Porkchop update. Pre-show activities.

Our first show of the season is next weekend.

I've been polishing things, but mostly focusing on forward forward forward and pretty much living within transitions.

We've also been doing a lot of this:

Spotted LLAMAs, deer and a possum on this ride.
No problem keeping Hampton's pole up! ha!
So much snorting going on here.

The trails here are so awesome. Hampton is QUITE fit. We were out on the trails for over an hour the other day and by the time we returned home he was still prancing and wanting to play and buck a little bit. He has recently discovered the joy of leaping up banks out of creeks and bucking after. I laugh at him, but perhaps I should put a stop to that. I just love his enthusiasm!

So no more slacking off! Time to get into show horse mode.

Lady's story part 4: Slow and steady

Sweet Lady is doing quite well!

I have been grooming her every other day or so. She is now living outdoors 24/7 and loves it. She can be a little shy to catch at first. Her interactions with humans have probably not been the most pleasant in the past. But I have been giving her a treat every time I catch her and she is coming around. I will turn her into a treat whore in no time! :)


She is shedding out (finally!) and is still very perky with a good appetite.

She is still skinny, as you can see. But I do think she is gaining weight especially in her mid-section. The topline will be the last thing to fill in, but I think she is looking better!

I have had several people ask if they can help lady. If you would like to contribute to her care, below is a link to her GoFund Me account. Any little bit helps.

Camp Day 3: We did some learnin'

After a fabulous Saturday at camp, we were up bright and early for one more day of lessons on Sunday.

I rode Hamps early in the morning, and he came out ready to work. This was probably our best lesson. Our flying changes were clean, HUGE and off the aids. I was able to see them in the mirror and got goosebumps a few times. The changes have been SUCH a struggle for us, and finally it is coming together.

We worked maybe 30 minutes and called it a day. He did everything he was asked to do.

Not from camp. Actually a Derby Day photo. :)

After our lesson, he got another chiro adjustment. He had a few other areas to deal with, but nothing major. One rib was out, and he has some adhesions on his right glute. Possible left over from a kick he sustained a couple of years ago. He has tight hamstrings (which I knew). But otherwise, no signs of soreness from the saddle and nothing serious. This made me feel better, as I was worried something was causing him pain on Friday.

After Hampton was all put back, I had the opportunity to ride my coach's Grand Prix stallion. This horse is amazing and ranks in the top 5 most cool horses I have EVER sat on. We played for just a little bit on piaffe, passage and some canter pirouettes. It is so cool to have a horse like this teach me the aids and feel for these movements. We had some good moments but he is so much cooler with a rider who knows him and knows what they are doing. But he was a good sport and offered me some good things. :)

Testing a canter pirouette

Piaffing it

... and with that dressage camp was over. I did not want to leave! I was exhausted but loved every moment of it. I learned a lot, and we made a lot of progress in just 3 days. I'm not upset about Hampton's "issue" on Friday. It was actually a good thing because I had a teacher who could help me through those moments and give me tools to keep myself safe.

Our first show of the season is in just a few weeks.

I feel prepared for it. I like that feeling!


In other news, Lady updates coming soon! :)

Camp Day 2: Ride - ability

CAMP DAY 1 (Friday)

... as a sidenote, Friday evening Hampton had a chiropractor adjust his hyoid bone. I think I will write a separate post about this, but he got adjusted and put to bed Friday evening.

____

Saturday morning rolled around and already I was off the bandwagon and drinking Coke and taking Tylenol. I was hoping that Hampton was not as sore as I was! I was also curious to see if his adjustment would affect his attitude. I threw the snaffle bridle on.

You'll notice I put a running martingale on him as well. This was for my safety and peace of mind. :)
Thankfully I didn't need it!

I gave him a light lunge for our morning lesson just to see how he was. He did not look sore, and was really calm and willing to work. When I got on, I felt much of the same. Big sigh of relief from me - I had my horse back! Had the adjustment made a difference? The bute? Maybe he was stressed from having his routine so disrupted? Was something pinching him the day before?

I'll probably never know.

My coach was equally as happy and we cautiously proceeded to go to work. Thankfully, Hampton was a super star. My parents came up to watch and I'm glad they got to see us go to work instead of watching their daughter hang on for dear life.

Happy! Big old Hampton next to my good friend's American Sport Pony.
What a crew.

Hamps tried so hard for me and we did some major work on cleaning up our changes and making him WAIT for my aids. We tackled some canter pirouette work and also focused a little on our half passes. I have some great new homework on cleaning up the changes. That deserves a separate post as well. My coach said we "could easily do 4-3 with the exception of our one sometimes-late change." This was a major compliment to me as I have been really wishy-washy about even attempting 4-1 just yet. Also, major improvement from the day before when we would have barely scored a 40% at a Training Level test. Thanks, horse. They are always humbling you!

Our afternoon lesson went just as well. Hampton showed no signs of being tired. All of my worries about his fitness went out the window. He handled the work wonderfully. Our second lesson was more cleaning up the changes and really focusing on lifting his shoulders and getting his hind end under him. Many big trot-to-think passage transitions, making him adjustable and bringing his booty under him.

We also had lunge lessons on school horses. It's been ... WAY too long since I've had a proper lunge lesson. I loved every second! After the lunge lesson I took some Ibuprofen as I was sore almost immediately. hahaha. errrrr.

At the end of the day Hamps got some paddock and grazing time, a good rub down and put to bed. We had some dinner and drinks and collapsed into bed at an embarrassingly early time.

Evening grazing session. It was cold and raining all day Saturday.
I was pretty happy I decided to skip Rolex and instead
ride in an indoor arena.

I did a major blogger fail and really did not get many photos. It seemed like me and my friends were riding at the same time everyday, so no time to take many photos. I am sorry blog land!

We had one more camp day to go. I was hoping Good Hampton would be back the next day!

Camp Day 1: Meltdowns

I am finally getting my thoughts together about dressage camp. It was awesome as I expected, but it did leave me physically and mentally exhausted.

The good news is that Hampton is quite fit and he bounced right back! Prancing around and full of energy the next day. I rode him today and he was full of it - in a good way - and no hints of soreness.

But ...

Our first full day of camp did not go as I expected.

Friday morning selfie. Mirrors in the arena! Oh how I miss you!

Our first lesson was ok. We worked quite a bit on cleaning up our half passes, lateral energy and adjustability. But Hampton was snarky and anytime I would tickle him with the whip he could pig root and offer to buck. This is not unusual for him, especially since we haven't been off the property for several months.

We focused on opening up his shoulders through leg yields, and making him super obedient to my legs. I wouldn't say he was bad, but there was some tension there.

Several hours later we had our afternoon lesson. I chose to ride him in the double bridle this time. As soon as I got on I knew he was in a mood. When we started trotting I said "oh shit" to myself because he was SOOOOOOOOOOOO behind the leg and so uptight. He was behind the contact, fussy, tight in the back. When I asked him to go forward, he would pull his "hop up and down and threaten to launch" antic. I tried getting a little mad and booting him around, leg yielding on the circle (anything to keep his feet moving). He just kept getting nastier. He was totally unrideable, My coach suggested it might be the double bridle. I'm not so sure, but I guess it's a possibility. Eventually I got him to trot somewhat civil and we ended the lesson. We could not canter a circle without bucking, threatening to launch. At one point I thought he was going to do one of his mega bucks and I was grabbing mane. We would not have been able to complete a training level test. I started to wonder if he was in pain.

I'll admit I had a mild meltdown on the walk back to his stall. What if he was trying to tell me that he has reached a limit? Was he in pain? Maybe he is not mentally capable of the work? Did he strain something in the morning lesson? Maybe it's too much and I need to sell him. Hampton can be snarky and cop an attitude, but this was beyond his normal antics.

So I gave him some bute that night and some time in a paddock hoping he would feel better the next day.

If not, this was going to be a rough weekend.

WW: Sit, horse. Good boy

Just my horse. Being a total dweeb.

Nothing new.

But I promise to have better posts next week! We are off to dressage boot camp this weekend so I will hopefully have some worthwhile posts.

Trail ride

The Porkchop and I are slowly getting back into shape. He is much more fit than his rider, but I will get there haha.

Gorgeous trail system

We took a hack day on Tuesday and explored the large trail system that connects to the farm. I don't usually go out exploring alone, but I let the Boy know I was heading out and if I did not text him in two hours to call me and see if I was ok.

So we headed out.

The trails are in great shape, not too muddy. We only explored a few miles and there were not any challenging parts of the trail. To do the entire loop would probably take half a day. We have much more to explore! We crossed two small creeks and found a big creek with water that went up to Hampton's knees. SO fun. I bet it will be so gorgeous when everything greens up!

We even passed two fields of bloodthirsty, murderous cows without drama.

I don't think I wrote about the last time we tried to pass the cows. It was before winter really hit, and upon seeing said cows Hampton began shaking, snorting and threatening to have a total meltdown. So, I hopped off. When my feet hit the ground, he LEFT. Left me a mile from home, on the side of the road. And ran home. He was unhurt, but I was annoyed to say the least.

None of that crap this time though! Woot.

The barn with the track is way out in the distance

He did get a bit wound up when we found ourselves in an open field that was next to a busy road and another horse farm with a race track. I think he heard the other horses, and was startled by all the traffic. He started jigging and yanking the reins from me. This is the behavior that preceded the explosive black stallion move at the hunter pace last year. So, I did my best to sit heavy, guide him sideways but try not to block the forward. We were yards away from the big creek so I directed him back in there and said "There ya go, NOW you can go forward in this deep water you little shit!" ... and he indeed slowed down and was respectful again. We made it back home without incident.

I think next time we will take another route that doesn't go near the road. He has really turned into a lovely trail horse. He will go anywhere I point him!

He has been lovely in the arena, too. We have been focused on suppleness and getting a reaction. Many rubber band exercises, transitions and lateral work. This spring won't be as busy as last year. But we have some things planned!

P.S. Lady is starting to gain weight!!