A Smoother Sitting Trot

Monday it was hot and humid. I did wear my technical fabric tights, shirt and socks, but I should have worn my ice vest instead of my protective vest. I only walked but I ended up hot and sweaty, and I felt exhausted before the end of my placid ride.

MJ was stiff since he had been in a St. Jude's…

Indirectly Helping MJ's Knee

I approached my lesson on Wednesday full of confidence. I now have my own, private, set of front leg boots for MJ. I don't have to tire myself by hunting for them anymore, they are clean, and I can be SURE that MJ's right knee feels more comfortable while moving.

For me while riding MJ this boot…

Do Some Horses NEED to Toe Out?

MJ was so much better for my lesson than he was in my lesson last week.

Last week he had gotten his new shoes, with a new alignment, on. He no longer has a bar across his frog for protection, he now has a full pad across the bottom of his front hooves, and as directed by the veterinarian from…

MJ Has an Opinion

But first I also got to ride Cider.

When we got to where Cider lives right now Nancy had groomed Cider thoroughly, trying to get all the loose hair out of her coat. Nancy has all these neat grooming tools that I got the stable and she just about uses all of them each grooming session, the HandsOn grooming…

My Second Lesson This Year

Over 5 weeks into this year, and all the riding I've gotten in has been 2 lessons.

It could have been worse, at least I did get some lessons!

Debbie was pretty pleased with my riding. I used the Fager Alexander Sweet Iron with…

A Taste of Fall

Last Sunday's weather was simply wonderful. When I stuck my head out of the front door it was COOL, so cool that I felt no need to wear my ice vest. In fact it was cool enough that I could wear my protective vest, a regular shirt, leather half-chaps, and I did not have to use my hanging neck fan. Together with the lower humidity it was glorious.…

My Neck Fan Helped

My neck fan finally came on Monday. It comes with a very short cord to hook up to a charger, but no charger was included. Luckily in these modern time my house is littered with chargers, for our smart phones, tablet, and other electronic gizmos that clutter our lives. The neck fan did have a charge on its battery and it worked when I pushed the button. Before we figured out…

We Introduce MJ to the Double Bridle

I had been worried about using a double bridle on horses during the summer heat since my body degrades so much. I was worried that my hands would not be good enough, that my coordination would be too bad, and that accidentally I would turn the double bridle into something scary to the horse rather than an advanced method of communication between horse and…

Social Distancing=Not Riding

It has been 10 days since I last rode a horse. I started the distancing sort of early, before the surrounding counties and the state (NC) closed down, since I had been compulsively reading about the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. Since I am in three risk groups I decided that it would be better for everyone if I just stayed away from the barns. Oh well.…

It Sure Feels Like Winter

Apparently it was the Siberian air mass visiting NC this week. It was cold, with a pretty brisk North wind and it just sucked the energy out of me.

Since Wednesday morning was too cold to ride I did not get my lesson until Friday. Friday morning I opened the front door to see what it felt like and I…

Bingo “Forgets” Stuff at Summer Camp

Last week I had to delay my lesson from Wednesday to even earlier on Thursday since the stable got a load of timothy hay delivered, and they wanted to store it right away since rain was forecast for later in the day. All week I had obsessed over how Bingo did in the camp, but I did not call because everyone at the stable had a busy week.…

Bingo's Mouth Stayed Closed!

But first an update on Cider. She has been flinching just about every step (though more or less trotting “sound”) so when it came time in my budgeting I finally gave in and got her some Back on Track stuff. I bought her exercise boots, for both the fore legs and her hind legs, and a BOT exercise sheet. It is getting hotter so we just use the exercise sheet after we…

A Single Jointed Bradoon Improves Contact

As I lay thinking about my previous week's lesson I decided I had to do SOMETHING about Bingo's bradoon on the double bridle. Since the French-link eggbutt bradoon seemed to be encouraging sucking back, iffy contact except for a few steps, and great resistance to halting and backing up, and I decided that Francis Dwyer might have a good point about…

The Final Cold Morning of the Season

This Wednesday morning it was quite crisp, 45°F with a brisk breeze at dawn and it did not warm up much in time for my lesson. I had to put my cold weather breeches back on and I could wear my BOT back brace without getting too hot. I even used my home-made bit warmer on the bits.…

Is the Double Bridle EASIER for Horses to Understand?

This week was the fourth time I used a double bridle on Bingo. I continue to be totally amazed how this horse who was VERY resistant to hand aids has settled down and is now showing definite signs of understanding my hand aids. Even though my curb rein is sagging enough so that I do not bring the curb chain into action, when I give hand aids…

We Check Out the Weymouth Curb

One of the advantages of the double bridle is the ability to communicate with the horse at a level of great subtlety. The bradoon give the snaffle effect or course, like the Weymouth curb gives the curb effect, and the subtleness of the double bridle comes from how the rider uses both bits in combination. For most purposes the individual bits are used to indicate…

The Thick Flexible Mullen Mouth Snaffle Got a No

I had found a $20.00 USD thick flexible black rubber Mullen mouth snaffle on Ebay. I bought it to try on Coach because it was cheap enough that I would not be out much money if Coach gnawed it to pieces. I also liked that it had a thick, gentle mouthpiece and that it did not taste HORRIBLE to me. Trotting is coming up and I worry that with…

As Michael Approached

I just got to ride on Wednesday this week. There was off and on rain, and a pretty persistent drizzle while we drove to the stable. Debbie had called me to make sure I was still coming out, but when I told her that this would be my only chance to ride this week and I was willing to dodge the raindrops she told me to come on out.…

Could It Be the Center Joint?

I used my new Ovation titanium coated D-ring single jointed anatomic mouth bit on Coach for the second time during my lesson on Wednesday. The grinding of the bit between his teeth was greatly reduced this time, he ground the bit some at tacking up and being led to the ring, but it was not as “furious” as before. When I started my ride he ground the bit a few…

Winter Rules for Now

Yesterday we got our first real snow this winter down here in NC. It snowed steadily for a few hours yesterday afternoon but it was too warm for any of it to stick, even my porch railing was bare. Friday morning it felt so cold, damp and raw when I opened my front door that I KNEW that Mia would curse me out if I tried to ride, even with two butt blankets on her. “Are you…