A little sore

Headed to Indy Classic next weekend!

In true equine fashion, Hampton has come up a little sore this week.

Naturally, since we have a rated show next weekend.

My gut instinct says he is foot sore. He threw BOTH front shoes last week, and while he was sound - I am wondering if going without shoes for those few days with the ground being hard made him a little foot sore. He got shod on Wednesday, and was still not right for our lesson on Thursday. I wonder if the farrier took off too much sole ...

He isn't lame, but he is incredibly spooky and distracted, short strided, flat and just not right in his back. It's almost as if he is bracing because his feet are ouchy.

So I am going to Magic Cushion him for a few days, and perhaps school out in the grass instead of the arena - which by the way, is not helping matters as it needs raked badly. It is choppy and hard, and Hampton is a bit of a footing snob anyway. (The harrow is broke, or I would do it myself).

He also has a chiro appointment tomorrow, a massage next week and plenty of Theraplate time. Hoping the big doofus feels more comfortable by the weekend.

(and he will be getting some omneprezole, too, as is my custom the week before and during shows).

oh ... what's the sound? Oh that's my bank account crying.

Rock Star! (sort of)

(Thank you to Bakers Field Dressage for the inspiration!)

This horse personality quiz (and book!) and pretty hilarious and entertaining. After I took the quiz for Hampton, I found it to be rather accurate.

Not surprisingly, Hampton is:

A RELUCTANT ROCK STAR
"This horse has a big ego, loves attention, loves to be in the limelight, but doesn't really like all the work it takes to be there. That is where you come in. You will need to push, persuade and motivate every inch of the way."

And the chapter in the book about these Reluctant Rock Stars goes on to say:
"They try very hard for you. They are sensitive, kind, and pleasant to be around and will be totally forgiving. DLCF’s will keep on going and giving even when they are sore or being mistreated. Stoic comes to mind. Most Dominants will not put up with much mishandling as they are only too happy to fight, but in these horses it is balanced out by the Lazy and the Friendly. They don’t want to put in too much effort, and they do want to be liked."

"In general, this horse is an easy horse to train, because he wants to please you so much. An added benefit is his confidence and curiosity. He is not likely to be the dangerous type as he is not flighty. He would much rather get along than create problems."

"Negative training with this horse will create a quiet passive resistance. If they are not being listened to, they will start to shut down either physically or emotionally"



The chapter was pretty darn accurate to describing Hampton! He needs motivation most days, but is quite happy to work all day just for a pat, carrot or a "who's a good boy?!" He hates it when he feels he has done something wrong, and when treated unfairly will act out and let you know you are being a bitch.

Try the quiz, it's entertaining if nothing else!

You can take the personality quiz HERE.

IDS Show Part 2: Hampton's turn

My main man
I left his forelock unbraided. Opinions?

... picking up where we left off. Royale was perfect.
Hampton was ... just blah?

I was really happy I was able to patch him back together for the show. His face swelling vanished, and we got his shoe tacked back on.

Friday night I went to school him and he was borderline wild. I was doing a decent job of keeping the lid on it, until we were counter-cantering down a long side and before I even knew what was happening his head shot up and we went FLYING backwards, damn near 40m down the arena. We came close to mowing down a child on a pony, and while I tried to bend his neck his jaw and neck were LOCKED.

Some rail bird commented on how he "looked like a western pleasure horse" until he did that. Thanks for the back-handed compliment, lady.

So I worked his ass some more until he was obedient and no longer spooking at who knows what.

Oh, I must mention that during some "turbulence", somehow my back seized up. It was so bad I had to stop Hampton and slump over in pain, hoping for the spasm to stop.

After I was done riding, I could barely bend over. Braiding nearly made me cry. I still have no idea what caused it?! I never get back pain like this!

Thankfully my BFF Liz had a heating pad at her house, which I cuddled with all night. Also I mixed booze and Advil with wild abandon. In the morning I was quite a bit better, but still pretty painful.

We showed 3-1 first and Hampton was clearly tired. I was riding like shit to top it off, so I did not have him supple, or really in front of the leg like I need. Even so, we managed to get through the test with no mistakes and pulled off a 64%+. That's actually pretty darn good for us. But I was bummed because my back was bothering me still and I could not really make a real half halt without losing my breath from pain.

Jen took nearly 200 photos of us!
Including this great shot!

After chugging some booze rehydrating, it was time for 3-3. I switched to the snaffle this time to see what happens. I also tried to light him up a little more in the warm up ring with some half steps and forward/back. It did help, but once in the ring we started to fall apart again. I just could not anchor myself to the saddle to support him. And he kept getting more downhill and sucked back. No major mistakes or anything, but not the ride I had hoped for. We managed a 61%+ ... which actually is great because that's the score I needed for year end awards and championships. Woot!

3-3 half pass

Hampton held up his end of the bargain, but I didn't. I was a little disappointed in my riding, and for using up all of Hampton's energy on Friday night. That's my fault. But was still quite an enjoyable and BUSY show. And hell I got the score I needed so I will chalk this one up to "it was doomed to be a clusterfuck from the beginning so way to hang in there."

Hey look! his poll is UP!

Turn on the haunches, I will make you my bitch.

We also hung out with Jen from Cob Jockey, and I got to watch the amazing Connor and Jen SMOKE FIRST LEVEL. I don't think Jen gives herself enough credit on her blog, but these two are a true pleasure to watch. Such correct basics and a really wonderful flow to their tests. Won't be long until Second Level for them.

Let's have a moment to admire Connor's tail.

So overall a very fun show, and a success even though my riding is subpar!
Onto the next sandbox.

IDS show part 1: Royale's debut

I'm going to split up the show roundup into a couple of posts with lots of photos!

First off, Hampton recovered from his swollen face and looked normal on Friday. My awesome farrier tacked the shoe back on, and we were good to go! More on Hampton next time ... but first, little Royale made his show ring debut!

I'm not sure I have ever had the pleasure of being around a young horse who was so well behaved at their first show. I mean he never put a foot wrong. There was a whinny here and there, but hardly anything to be concerned about.

Saturday morning I got on about 30 minutes before our Intro A test. It was COLD and WINDY. I decided not to lunge because ... well ... I mean it seems smart to get right on a 3-year-old, not-super-broke SADDLEBRED on a nasty windy morning right?

I will admit there was some speed trotting going on, but that was the worst of it. After I let him trot around a while, he calmed down and then was pretty ridable. In the ring he was a super star. Never spooking, very attentive and reasonably steady. There were some wobbly, wiggly moments but it's just young horse stuff.

I was so proud when he got a 66+% and second place!

Liz got on an hour later for Intro B and he was actually starting to run out of gas by then, but they had a much more steady test I thought - this time pulling off a 69%!!

How about that for the chicken nugget?!!!

He is going to be such a nice horse. What a good sport of him to truck around two different riders, off the property at his first show. He was a champ about the warm up ring which actually got a little busy at times.

It makes me so excited about his future! Go skaddadlebreds!

The Stages of Freaking the F Out

Imagine this, my fellow equine bloggers.

You have a show on Saturday - so you plan to leave Friday. It's Thursday.

You walk out into the field to find your noble steed nasty ass hog of a horse.

"Aww, he looks sleepy," you say from a distance.

As you get closer you realize he is not sleepy. His eyes are puffy. AND his nose is swollen too.

this eye was puffy-er

You glance down and count only 3 shoes, too.

Here are the stages of "pre-horse-show-crisis-freak out" :

First, confusion
via GIPHY

Then, reality:
via GIPHY

Followed by:
via GIPHY

Then an irresistible urge to ....
via GIPHY

am I right?!?!

I think he got his face in something weird, or possibly got stung? His breathing and vitals are totally normal. He is perky and hungry and begging for treats as normal, but he did get some antihistimines and got to hang out in a stall all day.

God bless my wonderful farrier who will be tacking the shoe back on tomorrow before we leave.

However, if Hampton gets any worse or shows signs of discomfort I'll just leave him home. But otherwise he seems ok?? He does not seem to notice that he looks like he was in a bar fight.

Add this on top of a somewhat overwhelming life change right now (nothing bad, promise!) ... I may have a legit nervous breakdown. Prescription: BOOZE.

Stay tuned!

Rare sighting (my Derby experience)

That's me on the left. I point that out because I rarely ... RARELY wear a dress, much less do my hair and wear it down. I realize I am somewhat unrecognizable. These are a few of my barn girls. We had a wicked good time at the Derby.

It was my first year attending, even though I have lived in Lville for 4 years. And I will say it ... Derby is WAY WAY cooler than that nasty, dirty, trashy Indy 500. There. I said it.

The infield was actually pretty tame. It did POUR on us right before the race, but then in true Midwest fashion the sun came back out and all was right again. I had a feeling Nyquist would win, but didn't bet on him because ... well you just won't win any money when you bet on the favorite. He ran a great race, but looked really tired as they were walking back. Makes me wonder if he could run the Belmont ... but a nice horse anyway. Love those handsome bays!

Who wants to have a Blogger Derby trip next year? Anyone?!?! :)

M (barn owner) in my lap. haha!

Royale update!

Just realized it has been a while since I have updated on the baby skadaddlebred!

Royale is currently in the most adorable, awkward stage of growing out his forelock. It's so cute I almost cannot stand it. It just adds to his saddlebred character.

He continues to be pretty much a model baby horse. He has had moments here and there where he has tested his boundaries. For example, he has been a bit of a douche about trailer loading but nothing too horrible and I know it will get better.

His previous issue of being a prick to bridle is gone, thanks to L. He is easy to bridle now and Monday I even tied him to the trailer to tack him up and he (mostly) stood like a good citizen.

so gangly!

Under saddle he is still a very good boy. He just needs miles really. I don't work on anything specific except learning to move away from my legs and responding promptly to whoa and go requests. If he goes on the bit, great. If not, I don't wrestle with him. He is too weak and wobbling right now to be too demanding except on the very very basics. He gets ridden maybe once or twice a week at most.

Did I mention that kids can lead him around?

He is such a string bean!

And now the big news! Royale will be going to his first dressage show!

We are aiming at a couple of Intro tests at the IDS schooling show next weekend. Personally I cannot wait to have him all braided up. We will be using a fly bonnet to cover up his current forelock tragedy.

Hampton will also be tagging along for a couple of Third level tests. I'd like to show him in the snaffle and see what happens, and maybe ask for a little more pizazz and see what we have. Plus, we need to qualify for some IDS year end awards here. This could be out good-bye to Third Level. After this show, I plan to focus on 4th exclusively.

As you can see, Hampton is so ready for another show ....

cannot horse.