Shorty Is All Tired Out

The Sparkplug is all tuckered out.  Three days of "boot camp" did him in - but one of the great things about a Morgan is that if I asked him to keeep going, he would.  Day Three of the clinic was a bit less exciting than Day Two.  The day started off with a bit of a "confrontation;" as we were warming up, Greg had me jump Sparky over a Liverpool that had been folded in half length-wise, just to get a measure of where Sparky's brain was.  Sparky did not hesitate in the least and went right over like he'd been jumping Liverpools his entire life.  The Liverpool was then unfolded, and Greg had us jump it again.  Again, Sparky didn't even blink.  This confirmed what Greg was thinking: Sparky is essentially a very brave horse... he's just a jerk.  Jumping a coop was also on the agenda for the day, so Greg had me present Sparky to the coop to see what he would do.  He seemed a little unsure at first, but then decided that maybe it wasn't so bad, and actually moved up to a trot as we were walking towards it.  "That's not a bad reaction," Greg said.

Day Three was, in some ways, a repeat of the previous days.  We were still working on correcting Sparky's right shift over the jumps.  Our course to jump for the day was the coop, followed by the roll-top, a four-stride line, and the diagonal line from the direction opposite of what we had been jumping it the previous days.  Overall, Sparky did well.  In the course of the day, he stopped four times, but only once (again, at the roll-top) was it an, "I'm a jerk" stop.  After beating his butt, he went over the roll-top no problem... and actually also bucked less and threw less of a hissy-fit than he had the previous day.  He other stops were all "honest" stops - he really was surprised by the jumps.  In the case of the coop, it was likely still some hesitation about the type of jump, but for the pink oxer, it seemed to mostly be a matter of it not even occurring to Sparky that he was supposed to jump it from that direction.  Once he went over each of them, he didn't have an issue again.

I almost wonder if I haven't caused Sparky's issue of shifting right over fences.  When he ducks out, it is almost always to the left, so I probably tend to use more "stay to the right" aids... which may have ended up causing that shift to the right.  It's quite possible, and so is therefore something about which I must be cognizant.

Taking Sparky to the clinic was DEFINITELY a Good Idea.  It was a great experience, and I now have some very specific things to correct and better ideas on how to correct them.

Love me some Greg Best! 

"You're right - he IS an asshole"

Look at those damn ears!  He's not pissed - he's playing and having fun trying to dump my ass.

Sparky just spent three days at boot camp, also known as the Greg Best clinic.  The clinic was again held at Three Bears Farm, about 25 minutes from our barn.  After watching Greg work with another young horse at the last clinic, I knew that taking Sparky to this one would be a Very Good Idea.

As those who follow my blog and who have ever talked to me know, Sparky is, ummm, interesting.  He's brave as hell, but will randomly throw hissy fits (consisting of bucking, running out, stopping...) over the most mundane of things.  Having come to a point where pain has pretty well been ruled out, it's time to crack that peanut brain of his.  And Greg was the perfect person to help me do it.

Day One was pretty uneventful.  It became obvious that Sparky has a fairly dramatic right shift over the jumps, so a primary goal was to work towards correcting that.   "This horse will never go left," Greg proclaimed at one point.  Interesting...

Day Two... ahh...  Day Two is the reason I took Sparky to the clinic.  Sparky's alter-ego (*need a good alter-ego name*) was in attendance.  After a very good start and improved straightness in our warm-up fences, it came time to jump a small course.  A small course that included a roll-top.  I'll admit, I didn't ride very well on the approach to the roll-top the first time; I wanted to see what Sparky would do.  And he did pretty much what I thought he might: he ran out to the left.  And upon disciplining and re-presenting, a MAJOR hissy fit ensued.  And the little jerk dumped me on the ground.  Grrrr... So of course, I do what it completely natural, and in front of everyone (proper adults and small children included), I said to my horse, "You ASSHOLE!"

I climbed back aboard the Asshole, and our battle continued.  There were comments of "pretty good moves" and "maybe join the rodeo instead," but eventually Sparky went over the roll-top pretty well.  Following instructions, I patted him for doing well after landing from the roll-top.  We completed the course, and then (again, under instruction), continued and did the course again.  Sparky again jumped the roll-top well, so I patted him again, and we continued on our way.  Apparently, I didn't need to pat Sparky and tell him he was a good boy that second time - "He knows just how good he thinks he is," Greg commented.

The others in the group went, and once it was our turn again, there was again some hesitation about the roll-top, but overall it went pretty well.  Due to a tired horse and rider, that right drift got pretty bad again, but the bigger issue had been addressed.  As we were wrapping up for the day, Greg was talking about how he likes to apply labels to horses, because he thinks it helps us understand them better.  About Sparky he said (AND I QUOTE!), "You're right - he IS an asshole."  I was also told, in no uncertain terms, that one of these days I was going to have "a knock-down, drag-out battle" with Sparky.  Basically, it is all going to come down to respect... which the Sparkplug currently lacks.

Greg is most excellent at figuring out horses... and he nailed Sparky.  Now this is probably really anthropomorphizing, but it's dead-on:  Sparky is pretty much an arrogant jerk who is pretty full of himself.  If he's ever unsure about something, it's almost as though he covers it up with attitude - "Oh, I didn't really want to jump that anyway."  Basically, he's damn smart, and always looking for a way to keep himself entertained.  And this makes me feel a bit better, because that's pretty much the conclusion at which I'd arrived... but I wasn't sure if I was just plain missing something.  Nope, not missing anything.  My horse is an asshole... but damn he's athletic!

And have no fear - more on the clinic will be forthcoming!

My Last Day at Age 27

27 has, overall, been a pretty good year for me, but with the end of it, I can't help but consider it to be more along the lines of bittersweet.  There were the highs of a new job and a reserve world championship, but I have some pretty mixed emotions right now.

Star was diagnosed today as having significant arthritic changes in her left knee; up until recently (within the last three weeks), she had never taken an off step a day in her life.  There were a couple of times recently that she seemed to take a bit of a soft step, but it was subtle.  A bit over a week ago, it became much more obvious.  The farrier looked at her first, to determine whether we might be dealing with a bruise or an abcess.  I was hopeful, but I knew in my heart that it was something more.  I know my horse; if she is unsound, something is wrong.

The vet was already scheduled to be at the barn today, so she examined Star, determined the lameness was in the knee, and did x-rays.  The arthritis was pretty apparent; it's clearly not something that has developed in only the past three weeks.  It seems that a teeny fragment of a spur that has formed may have chipped off and irritated the joint capsule, causing the acute lameness.  The vet felt the best course of action would be to inject the knee with steroids (a bit of a stronger one, and more of a less-strong but longer-lasting one) and hyaluronic acid.  Star is to stay in a stall overnight, rest for the next three days, back into light work for five days, and then regular work.  We'll see how it goes.

Because the knee is a more high-motion joint than the hock, the long-term prognosis is not as good as if it were the hock.  The vet thinks that Star should return to complete soundness with the injections and that, with maintenence (as needed), Star should be comfortable to be ridden and compete for another couple years.  The vet also recommended that putting her on either Cosequin or Adequan could help lengthen the amount of time needed between joint injections.

The disease will continue to progress, regardless of the amount of work I have her in or what treatment/therapy I use, so I don't have to feel that I might be making it worse by keeping her going.  Star has been my best buddy for 14 years - half my life! - so I will absolutely do what is best for her.  The minute she tells me she's done competing, she's done; from that point, I will continue to do whatever she needs to be comfortable for daily non-competitive life and beyond.

I'm relieved and grateful that the diagnosis wasn't worse, and honestly, I'm not surprised at what it was.  As soon as I heard that the farrier thought it was her knee, and when she was still unsound a week after she was confirmed unsound, I had a pretty good idea of what was in store for today.  I would be lying though, if I were to say that I wasn't a bit disappointed, though.  Hope springs eternal, I guess.

Part of me, however, is broken-hearted, looking at the long-term picture.  I couldn't care less about any of the implications in terms of competition.  What bothers me is that, while Star is getting older, she's still not an old horse.  It's not unreasonable to think that she'll be with me for another 15 years... but that means that her already-significant arthritis will also be around.  And I hate the idea of what that could mean for her comfort level and quality of life.  It progressed as far as it did with no indication whatsoever that it was even there... Star is so tough and so stoic that I'm a bit terrified of in the future, how much further it will continue to progress and how bad it will get (and therefore how much pain she'll be in) before I have any indication.  I can only imagine how much pain she had to be in now to finally be unsound.  It breaks my heart to think of anything causing my horse pain and negatively affecting her quality of life.

The upside to this, however, is that I will not have to play as much at "ignorance is bliss" regarding her hocks.  Because she hasn't been unsound, I've not had her hocks examined for the effects of wear and tear from jumping.  Now that she will be on either Adequan or Cosequin, that should help any issues that may be bubbling under the surface as far as her hocks are concerned.  In the relatively near future, I will have an actual examination done on her hocks, just so I'm dealing with a known quantity, even though there has been no real indication that there is a problem.

We're likely not going to the Morgan Grand National this year.  The money that had been earmarked for those entries will now be going to the vet.  I would be lying if I said I'm not slightly disappointed, but the long-term well-being of my horse FAR exceeds the importance of going to a horse show.  It does make me even more glad that we did go last year and had an amazing show; it may have been the last time we will go. 

Star is my baby, and she's done so much for me, I can't not do right by her.

Nations Cup

It's been a pretty good week or so.  The next couple of times riding Star after "Beg Pardon," I decided to put her in her double bridle.  The idea was that I could ride as much as I wanted on the snaffle, and only pick up the curb if she was blatantly awful.  The advantage of the double over the Pelham is that she doesn't tend to get behind the bit the way she does in the Pelham.

Sparky has been doing really well lately, and we've played a bit at "Nations Cup."  After some joking around last Sunday about whether or not we'd ride each other's horses, I decided it might be interesting to see Kyle ride and jump Sparky.  So about a week ago, when I was riding with Kyle in the ring, after we had both jumped around a little bit, we switched horses.  It was getting dark, so I couldn't see quite as much of what Sparky was doing as I would have liked, but he and Kyle got on pretty well.  After she was done jumping Sparky, she decided that she wanted to see me jump her horse, Guilder (aka, Sparky's best buddy).  I figured why not, and hopped him over a few jumps.  It was a lot of fun, and did help to really illustrate the advantages of riding many different horses, and not always your own.

Thinking about the riding other peoples' horses thing, and thinking about it being good for Sparky to have other people on him, I convinced Honorary Big Sister Jen to swap horses with me on the flat when I unexpectedly got off work early on Friday.  So I flatted Tiki, and she flatted Sparky.  It was amazing to feel how much better Tiki is going now than he was the last time I rode him (oh, about a year and a half ago!).  Honorary Big Sister Jen has done a great job with him.  After flatting, we switched back to our own horses and started doing some jumping.  We had set a gymnastic; Sparky was great!  He didn't stop at a single fence, and eventually went through the gymnastic with the center vertical set at 2'6" and the oxer also set at 2'6" and stretched out pretty nice.  There were a couple of sticky go's as he figured things out, but he always made an honest effort.

On Sunday, I had Kyle ride Sparky again... I wanted to actually be able to *see* what he was doing in the daylight!  It wasn't perfect - there were a few stops - but overall, they did really well; there were a couple of times when Sparky thought, "Maybe not, thanks," after a stop and Kyle gave him a really good ride, letting him know that stopping again was not an option.

Wednesday's ride on Sparky focused mostly on dressage-y flatwork, emphasizing correct bend through the entire body (not just the neck).  We hopped over a couple small jumps, emphasizing "straight."  He did really well; I just need to be consistent in always asking for correct bend.  Going straight is the hardest thing we can ask a horse to do, and unless they can bend correctly, they can't go straight correctly.

The bad news is that Star is off... I rode her a bit on Sunday, thought she might feel a little off on the flat, and it became really obvious when we landed from the coop.  Hoping it was a bruise or abcess, I had the farrier look at her on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, the issue does not appear to be in the foot.  The farrier thought it might be in the knee; the vet will be checking her on Monday.  In the meantime, Star has gone back to 24/7 turnout, with a grazing muzzle if needed.  (Joyce had been putting her in a stall some days to turn her own mares out where Star usually lives.)  It's possible that her off-ness is a byproduct of being stalled, so maybe being out all the time will help.

As a complete aside, the halters with new plates have arrived - they look great!  Kellie is modeling hers in the picture.  

Beg Pardon

I'm sorry. Was I just yesterday extolling the virtues of the made horse? I may have to take that back.

Star was absolutely awful tonight.  It was like she had forgotten everything she knows.  The plan was just to do some dressage-y flatwork, really encouraging her to step under herself and use her hind end.  Ha!  The ride went something like this:

Nicole: Walk
Star: Walk?  What's walk?  Jig?  Okay.
Nicole: No, walk
Star: Unbalanced, strung-out trot?  Okay.
Nicole: Walk, dammit.
Star: Back to the jig?  Okay.
Nicole: Whoa and back your ass up!
Star: Back? What's back?  Forward and circles?  Okay.
Nicole: Whoa
Star: I like this one
Nicole: Walk
Star: Plod? Okay
Nicole: Walk on
Star: Trot?  Okay
Nicole: Walk
Nicole: Trot
Star: Slowly slog myself into a jog?  Okay
Nicole: Walk
Nicole: Trot NOW
Star: Run into a too-fast trot on my forehand?  Okay
Nicole: Easy
Nicole: Bend, please
Star: Bend?  Huh? Giraffe?
Nicole: Give to the bit, please
Star: Need more giraffe?

And so it went.  We tried a few spirals at the trot... those weren't terrible, in terms of bend, but there was ZERO impulsion.  Everything about our ride just felt stiff, unbalanced, lacking impulsion and/or any semblance of hind end engagement, and completely lacking in obedience.  *Sigh*  I finally gave up.

I'm not going to beat my head against a wall over this, because I know it was a one-off event, but that doesn't really make it any less frusturating.  It was honestly one of the worst rides I've had in a very long time - and that includes the recent falls off Sparky.  *Grrr*

Horses keep you humble, I guess.

Now It's Official and Appreciating the "Made" Horse

Planets didn't quite align in order for me to take to Mid-A this year, so I'm slightly bummed about that... but at least since I've never been, I don't know what I'm missing! HOWEVER, things HAVE worked out favorably for the Big Deal Show of the year, also known as the Morgan Grand National and World Championship Horse Show. So it's official: Star is going back to Oklahoma City!

I had debated a bit about which hunter classes in which to put her, but it occurred to me last night that, now, since I am not competing at Mid-A, I have no reason to make her play at hunter this year. My main reason for planning on the hunters this year was to "point chase," but with Mid-A out of the picture, the point is moot. SO... I have decided to do the jumpers (of course!), Versatile Morgan, and Carriage Pleasure Driving. That's right - the carriage is going to Oklahoma this year, too! The Versatile Morgan class should also be quite fun. The horses are judged in harness, under saddle, and over fences. It's a class I've wanted to do for ages, so I am very excited.


Star has been doing really well lately. We're both a bit out of shape yet, but I have plenty of time this year to get us into shape. Star has been warming up over 3' with no problem, so if we build a little more strength and scope, we should be pretty golden. For our carriage driving, I plan on actually working on a lot of dressage with her. I think we need a little more straight and push from behind to really excel. I plan on incorporating more eventer-style hillwork and trot sets into our program as well, to help build some stamina and fitness - and that rear end!


In light of my recent frustrations with Sparky, working with Star lately has made me really appreciate having a made horse. It's nice to be able to just canter up to a 3' jump and know that my horse is going to go, and not have to worry that I'm going to get dumped at a crosspole. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE green horses, and I think that riding green horse makes me a better rider - but sometimes it's nice to not have to work *quite* so hard.

The Coop Is Thine Enemy

Or so seems to believe Sparky *wry face*


Le sigh. I'm having some issues figuring out my horse. He randomly stops at jumps - not quite in a "dirty stopper" fashion - but stops nonetheless, and I can't figure it out. More or less on a whim, he went on a field trip to the chiropractor. I figured it wouldn't hurt, might help, and would at least give me a gauge of whether I needed to have the vet out for something more serious. He was in some pain upon palpation, but show marked improvement post-adjustment. For good measure, I also waited until he had front shoes back on before riding him again.


A few days after Sparky had his front shoes replaced (which was a few days after being chiropracted), I rode him. His flatwork was quite nice... I could tell by his willingness to stretch over his back that he was feeling more comfortable than he had previously. I had decided that we were going to do a little jumping, just to see where we were. I had set the jumps accordingly: one at 2', one at 2'3", one at 2'6", and the coop at 2'.


I decided to start with the coop. Sparky was plenty well warmed up, and has jumped the coop several times, so it seemed it wouldn't be an issue. Indeed, as we approached the jump, Sparky became quite bold and took me to the jump - and ducked out to the left at the very last second. I'm pretty sure he actually picked up his front feet as if to go over, because just like at Conyers, I ended up somewhere around his ears. Only this time, I didn't manage to stay on, and went over, doing a backwards somersault and landing pretty much under his feet. I'm still not sure how he managed to avoid stepping on me.


I was okay, so I got back up, smacked my little asshole's shoulder, remounted, and we came again. He ducked out again, but I was a bit more ready this time, and stayed where I belonged - that is, in the saddle. I shortened my reins even more, and we approached for the third time. He went over beautifully. We did that a few more times, then moved on to the other jumps.


The other jumps were all basic verticals constructed of regular stadium jumps. He never peeked at any of them - not even the 2'6" vertical, which I trotted him to at a very controlled pace, as I was expecting him to stop. Off that trot with next-to-no-impulsion, he hopped right over the 2'6" vertical like it was no big deal!


He finished the day beautifully, but I'm still a bit discouraged. He shouldn't be in pain, he's definitely not overfaced, and it's not like I'm some terrible rider who punishes him in the air, committing one of the George's "cardinal sins." So I don't quite know what's going on. Is Sparky still expecting to feel pain? Does he just really not like cross-country type jumps? Is he scared? Is he just being an asshole and trying to challenge me?


I really am just not getting it. Input appreciated.