Ginny, Day 3 -- catch-up blog!

I'm intending to ride Ginny this evening and I haven't written about our last ride yet. So before I get back into my Big Project for Work, I shall do so. Nice to see my priorities are straight.

Sunday went as so many Sundays do -- errands to run and things to do around the farm. And no great interest in cracking the whip and flying through the to-do list because, after all, it's SUNDAY. So it was probably 4-5 pm before we were back at the barn and ready to take a nap, er, NO! I mean RIDE!

I talked my friend into riding her young stallion (the Cute Spotted Stallion) first, because I use that time to do stretching exercises and let the Advil kick in. My friend incidentally had an awesome ride and trotted her boy for the first time (Ride 6 I think it was...). He is doing extremely well!

Ginny had been turned out all day on Saturday but still started her groundwork with a big squeal and toss of her long dramatic mane... so I let her run and buck for a little while. She's never been anything but cooperative and quiet (almost to a fault) under saddle but I don't see any reason to demand it of a wiggly young horse when a good run is all it takes.

A brief interruption for a picture of the Pony Princess.
No she did not win that ribbon. It was sent to me and her by a COTH friend. It will suffice until we have one of our own to display. Yes her bridle is pink, and yes there are little bitty jools adorning the bit ring. Hey, if you are nearly 50 and have a fat hony you call a princess, there are going to be props to go with it. I even have a little pink riding crop, but I can't find it. I think Ginny hid it.

Anyway, after the ya-ya was out of her system, I did a bit of groundwork and then mounted. She didn't stand as well as usual for mounting (remember she is being HELD so she shouldn't move at all, oh well) but I was able to lean over her and get my leg over when the opportunity arose.

Ouch. Very VERY stiff for this ride, and my knees were aching as soon as I got on. Only thing I can think of besides just random chance is that I was doing more upper body exercises during my pre-ride warm-up. I did that for a reason and it really did pan out, I'm happy to say! I'll just have to warm up LONGER so none of those pesky old body parts feel shunnnnned.

OK, so the big success. See, I've been having some directing issues with Ginny. My legs, especially at the beginning of a ride, are not really in a position to communicate with her. And she was trained with no real rein contact so I can't take up my usual rein length to direct her. So our path around the arena has been looking like a lot of overlapping pretzels. Between rides I remembered a good visualization from Centered Riding. Please be advised that this is not verbatim but my recollection of the exercise, and it's going to sound silly too. I have found it helpful in the past to pretend my boobs are headlights and I'm responsible for lighting the path I want the horse to take. As with the best/most effective of Sally Swift's imagery, just having that picture in my mind is all it took! Even with the wandering Ginny! No overt twisting or remembering to put this shoulder back and this one forward -- just light the path ahead of you. My friend saw the dramatic difference. We did serpentines and circles with, if not the "greatest of ease" at least a large measure of success and purpose.

I trotted her a little too, and I do mean a little (30 feet?). I am trying to get a post rhythm because I want to be kind and get off her back. However, at a trot she seems like a yacht on a quiet ocean... only the gentlest of rolling. I can NOT pick up posting without feeling like I'm the one doing the work. So next time I'll just try to sit lightly.

Next two mini-goals: a half hour or more in the saddle, and a walk around the property (yes, OUTDOORS!). Today it is pouring rain and chilly, so it will probably be the half hour ride. Let's see, it's 10:30 am... if I start stretching NOW... :)

Reflections on Week 1 -- and Ditto, Day 3

I'm back! Was anyone making any bets on me coming back? I hope your money was on my side!

So the first week of my new program has ended. I rode Ginny twice, worked Ditto twice. (I have now ridden Ginny again, which I shall chronicle forthwith, but to be fair "week one" started Sunday, 5/4 and thus ended yesterday, 5/10.) Not an overwheming amount of stuff accomplished, but name me another week in the last several years in which I've done even that much. Stumped, aren't you?

Here are my observations one week into this: Having a plan doesn't make it easy, nor does having a blog. EasiER, maybe. Waiting till everything is perfect will most assuredly result in no riding or training at all. And the nicest realization of all is that the best way to build or stretch riding muscles is... wait for it... TO RIDE. I don't feel great getting onto Ginny (tonight in fact I felt very stiff and sore) but I feel better afterwards and between rides. And that in turn makes it easier to get on again.

So the goal for week 2: at least 3 rides on Ginny, and at least 3 groundwork sessions with Ditto or his mother Imp.

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Here are a couple of pictures of li'l Ditto that I took this afternoon.








I worked him yesterday (groundwork) in the arena. He was quite resistant to longeing with his oh-so-endearing trait of pulling back to leave the circle. I am still tired and perhaps shouldn't have attempted the session but I did, and I ended up prevailing. He worked in both directions on the circle with almost no hesitation before I called it a day.

I might go back to the round pen next time just because it seemed (last time) to cut off the resistance before it started. He's a smart pony. If backing and pulling and being a little shit are not likely to get him any results, he's not going to make the effort. And for now, to drill GOOD behavior, that might be the best thing.

Oooh, for the groundwork yesterday I fitted him up with my old Steuben Siegfried saddle. What an adorable picture THAT made... :)

Isn't he cute?

Excuses? I have a pile of 'em today!

That's the thing, I *always* have excuses, legitimate ones. I just saw a line I had to steal (giving credit to "heidi the hick") -- The desire to reach the goal has to be stronger than all the excuses.

I like that. May I please have it tattooed across my forehead, or dangled on a string in front of me like a carrot?

I am soooooo tired (wah wah wah). I am watching a maiden mare on a foalcam from my chairside/bedside, and setting my alarm so I roll over and take a look at it. Do you know what that does for the quality of rest? I'm sure all of you who have had foals know. And at least once a night she does something that requires me to get out of bed and trudge down to the barn to see what's going on. So far, nothing has been going on except the cramps and restlessness that indicate I have somewhere between 0-30 more days to wait. Argh.

In the midst of this we did have a birth, albeit an unexpected one. Here is the new daughter of Ima Llama. We had been told that Ima might be pregnant but if so she would be due in November. Guess what, it's not November!! Spent the day yesterday googling madly for baby llama (cria) facts and features. Ended up getting them into stalls after work yesterday with my friends' help, quite a feat because they are not halter broke or even particularly tame yet. We, um, thought we had time.

Anyway, yesterday escaped me with no riding or horse work. I have to work tomorrow night (Friday) so tonight ought to be a riding night. Did I mention how tired I am? Yes, I did. Oh and the farrier is coming out at 4 pm today. (I need a personal assistant, LOL.) I definitely need this mare to foal so I can get some more SLEEP. I'm dozing in my chair right now. I won't even mention work stress but suffice it to say that yes, there is plenty o' work stress. And oddly enough they don't think of unexpected newborn llamas or expected foals as valid excuses for not meeting deadlines. I shudder to think of what they'd say if I told them sorry, I want to ride more. But this is the lot we accepted when some dumb over-achiever said "I have an idea, let's work five days and have two off!" Why didn't someone tell him then what a dumb idea THAT was?

Besides the cria pic I wanted to share, I also wanted to mention that I have been in a good deal less pain than usual. Could it be that I stretched across Ginny's wideness more than once in the same week? Could that have been repetition enough to start a stretching/flexing TREND. Oh. my. god. I really was expecting more agony initially. And who knows I may still get it, but this is heartening.

Maybe I'll ride Ginny bareback tonight! That's always fun. And the fewer "clothes" she is wearing the narrower she is. Yeah, that sounds good! Memo to self, let the Pony Princess and SSG out for some R&R this afternoon!

Ditto, Day 2

It's hard to know who should chronicle Ditto's second day of training, but since Cathy has blogs coming out of her ears, I'll take a stab at it. She of course can write whatever she wishes about the experience, though no one will think to look for it under Very Large Colt.

Ditto also had not been turned out for a couple of days, though he was out in the pasture with his buddies until very recently. We got him saddled up without much ado -- a couple of spooks that were largely unrelated to ANYTHING we could see, but minimal reaction to the actual tacking up.

Then he ran and ran. He is a speedy little dude. I can see him whipping through poles or around barrels, or even motoring through a cross-country course. (Yes, he does like to free-jump... he gets that from his mother.) Of course those are the things I know -- I'm not as familiar with what a hunter or jumper pony might look like as an unstarted baby!

Cathy collected him and did groundwork. He did some things very well: all of the exercises like sitting above him, leaning on him from the mounting block, pulling on the stirrups, etc. He did some things not so well -- he was a puke about longeing to the right! I have had all sorts of problems with his longeing (until the Day 1 exercise in the round pen) and have tentatively conquered them. But Cathy is going to have her own cues and fixes for his stubborn ponyness, so I just watched and smiled knowingly. Remember I've gone through this not only with him, but with his mother as well. He is SO like his mother.

He ended on a good note and is now munching away in his stall thinking about the return to working for a living. I think he'll be a good little pony. But we shall see very soon!

The Pony Princess, Day 2

Believe it or not I was stuck on how to number things -- Day 1 was easy but then I crapped out the next day so is today Day 2 or Day 3? Really not worth spending much time on. I've decided to number each ride sequentially so Day 2 for Ginny is her 2nd ride since the beginning of this master plan of mine.

Phew, glad to get that out of the way.

So I refired my determination and did ride Ginny today. I am expecting a mare to foal and must admit I've gotten lax about turnout for the other horses in the barn. I guess I'm thinking if Miss About-to-Deliver doesn't go out, ain't nobody going out. Or actually, I am overtired and not thinking at all. As a result, there was a bit more "spirit" to Ginny today than usual. I started out doing groundwork with her in the arena but she was making funny little "I'm going to explode" squeals as she trotted around me. So I free-longed her, if that's the proper word for "I took off her halter and let 'er rip". She did a lot of galloping and bucking, and a leg-snapping trot. She also fell boom after a particularly enthusiastic spin-and-buck. She might have been a teeny bit stiff after that but nothing serious.

I took her out to the round pen which has deep footing, wanting to capitalize on her energy and build some muscle. That tired her out pretty quickly! She remained a bit squirrelly though. Squirrelly for Ginny really does mean "showing a normal level of alertness". Still and all, if you're not used to it...

She walked out much more enthusiastically today under saddle. My first reaction was nervousness since, well, she doesn't generally walk out nicely! I was temporarily worried that it meant she was TOO aware of things going on which might lead to... I don't know what. And I don't want to know.

But she was just fine. I didn't trot but did stay on her longer. I have to bring an actual watch or other timing device out with me so I can be more precise about durations. It was definitely longer though!

Oopsie! :(

I really hate to say this but my plans ran aground on Day 2! But maybe this blog will make me figure out how to deal with this so it doesn't have to be written about again.

My best friend and I live (in a "bunkhouse"/rooms in a barn situation) and board our horses at the same farm. We can either motivate each other or, more frequently, DEmotivate each other. I was planning to ride Ginny again last night and do groundwork with either Ditto or his mother Imp. I did neither, because my friend is sore from a trail ride on Saturday, and came home and said "I'm not riding today". And that's all it took. I could've said, ok, well, I'm going to go ride Ginny, I'll catch up with you later. But I didn't. I said "well do you think you are seriously going to ride tomorrow night?" meaning Tuesday. And she said yes. So we shall see.

Here's the deal -- we don't even ride together. She is putting the first rides on her young stallion (who is NOT, incidentally, the VLC -- different friend, different horse!), and he hasn't been ridden with other horses yet. But at least if we are in the riding/training frame of mind, we do it, even if it's not at the same time. And so far I've been assisting with her and her colt, which makes me feel I can ask for assistance with my wide mare, even if it's just to hold her while I get on. God help me when she is riding the stallion or one of her other horses without assistance, if I still would prefer to have some help. I'm a bit embarrassed and feel ridiculous needing help with a totally quiet (read: half asleep) fat mare but if it can be a trade-off of "I help you/you help me" I don't feel so bad. That's the type of rhythm we get into on the days when we do work with the horses. Without that, last night, I was more than willing to abandon my plans.

We'll see how tonight goes. My friend and I do everything together (no, we are not a couple) so it's going to be a challenge to say "OK, but today I *am* going to ride". It didn't work on Day 2.

My VCG -- very cute gelding (Day 1)

Surely you don't think I stopped after riding Ginny yesterday? No, I am all fired up with ambition and determination.

Sooooo... let's meet Ditto.

Ditto is an unusual case with even more unusual breeding. You'll hear about his dam soon enough -- she is my mare Imp, a draft cross of unknown origin. She is pinto but I don't think it comes from Paint breeding -- she seems more likely to be a cross between a Percheron or Cheval Canadien and a pinto Saddlebred or Spotted Saddle Horse or some such thing.

Probably not breeding quality, definitely not breeding pedigree. And even if I threw all that to the wind, she sure as HECK wasn't a breeding candidate at 13 months of age, which was when she did indeed get pregnant with Ditto. I board on a farm that has a herd of mustangs, including stallions, one of which broke down fences and had his way with my poor little Imp (Oh do I jest here... I am quite confident Imp was more than asking for it, even at that age! She's a bit, um, lusty.) Anyway that stallion wasn't with Imp when the broken fence indiscretion was discovered, and we wrongly assumed he had left the yearlings alone. Yes there were FOUR yearlings together, so it could've been much worse. But there was also a full-grown mare in the same general area, and she was in heat, and the stallion was on her when we found him... and thus conclusions were drawn. Incorrect conclusions, as it turned out. Hence Ditto is half Sulphur Springs mustang, half... Imp.

That was late July of 2004. On April 1, 2005 Imp entered Pilchuck clinic with purpura hemorraghica, a frequently-fatal complication of strangles. She pulled through and began to return to health, though she lost all of the skin on her head, chest, underbelly and legs, and will be permanently scarred. On May 1, with her back home again, I had her preg checked, based on a hunch. She had lost weight in the clinic and as I fed her back up, it all went to her belly. And she started to develop an udder. I think if I had continued as-is, she would have lost the baby. My vet started to cry when she palpated and found the foal inside -- how much could this mare, er, FILLY take? But once I knew she was pregnant her nutritional rehabilitation went into full swing. She had the best of the best and tons of it. Her udder receded, she grew fat and sleek. And just after midnight on June 27th, she delivered... Ditto. He was healthy and perfect. And so much like his mother, it's a bit eerie.

Ditto will be three on June 27, 2008. He is very cute and amazingly well-put-together considering all the care and thought and planning that didn't go into his breeding. Like his mother, he is smart and strong and stubborn, but with a heart of gold.

He got some training last fall at a Jon Ensign clinic -- groundwork, desensitization, saddling. Then he had the winter off. I resumed his ground training yesterday and WOW! OK, I was in the round pen, whereas at the clinic and other times at home I was in an arena. He may have clued into what I was asking a bit better in the roundpen. But it seemed like he had done some thinking about his past training and it all came together. He was excellent! Responsive without being a nincompoop, steady without being a freight train. I did longeing/driving exercises, backing and one rein stop. A very good boy.

My goal for him is to have him under saddle this summer. I am lucky enough to have a very capable small person willing to work with him! I will continue his groundwork and refresh his memory on some baby life skills (bathing, trailering etc.)

Yeah, yesterday was a good day! Today in addition to riding Ginny I will do groundwork with Ditto's mother Imp. A story unto herself! Since I've already told her bizarre medical history here in her son's blog, I can go ahead with all of Imp's other interesting tales...