Gali weathered the storm well, and while I haven't been able to get up north to check on him (bad horse owner, I know!), I've been getting updates from the barn owner. I'm hoping that roads will be clear enough to go see him tonight or tomorrow morning.
I left New Brunswick the night before the storm, and have been at home. Here we're fine - no flooding and only a few hours without power. My apartment, however, has been without power since Monday evening, and apparently the roof hatch blew open. We're on the top floor, so I'm very, VERY worried about my betta fish, Roxy, that I oh so stupidly chose to leave up at the apartment. I thought that the travel and establishment of a "hotel" tank would be too much stress for her, and I did not think we would be without power for as long as we have been. I'm hoping that the gradual drop in tank temperature wasn't too hard on her system, but I'm not optimistic about it :(
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Another new chapter
Since I've owned Gali, I've had him at five different barns. I've owned him for four years. It absolutely sucks to have to move around so much, and totally strengthens my desire to have my own place as soon as I possibly can.
First, he was at a place called Holly Tree. I learned to ride there, I was there for over a decade. Gali was there for just over a year. I don't mind saying the name publicly, nor do I mind saying how much of a shithole the farm became. The owner took in so many "rescue" horses and "project" horses, but even when working students got these scrappy horses in shape and doing great work, the owner refused to sell them. Absolutely refused. It was clearly an instance of animal hoarding. Several "boarders" had just left horses there, and the owner was totally cool with that. When a few racehorses came in to be trained, the owner poured all of her effort into those horses, feeding them well and making sure they got priority turnout, while Gali and Katie and all of the other dressage horses got fed "stretchy hay" when she couldn't feed them the correct amount of grain, and left their stalls in complete ruin. Leaving was the only option I had.
Second place was a gorgeous facility, beautiful fields, (mostly) great boarders, and a farm owner who went from the most generous, helpful person in the world to a slightly-manic, drama-creating guy in a matter of months. He didn't have a good reputation in the horse world, but we lasted there for almost two years before I got fed up with him talking behind my back to my friends and spreading rumors about me. At the same time that was uncovered, Gali went lame and I decided to give pasture boarding a shot, so I moved to farm #3.
I've written the most on this blog about Farm #3. I liked the fields, I loved the track, I loved my friends who boarded with me. Gali, however, wasn't happy. He didn't get along with his fieldmates, he just was gradually getting more and more grumpy. The farm was also far away, and I barely had time to see him. I didn't have any sort of control over his feed, which is something that bothers me, and when I found out the barn owner had him up to a ridiculously high amount of grain, I brought out a weight builder for him. She lectured me about how he's keeping weight fine and it's a pain in the ass to give him a supplement and that there's no such thing as Insulin resistance or Equine Metabolic Syndrome anyway, and I didn't know nearly as much as she did. I took the supplement home, wrote out a chart of what he was to get, put it in an easy container with an easy to use scoop, and brought it out again. She wasn't there when I would get there (late evenings, coming home from school), so I left a note saying "Hey, this is what I want done for Gali, this is why, this is what I did to make it easy for you. Thanks." Apparently, leaving a note was a bad idea. I got cursed out and the owner began ignoring me completely. I stayed for two months and was just uncomfortable there... so when a new farm opened up literally five minutes from my house, I moved Gali over.
Farm #4 was fantastic. The trainer was a great trainer. I was back taking weekly lessons. I could see my horse any day of the week, any time. The fields were great, he was happy, I was happy, the farm was exactly what I wanted. And then... the trainer decided she couldn't handle boarders anymore, and shut the farm down. It's a damn shame.
This past weekend, I moved Gali to farm #5. It's closer to school, and it has an indoor. The owners are very nice and seem to be very knowledgeable about horses. There are a few things that concern me, but out of the twenty-some farms I called and the five farms I looked at, it seems like the best fit for Gali and I while I finish up at Rutgers. There's an indoor, which means I have absolutely no excuse to not ride four days a week, every week. I hope he is happy, and I hope that he continues to settle in as well as he has been settling.
I'm proud of him - when I first moved to Holly Tree, he got loose, barged through my trainer and slammed into the indoor in a "wild horse!" fit. At farm #2, everybody thought he was insane because he nearly took down the fences and stall doors for at least a month. At farm #3, he ran like a lunatic for the first week, got loose the second week, and was a handful under saddle for the first month. At Farm #4, he was so herdbound that I had to ride him in a square pen or he'd bolt back to the barn for the first two weeks! And on Friday, he stepped off of the trainer... and dropped his head to graze. He settled into his temporary stall well, and I even hopped on him in the indoor. After a short w/t/c in both directions to show him the scary new things, he was barely puffing. He was relaxing and munching hay by the time I put all of my tack away. Maybe he's finally growing up.
First, he was at a place called Holly Tree. I learned to ride there, I was there for over a decade. Gali was there for just over a year. I don't mind saying the name publicly, nor do I mind saying how much of a shithole the farm became. The owner took in so many "rescue" horses and "project" horses, but even when working students got these scrappy horses in shape and doing great work, the owner refused to sell them. Absolutely refused. It was clearly an instance of animal hoarding. Several "boarders" had just left horses there, and the owner was totally cool with that. When a few racehorses came in to be trained, the owner poured all of her effort into those horses, feeding them well and making sure they got priority turnout, while Gali and Katie and all of the other dressage horses got fed "stretchy hay" when she couldn't feed them the correct amount of grain, and left their stalls in complete ruin. Leaving was the only option I had.
Second place was a gorgeous facility, beautiful fields, (mostly) great boarders, and a farm owner who went from the most generous, helpful person in the world to a slightly-manic, drama-creating guy in a matter of months. He didn't have a good reputation in the horse world, but we lasted there for almost two years before I got fed up with him talking behind my back to my friends and spreading rumors about me. At the same time that was uncovered, Gali went lame and I decided to give pasture boarding a shot, so I moved to farm #3.
I've written the most on this blog about Farm #3. I liked the fields, I loved the track, I loved my friends who boarded with me. Gali, however, wasn't happy. He didn't get along with his fieldmates, he just was gradually getting more and more grumpy. The farm was also far away, and I barely had time to see him. I didn't have any sort of control over his feed, which is something that bothers me, and when I found out the barn owner had him up to a ridiculously high amount of grain, I brought out a weight builder for him. She lectured me about how he's keeping weight fine and it's a pain in the ass to give him a supplement and that there's no such thing as Insulin resistance or Equine Metabolic Syndrome anyway, and I didn't know nearly as much as she did. I took the supplement home, wrote out a chart of what he was to get, put it in an easy container with an easy to use scoop, and brought it out again. She wasn't there when I would get there (late evenings, coming home from school), so I left a note saying "Hey, this is what I want done for Gali, this is why, this is what I did to make it easy for you. Thanks." Apparently, leaving a note was a bad idea. I got cursed out and the owner began ignoring me completely. I stayed for two months and was just uncomfortable there... so when a new farm opened up literally five minutes from my house, I moved Gali over.
Farm #4 was fantastic. The trainer was a great trainer. I was back taking weekly lessons. I could see my horse any day of the week, any time. The fields were great, he was happy, I was happy, the farm was exactly what I wanted. And then... the trainer decided she couldn't handle boarders anymore, and shut the farm down. It's a damn shame.
This past weekend, I moved Gali to farm #5. It's closer to school, and it has an indoor. The owners are very nice and seem to be very knowledgeable about horses. There are a few things that concern me, but out of the twenty-some farms I called and the five farms I looked at, it seems like the best fit for Gali and I while I finish up at Rutgers. There's an indoor, which means I have absolutely no excuse to not ride four days a week, every week. I hope he is happy, and I hope that he continues to settle in as well as he has been settling.
I'm proud of him - when I first moved to Holly Tree, he got loose, barged through my trainer and slammed into the indoor in a "wild horse!" fit. At farm #2, everybody thought he was insane because he nearly took down the fences and stall doors for at least a month. At farm #3, he ran like a lunatic for the first week, got loose the second week, and was a handful under saddle for the first month. At Farm #4, he was so herdbound that I had to ride him in a square pen or he'd bolt back to the barn for the first two weeks! And on Friday, he stepped off of the trainer... and dropped his head to graze. He settled into his temporary stall well, and I even hopped on him in the indoor. After a short w/t/c in both directions to show him the scary new things, he was barely puffing. He was relaxing and munching hay by the time I put all of my tack away. Maybe he's finally growing up.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Lesson, 10/6
When my alarm went off at 6:00 AM, the last thing I wanted to do was get up and go ride, but I'm certainly glad that I did. Gali was excellent. I did almost fall off before I was really even on, though. Nicole had moved her set of cavaletti to the entrance of the ring, at A. Now, these are bright red blocks and white poles that are usually on the side of the ring. As part of 90% of my warmups, we trot over them as ground poles. Gali has seen them every day since May, so I thought nothing of it when I hopped on and walked him to the ring. He froze and side-stepped into a corner that was created by the arena chain fence and the red block, snorting and leaning back away from the block. I booted him to the side, expecting him to take one step sideways and walk over the ground pole, but he instead moved forward even DEEPER into the corner. At this point, I had still been gathering up my reins and didn't have my stirrups. It felt like he was going to jump the corner, but he ended up wheeling around in a spin. I didn't expect it at all and once I regained my balance, I gave him a quick lesson on what to do with ground poles and things he is afraid of. Doofus horse.
After he got over the scary red blocks, we began to work. His trot work was rushed at first, but we did some lengthening and collecting within the gait, and once he was sitting back on his hind end, he sustained it well, relaxed and reaching for contact with his back up. Our canter work was the best it's been in ages - I was actually able to get him to sustain a canter on his own, and get him to carry himself a bit. This was huge, because it allowed me to take a minute to feel how my body was, and I could feel that I was leaning to the left. I raised my left shoulder and opened my chest, and the change in his balance was noticeable. I was also able to relax my legs and open my hips, allowing his back to come up and his shoulders to rise in the canter. Nicole commented on our transitions being very balanced and even when Gali fell out of the canter, he was falling into a great trot, and only doing that because he was having a hard time keeping up the canter.
One thing that helped him pick up the canter was making the transition from a slower trot than his normal working trot, and I need to remember that so we do not keep rushing into the transitions.
In barn-search news, my list of 22 non-call-backs hasn't changed. However, there's a very nice barn that I am looking at tomorrow, so, fingers crossed that it ends up being "the one"!
After he got over the scary red blocks, we began to work. His trot work was rushed at first, but we did some lengthening and collecting within the gait, and once he was sitting back on his hind end, he sustained it well, relaxed and reaching for contact with his back up. Our canter work was the best it's been in ages - I was actually able to get him to sustain a canter on his own, and get him to carry himself a bit. This was huge, because it allowed me to take a minute to feel how my body was, and I could feel that I was leaning to the left. I raised my left shoulder and opened my chest, and the change in his balance was noticeable. I was also able to relax my legs and open my hips, allowing his back to come up and his shoulders to rise in the canter. Nicole commented on our transitions being very balanced and even when Gali fell out of the canter, he was falling into a great trot, and only doing that because he was having a hard time keeping up the canter.
One thing that helped him pick up the canter was making the transition from a slower trot than his normal working trot, and I need to remember that so we do not keep rushing into the transitions.
In barn-search news, my list of 22 non-call-backs hasn't changed. However, there's a very nice barn that I am looking at tomorrow, so, fingers crossed that it ends up being "the one"!
Monday, October 1, 2012
Saturday's Ride
I did not have a lot of time to ride on Saturday, but because I knew I would have even less time to ride this upcoming weekend, I rushed out to the barn in between loads of laundry. On the drive there, I seriously contemplated just hopping on bareback, but when I got the farm and noticed the crisp breeze and the sound of deer running through the woods, I thought that a saddle would be a good idea.
While I was tacking up, all three of Nicole's dogs were playing in the barn, but when I walked down to the ring, only one followed me. I was grateful for the company on the otherwise quiet farm, and even more grateful when Aztec noticed the deer and bounded after them, scaring them back into the woods and away from the sides of the arena.
Gali and I had a bit of a discussion about the mounting block, and when I asked him to walk away he broke into a jog. I expected it to be one of those rides where I fight with him and he focuses solely on the deer and rustling leaves, but my pony surprised me.
As long as he was working, he was focusing on me and kept a very even tempo at both the trot and the canter. He did have a lot of energy starting off, and so I used a modified version of an exercise that I've learned from a few different people.
After our warm up of big figure eights and twenty meter circles, I began to trot fifteen meter circles at each letter. After two letters, I'd make a short diagonal line and do two circles in the other direction at the last two letters. I'd do a larger circle at A or C, regroup, and go back up the longside in the same way. After a bit of fighting about exactly what outside aids mean, Gali got too distracted by his own thoughts to argue, and we ended up doing the exercise at the canter, with simple changes on the diagonal. The changes got him very excited, but the circles stayed at the size I wanted. One bad habit Gali has is counter bending on the short sides of the arena (especially after a difficult exercise), and breaking when I ask for a true bend, and it was no surprise when he started off that way. It was, however, a surprise when he did not resisit at all my encouragement, and we ended up getting lovely true bend in both short sides in both directions.
At the end of the ride (which was the most productive 20 minute ride I've had in a while), I let Gali out for a bit of a victory hand gallop. The air was cool enough that he didn't sweat much, but after a quick hosing I put him out to roll and eat, just as the sun was setting.
There are plenty of days that remind me that I was overhorsed when I bought Gali, and plenty of moments when I ask myself what I seriously saw in the big, bolting, spooky, green twelve year old rescue - but for every few of those, there are rides like Saturday, and they wipe the slate clean and remind me exactly why I chose this horse.
While I was tacking up, all three of Nicole's dogs were playing in the barn, but when I walked down to the ring, only one followed me. I was grateful for the company on the otherwise quiet farm, and even more grateful when Aztec noticed the deer and bounded after them, scaring them back into the woods and away from the sides of the arena.
Gali and I had a bit of a discussion about the mounting block, and when I asked him to walk away he broke into a jog. I expected it to be one of those rides where I fight with him and he focuses solely on the deer and rustling leaves, but my pony surprised me.
As long as he was working, he was focusing on me and kept a very even tempo at both the trot and the canter. He did have a lot of energy starting off, and so I used a modified version of an exercise that I've learned from a few different people.
After our warm up of big figure eights and twenty meter circles, I began to trot fifteen meter circles at each letter. After two letters, I'd make a short diagonal line and do two circles in the other direction at the last two letters. I'd do a larger circle at A or C, regroup, and go back up the longside in the same way. After a bit of fighting about exactly what outside aids mean, Gali got too distracted by his own thoughts to argue, and we ended up doing the exercise at the canter, with simple changes on the diagonal. The changes got him very excited, but the circles stayed at the size I wanted. One bad habit Gali has is counter bending on the short sides of the arena (especially after a difficult exercise), and breaking when I ask for a true bend, and it was no surprise when he started off that way. It was, however, a surprise when he did not resisit at all my encouragement, and we ended up getting lovely true bend in both short sides in both directions.
At the end of the ride (which was the most productive 20 minute ride I've had in a while), I let Gali out for a bit of a victory hand gallop. The air was cool enough that he didn't sweat much, but after a quick hosing I put him out to roll and eat, just as the sun was setting.
There are plenty of days that remind me that I was overhorsed when I bought Gali, and plenty of moments when I ask myself what I seriously saw in the big, bolting, spooky, green twelve year old rescue - but for every few of those, there are rides like Saturday, and they wipe the slate clean and remind me exactly why I chose this horse.
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