We are Riding!

Where have we been!?!?!

Well, as per usual, I took a little vacation in June/July to visit family and friends in Minne-sconsin.  It was a wonderful time of recharge and refresh as well as just getting to spend time with some of my favorite humans.

When we last left you, Huck had just had his SI joints injected.  He then spent three days in a stall (which he did NOT appreciate) but then was able to go back to 24/7 turnout.  We then spent about 10 days doing only light walk/jog rides every other day.

Our first "real" ride was choppy but fine and he'd had his last dose of muscle relaxers that morning.  Two days later I had what I think was the best ride we've ever had.  He was fluid and smooth and happy to work.  He licked and chewed after the few stops and loped circles with his head down.  I was thrilled....

And then the next day his lumbars were very sore.  Not as bad as they had been but after ONE RIDE?!?!?!  Swearwords. Did this mean we needed to inject MORE?!?!

The vet was scheduled to come out in about a week to see a barn mate, so we took it easy for the week.  A miracle occurred and I was able to get BOTH the vet and chiropractor out at the same time.  I wanted both of their opinions and for them to agree on the next steps.

Much to my surprise and relief, they both agreed that what he needed was more time and physical therapy and they were both confident that the injections helped a lot.  They suggested a few weeks of walk, long trot, pole work, back-up, hill work, etc. to build up his back/butt muscles. Now that he wasn't in pain he needed to remember how to work correctly.  They also suggested a massage therapist.

Of course that timing coincided exactly with my 5-day work trip and my 2.5 week planned vacation in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  I solicited the help of B and our recent friend K to ride him a few times a week while I was gone.  I was able to schedule the massage therapist for the weekend between trips.  He also managed to lose a shoe, so I pulled the other shoe, too.  I figured it'd be better for him to not have sliders on for a while.

I returned home on the 13th.  I've ridden half a dozen times since then. Each ride seems better than the last.  There was one day he was a little reactive to my fingers on his back, but I've been massaging him and trying to be really careful.  We started out pretty inconsistent and choppy, which doesn't surprise me considering he hasn't been working properly (without pain) for three months.  But as I said, each ride seems to get a little better.

Yesterday he had his shoes (slide plates) put back on.  I asked for three stops, none of them with any sort of build up, just a stop.  He licked and chewed afterwards.  I was not able to get a bad reaction to his back test!

Hopefully this means we are on the right track.  I'm scheduling the massage therapist again soon.

We are also trying a different bit (correction) and it seems to be going fine.

We have a possible schooling show on the 31st and our next Ranch show is August 6th.

Fingers crossed we get to show!

How Much Do Horses Cost? Everything.

Since the show, I've been trying to figure out what's going on with Huck.  Is it attitude?  training?  physical issues?  We've taken days off, done tons of stretching and flexing.  We trail rode.  We rode inside. We rode outside. We massaged. We ground worked. We researched. We've employed the help/opinions of the farrier, trainer, chiropractor, and vet.

Today we injected both of Huck's Sacroiliac (SI) joints.

Both chiro and vet agree this is the way to go so I am hoping they're both right.  I had my lower back/sacrum injected a few years ago so I can somewhat understand what's going on.  I also have crappy SI joints. Pretty tired of my horses mirroring my issues.

Obviously this puts a hold on show season, but clearly the showing wasn't working anyway.  Perhaps this will give us a chance at some success in the future.

This also puts yet another strain on my very thinly stretched horse budget.  In 9 months we've had a facial laceration, forearm laceration with infection, and injections.  We also had proud flesh, scratches,  and he has a swollen lymph node in his right forearm (vet says it's probably fine and that the steroids will likely take care of it.) Seriously though. WTF. This "affordably priced" horse has turned into a money pit.  I sure hope there is a light at the end of this tunnel.  This is supposed to be fun, right?

Seriously though, I have some things for sale:  https://www.facebook.com/rebeccacherylwhite/media_set?set=a.10151796771101741.1073741831.526321740&type=3  or if you've ever thought about my decals, now's a great time to support small business and Huck's vet bills. https://www.etsy.com/shop/BuckstitchBeckys

He's in a stall with muscle relaxers, bute, and hand-walking for two more days.  On Saturday he can go back out to turnout and be ridden lightly at the walk and loose-rein jog for 10 days.  Then we can start loping and stopping and see where we are.  Fingers crossed.

May 2016 Ranch Horse Show

I'm still processing this show.

This was our first club show of the season.  This is the club/shows I won the Green Ranch Versatility buckle at last year with Kevin.  

This was the first time I showed him in REINING, and his first reining class after a two year pasture potato solo vacation.   

So I had some reasons to be.... anxious... about the show.

Friday we loaded up and drove the 2 hours to the show with the RV and trailer.  We got our favorite stalls right by where we park and where we park is right next to the in-gate.  We really have the best seat in the house.  I can sit in my own chair, near my own fridge and bathroom, right next to the arena, and just walk 30 feet into the barn to get my horse.  This really helps me relax and enjoy the show. 

Huck was chill about everything, but he did jump once when the wind hit the tarps on the cattle panels.  He was fine after that.  Practice ride was challenging.  He didn't do anything totally stupid, but his attention wasn't on me and he wasn't listening.  Sometimes he was lovely.  Sometimes we got in a fight about who was calling the shots..... I realized I've gone from riding the quiet pleasure horse to the uppity fast one... oh crap.  Nobody wants to be "that guy" but at least I wasn't the worst.  I didn't end up on the ground and we didn't run into anyone....

We ended up helping as a turnback during the cutting practice since you need 4 people to hold a herd while someone does their cutting run, and the show organizers don't actually organize that.  So I started helping because no one else would..... I realized I've gone from having the horse who didn't give a shit about cows, to the horse who seems most relaxed while mooving cows around.... see what I did there?  So I got to do some free practice. :)

We tried to ride out on the grass trail course and it wasn't great, as I expected.  Some antics, but generally did the things.  

I have been debating in my brain for ages whether to stay in Green Reiner or move up to Ranch Reining.  I mean, my horse is AWESOME, and only one of the two green patterns has a lead change and I felt like I was wasting the experience. But the last week or so has really let me know we are not ready to go beyond Green Reiner, and that even that might be above us right now.

Aaaaaaaand I was right.  Thankfully I decided Friday night to stay Green.  I realized we weren't going to do very well and I'd rather be a terrible greenie than a terrible open rider.  

Our places for the Day:

Horsemanship: NP

Trail: DQ - Judge wrote "Unruly" on my scoresheet...

Ranch Riding: NP -  31 in the class

Green Reining: DQ

Green Boxing: 3rd out of 24 - this was the highlight of the day

Conformation: 5 out of 10

Yeah, that's a DQ in reining, you know, the thing he was professionally trained for.  I'm not going to show you the video.  Maybe someday, but I want to get past this first.  If you're unfamiliar with how reining is scored, you enter the arena with a score of 70 and every maneuver is scored as a minus, zero, or plus.  The plusses and minuses can be in increments of 1/2 up to 1 1/2 on each maneuver.  You can also get penalty points of varying degrees.  A score of all zeroes means everything was "correct".   You want to be better than correct, but like dressage, that's a long term goal.  You can win a class with a 65 if everyone else was worse, so it becomes more about personal bests than ribbons. 

So what did we do wrong?  All the things.  Okay maybe not all the things.  We minused every maneuver. The first set of circles were fine.  Still got -1/2.   Then everything went down hill from there.  First set of spins was delayed because I couldn't get him to drop his head which made me super nervous and then he started moving around and anticipating but I didn't know how long I could wait or should wait so I just let him spin and the spins were AWFUL.  Second set of circles he picked up the wrong lead but changed as soon as I asked him.  Second stop looked like a spook. Second set of spins was maybe a hair better than the first but still awful. Lope off was fine, stop to rollback was fine but he picked up the wrong lead and again corrected when I asked.  The final sliding stop was a complete WTF.  Instead of stopping he threw up his head and spun around in what looked like a cartoon giraffe making fun of a dressage horse doing a pirouette.  That spin meant a DQ.  The backup was actually fine but still -1/2.  If you click on the scoresheet you'll be able to see all the various faults you can earn.  I don't know what the z or 2 is in the first penalty box, but he didn't end up counting it.

We were 615

LL 2C = 2 Circles to the left, left lead

2SL - 2 Spins Left

RL 2C - 2 Circles to the right, right lead

2SR - 2 Spins Right

LL RBR = Left lead lope, Roll Back Right

After our run I immediately went into the indoor and made him drop his head.  Took a bit of a fight, but he eventually dropped and we did some nice spins in both directions.  We then loped off and did a poor but obedient stop.  WTF.

Horses are hard.  

OKAY SO....

All of that was written BEFORE the chiropractor came out and BEFORE I watched the video multiple times in slow motion - yes that was torturous, but necessary.

Huck hurts when he stops.

It's clear to me now and of course I feel guilty for not realizing it sooner. It's his SI joint (sacroiliac).... oddly enough I have SI joint issues, too.  So I feel even more guilty because when mine flares up it's hard to even walk or stand let alone do anything as athletic as reining!  After the diagnosis I showed the Chiro the video and he agreed with me that his behavior at the stops is consistent with SI pain.

Chiro adjusted him and taught me some new stretches.  He also recommended I get a consult with one particular vet for possible injections.  He said his adjustment will help for a week or so, but that injections would probably be a good option for long-term.

Anybody want to sponsor me so I can afford this horse's never-ending vet bills!?!?!?  I don't have any idea what this will cost me.

We haven't ridden since the show.  I wanted him to have some days off before and after Tuesday's adjustment.  I'm planning to ride today and see how he feels, but NO stops until my trainer comes next Tuesday.  Chiro said I could stop him to let him feel that it's okay now, but I'd rather let the trainer do it correctly than me fumble it.

From the video... we almost look like we know what we're doing...

The Show that Almost Wasn't - Part II

Part I is here. 

Saturday early afternoon we loaded Huck and Ledger - wow they are both so easy to load/unload! and headed down the road.

I'd only been to this fairgrounds once last spring with Kevin for a Ranch Pleasure clinic/demo, which I don't think I posted about.

The show arena is decent sized, the warm-up is small and there is another small warmup arena that wasn't drug.

The show is a pleasure circuit, but this year they added 7 Ranch/Performance classes to the end of the day.  I was sad to see, once we arrived that there were patterns posted for the two Ranch Pleasure classes, even though their rule book describes the classes as rail-work only.  Thankfully the office people assured me that they were, in fact, rail-only and since this was their first time offering the classes they were still figuring things out.  The patterns were tough, too!  Both had lead changes and extended lopes!

The western classes were going on when we arrived and I really don't miss all those crystals.  To each his own, of course, but I don't miss it.  They allowed cross-entry from Western Pleasure to Ranch Pleasure so we didn't know what the mix would be in our classes.

The mix was definitely a mix. There were the two of us, who I would call serious Ranch people, a few reiners that were clearly there just to school, some pleasure-trained horses with work tack and manes growing-out, and some contesting kids.

Note to self: don't go to a horse show without fly spray.  Oopsies.  Luckily I had Tri-Care so I could get the flies away from his wound and B found some roll-on repellent in the trailer.

I was very nervous and shaking while I tacked up.  Huck was fine.  He was looky and wasn't holding still, but he wasn't crazy or screaming.  We rode in the crappy warm up for a while and I tried to convince him he didn't need to go as fast as possible and maybe should consider relaxing his topline and ignoring the show atmosphere.

We eventually got to a point I felt he was "with" me and we had about 30 minutes before Ranch Conformation would start so we stripped his tack and got ready to show.

We started with Ranch Conformation.  Huck was much better behaved than I feared he'd be.  He jogged off when I asked and set up pretty well.  He did move at one point but he obeyed when I re-maneuvered him back to square.

The judge stopped and looked right at his staples.  I was so worried she was going to excuse us.  She could have been totally insulted that I brought an open wound into a halter class.  If she had asked about it I'd have shown her the text from the vet okaying us to show. :)

Places were called and we were 2nd!  B and Ledger won the class.  Take that pleasure horses!  I showed in my vintage buckstitched halter.  B has a cool new rope halter that's pretty much the same color as Ledger.  I have a new brown rope halter on order so I can be as cool as her.   You can see why we call Ledger the Barbie Horse.... And you can purchase his image Here.  And as a unicorn here. 

These are the only photos we have of us showing.  Looks like the photographer didn't stay for the whole Ranch division.  :(  B and I were both too busy managing our fresh horses to take photos.

There were two trail classes and open reining that B was showing in,  so I tied Huck to the trailer and sat where I could see him.   I did get up and walk halfway to the trailer at one point but he was fine and I returned to my seat.  He didn't stand quietly like a gentleman, but he wasn't pulling or freaking out.  I think he was just mad that he was standing on grass but couldn't eat it.  The hay just wasn't as awesome.  I wanted to see if he could handle being alone at the trailer and yes he can.  Yay!

Our first riding class was a Ranch Pleasure Jackpot. Huck did about what I expected.  He's not the mover that Kevin was, but we're working on it. He minded my instructions and didn't seem bothered by anything. We ended up 4th of I think 6.

Horsemanship was next.  Our practicing of this simple pattern was ridiculous.  Huck was sure that loping from a standstill meant that he should go really really fast, as if we were speed roping or something.

He was better in the class, but we overshot cone C.  He stopped much better at D.  He picked up his leads well and he we did the reiner thing by moving his hip before asking for the lope. He always backs easily.  No one wanted to go first so we volunteered.  I feel the judge gives extra points for the one brave enough to go first.  ;)

She had us do rail work after the patterns and that went fine.  We were called First!!! I can't remember how many were in the class.  At least 6.  B and Ledger were 2nd.

Last class was another Ranch Pleasure class.  Not sure why they have two open Ranch Pleasure classes.  The first was Jackpot so it was $2 more to enter and had a higher payback.   I could tell Huck was getting tired.  The worst part of the class was that there were, I think 12 in the class and I had a hell of a time trying to find a spot on the rail.  There were a few in the class who, in my humble opinion, should have been excused.  I've been there, trust me, so I get it, but it made it really difficult to show my horse well.  I was cutting the corners and short sides of the arena a lot, just trying to keep my cadence while others zoomed around or bucked, or kicked out, or stopped short.....  I was happy with how Huck just went where I pointed him and didn't seem at all phased by the commotion.  This is good because our rail class at our ranch shows can sometimes be a shit show, too.

We ended up 4th again, and I think B was 2nd.

Since this was our first time at this show, we were thrilled to discover that there were paybacks for each class!  I think the show cost me about $3 after getting my payback!

I suppose I can say Huck earned a paycheck, right?

I feel SOOOOOOO much better about going into our show season, now that I know how he is at shows.  He's fine.  I'm sure he'll be even better when we have more time to adjust before actually showing.  I was most worried about the reining, which we didn't get to do, but I think we'll be fine.

I felt really guilty making him show with an injury, but his leg is good now.  The swelling is nearly nonexistent and the wound is dry.

He was a little back-sore on Tuesday.  I blame him being stalled for 4 days and the shit footing in the warmup. In hindsight I should have gone to the other warmup, but it was full of people standing around.  Next time I'll be bossy and tell them to get out of the way.  

Huck saw the chiro Tuesday afternoon and got two days off with a little bute and liniment.  Hopefully he's less sore today.  We have James Cooler back tomorrow-Sunday for a three-day horsemanship retreat.  I'm very excited to show him how much better we are at moving hips now!

Paycheck