"The biggest problem is that riders think they are supposed to NOT have problems with their horses ;). But remember, it's not happening TO you, but FOR you. You can't always get what you want, you get what you need... You better love problems with your horses ;) See them as gifts, as a challenge, as an opportunity to learn and grow. The goal is not being without problems, but getting 'better quality' problems so you can learn more ;)"

I like this, I just have to learn to embrace it! ;-)

Remy's osteo check up

The equine osteo came to see Remy today and found a sore spot around the lumbar vertebrae just in-front of the sacrum. It's a muscular problem, nothing out of the ordinary, a little niggle not helped by the fact that he doesn't use his left hind as well as his right.
I  can tell this from riding him, but now we must pay more attention to it and concentrate on encouraging him to offer more engagement on that side.
He also had a sore spot on his chest, into the shoulder, involving the pectoral and brachiocephalic muscles, a tweak that could have been caused by a slip in the field.
I described the odd lifting of the head and the osteo said that it would tie in, Remy wanting to stretch the brachiocephalic muscle, which runs up the underside of the neck, as his head came into that position.
I'm hoping that's the reason for it and it will clear up as he becomes more comfortable.
I can start riding him in 3 days.

I'm still going to liaise with the vet and dentist though, as I really need to sort out the problem with the wolf teeth.

bitless flexions

Had a good look in Remys mouth today and found that the blind wolf tooth looked much bigger than I remember, and he wasn't really happy in me touching it, so I'm going to have to speak to the dentist and vet with a view to getting it removed.
It was raining heavily ( I really wish it would stop now!!!!) so I gave him a good grooming, some leg circles, tail circles and a face massage.
He was very relaxed by the time I'd finished, so I tried some flexions in the cavesson. I've never really practiced flexions without a bit, but was reassured by how well he did, relaxing his jaw when I asked. I'm looking forward to trying it out under saddle.

Wolf tooth?

We lunged Remy this morning, fully tacked up with cavesson, bridle and saddle.
I walked him around for a few minutes on each rein to warm him up and then tried the trot on each rein, both around the school and on the circle.
There was no sign of any nodding and both Jim and I thought he looked completely sound.
I then mounted and we did the same with me onboard. The first time with no contact, the reins resting on his neck. He was fine and no sign of nodding after the transition to walk.
The second time, I took the reins and had a light contact and we noticed a slight raising of his head after the transition to walk. I was careful to give the rein immediately after the transition and although it was only slight, it was still there for a couple of strides.
So, we think (hope) that it may be discomfort in his mouth, perhaps with the unerupted wolf tooth, or even expecting pain. He's very soft and responsive in his mouth, but also, he's always been very sensitive and aware of the bit, so perhaps he's not really too comfortable with it.
I'm going to continue to ride him, with the bit in his mouth, but the reins attached to the cavesson to see how he goes, and perhaps look to changing to a light rubber/plastic bit, although I have very little knowledge of this type of bit.
I need to speak to peter, our equine dentist as it may be best to remove both the erupted and the blind wolf tooth.
We'll see!
On reflection, the thing that really surprised me yesterday, was how well he went when I rode him off the cavesson. The feel was different in my hand, but his response was the same. We did some trot and a shoulder-in on each rein and he coped fine.
I have no knowledge of riding bitless either, so this will be interesting.

Hmmmmm

We've had a few days off due to the weather. We're having typical april weather with some very heavy showers and trying to avoid them is quite difficult.
Managed to ride Remy today, but it was a bit of a strange session.
We started off in the field warming up in walk and then went into the school for a little trot work and hopefully a few walk to canter transitions.
The trot is becoming looser and better balanced, but I noticed after trotting on the left rein, that he started to nod (upwards) for a few strides on returning to walk. I don't mean throwing his head during the transitions, it was after the transition as we started to walk on, and it stopped if I straightened him or put him on the right rein.. He doesn't do it coming back to walk on the right rein.
I've noticed a reluctance to give me correct bend on the left rein, the last few sessions, preferring to keep slight outside bend, and put it down to a phase - natural stiffness/crookedness. We've had periods where he's been better on the left rein, the right rein being the more difficult.
When he lifts his head, it's like he's trying to take the rein away, and if I let him stretch right down he stops lifting his head, although we still have this slight reluctance to bend left.
It may be bit/teeth related - he does have a blind wolf tooth, which I didn't think was causing him a problem - or maybe he has tweaked a muscle and is reluctant to stretch the outside, or he has pain on the inside foreleg - he seems to lift his head up when the inside foreleg touches the ground?
Is it something I'm doing - with my hands - or perhaps just my extra weight in the saddle?
I didn't have a lunge line in the school, so couldn't actually try him on the lunge, but I did attach the reins to the noseband to take the bit out of the equation, and tried riding him that way. The nodding was still there when we returned to walk, but much less, and obviously the bit was still in his mouth, so it could still be having an effect on the left rein.

He's just had his teeth checked, so I've contacted the osteo to come give him the once over. Also, I'm going to lunge him tomorrow to see how he goes, firstly fully tacked up, and then without the saddle and then the bridle. I always lunge him off the training cavesson, but I will completely remove the bit to see if he's any better.
I'll see how he goes on the lunge, if he looks fully sound. He doesn't feel lame, but to me, head nodding, however slight or occasional, signals that he has an issue or pain somewhere.

Horse racing - a despicable sport

There's a lot of stuff out there at the moment about horse racing. I've seen posts on facebook, twitter, forums etc. Horses dying left, right and centre, with pics galore. I certainly don't go looking for it, it's just there and I can't avoid it.
I hate it!!!
There's nothing I can do about the plight of race horses, so I feel totally wretched. I'm sick of seeing the pics and I'm sick of reading all the gory details of how many horses died today!
Another two horses die in the Grand National.
About 40 horses died already in the UK this year, and god knows how many others have been pts due to injury, or shipped abroad for meat because they've not lived up to expectations or they've broken down. These poor horses discarded like yesterdays news!
In the racing industry, the horse is just a commodity, to be used and abused. It's all about the kudos, and it's all about the money.
It saddens me greatly.

Fly fringes

.....where do they go?
I know what happens to them - Remy pulls them off, but where they go is a complete mystery!
Corky usually manages to keep hers - she won't allow him to mess with it, but Bonbon loses hers frequently. I've seen him swinging them around in his mouth, so I think he chucks them over the fence or into the hedge just for fun!
Anyway, Bonbons brand new one disappeared after about 3 hours and I still haven't found it!

I had a great session with Remy today. I spent a good while getting him ready with a thorough grooming and some leg and tail circles, took him up to the school, and after a warm up in walk and a little trot, started on the walk/canter transitions.
There was a marked improvement from our first session, with 2 or 3 very clean transitions on each rein, with no trot steps. I finished straight away on a good note and I'm really looking forward to our next session.

Happy Birthday.........

....to me.

I didn't ride the horses yesterday, but had a lovely grooming/massage session with Remy. I think he enjoyed it, hard to tell as he was eating his hay throughout. ;-)
I gave him a face massage and he loved the mouth work, really seemed to like having his gums rubbed.
When I put them out, he was enjoying himself so much, playing around, and looked like he felt good in his body.
We spent the afternoon chopping up and loading a fallen tree in the top field. Unforutnately dead from the horses stripping the bark - they can be so destructive.
It's raining today, so no riding, we're off into town for lunch.

Starting walk to canter transitions

Yesterday, I continued the lateral work in walk and the trot transitions, concentrating on keeping him active behind. We got some nice shoulder-in on the long side, and the feeling of him really starting to open his shoulders. His reinback has become much more fluid and I really do think that we've got a handle on the trot, and a solid base to work from.
Today, I wanted to start walk to canter transitions. I know that if we can get him cantering, it will really improve the trot.
I started with some lateral work at walk - s/i, travers and counter s/i on each rein, then asking for the canter transition from a small loop in counter s'i back to the track. This has the effect of weighting the outside shoulder, freeing up the inside for the transition. It worked quite well, and he worked out fairly quickly what I wanted. A good start, I think.

I had a session with Bonbon and she was quite tense - unusual for her. Nevertheless, she lunged quite calmly. She was distracted in the ridden work, but settled a little and gave me some lovely walk/halt transitions.

A 'great' good friday

Bonbon's in season and the last couple of times i've worked her, she's been somewhat distracted! Not the slightest bit naughty, just had her mind elsewhere. Today was no different, but we had a good ridden session and once I'd got her attention, she was really focussed.
Her walk/halt transitions were quick and clean, we got some nice steps of reinback and, best of all, while staying soft in my hand, yielded to my inside leg and gave me good, even bend on the circle.
I've only been riding her a short time, but at one point, she felt so alive and receptive that I found myself wanting to ask for a trot transition. A little voice stopped, me, not wanting to lose the feeling, and thinking it was too soon. Not sure, but, I think it will be the right moment soon enough.

I had a short session with Remy on the yard, starting in-hand and then ridden.
I've realised two things this last few months (it's very slowly filtered through and not before time, too!!!) , firstly, when I think I've given him enough rein, he needs a little more, and, secondly, when I think I've got his back end, I really haven't!
Today, was a session that I'll remember for two reasons. Firstly, because he was soft, round and happy in my hand, and secondly, he really was using his back-end!
We were working on a small circle with shoulder-in and travers ,then just asking him to walk the circle, keeping light and engaged, and he offered me a lovely, soft but energetic trot transition as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Didn't feel like a fluke, it felt like it finally all clicked into place.
I've got to wait until tomorrow to see.

A new experience for Remy out hacking

A hack out today for me and Remy. A little bit hesitant on the way out, but willing to go and felt active and together, and good in the hand. We stopped for him to have a little munch of grass half way round and, as usual, he was more active on our return journey.
I very rarely see anyone else riding, but we spotted a horse and rider on the way back.
Remy's never seen another horse under saddle while we've been out, and he was a little bit excited. He grew about 3 hands and started calling out. I muttered a quick uh oh, and tried to sit as calmly and quietly as possible ;-o
They were on a track about 100 yds away, heading away from us, and Remy really wanted to get over to them. I asked him to halt, which he did, and then just stayed still until they'd moved further away.
When I asked him to walk on in the opposite direction, he was on his toes, but fine, although he could hear some noise round the next bend, and we tiptoed past some workmen unloading a van.
He continued to call out, and was a little bit restless on the way home, but was listening, and he walked out well and stayed soft in the hand.
I'm really pleased with the way he handled it!

Same old.......

We've been continuing along the same lines the last few days. ~Remy's been down the tracks and also in the school. We've even taken to doing a little schooling in our top field - it's good for canter. He offers me the transition, so, of course, I take it. We get an unruly canter, but it feels ok as long as we go in a straight line ;-o
I've had a couple of nice sessions with Bonbon, in the school and a short session in-hand on the yard.
A few pics of me and Remy in our top field.