No, It's More than Disappointment

I forgot to mention in the last post that Willig has a new set of hives. They're not that big, and there's not that many, but they are kind of interesting, in a historical perspective. One on his neck "burst" - there's a big raw patch of skin, and it was obviously weeping. A few others look like they wept a little too, which is weird since they weren't there Sunday but by Tuesday wept. He has some edema along his belly, which is visible, but not huge, but not that much up on his body. No leg swelling.
My hypotheses: Sunday he stayed in because of the rain, which was a change in routine, and presumably, stressful; new hay came - Saturday I think; Saturday I made him cross the 6" drainage creek; and/or he got the low dose bags of the skin & allergy which is about to run out.
What's discouraging is each of those are pretty mild events, in my mind. I think I am not doing a good job "getting" what a young horse needs to build confidence. I'm going to try to find some books on it - or articles.

The second thing, which is a bit of a rant, is this. Here's what a trainer/instructor sees when they look at me:
Someone with years of experience riding, but still pretty much an "advanced beginner";
an attorney with disposable income dedicated entirely to horses;
no other hobbies, no husband, no kids, and nothing on the horizon that looks like I'll quit riding anytime soon;
Two horses to be boarded, one who needs training, and weekly lessons;
Clinics and shows with a trainer;
Willing to pay for the trainer to show the "fancy" horse;
hard working at lessons - rides 5 times a week, takes lessons regularly, and practices what's learned in the lessons;
doesn't know how to train and needs lots of work, which means lots and lots of time in lessons and training;
on her ex-fiancee's beginning trail horse, placed 1st-3rd in every show entered after 10 years of not competing;
and very willing to learn and improve and set goals, so lessons aren't totally boring and the same thing every single week for years.
I can see why a trainer wouldn't want to keep me by driving 15 miles twice a month for lessons where he gets paid for his travel time, at a barn where at least 3 other riders might be interested in lessons with him. (That's sarcasm, and the very, very mellow version of the rant that is in my head right now.)

Two interesting articles in March 08 Practical Horseman

I should say, two especially interesting articles, since I tend to enjoy the entire magazine and I usually skim it once, then read it thoroughly the second time. And since I am just now doing the skim of March '08, I'm a bit behind.
For those of you who don't subscribe, well, first of all, I think it's totally worth it. But, you can still access a bunch of their articles online: http://www.equisearch.com/practicalhorseman/
The first interesting article was in Cross Country with Jim Wofford, which is my favorite part of the magazine. And the article was about whether you're ready for the next level, not just qualified. And it had a "rate your riding" chart (charts are one of my favorite nerdy things), and at first, I got all upset because I was a solid Level 4.0 on a scale of 1 - 10.
A 4 in dressage: "Introduced to bending and flexion. Can effectively apply aids for simple transitions. Knows basic geometry of lower-level dressage figures."
A 4 in show-jumping: "Jumps safely without stirrups over low fences. Cantering 8-10 fences at an even rhythm is still a challenge. Does not yet recognize distances." (For the record, when I was young, I was much better.)
A 4 in cross-country: "Introduced to simple xc combinations. Beginning to influence the approach on a familiar horse. Comfortable at 350 mpm."
And a whopping 6 in horsemanship: "Drops back one skill level on an unfamiliar horse. Able to develop own feeding chart and conditioning schedule. Knows requirements for worming and teeth floating. Safely administers IM and IV injections."
Then I read the sidebar. Level 9-10 riders compete at 4*; Level 8 at 3*; and "so on down the scale." So a Level 7 is a 2*; Level 6 is a 1*; and Level 5 - where I'll be next year - is the little local shows. Perfect! It's taken me 15 years, but I'm in exactly the right place to really start moving up. Because I'm never going to a 4* and probably never a 3*.
For example, a 7 in horsemanship was 1,000 hours of riding instruction. Now that doesn't seem like so much until you consider 1 lesson per week 50 weeks a year would take you 20 years to meet that requirement. And had I ridden consistently the past 15 years, I'd sure be a lot better than I am now.
Anyway, I thought it was a really interesting and useful way to look at where you are, where you want to go, and where you've been. Where you've been helps me stay focused and positive about the future, instead of depressed over how I'm not ever where I want to be.

The other interesting article was by Jessica Jahiel, and it was about learning style. There's three styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. I've always assumed I was a visual learner because I prefer reading over listening, but I realized with the little quiz, is that I'm pretty solidly a kinesthetic learner. It was a surprise, and then really, really clear. Neat.

Finally, Alice finally emailed back and said Bob is not willing to travel (15 miles) to give me lessons. I'm extremely disappointed, but it's what I expected. I think I can do ok for a couple more months on my own, but then I'm going to need to find a new trainer. There are several trainers at the new barn, but they appear to be mostly for beginners, except for one show jumper guy, and I don't want to go back to that focus right now. I hope that by next spring I'll have sold Mercury, so I can get a truck and a trailer, and then I can travel for lessons, but for now, I'm going to need to start asking around to find a trainer I work well with who is willing to travel. It's just discouraging because I totally respected Bob, and worked really well with him as my instructor. He is hands down the best trainer I have ever had.

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Next week Willig will finally run out of his Platinum "skin & allergy". That will be the second (hundredth?) test of his hives.
He was really great on Tuesday. We cantered more than I've ever cantered on him before, and I was riding him outside while the horses went in for the evening, and he was almost - not quite, but almost - blase about it.
I can't find my other bit, so I ordered two more (with some biotin), and they finally arrived today, so now I can start switching bridles and not have to use Willig's bridle on Mercury.

Thanks for the comments!

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that Willig is quite possibly too much horse for me, and I have been suspecting that since he arrived. I had a very sinking feeling each time I saw Bob struggle with him because if Bob struggles, that means he's way out of my league.
I just want to make sure I rule the other options out though, and one I haven't mentioned explicitly is because of his hives, he has basically only been lunged for three months. I'm wondering if that is part of the "attitude" about being ridden and new things. His seller told me that he was a clever horse who got bored easily, and I'm wondering if he got "spoiled" by the lunging while we were trying to figure out the hives - like how horses get pasture sour.
I'm thinking he'll get another month or two to see how things are going, and if he's still beyond my skills, then it'll be time for him to find a home where he can be more properly utilized. If it is just an "adjustment", I don't want to give up on him too soon because he's such a joy to ride when we're working.
It's just frustrating to be in the position where I don't have the experience to be able to tell if it's "too much horse" or if he just needs some patience. It seems reasonable that a 6 year old who hasn't been shown or turned out would be overwhelmed by an active barn with daily turn out.
When he arrived, I couldn't even trot on him. I actually couldn't even make him trot on the lunge line. So we've made a LOT of progress when I step back and look at it, and I actually had some similar issues with Mercury (who is now a reliable, if slow, angel), and that makes me think it might just be a patience/trust thing.
Any other suggestions or experience you've had, though - I would love to hear it! One person posted very early on that he sounded like too much horse for what I needed right now, so if anyone has had a similar experience and found that it wasn't just "patience" that was needed, I would really like to know about your experience.
I'm so glad someone other than my mom, dad, and sister read this blog!

Willig : Stampy :: Mercury : Odin

I don't want to sell Mercury because I would never, ever get rid of Odin (my beloved dog on my other blog). And I wouldn't hesitate for even one second if someone drove up and knocked on my door and said they wanted Stampy.
And Willig is apparently trying to follow in Stampy's footsteps.
Today, after a bout with the stomach flu, I went out to lunge Willig since he got two days off. And both arenas were being used for lessons, and Willig is a bit too much horse to be lunged in the same arena as another horse (esp. with a total beginner who is still working on steering), so I decided to give him another learning opportunity, and take him out into the big pasture on the way to the trails. (There's actually two big pastures, but this one was more like being on a cross country course.)
And, just as I expected, he freaked out. Fortunately, we weren't unlucky and when he tried to kick me in the head (more than once), he wasn't close enough, and when he jumped over the lunge rein and got it tangled around his leg he didn't break it, and when he pulled really hard, he didn't get loose. And so he cantered and trotted around and around and around, and got mad and switched directions and kept going and going. It was almost an hour before he walked. And once he walked, I let him quit and we went inside.
- After we made three trips back and forth over the bridge because he wouldn't quit jumping the very last step -
And then he stood in the cross ties and pawed for another half hour, so I just put him in his stall instead of back outside so the staff wouldn't have to deal with him tonight. If I'm lucky, he'll be sore tomorrow so that will make him easier for me to ride (of course, after I lunge him).
I really, really don't know if it's a) his age, b) his inexperience, c) his lack of trust in me, or d) a messed up personality. But the clock is ticking. He's got two checkpoints, and if he doesn't pass both of them with some progress from this constant "learning experience in a new situation" that we've been doing for an entire month, then he's up for sale.

Mercury is Available for a Partial Lease in Olympia

16.1 hand Thoroughbred; 1994 Bay Gelding
Mercury is a sweet horse who doesn’t refuse, is easy to handle, well-behaved, good-natured, trailers, and bathes.
Suitable for a beginner with some experience
Must provide your own saddle and take two lessons per month
Partial lease includes 3 days/week of riding for $175/month; farrier, vet, and other care provided by owner
He must remain boarded where he is now. There's a link on the side to the barn for more information. They have great facilities - trails, an outdoor arena, and an indoor covered arena.

Please post a comment if you're interested or would like more information and I'll email you directly.

Solo Lesson ... in Patience

Ask anyone who knows me, and I will probably top their list of least patient people. I will certainly be in the top 5. And yet, most of the things I do seem to require all I've got in patience (quite possibly because it takes so little to use up my patience stores).
So tonight was another "opportunity" (aka challenge, aka patience exhausting) with Willig. With the light changing, and a couple days without rain, I've been able to ride outside in the evenings after work. Today I took Willig out to lunge him (he was fine), then ride him (he was fine as we started), but as the horses went in for dinner, he got increasingly agitated. So I lunged him again (less fine, but got tired) and then rode him at the walk for what felt like an hour but was probably only half an hour, talking to him and trying to help him realize the other horses can go places, and he's still ok.
It's great for us to get the opportunity to work on this before the first show, but it's frustrating that he has so many things he needs to work on. It feels like we don't ever get to work on actual riding, just on him being calm and listening. There's always something making him agitated.
I don't know if it's because a) he's young (still 6), b) had a sheltered life, c) his personality, or d) a little bit of all of the above. After living in a stall his whole life, turn out is a pretty big deal, and I think he's doing really well. It's just hard with Mr. Sedate Mercury who was the last horse in, presumably because he's such a sweet angel he doesn't cause problems.

Rough, rougher, roughest

Mercury has been a little sensitive on his feet, but he's been getting turned out, and I rode him yesterday for the first time in two months. He was an angel. I didn't even lunge him first. I took him on a walking only trail ride, and he got a little nervous (especially because there were two horses cantering around), but he was totally sweet. He is such a good, reliable horse.
In contrast, Willig's hives came back, he was jumping up and down in the cross ties, he got moved to the closest turn-out (which means, I think, that staff is still having trouble leading him), and then, just to keep me on my toes, he was totally calm and good when I lunged him and then rode him.
The hives are along his side and lower neck - not under his belly, but on the lower half of his belly/side. They look just like they did before. There are more than a few, but not so many that they're touching.
I bought him yet more herbs, because apparently two horses and two dogs and three cats are going to drive me broke this year. This time I got him the "relaxation" blend. He just doesn't seem like a high strung horse to me (ignoring the jumping up and down in the cross ties) - a thoroughbred (ignoring the paragraph about Mercury at the top) is a high strung horse; not a warmblood.
I really - after relaxation herbs - I have no more ideas.

Sally Swift's Centered Riding - two tips

I watched the first DVD on Centered Riding (I loved the book years ago when I first read it), and it had two pertinent tips for me right now.
First, Sally explains the human skeleton, and shows how when you roll onto to the front of your pelvis (by rounding your lower back - sticking your stomach out in front of you and rounding your shoulders), how you "scrape" the horse instead of letting your hips absorb the motion. It was really excellent to watch the skeleton to see what your body is doing.
Second, keeping your hands steady at the trot. Because in the trot you move up and down while the horse stays still, that is when your hands move up and down with you. What she suggested is that a person stand on the ground and you hold their finger with your reins. Then you rise and feel the difference between pulling their finger up with you or leaving your hands steady on the finger. When you leave them steady, the motion is in your elbow. But it is an up and down motion, not a chicken wing motion. It's the same idea as looping a finger around the front of the saddle (like the saddle pad straps), so that you can hold them down and feel how they feel still.
Mercury got his feet done today (finally!) and I learned a lot about shoeing and abscesses from the farrier. He is going to be turned out again starting this week, so he'll be a happy horse, and then next week I'll start riding him again. I'm thinking about leasing him instead of selling him once I've got him working again.
Willig was terrible yesterday, but really good on Saturday. I feel like we're making some progress, but it's a long road ahead and it's kind of scary to face it without a trainer.

What Life Looks Like Now

Supping on Supplements

Because of Odin's heart condition (see my other blog), I got curious about the massive amounts of money I am outlaying to the vets and the herb/supplement companies. Although the total adds up (for all pets) to a whopping $225/month, only $30 of that is Mercury, $125 is Willig, and $70 is Odin with his heart stuff. I didn't count cats because I don't feed theirs consistently. I'm hoping to cut Willig back (way back), but it will depend on if the hives come back.
Speaking of, not a hive on his body. He is clean as a whistle. Well - hive-wise. He is doing really well with turnout and all the "new" stuff there is to look at - traffic, lots of other horses, a house, a kubota ... but he has discovered the pleasure of rolling and then me cleaning it off.
He's doing really well on the lunge line, and I rode him yesterday and today (briefly, because I have NO leg muscles after two months of not riding at all, and basically 6 months of riding minimally). He's putting his head up like a giraffe a lot, and he really spends a lot of time looking to the outside (at stuff - not just balancing to the outside), but I'm pleased considering I only had a few lessons on him, and Bob didn't really get to spend much time riding him because of the hives. I really like his personality, but it will remain to be seen if he is too much horse for me on my own. I don't want to ruin him, but I'd really like to keep him.
Mercury is a sweetheart. Holy horse. He has been on stall rest his entire first week at the new barn, and the other boarders are marveling at how calm he is. I can plop a foot in a bucket and then wander off and do stuff (thank goodness - after two weeks of soaking each foot 15 min/day, I am SO tired of soaking feet), and he just stands there. The left front hoof (the one that had the shoe the longest) had a soft spot mid-week that I poked with the hoof pick and more pus and blood came out. Two days later, I squeezed more out with just my thumb, so I think that one needs another week of soaking. The right front foot (the one that hasn't had a shoe for about 8 weeks now and that had the monster abscess) seems to be almost completely healed. There is just one tiny sensitive spot. I have heard from two people that this winter has been really bad for abscesses.
I hope this week we can put shoes back on (and trim poor Merc's feet), and then this weekend he can start getting turned out. Then his next shoeing we'll put pads on and keep them on so this doesn't happen again.

Willig and Mercury moved to a new barn

It has been a very stressful two weeks. In addition to Odin being diagnosed with DCM (a heart condition, on the other blog), two openings came available at the barn I put the boys on a waitlist for, in case Willig's hives didn't clear up. I decided to move them, which was a really hard decision to make.
We also got the blood work back from Willig's allergy and blood tests. His liver, kidney, and thyroid results were normal. And his allergies - he was tested for about 100 of the most common - were not enlightening. He was allergic to about 5 things - three pollens, none of which are out right now; a grass which doesn't grow here; and that pyrethionine stuff that is in some fly sprays, which isn't being used on him right now. And those were "positive" results, but not "highly positive." It is fantastic news that he doesn't need allergy shots and doesn't have severe problems, but leaves the question of his hives a mystery.
He is looking great though! Last Wed or Thurs - 2-3 days before he moved - he cleared up almost totally. There were just a few scattered, very small hives.
A few more came back on Saturday morning, before he moved.
He is getting used to the new barn, but he's stressed out by it. There's more horses, more going on, and he goes in and out during the day. There's also more traffic nearby. I lunged him each day he's been there - he's been walking around, and he's getting much better. He's really antsy in the cross-ties, but I think it's just because there's so much to look at. Someone was jumping on Sunday, so I turned one jump into a little lunging jump, and he did FABULOUS! He also liked having something extra to think about - he was able to focus and not look around so much.
I'm going to work with the new farrier to get his feet back in shape. I didn't notice until this week, but the farrier we were using cut his feet too short and small. I think that's why he hasn't been able to move out in the front.
Poor Mercury had abscesses in both front feet that burst last week. He got really, suddenly lame on the left front, and the next day Dr. Mike came out and started that abscess draining. Then the next day, the farrier (two weeks late) was out, and his hoof that has been without a shoe for six weeks had a HUGE abscess. It was a ton of blood and pus. So he is sans shoes on both front feet, now three weeks overdue to have his feet done, and I am soaking every day in betadine and epsom salts. They are still soft, so it is at least another week before he gets shoes back on.
I've put him back on biotin, and once his feet are totally healed, he'll get pads on the front at least to keep this from happening again.
Next weekend I'll take pictures of them in their new home. It's a very professionally run barn, and I'm looking forward to being able to ride them both again. I won't be able to show this year, but if I can sell or lease Mercury, I hope that next spring I can buy a truck and trailer and show next season.

Hivey McHivealot

Yesterday Willig started on Platinum - the performance and allergy supplements. He started equi-derm at the beginning of the week.
His hives look a lot better. They are almost gone on his body (though there's a few small ones), but he has a fair amount on his neck. There are lots of them, but they are small.
Some hair is falling out on his legs from the swelling over the weekend, but the swelling has gone down. Yesterday he was feeling really energetic.

Riding = Physics

Today's epiphany was that riding in the history of my life has been very much like physics in the history of my life.
My dad, the physicist, is naturally good at physics. My trainer, the best rider I've ever known, is naturally good at riding. (Though they both might argue that it took them lots of work over lots of time to get "naturally good".) Which means as I struggle along with them, I get frustrated and cry easily. For both. Which is embarrassing, now that I'm over 30.
Like physics, I have to struggle very hard at riding to "get" a certain concept, and once I get it, my only reward is to get another glimpse of how much more there is to get. I will never be a physicist, nor a professional rider.
Unlike physics, an object in motion, especially if it is Mercury, does not tend to stay in motion.
However, very much like what I think are quarks, when riding Willig, I tend to either know the velocity or the location of him, which is to say, I can either steer OR go the proper speed, but not both at the same time.
For both though, as with anything that takes effort, the rewards, though they may be few and far between, certainly make me feel I have earned them.

1/13 - Willig Lesson - Lunge, Ground Poles, and Prednisolone

We started today's lesson intending to have Bob watch me lunge Willig to see why he still doesn't listen and doesn't move forward. Since I couldn't get him to do either (in a spectacularly failing way), Bob came out to "get him to pay attention" and then Willig started to act up. We punched new holes in his cavesson, because it has been twisting and the outside rubs near his eye.
Then Bob set up a little jump (less than 2 feet) and lunged him over it a few times.
Willig did that pretty well.
Then I got on, and Bob set out four ground poles (the raised ones) where we spectacularly smashed around. Alice and Debbie were watching, and I got frustrated and started crying.
I asked Bob to do it, so I could watch to see what he did differently. While Willig tapped one every once in a while, he did not smash through them like with me.
I didn't learn what Bob was trying to teach me, but I did learn by watching Bob. He does his half halts much stronger than I do, and he says it's because he rides with a loose outside rein except for when he's half halting. I ride with constant contact, and a light half halt. So that was pretty interesting.
Bob doesn't think he was worked much over ground poles before. He seemed puzzled by them, but curious and with a good personality about figuring it out.
After Bob walked Willig around a few minutes, he asked him to trot again, and Willig almost bucked him off. It was the hugest buck I've ever seen. I don't know how Bob stayed on.
So then Bob had to ride him, do some trot and walk and canter to make sure he was behaving. He tried to buck again at the canter, but Bob was ready for it.
So I'm frustrated. The hives aren't going away and we have no idea what's causing them. Every time we drop the prednisolone down, they blast back into existence. And two people now have told me the human version makes them all aggressive and agitated, which I think is happening to Willig too.
I feel like every time I work with him, it's just more problems. I know I've progressed a lot from when I started with him a few months ago, but am I progressing fast enough, or am I ruining him in the meantime? It's helpful to see him act up with Bob, because Bob is basically a genius, so no wonder I feel frustrated, but it's a question of why he's acting up. Because I don't know what I'm doing? Because he's testing his boundaries? Because of the prednisolone?
And Mercury is still lame.
Chiropractor comes Tuesday, and I'm calling vet Monday about allergy tests.
So this week I am working on:
Lunge line - no "warm-up" time where I let him look around - he starts working with the first trot. When he ignores me or goes too slow, make the lunge line shorter so I am closer with the whip, and then go after him until he does it properly. Bob showed me what a "proper" trot looks like on the lunge line, so I need to try to remember that.
Riding - more riding, soft hands that are bossy and firm about commands, and keep the impulsion.
We looked at the 1st level tests, and I think Bob can probably ride that starting in Feb/March.

1/5/08 - Inside hand, Return of the Whip, Shows

This lesson started with my question about open hips - is it "right" to have hips that move like a nordic track (i.e. the two seat bones slide backward and forward like your feet on a nordic track) or it is right to have a soft belly and your hips sort of roll forward and move with the horse? Bob said it is moving WITH the horse that is correct. Pushing your seat bones backwards and forwards, especially when you do them one at a time, makes the horse off balance. You follow the horse, except when you are driving him with your seat, in which case you push, but you push equally with both sides. So even though I have felt both Willig and Mercury step bigger and out when I am moving my seat (nordic track), I am actually making them have to balance themselves.
The soft belly is easy to do when I am relaxed and laughing, but when I focus and try to do it, it goes away.

Miracle #2 from today's lesson was using my inside hand. I complained that I am still having trouble getting Willig to bend to the inside. It turns out it's because I leave my inside rein loose and floppy, so each half halt to the outside is actually turning his head to the outside. Duh. This will work well with last lesson's trick of holding onto the saddle pad - so long as I also keep the inside rein tight enough, we'll solve the head to the outside problem.

Willig has been a little slow - I thought it was because Bob was working him, and Bob thinks it is partly becuase of all the meds for the hives. So today we returned to the whip. There are two things I learned - first, keep the whip to the inside, because I have the rail on the outside to keep him in line. Second, use the whip on his shoulder (and tell him with a light tap that I have it), instead of on his butt. That prevents me from pulling on the rein when I move my hand back to tap him.

So, again today I begged Bob to stop because my brain was full. I already am almost at capacity with all the things I have to remember just to ride him around, so I can really only take one new thing per lesson to work on.

The most important thing to do right now is maintain his impulsion, because once he loses that we will have problems. For example, if I use my legs all the time, even when he's already moving forward, he'll start to ignore my legs and then when Bob uses his legs before an enormous jump, Willig will ignore him. So I also worked on holding my leg out stiff and not using them to tell him to go. He responded really well to the whip, but I had problems getting my legs to obey me, just like with the tap lesson.

We also talked about show expectations. Bob wants to take him to a couple at novice, then ride him training level next summer at the recognized shows. The following year, he wants to take him prelim.

Once again, the hives are almost completely gone. I thought they looked a little worse on Thursday, then better Friday, and almost gone today. The vet had us increase his pills from 10 to 15, twice a day, and I am supposed to call her Monday to tell her how he is and find out what to do next. I hope we can start cutting him back. We are going to put him on garlic and rosehips, Missing Link, and then have a homeopathic remedy. It's almost time for him to start eating oats anyway.

They're baaaccckkk

The hives came back today. There's only a few and they're really small, but they were not there yesterday. They are worse on his right side and they are primarily on his neck, although there's a few on his butt.

1/1/08 - Ringing in the New Year With a Tap Lesson

I had two problems in my one ride between lessons. Willig quit trotting when we were going across the diagonal about 20 minutes into our ride and I couldn't get him to go again (until he felt like it), and then the canter was a fiasco.
We didn't get to cantering today because there was a scary spot on the wall, and we worked on going past the scary spot. The breakthrough came when Bob realized that when he says "tap" I squeeze, which is, surprisingly to me, not the same thing.
A tap is an actual, honest to god, leg away from the horse then back on the horse, TAP.
A squeeze is when your leg doesn't lift up, even if you pinch with your knees and lift your heel up.
So after 10 times past the spot and me squeezing and Willig moving away from the wall, we did ONE time with the tap method and he stayed right on the rail. Perfectly.
It sounds simple, but I then proceeded to lose control of my body and my leg wouldn't obey me for the difference between tap and squeeze and I begged Bob not to add anything more becuase merely controlling my leg (on top of the other things I still have to think about) is more than enough until Saturday's lesson.
We tried on the saddle that one of the other boarders is selling, and although it is really nice and a Stubben, I didn't like the way it makes your leg hang, and it was too big for me, and wasn't a perfect fit for Willig. I need to get him two saddles though, so I can stop using Bob's. (And his own bridle and cavesson and etc. etc.)
I had to put a "stretchie" on his chest. His blanket is rubbing two bare spots on his shoulders. Fortunately, the one I had for Mercury fit him.
He's been very good about taking his meds. The vet cut them back since he responded so well to the dexamethazone. He is now getting 10 tablets twice a day for 5 days, then 10 tablets once a day for 5 days. I grind them in a mortar and pestle, then add warm water, then add apple juice. Today I stupidly gave it to him when he had hay in his mouth, so some hay and some meds came flying out, but not that much.
Alice and I talked about putting him on some herbs when we start giving him oats (when he actually starts working, which should be in the next month or so because Bob said the dressage shows start in February). Right now I am thinking: missing link, garlic & kelp, and an immunity mix.
Bob thinks he can ride 1st level and maybe 2nd level (with Bob), and then I hope I can ride him training level (if we keep working on the canter).
Also, Mercury is lame - no swelling, no heat, no tenderness, but I saw him bob a little yesterday and today it was much worse. I'm going to walk him only the next few days and see what happens. I'm guessing that Bob's prediction, like all his others (rubbing his head during a dressage test; stall guards break and horses can run loose at shows being two prior accurate predictions), came true, and he slipped running around when it was cold when I turned him out yesterday.

12/30/07 Lesson - first time riding in two weeks

I lunged Willig, then Bob rode him about 15 minutes to "prep" him (my parents were here watching), then I rode him. About 10 minutes in, I was pouring sweat and exhausted. We went about 10 more minutes, but then I had to ask Bob to stop the lesson early because I was getting so tired. It's weird, because he's so smooth to ride, but I still get tired. Bob said it's because I'm tense and holding my muscles rigid.
Anyway, we worked on the same stuff: head bent to inside, ask for bend with outside rein half halts, ask ahead of the corners, add inside leg and keep impulsion and consistent movement through corners, don't lift my heels and squeeze as I get tired, sit in the canter, yell at him if he's bad.
I had a few questions, and Bob taught me a new fabulous trick. The trick was to hold onto the saddle pad with my inside hand to prevent it from moving around. It made a huge, immediate difference in the way Willig moved, but also in how I felt. I am relying a LOT on that hand, which shouldn't be moving.
My questions were about my back hurting when I ride (becuase I slouch and bend forward, and his big movement jars my back - I need to improve my posture), and I have been wrapping the lunge line around my hand (bad, I know) and when he jerks, how do I keep it from squeezing my hand (tie a knot in the end instead so it slides through my hand and stops at the knot).
It felt like a really good lesson, and I'm really looking forward to working him again. I have learned a lot the past couple weeks with the lunge line, but we're both getting bored.
The dexamethazone cleared up the hives right away. He has a couple tiny spots, but looks fabulous.

New Willig Photos