Growing up....... and out

It was Wolfie's 5th Birthday on Monday 26th April. What do you do when you turn 5, well if you're Wolfie you completely change shape and outgrow your saddle. Since I started hacking Wolfie again, every time I've ridden, the bottom of my back has been hurting me within minutes of getting on. I put it down to just the way I have been feeling lately. Last Sunday we went for a hack with H and J. H was riding behind me and noticed that Wolfie's saddle wasn't even touching his back. It's tipping me forward. I check his back merticulously after each ride and thankfully we've only been walking and staying on the flat. He doesn't seem to have suffered from this, but when Wolfie starts any carry on it's normally with a wing and a prayer that I stay on and as H pointed out, if he bucks with the saddle sitting like that, not only would it be awful for him to have the saddle slam onto his back, but I wouldn't stand a chance of staying on. On Monday I went up to the yard, stripped off the numnah and girth and put the saddle on him. It didn't fit anywhere at all. I have the Wintec 2000 with adjustable gullet. I got the Wintec measuring gauge out and Wolfie is off the scale. I felt my heart sink right into my boots. It's part and parcel of having a young horse that they are going to change, grow etc, but I really thought we might have at least got another year out of the Wintec. He isn't an overly wide horse. He is in soft condition and carrying a bit too much weight, but he's been bigger. It's his shoulders, they are huge. The way I'm feeling right now, everything seems like a mammoth deal and effort and the slightest stumbling block makes me just want to chuck everything. I seriously considered just locking everything away, turning Wolfie out to grass and giving up. Fortunately H arrived after she had finished work armed with her 'new' second hand leather saddle she had just bought for J. H came along, looked at the Wintec and agreed whole heartedly that it didn't fit anywhere. She tried her new saddle on W and although it wasn't 100% perfect, it was pretty good. We girthed it up and she encouraged me to get on in the school and have a little walk around in it. I was never a fan of synthetics, but when I got the Wintec they grew on me. I could see their benefits, especially with a growing youngster. I had even thought that if the GP was working out, maybe this year we could have got a second hand synthetic dressage saddle. Sometimes I wonder what planet I live on. However, sitting back in a leather saddle was like coming home. There is nothing like it. The lines of communication were clearer, I could feel his movement much better. Obviously the Wintec has been tipping me forward, making me crooked, forcing Wolfie even further onto his forehand and restricting his shoulders, but even when it did fit, it wasn't a patch on the feeling I got in the leather saddle. H without hesitation offered us the use of her saddle to enable us to keep riding until we can find another one. I can't thank H enough for this, she hasn't even ridden in it yet! I hope one day that I can repay her kindness. The Wintec is completely the wrong shape of saddle for Wolfie now. The next step up in synthetics is the Wintec Wide, but I think that this would end up rolling. I have decided to get a second hand leather saddle, I don't think I can go back to synthetics now. We have a limited budget, but I will sell the Wintec, they seem to hold their value well and have a massive clear out and sell anything we don't need. H has been brilliant and has been trawling EBay on the saddle hunt. We think we may have found one. I don't want to say too much just now as I don't want to jinx it, but if it is suitable it will be brilliant.

We have been out hacking with H and J several times this week. I am still lacking self motivation to ride. H has been quietly encouraging me to go out with her and J. I don't mind riding on my own and usually enjoy just concentrating on Wolfie, but right now it just gives me too much time to think. H had a half day on Wednesday, so we went for a longer hack. We rode up around Lennox Castle and around Celtic Football Club's Training ground. Their football pitches are immaculate. We were wondering what we would be charged with if we broke in and galloped across their pitches. I think we settled on criminal damage and riding with undue care and attention. There is a housing development in process up there at the moment. Normally when H hacks this route, it's at the weekend and the building site is closed. It wasn't on Wednesday. There were huge lorries, road sweepers, cement mixers, pneumatic drills, dumper trucks and diggers everywhere. Wolfie led the way. Eyes and ears on everything. He didn't balk or stop, just seemed more interested than anything. He had J behind him for support. J is brilliant, he just does anything. The workmen were great and stopped the machinery as soon as they saw us, but you could have forgiven any horse for getting upset. Think extreme police horse training and it wouldn't even be close. We then went off road and took some tracks that any Le trec enthusiast would be envious off. Different terrain, steep hills, low branches, wooden bridges. J took the lead down a few of the hills to show Wolfie the way to go. On hacking home a man started sanding his garden gate with a piece of sand paper. Both horses had a massive spook which seemed ridiculous after what they had just encountered. I was completely astounded at Wolfie. I knew he had a huge huge heart, but he is proving that he has real guts. So far he is answering every question that is being asked of him. He must have been mentally and physically tired after that hack, but walked home with energy and his ears pricked. J is hilarious. He pulls the grumpiest of faces at Wolfie and you can almost hear him muttering under his breath about 'the state of youth today'. Wolfie absolutely adores J and I think deep down J has a little soft spot for Wolfie too. Wolfie is a one off, he's a quirky little horse and I can honestly say that I have never met any horse before quite like him and I know that I certainly wouldn't ever be able to replace him.

Farewell old friend

Several years ago I did work experience and trained at a Classical Stud in Manchester. There were over 30 stallions and various youngstock and broodmares of Iberian breeding (including Lusitano and Andalusian) but there was also Friesians, Morgans, various breeds of Arab and Lippizzaners. All the stallions were trained in Classical High School, Circus and Liberty and many performed at demonstrations and events throughout the UK. I heard today that one of the stallions, a magnificent black Lusitano was put to sleep at a grand old age. His legacy will live on in the offspring he sired over the years, many of which are exceptional dressage horses, but many also went on to become successful sports horses. He has three foals due this year. This particular horse holds a very special place in my heart. I hope he is galloping free over the Rainbow Bridge to pastures new.

My time at the stud was magical. It was on the Lusitano that I first experienced the true movements of high school. He was trained to piaffe, passage, ballotade, capriole, levade, etc all of which were effortless for him. I still remember exactly how I felt the first time I sat on him. I won't say I was riding him as he performed these movements on cue and I was just a passenger. I knew even then that being on this horse was a once in a life time experience. The owners of the stud were fantastic. They encouraged and enabled me to ride their amazing horses and their trainer gave me lessons on the various stallions several times a day ridden and from the ground. I rode the Lusitano almost every day I was there. It was an absolute privilege to work beside these amazing and beautiful horses. Their manners, attitude, power and elegance was simply breath taking. The earliest surviving work on many of the principles of classical dressage emphasised training through kindness and reward. These stallions were so proud and they wanted to work. I cherish my time spent there and everything that I learned influenced the way I rode and handled horses following this. I have decided to integrate a little Liberty work to Wolfie. It's something I've thought of doing often, but something else has always taken presedence. However, I think now is as good a time as any, as with the longer days, even if I ride Wolfie, I can always come back later in the evning and do a little Liberty work. I really think it will benefit us both. I am going to get Carolyn Resnick's book, Naked Liberty.

I have also decided to try a little clicker training with Buttons. It's something I have never done before, so it will be a learning curve for us both, but could be good fun. They use clicker training to train assistance horses for the blind in America. I don't know how much of an assistance Buttons would be, but he would make a very good pick pocket. He's pretty smart and enjoys any sort of interaction so I think he might quite enjoy it. So for Buttons I'm going to get Clicker Training for your Horse by Alexandra Kurland. I love horse books. Any excuse to buy more.

I didn't ride today.

Lord of the dance

The problem with Wolfie not leading and misbehaving has been niggling at me since yesterday. I have heard numerous times over the winter about how mischevious he is in the mornings being difficult to change his rugs and turn out. I've never been able to work it out. I was disappointed in a way as I thought that his ground manners were well established and I felt like I'd failed in a way. He's on assisted DIY livery and gets fed and turned out in the mornings. To be fair I am not there in the mornings to witness this, but any time I have gone up early, he has been absolutely fine. I made a point of going up early this morning to turn him out. As he was going back in with the boys I also wanted to put boots on him. I put brushing boots on all 4 legs and over reach boots on. He stood like a rock. I then wandered him around the yard a little bit before turning him out at the far away gate. He was like a lamb. It would appear that darling boy Wolfie has been leading people on a merry dance thinking he can get away with it. Don't get me wrong, like any youngster he needs reminded every now and then of what is acceptable and what's not, it's just part of his education, but he knows how to behave, he's obviously chosen not to. He has a wicked sense of humour, but he made me smile today. I think also that Wolfie is a horse that needs to have his breakfast and be turned straight out. I like to keep things simple and make life easy for myself. If he's standing in watching the other horses be turned out first, he's just winding himself up.

The horses spent the afternoon today in their summer fields in preparation for going out full time. I went to catch Buttons in thinking he would be reluctant to leave the grass, but he was happy to come in. He loves his stable and his dinner. He only gets a handful of chaff and a carrot to make him think he's getting dinner, but it's obviously worth it to him. His winter coat has taken its time in starting to come out. He's looking a bit scurfy just now. Once he's lost most of his winter coat and the weather is warmer, I think it will be bath time for Buttons. That should be fun, he doesn't like the hose or getting wet

I didn't ride today. I had planned to, but I had several things to do and got stuck in traffic and roadworks for ages. By the time I got back to the yard I was really tired and not motivated. I'm annoyed at myself that I didn't ride, but I will tomorrow.

Walk on

I hacked Wolfie, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today (gave him Monday off). He's been absolutely brilliant, a total star. We've hacked along the road ourselves to get onto the railway line, he's been very forward and looking at everything, but he's so bold. I like a brave horse. We will just be walking for the next few weeks so it's completely aerobic work, but out of interest I want to try and roughly measure the distance we are covering. I don't always plan my route and take various tracks so working out distances from maps would be difficult. I have thought of strapping a pedometer to his leg, measuring his stride in walk and seeing if that would work. Endurance riders must use something I would imagine. It's not for any scientific fittening reason, just out of interest.

Wolfie has been separated from the rest of the boys and in the paddock with Jake again for the last couple of weeks. They are going back in with the boys tomorrow as the horses are supposedly being turned out for summer this weekend. I don't know if that's such a wise decision with the drop again in temperature and the weather being so unpredictable, but it's not my decision to make. It also means that I am going to have to buy Wolfie a new summer turn out as he shredded his other one. I thought I could have left it a bit longer, but if he's out all the time I need to be prepared for the weather to turn. Apparently Wolfie has been misbehaving and very difficult to lead going to his field in the morning. I turned him out on Saturday and Sunday morning, he was as good as gold, he's been an angel all weekend for me so I'm not going to comment on that.

Time goes by..................so slowly

I haven't posted much lately, to be honest I haven't been doing anything with Wolfie over the last month. My mum sadly passed away Saturday 10th April and her funeral was yesterday. I suppose I have been fortunate in life that I have never really experienced losing anyone very close to me until now and I have never experienced the pain of true grief, until now.

Normally, I have always found solice in horses. If I am angry or upset, horses have always been where I will turn. Even the smell of the yard and the muck heap is calming, but not this time. I have been going to the stables and mucking the boys out, filling haynets and water buckets because I can do that like a robot. But I feel like something is gone, my heart has just not been in spending any time with them and certainly not riding. I feel that I am carrying a great weight that is so heavy it is sometimes even difficult to walk. That weight is too heavy to burden a young horse with. It has been panicking me that I feel like this. Wolfie senses there is something wrong, he is confused. I am there, but I am not there. His behaviour has been somewhat erratic. He was extremely naughty being shod last week, worse than he has ever been. He has been hauling his rugs down and destroyed one (my fault really as I should have remembered to move them) and he has been undoing the bolts on his stable door and escaping during the night.

Things got to the point last week where I thought for the first time ever that maybe I should sell him. He is a talented horse with alot of potential and I thought he was being wasted with me as I have not worked him consistently since the start of the year. Wolfie is a very sensitive, complex horse. I think that very few people actually know the real Wolfie. On the surface he is full of bravado, he's friendly, cheeky and somewhat arrogant. But there are very few people that have his true trust and respect. After all out time together I am still trying to work out his intrinsic mind. I often think of him as the horse equivalent of the rainman.

But after everything we have been through together in the last 3 years our bond is very strong. Maybe I am not giving him enough credit and he will help share or ease my burden along with time.

I am disappointed that we are not where I expected to be at this time ridden wise, due to various injuries and my mum. I had expectations of getting to some shows, doing some le trec and maybe a dressage test. However, although these goals have not changed, the goal posts have moved. I will get back on and ride Wolfie. We will hack for as long as it takes, to get fitter and happier. We will not worry about outlines and schooling. We will eventually go for a hack with our very good friends H and J and we will canter, the sort of canter where the horses start to get faster and race, your body feels like jelly because you're laughing and adrenalin. You can't really stop and only do when the horses tire or you reach the end of the track. Wolfie being Wolfie will then stick his head between his knees and buck. When we are ready we will school. We will begin jumping. I am going to work very hard to try and get my trailer licence to try and give us some independence. There's a lovely country park about ten minutes drive away that has miles of bridle paths and some cross country fences. We might even take a trip to the beach.

As many people have told me, this will get easier, I really hope so. It will take time, and I have Wolfie and crazy Buttons to help me along the way.

What's your horse's personality?

There is a book which enables you to unravel your horse's personality. I took the quiz for both Wolfie and Buttons.

Buttons was..........

The Steady Eddy
If you are a novice or amateur, this is the horse for you. They are quiet and predictable, loving and engaging, willing to learn new things, willing to hang out with you and do nothing. This is not your big ego, career - oriented horse. They are happy just to be. Consistent and loyal, all you need to do is enjoy.

And Wolfie was.........

The Goddess
The Goddess is loved by most of the other horses and most people. They are expressive and sensitive and emotional. You will know how they feel. They try very hard to please and will worry and be anxious if you are not happy with them. In the negative they can have scattered energy that is hard to get focused. this personality can be loved on as much as you want.

That's true for Wolfie, he certainly wears his heart on his sleeve and lets you know everything he's feeling.

Good fun.

It's a knock out....

Shortly after my last post, Wolfie had another 'incident' in the field which resulted in him having his lower right incisor tooth knocked out. There was alot of bruising around the gum, but it wasn't bothering him. I called the dentist who told me just to leave it, keep an eye on it and if there was any tooth left in the root then this would have to be removed at a later date. Once the swelling went down, I managed to feel an edge of tooth, so there is still something in there. It's not bothered him at all, but i decided to give him some time off work, really just to see what was going to happen. The upper tooth will have to be rasped accordingly to compensate for the missing tooth on the bottom. He's not long had that tooth, so we certainly didn't get our money's worth out of that one.

I brought him back into work last Monday. I rode him every night last week as there is more daylight and the weather has been good. I finished work on Friday and headed for the stables, feeling really positive and looking forward to riding. As I walked up the driveway Wolfie came thundering down the field to meet me, nothing unusual as he always does this. As he got to the fence I walked over to give him a pat, when I noticed blood all over his legs, his chest and as he turned his head, there was blood all over his cheek and his right eye was completely swollen shut and massive. He looked like he had done ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost, badly. I ran up the driveway grabbed his headcollar and by this time he was at the gate. I brought him in and attempted to have a look at his eye. He had a small cut on his eye lid and had obviously been kicked. The eye was continuing to swell and looked horrific. I couldn't get near enough to examine it closely as he started rearing and thrashing around. I called the vet who was there within 20 minutes. It was a new lady vet to the practice and I was very impressed with her. She gave him a thorough examination, she didn't want to sedate him, but did a good job of hanging onto him and getting out of his way. She hoped that it was a bad hematoma and if this was the case then I should start to see the swelling going down within 2 to 3 days. He got a penicillin and pain killer injection (both in the right side of his neck and both times the needle was in with no fuss as he couldn't see her coming with the needle out of the eye). The vet managed to get antibiotic cream into his eye, which was no mean feat and she advised me to call again in a few days if the swelling wasn't going down. The pressure of the hematoma meant that he couldn't put his head down. He wouldn't eat and was in a great deal of pain and distressed. I'm ok in a crisis as long as I can clean a wound or bandage it or hold the horse. But my little horse was hurting badly on Friday night and there was absolutely nothing I could do to make it better for him. I was standing in the stable just looking at him, he was standing up the back of the stable, I was on the verge of tears, I felt so helpless when he slowly walked over and pressed his muzzle against my cheek and nuzzled me for a few minutes. I don't know if he was trying to comfort me or if he was just letting me know he was hurting, but Wolfie never does that. Wolfie shows affection by pulling your hood or taking your hat off. He's more likely to pull your hair than nuzzle you. I didn't sleep much that night and was at the yard first thing the next morning expecting to see little improvement and dreading having to look at the eye again. However, although still very swollen, it was dramatically improved. The vet had wanted him turned out to get him out of any dust in the stable, but with no chance of him suffering any further trauma to the eye, so he went out in another field with his friend Jake. For all Jake pulls the grumpiest of faces, he's a very good baby sitter and very tolerant. The weather was nice and this seemed to lift Wolfie's spirits. He hadn't eaten hardly any of his hay on Friday night and he ate his breakfast on saturday morning, but still seemed dull and not the normal boisterous Wolfie we know and love. However, by Saturday evening the swelling had gone down markedly and the cheeky boy was back. If I didn't think so before now, that horse has a guardian angel. I cannot believe how quickly his eye has healed, considering how bad it was and how much pain he was in on Friday. Obviously the site of the injury contributed to his distress as when it was at it's most swollen, he couldn't see. He's been turned out with Jake since and unless you knew, you wouldn't be able to tell which eye had been injured.

What's going on in the field. It's not like he's being bullied, that's not the case at all. I think it's more that the horse that Wolfie has picked out as being next in line in his pecking order, kicks. He doesn't think twice about it and he almost always hits the target. It's not just Wolfie, he kicks at everyone. He plays, but gives no warning that he's had enough and kicks. How did he get kicked in the eye? I'm not sure, but he does pull their feathers and I have seen him nipping them on the legs when they are rolling. He's going back in the field with the boys tomorrow. He's now on half day turn out and will be brought in every day at lunch time. There's no grass in the field, so the hope is that Wolfie will go out in the morning, stretch his legs and then be brought in before he gets bored. Fingers crossed this will keep him out of trouble until the grass starts growing again and they are too busy with their heads down eating to bother with anything else. I am aiming to keep Wolfie in as consistent work as possible, keep him tired so he hasn't got the enrgy for any carry on.

On a more positive note, the days in between tooth and eye which i managed to ride, he felt great. I schooled him 3 days, really just working on going forward. Wolfie finds it very easy just to drop behind the contact and the leg in the school. The school is quite small and I find that we are at the corner before I'm prepared or have set him up for it. Wolfie loves to learn, but is not so keen on practicing what he already knows (this is boring) so it's down to me to get more interesting and make his work more exciting. He loves to explore and interact so I have to use our hacking to my advantage and as an extension of our schooling sessions. I had hoped to go to a Kelly Marks winter series Trec training day at the end of March, but that's not going to happen now.