selves again. From the moment we left the gate on a loose rein, we were happy and chill to be out together, two friends doing our thing. He spooked at the same water trough he always spooks at (obviously) and we just carried on happily. I even volunteered for a nice long canter, and though he was a little wriggly and wanted to pop out a tiny buck as we went into it, we had a great time. He chugged along in his perfect little dressage canter while Toy Town bucked, snorted, ran away with E2, disappeared over the horizon, etc.

We even had all three doggos with us and their various popping out of the bushes did nothing to phase Lancey. Instead we enjoyed a gorgeous stroll through the harvested soya fields, getting pursued by the cows. I hopped off to grab a snare off the south boundary fence and he stood quietly while I wrestled with it. (Poaching is sadly alive and well around here, even if it's porcupines and aardvarke instead of rhinos in our particular corner of Africa).

We went home with another nice easy canter up the hill, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I took a confidence knock, but we fixed it. We're back to ourselves again and maybe stronger than ever.

All thanks to my little white knight, a horse named Lancelot.

God is so good.

Testing the Upgrade

 Thunderbirdy has been at boarding school for ten weeks now, and J let me know that he's ready for me to start getting some lessons on him before he comes home in a couple of weeks.

My first lesson was on Wednesday and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely dead nervous. My riding nerves have been a little worse lately (maybe related to just some overall farm/work stress) and ten weeks is a long time not to ride my horse. Still, I was super excited. I've really, deeply missed him and everything about how magical he is.

When I arrived at his field gate and called him, he turned and trotted straight to me with a whinny, which was heart-melting. He's been a little more up at J's than at home, but he still behaved better than usual on the ground, which was nice - his ground manners are definitely something J did a lot of work on. He was even happy and chill alone in the stables while he was being tacked up.

J started by giving me a longer pair of spurs, the same shape as my usual ones, but very long, and explained that this was to help my leg be quieter and stiller. They're not harsher exactly, they just have a greater range of motion with my leg more quiet. With that I hopped on and walked him into the arena and he immediately spooked hard sideways.

This is nothing new, he has his spooky moments at home too, but it caught me off guard and scared the living crap out of me for a second there. He has once or twice followed up his spook with a really big bolt so I was pretty reluctant to then let go of the reins and let him stretch, but J insisted and I slowly did. He had another one or two small spooks as we were walking around but didn't offer to built, but the damage was done and I was pretty spooked myself.

J noticed and put us to work quite briskly. Once we'd stretched for a couple of laps he had me do some flexions left and right and some shoulder-fore left and right, then went straight into the canter work, ever our nemesis. He spooked one more time in the corner and rattled me just a bit further but I felt better now that we were cantering collected and I felt more able to communicate with his whole body, so after a few laps of struggling to focus and sit properly, I got a few deep breaths and we got to work.

I love this thing that his tail does

Once we were focused and working, things started to go much better. I felt fine and I realized abruptly that he felt absolutely amazing. He was still my Thunder, with that magical rippling feeling in his back, but J had stuffed a Ferrari engine inside of him. He was a lot softer in the bridle and moved on an absolutely hair trigger off my lateral aids, still a little dull to my leg going forward, but much less so than he used to be.

J got after me for hanging onto the front end with a hard firm contact so I had to do a lot of work to shorten and collect him without pulling. I used to see-saw a lot before I lessoned with J and appear to have overcorrected into pulling (maybe that's why Arwen pulls my arms off hey?). We did quite a lot of counter flexion so that I could convince myself that he is soft in the outside rein. It also took me a while to figure out where to hit the button for more energy in his collected canter, and as soon as I did so, I found a whole other gear. My horse was jumping with every step but so balanced and collected under me.

I'd also forgotten just how comfy his new saddle is. We only had it for a couple of months before he went to boarding school and it is magical; the knee blocks are just in the right place that holding my leg steady feels natural instead of an effort.

When we moved to canter right, the wheels began to fall off the bus again. It turned out that my right leg is kind of useless and that the asymmetry I have in my body is enough that my new sensitive Thunder kept trying to go with quarters to the right. I had to really focus on weighting my left seatbone and using my right leg in shoulder-fore position to keep him straight. The collection suffered as a result of the straightness, but with an effort, we did get there.

His changes were also a whole new world for me. I overrode them a lot, maybe because Arwen is still learning them (and me too to be honest). There's no need to set him up and prepare as much; as long as he is straight and collected, all I need to do is move my outside leg back a smidgen and he changes so softly and fluidly that I had to look down to make sure he did change.

On that happy note, we went to the collected walk and started playing with a little piaffe. I struggle with collected walk and it was messy at first, but we got some good collected walk, some half steps, and a few piaffe steps. He feels like he knows what to do, but I do not lol, poor guy.

J got on right after that to fix a few things I'd already broken (sorry dude) and I got to see my horse in action doing some really great canter work and then, to my awe and delight, doing a few short lines of one- and two-tempis. Only two or three at a time, but they were boldly through and expressive.

Then we were done and J told me to walk him around the paddocks to cool off. I was immediately tense about this, which did not help when Thunder went up the drive and napped/spooked. I sternly had him go on for a while but then he spooked (in place) at an uprooted tree and refused to go forward, then began to back up a bit with his neck and back locked up really tight. He didn't actually do anything silly, but he sure felt like he was going to and my nerves were shot by that point so I got off and led him past it. Admittedly there were some tears at this point. I was so frustrated with myself for being nervous on a horse I've known and loved for his entire life, and frustrated with him for being unusually spooky on the day.

It took me a few minutes of walking to realize that I could be a little kinder to both of us. Having me on his back must have felt as weird to him as it felt to me, and my tension transmitted in a way it never used to, maybe because he's more alert, aware and connected to the rider than he used to be. In the same breath, I know him and he knows me. We just need a few rides to find one another again; when I feel bolder, I'll be able to be more confident and assertive. There's no use trying to bluff my way through it. Horses just don't work that way.

Anyway, at the corner of the paddock I got back on and he very happily and politely walked the rest of the way even past some more spooky stuff. J acknowledged that Thunder was being a bit naughty/spooky and that I needed to be more assertive, so that's what we'll work on with our next ride. That and, you know, pushing the new buttons that my horse has all of a sudden.

I gave him a nice shower and a bunch of treats and turned him out feeling a bit bummed that we'd had a few rough moments, but really excited for the potential I feel in him. J asked if he could stay for another month and said the magic words: "then I can show him myself at PSG". I started at him like he'd grown another head. PSG? What sorcery is this? That used to be the pipe dream.

We don't have the budget for another month at boarding school right now, so we've decided to work on sending him back later, when J wants to add in Spanish walk to teach him a proper extended trot and even passage. "Then you'll nearly have a Grand Prix horse," he said, and I guess we have a new pipe dream now.

I was supposed to lesson on Thunder again today but he had his flu shot yesterday which gave him a mild fever like it usually does, so I'll see him next week. Although our lesson was tough, I'm really excited. All we need to get over the nervousness is a bit more time together; he's not doing anything new, we only need to get used to one another again. For the first time ever, I have a schoolmaster, and it's my own boy, my boy who I raised from a tiny little foal. The journey is precious even in its rocky patches.

In other news, our national dressage association is replacing our levels and tests with the American levels and tests, so from January we'll be doing the same tests as you guys - 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th level. Thunder, Arwen and I are graded at Elementary-Medium which is between 2nd and 3rd level, so we'll be allowed to pick which level we want to go into next year. If we go to 3rd level and carry over our current points, it's effectively a little leg-up for us, and we'll be able to show 4th at regional shows anytime from January. To be totally honest, the 3rd level tests are also significantly shorter and easier than our Medium tests, which each have a minimum of 4 flying changes and much more difficult half-passes, so we should earn our points for 4th quite easily, all going according to plan.

I'm so proud of my farm donkey for the level of work he's doing and I really look forward to dipping our toes into the big leagues early next year. Who knows - maybe we'll earn my tailcoat sooner than I thought.

God is very good.

One Dancing Dragon

 The last time I schooled and competed Arwen regularly, before she had her year as a kid pony and then a couple of years to raise Wynnie, we were absolutely labouring around elementary. It didn't help that I had two (count 'em) dressage lessons on her, ever, and that I'd taught myself all the movements based on stuff I read on the Internet. When you think about it that way, it's pretty amazing that she could do them at all.

think if I'd lengthened my stirrups like 4 holes I could have sat the trot?

The break to have Wynnie has changed so much. Firstly, I think it was a great reset for her body. Secondly, when she came back to work, I was a completely different rider. Not heaven's gift to dressage by any means but I've had nearly six years of solid instruction now, so obstacles that seemed absolutely immovable three or four years ago are now simple problems with real solutions.

Arwen has been in work again for nearly a year now. For the last two months, with Thunder at school, I've ridden her every weekday instead of having her lunged now and then between rides when I couldn't get to her. It's really starting to pay off.

Her body feels the best it ever has. The saggy baby belly has finally retreated, with a notable improvement after her last chiro visit. She was always super stiff in her body (a product of a rider who did not know what bend was... like legit I was riding the equivalent of 2nd level and I did not know) but now the suppleness is really getting there. It's not at the same level as Thunder or Lancey yet, but it's getting there.

Her engine just blows me away. Most of it is mental, because she can be really hot when I'm revving her up, but the strength has caught up with her brain now and there are moments that feel like she can do anything. We've tinkered with pirouette canter and it's hollow but she has a capacity to sit that I've never really felt before. There's so much energy and power. Sometimes considerably too much energy and power, lol, but I like it.

She intimidated me a little when I was just bringing her back into work; I'd grown very used to my two gorgeous geldings who never put a foot wrong. But even at her worst, the rock-steady foundation of our fifteen years together never gave in. I got used to the antics and she got used to the idea that her servant is no longer 17 and bulletproof. We settled into one another again, and now our old friendship has come back to the surface, except that she's a few years older and sassier, and I'm a little heavier, a little kinder, a little more patient, and a lot more knowledgeable.

dragonbelly all gone!

Bold though she is, Arwen is responding to the change in me. Arwen's never been cuddly, but she's showing a sweeter side that I haven't seen much of before. She's still the dragon, don't get me wrong, and she will 100% string together a bunch of bucks if she feels I've earned them. Still, there have been little changes. 

I usually bring her in from the field early in the morning when I've finished checking the pasture herd, just to save some time when I want to ride her a bit later. I never give her treats at this time - she's easy to catch and the herd are downright maniacal if they catch a whiff of banana Snickers. This morning, I planned to give her a day off, and I was in a hurry so I just checked the client horses close up and glanced toward my own to make sure that they still had four legs and were grazing, so I didn't even go up to Arwen. I was probably 50-100 metres from her checking up on a client horse when she just picked up her head and came right over. She's never done that except for treats. I gave her some scratches and lovies, then turned to leave, and she followed me all the way up to the gate (I was at the bottom of the field) away from the herd. When I opened the gate, she followed me through and stood over the box her halter lives in. "Well, peasant, are we doing this or not?" I put her halter on and took her up to lunge for ten minutes, respecting her wishes. One does not simply ignore the dragon's commands.

The result has been magic from my point of view. We're not setting the world on fire by any means, but my world sure is blazing when I look between her long dragon ears. We've even been on some hacks - alone and in company - which I haven't done confidently on anyone other than Lancey (and the ploddiest of my school ponies) in years and years and years.

In terms of dressage, we went from struggling with Elementary work this time last year (or even in January of this year) to test riding Medium this week. Is it world-shaking? No. Does she feel capable? Absolutely. It's easier getting her through a Medium test than Thunder (although part of that is just the fact that her trot is really easy to sit on lol). She's still a bit stiff and she pulls like a train but she learns the movements so, so quickly.

Ultimately, this horse has already given me her whole heart in everything we've ever done. Getting this time to dance with her, almost 15 years into our partnership, with her still sound and still wanting to work, is an unspeakable gift. A ribbon wrapped around the amazing, undeserved treasure of dancing horses.

Thank you my dragon <3

God is so good.

Bodywork for All

 Even with the kiddos returning to lessons after the school holiday, I have finally gotten something of a handle on fitting farm management into my day-to-day and so we have hit our stride in a more normal routine again. This meant lots of work for the two greys, which inevitably led to some bodywork being required.

It started on Wednesday last week when I was grooming the Lanceycorn and he flinched when I was brushing his back. I checked and found he was pretty sore right behind his withers. We've been working quite hard this winter - lots of climbing hills and working on straighter, more collected canter work and mediums - and I dithered about giving him time off until he could see a bodyworker or keeping him in motion. I opted to keep riding and see if it improved or got worse, and with a lot of long and low stretchy work, the tenderness was better but not gone.

hacking a very spicy Stardust, who is at last sound and back to work after her abscess ordeal last year, in lieu of lame Lancey

I checked in with a physio/massage lady who could come out this week and she said to keep him moving and stretching until she visited, but this backfired when he argued with Sahara and kicked the stable wall, bruising his left hind. It was really mild but he was a bit lame at first so he had several days off while we waited for the physio.

Meanwhile, Arwen was working really well on the whole, but I could tell she needed some work on her hind end. She had one day a couple weeks ago where her rein-backs broke halfway through the ride. She's always struggled a bit with them, which worsened after the birth of Wynnie and the subsequent sagging of the dragonbelly, but that day she did them nicely and then flatly refused to do them at all. Refusing outright isn't like her so I backed off and we just touched on them the next day, where she did them but begrudgingly.

why yes that is a matchy new browband

She also had a few moments where she wanted to rear or kick out at my right leg - Lancey uncharacteristically did this a couple times too, so I'm certain my own body is funky as well. While she absolutely understands the changes mentally (it didn't take long), she also had some difficulty changing left to right, leaping through them in a way that felt like she was struggling to get her right hind underneath her. Most horses would simply change in front and go disunited, but not the dancing dragon. Oh no. Increased airtime was absolutely her solution to this problem.

On Monday, we rode in the double. I've been alternating the snaffle and the double lately - she's okay in the snaffle for a ride or two, then goes back to pulling like an absolute freaking train - and it works really well. It keeps me honest about the connection but also prevents my arms from being pulled out of their sockets. (Dragons gonna dragon). We played with the idea of the pirouettes, which I have no idea if we have any right to be doing, but she sat down and lifted really well to the left. The right was a bit more messy, but she gets the idea. We finished by taking E2 and Leia for a hack, for which Arwen was absolutely impeccable. For once.

a behaving dragon

Lancey's leg looked fine, but I gave him an extra day off to be safe and just replaited his mane instead of riding. I did Wynnie's mane too, including asking a bit more than usual of her by tying her next to the tack room and plaiting her there while Lancey went inside to the stable. She was concerned about this at first and remained quite wiggly throughout, but respected my space in the end and settled considerably when she realized that standing quietly resulted in treats. We also measured Wynnie for the first time in ages and discovered that she's just shy of 14.1hh at 18 months. Considering that Arwen and Dakota are both 14.3, I'm guessing she might turn out a little bit bigger. Erin holds firm she's going to leave hony territory behind but I cling to my hope that she'll be 15.1 at the biggest.

Tuesday morning I lunged Arwen in the Pessoa real quick so that we could fit in a workout before Lancey's physio came. She's surprisingly pleasant to lunge and keeps most of the chaotic good under wraps, although on this day she wanted to fall in to the right, which had become a thing under saddle lately too.

The physio lady was met with an absolutely disgusting grubby Lancey, which unfortunately is the Lancey we have this winter as my clippers died a tragic death after a decade of faithful service. We took him to the barn to take thermal pictures, which was cool to see. He was a bit hotter on one side than the other, and there was some heat over his lower back, but otherwise he looked fine.

I've never been given a more detailed and thorough report than from this bodyworker - hugely recommended

Wynnie lost her marbles in the paddock because Lancey was out of sight, but to his credit he didn't get stressed or wiggly. He answered a few times when she called him, but didn't call to her first. Before long, he was enjoying a lovely massage, especially on his lower back and bum. The physio didn't find any restrictions or particular problems - she said he was just muscle sore from working harder than normal and building strength. After the massage, his back wasn't tender at all anymore. She also showed me some massages and stretches I could do to help him as he builds strength for the more collected work.

Finally, Lancey got his butt taped with kinesiology tape. It stayed on surprisingly well for how dirty he was, but I had to pull it off on Wesdnesday afternoon because it had started to come loose.

Both ponies had Wednesday off because we drove halfway across Mpumalanga to go and see a traumatized Appaloosa who is coming to visit in the spring for E2 and I to try and help him. He was interesting to work with and so kind. I admit that, now that I'm not the one who actually has to get on, I look forward to working with a remedial one again. We haven't had one in ages.

Before we went to meet Trauma Appy, though, the chiro visited Arwen. He found restriction in her left bum and correspondingly in her right neck, so she got acupuncture and adjustments. Nothing was major or injury-related, just normal maintenance, so he left us with instructions to do a stretchy ride on Thursday and then normal work on Friday.

she was only moderately incorrigible for this visit

Thursday rolled around unusually overcast and blisteringly cold with a howling wind, but with strict instructions from the physio and chiro not to let the horses stand around and get stiff, I saddled Lancey up with freezy fingers and tried for a ride. He was a little spooky and spicy, only to be expected for someone who'd had a week off and was being ridden in that weather, but felt really good. The bodywork had clearly left him feeling loose and powerful, so we had a good time and he was lovely in the bridle for the first half-hour or so, only getting a bit fussy toward the end.

This thing of his with throwing his head on occasion has been a thorn in our sides ever since I bought him (which was... four years ago?) and it's such a hard one to figure out. Nobody can find a physical cause, but I have this nagging feeling that surely if it was purely a training issue, it would have resolved by now. It's better, but still remains the focus of most of our sessions. I've occasionally gotten myself into the trap of forgetting about his back end (which, obviously, doesn't help at all), but even with the rest of his body in order, he's always looking for a way out of the contact. It's been tempting to give up on dressage altogether but he can be so, so good and so, so enjoys attention, so we'll keep searching for ways to finally get rid of the issue.

always wanted a halter like this as a kid lol

By the time I was done with lessons that afternoon, it was absolutely frigid and I couldn't bring myself to do much more than pull Arwen's snaffle bridle on and walk around in the arena for fifteen minutes. She was really well behaved, to her credit, despite the weather.

Friday was a fabulous day. Arwen gave me the time of my life that morning despite another windy, overcast day. We test rode most of Medium 3 and she felt incredible in the bridle - soft and easy and more supple than usual. Her trot work was all totally solid, and most of the canter work was good, although I didn't set her up well for the first change left to right which made the change immediately after that a bit dodgy as well. Still, we would have gotten through it at a show, which was great.

The Lanceycorn was slightly less great on Friday afternoon than he had been on Thursday, but not dreadful. I dialed our half-passes back to the long diagonal instead of the short diagonal to work on the impulsion and correctness and he gave me some really, really good ones in trot. We've pushed pause on the canter lateral work and changes again (sigh) because of the connection and straightness issues, but hopefully we'll get back to that really soon.

A good and busy week for the greys while Thunder continued to enjoy big boy school. More on that next week!

God is good.

Resne Winter Fun Show 2023

With Wynnie's bill and Thunder still at boarding school, the budget for showing is not exactly in full force this winter. As a result, when the yard down the road announced that they were having a fun show last weekend, I was all for it.

indeed there are tiny yellow butterflies in his mane

I used to run this yard - it's where Lancey was born - and the new manager, S, is a kind, friendly coach who also believes in a bit more than winning rosettes, so we've always seen eye to eye. She runs low-key, super-fun local shows with a variety of classes to enter. They're chill and informal, usually well-attended enough to be enjoyable, and have a friendly, relaxed vibe that makes them perfect for kiddos' first show or to help them decompress after the hard work and pressure of the SANESA season. What's more, the entry fees are really inexpensive, which made this one accessible for me and also generally means less pressure for the kids.

Thus it was that at 7:30 on Saturday morning, with the whole world glittering white with frost and the sun barely up, I rode out of the farm with Lancey and five kiddos in tow. Three were competent teens and tweens, but I had one tiny tot and one nervous one, who was on Flashy and being ponied. Tiny tot was on Spirit, who was, as usual, totally in command of the situation.

I sent the two teens up ahead on Sahara and Midas so that I didn't have to deal with any hesitance from Lancey while ponying, and we set off cheerfully with DH leading the way in the car to prevent any psychos from driving into us. It's a quiet farm road, but you never know. Spirit followed Lancey, and K and Arwen brought up the rear.

Of course, we had picked the same weekend to go to a fun show that our other neighbours had picked to hold a shooting competition, so DH went ahead to ask the shooters to stop while the ponies went past. They graciously allowed us ten minutes to get by, so, ignoring the protests of the poor nervous child (backed up by a rather rotund Flashy), I shoved us all into a trot and hurried on past. None of the horses put a single foot wrong. Lancey got mildly excited at one point but not so much that I couldn't bring him back to a trot with one hand.

Once we left the road and set off across our host's hayfields, Lancey got a little spicy. Nothing silly, but he jogged which I hated, so I pulled, so he pulled. Flash and his kid compounded the situation by trailing miles behind despite my instructions and doing their best to wrench my free arm from its socket while the other wrestled with Lancey. We were a little frustrated with one another, but after a while I, the dressage rider, realized that my seat existed and used that to slow him down at which point he begrudgingly accepted a nice quiet walk on a loose rein. Amazing how that works.

We got to Resne nicely warmed up and hacked up the hill with more than enough time to unsaddle everybody and turn most of them out in the paddock we'd booked for the day. For most of the morning, I helped kiddos with their jumping rounds. Regrettably, I, too, had a jumping round to contend with. Spirit's kiddo had entered the team jumping only for her teammate to pull out at the last second, and I, unable to bear kiddo's disappointment, volunteered to stand in.

his mane is perfection (and yes he had poo stains)

I was beginning to regret my life choices as kiddo and I dressed our ponies in matching outfits and covered their manes with yellow butterflies. (For clarity, there was nothing whatsoever regrettable about the outfits or the butterflies - they were amazing and deeply satisfactory to my inner child). The team jumping consisted of one round per rider. The clock started when the first rider went through the start and stopped when the second rider went through the finish. Now kiddo is a perfectionist and a little competitive so I felt that Auntie Firn couldn't go trit-trotting around the course the way I so desperately would have liked to, even though the jumps were literally cavaletti-sized.

Thus, when it was my turn to go, I put on my big girl pants, grabbed the neck strap and let Lancey at it and the little dude remembered his showjumper days, threw his tail in the air and proceeded to run away with me for the first four fences. At this point, the course got twisty and my nerve failed me, so I reeled him back in with whimpers of protest and we completed the teeny jumps in a collected canter. At least this meant that we could make voltes from one jump to the next so I cantered over the finish like yelling at kiddo to go and feeling like I had not let her down.

kiddo in the background learning bad habits from Auntie Firn's exceedingly rusty jumping skills

Kiddo cantered through the first two fences with her reins as long as washing lines, failed to communicate which way they were going, and promptly fell off Spirit when pony went one way and kiddo went the other. The judge kindly stopped the clock while I scooped her up, dusted her off, checked her over for major injuries and threw her back on the pony. The clock promptly restarted and kiddo proceeded to pop around neatly, albeit a little tearfully, although her smile returned by the end. We got a first place ribbon and some bruises to show off at school.

photo credit to riding school mom, unnamed for privacy

The other kiddos thoroughly enjoyed their team jumping, except for poor old K, who found Arwen a bit overwhelmed by the fences and had several stops. In Arwen's defence, she's very much in a dressage bod right now. She redeemed herself in the barrel racing, where my adult rider won the class and the respect of her two daughters (also riders). Arwen and K were a close second, so close that K indignantly enquired if it had been hand timed. We then proceeded to the pleasure horse classes.

Flashy and his kid won the younger class in fine style. Lancey and I competed against Flashy and his unfortunate older kid, who came second to Lancey, who was a superstar. I still had his martingale on from the hacking and jumping, which only seemed to make him more fussy, but we trotted around and had a good time anyway.

The final class of the day was the most fun of them all. It's termed strictly come showing, but it's more free than that - more a costumed ride to music. Flashy's kid dressed up as Zorro, compete with cape and cloak; Arwen and K were flowers, and Lancey and I were angels. Our tune was "Through Heaven's Eyes" and we had an utter blast. I thought we had it in the bag, but then Midas' kid had a freestyle that involved flat-out galloping bareback with no hands (which was not in the sedate routine I had planned for her, but I couldn't even be mad because she was wearing a helmet), so she won.

that's some of the cloth we used to avoid our guests getting scratchy butts from the straw bales we used for seating at the wedding, in case you were wondering

At after 4pm, we headed back with six thoroughly tired ponies and equally tired riders. Despite the many drivers hustling home from the shooting competition (of which most were courteous and those who tried to be uncourteous were forced to slow down by hubby), our horses all plodded home quietly on a loose rein. Even when one driver hooted several times just a few metres away from us in greeting, only Arwen dragonleaped; the rest didn't even raise their heads.

ever-faithful hubby in the background, taking video

It was a long, exhausting, silly and perfect day.

God is good.

Winter Dramas

(CW: laceration to a horse's face with pictures)

Highveld winter weather is some of the nicest we get all year. The nights are cold, going below freezing, but there's little wind and almost no rain and daytimes are balmy and comfortable, usually around 20C. It's one of the reasons why many of our major shows take place in midwinter, when they generally don't get rained out.

The only bummer when it comes to riding is that the daylight hours get pretty short, but I can still usually fit a horse or two in most days. With SANESA season heading toward winding down and the kiddos busy with exams and holidays, I was really looking forward to a productive riding winter. So far... that hasn't happened.

Because of the family member's mental health, I've taken over running the Jersey herd. It's really fun - also cows are amazing and do not spend 90% of their lives coming up with inventive new ways to be sick or injured - but has eaten my time somewhat while I adjust to the extra responsibility.

I also suspect I'm operating under a low-level sort of burnout. It's not the stressed, getting-no-sleep, one-meal-a-day, can't-keep-my-eyes-open burnout that I had last year, thank God (sincerely), just a vague sense of not having the emotional or physical energy for much. This autumn was really rough both emotionally and physically and I just need a minute to recover, I think. Something to focus on during the upcoming school holidays.

There are exciting things in the works, though. On Saturday, we dropped Thunder off at J's for the winter to get ready for Advanced and beyond. It was a really hard choice for me, because Thunny and I haven't ever really been separated for more than 8-9 days, and he's going to be away for three long months. But J made me an offer I couldn't refuse and honestly, it's just not fair on the big guy anymore. He's doing so well in his Medium work and riding him is so exciting and fun, but we're genuinely struggling with the pirouette canter and the pirouettes. That old issue of not having him active enough keeps biting me in the butt and I don't have the toolkit to fix it to the point where we can do a pirouette on my own. It's better for us both if he can learn the fancy tricks from an expert, and then teach them to me.

Also, thanks to the aforementioned loss of daylight, I just don't have the time to school all three. Thunder was the obvious choice to go for schooling and I'll have Arwen and Lancey at home to play with all winter. Plus, I get to visit him and ride him at J's, so it's really exciting. I'm so grateful for the chance to get Thunder produced to his full potential.

On the same day that we dropped Thunder off -- he immediately went to graze happily in his fancy new field, while I was a blubbering mess, sorry J -- Wynnie did this to her face.

(Mega gory photo below. Do not proceed if squeamish).

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(I did warn you).

At 6:15 when the guys fed her, she was fine. At 7:30 when they went to take her out, she had THIS on her head. It was difficult to see the full extent at that point, so I cleaned it up, put some antibiotic cream on, put her fly mask on and called the vet. He came out that afternoon, sedated her, injected some local anaesthetic, and then gently pulled the flaps of the wound aside to assess it.

And I looked at my baby horse's skull. At her BONE. I have seen my share of gross animal injuries (and gross human injuries as a first aider) but I'll admit my stomach did a little cartwheel at the sight.

The vet cleaned up the edges, flushed the wound, and sewed it up.

He was sure it would heal nicely, since the bone wasn't damaged, and it did look much nicer once it had been sutured. Then, a few days later, when I went to clean it a bunch of gunk came out of the top. I squeezed lightly and there was a glorious explosion of chunky yellow pus. Absolutely delightful at eight in the morning on a bellyful of eggs.

Despite the antibiotic injections and cleaning, there was an infection under the stitches and it was disgusting. Poor Wynnie's wound was puffy and red. I called the vet again and got instructions to continue the injections and flush the wound twice a day with lukewarm saline, then squirt a little penicillin directly into the wound. Let me tell you, I was not particularly looking forward to this activity with an 18-month-old horse. 

Despite my misgivings, Wynnie has been amazing. I used a lot of positive reinforcement to make the injections a non-event -- she now turns her head for a treat when she feels the needle -- but the flushings are still a bit of a wrestling match, understandably. They're sore and uncomfortable. I have my lovely groom M hold a bucket of the nicest muesli I have under her nose, and she chomps away while I flush the boo-boo. It's not fun for anybody, and she still moves her head around trying to escape, but there have been no fireworks. I'll take it.

fun fact: unlike her mom, Wynnie is a very cheap date

There was significantly less pus this morning, and her temperature has been fine even though she's off the flunixin now, so I think we're winning. Her magnificent stitches-on-a-Saturday vet bill is a whole 'nother story, but luckily I'm on the brink of finishing a novel so we'll be fine.

Despite being gross and dirty (my clippers have been in for repairs for 6 weeks now... yes, 6 weeks), Lancey is still managing to be a fantastically good boy. We're exploring more power in his gaits as well as playing with the later EM work, and yesterday we touched on the changes again. He gave me one each way, very clean and easy, after a few attempts, so we called it a day on that high note.

Arwen has been similarly fantastic. She still DRAGONLEAPS into her change from left to right, but the right to left one is easy and soft now, and she's significantly more supple. Once we have paid Wynnie's Bill of Magnificence I hope we might get to do some dressage this winter.

And old Skye is doing really well. Not quite as fat as she is in summer, but coping nicely on her soupy diet and wreaking general havoc when the lesson children are unwise enough to leave treats lying around.

It's chaotic, but we're okay.

God is good.