Dealing with loss

We’ve lost two horses this year – Saga in January after several months of ever-worsening mystery lameness, and now Oberon, suddenly, due to a twisted and displaced intestine from gas colic. I’ve owned horses for 17 years (Cash is my first horse) and these are the first ones I’ve had to put down. Both were young, healthy, and in their prime. To say it sucks is an understatement.

The good news in both cases is that I have absolutely no doubt in my mind, no second guesses, that we made the right decision at the right time for both of them. In Saga’s case there was literally nothing we could do, which we knew when we put him down but the true severity of the situation was revealed via necropsy. In Oberon’s case, colic surgery may have helped him. I say “may” because there are no guarantees.  The reality of surgery is that while some horses do great, others take 6 months to a year to recover, or never fully recover. There are lots of second surgeries, complications, and plenty of deaths on the table. I’m not knocking anybody who chooses to do surgery, it’s an individual decision (and not an easy one), but it’s something that we are not prepared to do.

As for how I’m dealing with things, the answer is OK. Yesterday I was on-and-off sniffly and didn’t get much done at work. The outpouring of love from the people who knew Oberon has been incredible. My poor husband is, as you might imagine, very upset and raw. What makes it worse is that he’s on a ship in Alaska right now, and not even accessible by phone. Imagine sending your husband an email that goes something like, “Honey, there’s no easy way to say this, but your horse is colicking and has a displaced intestine. Surgery is the only option and we've already discussed not going that route. I’m so sorry. Let me know when you get this.” That’s probably the worst email I've written in my entire life. Luckily we did manage to chat for a bit via Gmail, and I sent him emails from my phone when we were at the vet in the final moments, so he knew what was going on. Still, not being able to say goodbye in person must be awful. I’m very glad I got to be with both Oberon and Saga at the end. I’m also glad that it was fast and painless. Thank goodness for small mercies.

I don’t think saying goodbye ever gets easier, but maybe it gets… I don’t know, more real? Many years ago I was faced with putting Cash down due to impaction colic. We drove out to the hospital where he’d been all night to put him down. I’d come to say goodbye to him, but when we got there he was more comfortable so we decided to wait. We stayed with him all day, hugging him, grooming him, just loving on him. Somehow, by some miracle, he pulled through. Since that day, I think I’ve accepted – really accepted - that our time with them is fleeting. You could literally, at any moment, have to make that decision. In that moment with Cash, it went from being a theoretical “this is what I’d do if I had to say goodbye” to a real, in-your-face understanding of what it’s like and what you have to do for your horse. I was on the edge of the cliff that day, and by the grace of whatever deity you believe in, I got to step back. But I've never, ever forgotten that we’re really always on the edge of that cliff, most of us just don’t realize it. You might have to step off it at any moment, and every day you don’t is one more to be thankful for.

Saturday night I hit that cliff when the vet said “gas colic with impaction and displacement”. I had to sit down. I knew what it meant, but we agreed to try fluids to see if the impaction would resolve and allow the gas behind it to escape and let the intestine move back into place. Oberon was kept comfortable the entire time, and was feeling good enough at the end (due to the drugs) that he had some carrots, acted like his usual annoying self, and gave me a "hug" when I gave him a last hug from his dad. Sadly, medical treatments weren't enough – the displacement included a twist that we didn't know about until the necropsy was performed. But in the end, it wasn't a hard decision to make - it was the only one to make, because we’d already made it. There was a certain peace in knowing that we knew what we were going to do, because we’d discussed it before.

So I guess… be as prepared as you can. Really think about it and plan for it… it’s not fun, but it’s easier to make decisions ahead of time than try to make them when emotions are high. Know what you’re going to do, and know what your limits are. Try not to second guess yourself. Listen to your vet and your horse, even though your heart is breaking.

And give them one last hug. Every damn day.

Starting to move on

Today was a good day. Not the best day ever, but I'm at peace. Looking back, it seems like I've known that yesterday was coming almost since the beginning of this injury. I feel closure now, and relief that Saga isn't in any more pain.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful, kind words. I haven't met most of you in person, but it's amazing how supportive the blogging community is. I apologize for not replying to your comments individually, but I don't have anything to say other than Thank You. Y'all are wonderful!

Cash is starting to settle in without Saga, although he refuses to eat much at mealtimes. For now he's separated from the others, so I can leave his food out for him to eat when he likes, and he has been finishing it in his own time. Whatever he wants to do is fine with me, as long as he keeps himself healthy.

My vet had asked if she could perform a necropsy on Saga's leg, and I gave her permission. I got the report today:

"Everything that we were starting to see on last radiographs with the cyst like lesions were real. There were two areas of cartilage damage within the joint with corresponding cysts that were breaking into the joint surface  The area would absolutely not be accessible arthroscopically.  The corresponding soft tissue structures were normal, with the exception of a very thickened joint capsule due to chronicity (that is what you were seeing get so big on the outside of the joint).  Also on radiographs, the joint was starting to show additional signs of arthritis."

I called her for an explanation in English further details. The bone cysts (there were two) were 5+ mm long, which is pretty big considering the location, and they were still active (getting bigger). They were in the middle of the joint area on the pastern bone, and would not have been accessible by surgery if we had wanted to try that option. In addition, the cysts were "breaking into the joint surface," causing massive swelling. There was also bruising on the bone itself, and my vet feels like they would see even more damage with an MRI. Basically, there was nothing anyone could have done to help him. I never had any doubt and did not need this confirmation that we made the right decision, but it is beyond doubt now. My only regret is that we let him go on as long as we did.

But Maddy and Artemis... they made me smile today. :)

Cats! In a box! How can you not love such cuteness?

In memory of Saga

How do you start a post like this? The blank screen gives no clues. Everything I think of sounds like something out of a newspaper obituary.

We'll start with yesterday. It sucked. People kept telling me it was such a hard decision I was making, but it was actually easy. Saga was in pain, and there was no way to fix it. The kindest thing to do was to let him go. Acting on such a decision - making all the arrangements for both Cash and Saga - was surprisingly difficult. Having to tell the vet, the BO, my friends, over and over again what was going on - at work, no less - had me going through Kleenex after Kleenex. Telling everyone who had known Saga what was about to happen, just in case they wanted to say goodbye, was also hard. Writing yesterday's blog post was hard. I cried a lot of tears and went to bed early. Luckily, I slept the night through.

This morning, Fuzzypony took off work (bless her, I have the best friends in the whole wide world) and drove with me to get the boys from the retirement farm. We pulled in and went to get the boys. It was perhaps 300 yards from where Saga and Cash were out in their pasture to the trailer, and more than once I though we weren't going to make it. Saga would take about 10 steps and then need to rest, he was hurting so badly. I wished like anything I had something, ANYTHING to make him feel better, make the trip easier, but I didn't. Cash was the best, he stayed right next to Saga the entire time, with no halter or lead on him. If he got a few steps ahead, he stopped and waited for Saga. I was crying so hard I could barely see the ground in front of me, but seeing how much he hurt, seeing how bad it really was, made me realize again just how much I was doing the right thing.

By the time we got to the trailer, Saga was shaking and practically on three legs. I hadn't thought to bring standing wraps or any other support (apparently I wasn't thinking very straight at all), but we did blanket them for the trailer ride. We loaded Cash first to give Saga a break, and an extra incentive to get on the trailer. He had a bit of a hard time loading, but got on after a moment.

I drove slowly and carefully home, trying not to jostle the boys any more than necessary. We turned the trailer around, and with the truck still running, unloaded Cash and handed him to MC, who had taken the morning off work (bless her too, did I mention I have the best friends ever?) to pony-sit him while Saga was gone. Before they could start hollering to each other, Fuzzypony and I hopped back in the truck and left for the vet. It was the easiest way I could think of to separate them. I hope Cash forgives me for doing it like that, but how do you tell a horse that he'll never see his best friend again, and to say goodbye?

When we pulled into the vet, the tech that met our trailer was crying. My vet was sniffling too. We put Saga in a stall with some alfalfa, and I said my goodbyes to him. He was content, munching his alfalfa and watching the cows in the adjacent pasture. I'm not sure if he understood what was going on, but he was relaxed at at peace.

I've never had to put a horse down, and it was mercifully quick. He was literally standing there eating a carrot one moment, and gone mid-bite. I held his head and stroked him and cried for a while, waiting until the vet said he was completely gone. And then... it was peaceful. He was peaceful.

My vet told me that when horses are ready to go, they tend to go very quickly. Saga was one of the fastest she's seen. I never doubted that this was the right decision, but I'm glad that he was ready too.

It was good that MC was able to be with Cash when we dropped him off at home. She took him for a walk immediately after he got off the trailer, and he was good, but after they got back to the barn he was frantic, screaming for his buddy. I have no doubt he would have hurt himself if she had not been here, and I cannot thank her enough for keeping him sane when he was initially separated from Saga. This evening he was still pacing, but has started to eat a bit, and isn't frantic. Red is up in the stall to keep him company tonight - not that he's any substitution for Saga, but some company is better than none.

I talked to Cash tonight about Saga. I explained that he was free now, but he wouldn't be coming back. Cash let me rub his face and ears a bit in between his pacing. I told him that Saga had been a really good friend, and that it was OK to miss him, and that I would miss him a lot too. I wanted to hug Cash's neck and cry into his mane, but Cash has never been that type of horse, so I contented myself with a gentle ear rub. I fed him the half of the carrot that Saga didn't get to eat, with tears streaming down my face.

I brought my camera with me today, intending to take a few pictures, but I didn't take any at all. I realized that I didn't want to remember him on his last day, but instead I wanted to remember him on his best days. So I went back to the blog that I started, Saga Chronicles (it predates this blog, if you're really bored you can go read how we got started) and found some of my favorite pictures of him. This is how I will always think of him.

Our first show together.

 As Cash's BFF.

XC schooling.

 Foxhunting.

 Our last show together.

That last picture, with him fit and sound and having just won the Ex-racehorse award? That's what I want to remember. The partnership, the teamwork. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. 

Rest in peace, my beautiful boy. You will be missed.

It's time to say goodbye

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this.

Yesterday afternoon, MC and I went out to visit Cash and Saga. I was concerned about Saga's fetlock, as the BO had texted me earlier to say that Saga was looking a little off.

Sadly, his fetlock is quite inflamed and hot, and he is limping badly. Cash came right up to us in the pasture, but Saga came slowly... one step at a time. He would literally take a step, stop, look, take another step, stop... it was heartbreaking to watch. He was bright-eyed and cheerful and ate all the carrots and alfalfa treats we brought, but he's lost weight and he's favoring the leg as much as he ever has.

I spoke to my vet this morning, and showed her the pictures of Saga's fetlock and also videos of him walking yesterday. We reviewed his radiographs and ultrasounds, and there are not a lot of options for Saga at this time. He has degenerative arthritis in that fetlock joint, along with bone cysts that are constantly irritating the joint. Our last resort of keeping him comfortable were the steroidal injections, which should have lasted about 6 months. He was injected on December 1, so it's only been 45 days - and the joint is clearly quite inflamed and causing him a great deal of pain.

I had hoped that Saga and Cash would be able to enjoy a long retirement together at the beautiful retirement facility, but it seems that is not to be. At this point I need to do the responsible thing as Saga's owner and take away his pain. I am truly grateful that he was able to have some time - even though it's been short - galloping through wide open spaces and being a horse.

I have also discussed with my vet what is safest for Cash right now. He and Saga are extremely attached and Cash is going to be distraught without him. She suggested that I bring Cash to my place for a week or so, so that he won't be alone but will be around a familiar setting. Once he's had a little time to adjust, I need to find him somewhere that he can be out with a small herd of very docile horses, where he can be fed separately. Perhaps this will be back at the place he's at now, with a new herd of horses, or perhaps that's at another place. Maybe it's home with us, I don't know. I want to do what's best for him, but I also need some time to decide. I'm a little overwhelmed by all of this right now and frankly it's hard to stay focused.

Anyway, tomorrow morning I will be picking both of them up - Cash to bring home and Saga to take to the vet. I don't want to say goodbye, but I know it's the right thing for him. It's an easy decision to make - there truly is no choice here - but it's a hard decision to follow through on. 

Cash and Saga: MmkayThanxMomBye!

Yesterday (Christmas) we went out to visit the boys to see how they were faring at their new retirement home. Sure, they've only been there for three days, but I have been worried about how Saga's fetlock would hold up to the different footing (sand) and his ability to gallop around like a lunatic move more, and for Cash the change in diet, as he has always been colic prone.

As it happens, I needn't have worried about a thing.

 The boys were not impressed with our arrival, despite the fact that we had carrots. They had no inclination to come when called.

 After schelpping our way up the hill to them, Saga realized we had treats, and proceeded to mug my husband.

Cash was somewhat more standoffish. 

 At one point the boys took a break from eating to watch their neighbor horses. Because neighbor horses are apparently more important than Mom and Dad with treats. Who knew?

 Saga mugged me for more treats while Cash politely waited his turn.

 And then Saga realized that the photographer was holding the bag of carrots... (not posted: several extreme close-ups of Saga's nose).

 A few more snacks were handed out...

... and then Saga realized that his new neighbor friends were out of sight at the top of the hill. He called out to them, and then he and Cash went moseying off on their own.

Hubby and I ended up snacking on the rest of the carrots on the way home. Ungrateful ponies!

Offically retired

Today, I hauled Cash and Saga out to their new retirement home - 11 acres of rolling grass pasture, with goats, a (terrifying) mini, and cows for neighbors.

We made the hour-long drive without incident, although about halfway there I confessed to my husband that I felt like I was abandoning my children or something. I'd packed the boys' feed, blankets, treats, Cash's meds, and had a full-page sheet of history and instructions for each of them. Me? Obsessive anal horse owner? Nah!

We pulled in, unloaded, and fed the boys dinner in their new pasture, in hopes of keeping them from doing anything that would annoy Saga's fetlock (for example, running around the pasture like lunatics). That only sort of worked... there was one short burst of speed, and then Saga settled for a showy trot:

 Cash was really not so impressed with Saga's antics.

 

Next, they had to sniff all the poop...

 

... meet the new neighbors... 

 

... do a quick check to see if I had any treats on me... 

 ... and then do some more neighborly gossip while sampling the local flora.

 

Here's the rest of their pasture... all 11 acres. That's hubby standing by the gate. Nice, isn't it?

We unloaded all the boys' feed, went over the instructions (including detailed medical history), and then said a final farewell and told the boys to stay out of trouble. I haven't heard from the BO yet, so I'm going to assume that all is well.

I know they're in a wonderful place, and that this is the right decision for them - especially Saga, who is still young at heart, even if his fetlock is all but destroyed. Having so much room to roam will be good for them both, and I know the BO has a watchful eye on them.

Sniff. I'm gonna miss them. Regular visits are no substitute for having them right out the back door, you know?

SNIFF.

My vet worked a miracle on Saga!!! :D :D :D

No words needed for this post. Just watch this video of Saga this afternoon, less than 36 hours after his fetlock injection.


Sure, he takes an odd step or two toward the end, but otherwise HE LOOKS AMAZING. This is a far cry from the horse who could barely walk yesterday morning. :) :) :)

In celebration, I went out to see a retirement place for him and Cash. 11 acres of pasture, all for the two of them. For the first time since this started, I am actually very, VERY hopeful that he will actually get to hang out there!

Thank you everyone for all your well-wishes, and for listening to me be so down on the whole situation. I have really not allowed myself to hope for much until now, and obviously we're still not out of the woods... but it seems like he might be able to be maintained comfortably with joint injections, which I am totally willing to do.

Yaaaaaaaay!!!!

Saga update: And now there are bone cysts

Saga was doing really well earlier this week. His limp was barely noticeable. He was going out with Cash during the day into the tiny barn area, hanging out, and eating hay. He even had two whole days without standing wraps on – the first time since this all started! I had a post planned entitled “Look Ma, no wraps!” and everything…

… and then he got worse again.

First there was a little swelling, and the limp was more pronounced. Cold-hosing and Surpass didn’t help. The limp and swelling both got progressively worse. My vet recommended putting him back on 2g/bute/day and keeping him in. It didn’t help. This morning, he was sweating from the pain, despite it being in the low 60s. His limp was very bad. I called the vet, stuffed him in the trailer, and off we went.

The good news is that the fetlock joint is not infected again, just inflamed. We injected it with steroids to try to calm things down some. The bad news is that there are two cysts on the pastern that now show up on radiographs. Likely they were caused by some sort of blunt force trauma, but of course there was never a mark on him. Still, we finally have a reason for what’s causing the irritation and inflammation in the fetlock joint.

I didn’t know anything about bone cysts, so I did a little digging on Google. Conservative treatment, especially in older horses, is generally useless. They improve with box rest but as soon as more motion is required, the cyst irritates the nearby joint. In Saga’s case, “more motion” appears to be hanging out in a tiny paddock.  I found one article that said only 35% of older horses return to work with surgery. That’s not good, y’all. He’s not a surgical candidate, and he’s got a ton of other stuff going on around that joint – bone lesion, lesion on the sesamoid ligament, and of course the arthritis in the joint itself, caused by the infection.

We opted to inject the joint with steroids, in hopes that would calm the inflammation and improve his comfort level. In some cases that seems to help; in other cases it does nothing. We’ll reevaluate in a week and see where he’s at. If it helps him AND it lasts for a reasonable amount of time (~6 months), that’s something I’m willing to do.  If it doesn’t help him, or only helps for a short period of time… well, I’m not going to let him stand around in pain.

Saga's diagnosis - a triple whammy

After a nerve-wracking weekend thinking of all the horrible things that the vet COULD find in Saga's  follow-up checkup - up to and including fractured sesamoid bones - I was pretty much prepared to have to put him down. He'd have good days when I thought he was getting better, and then bad days when, even with the splint on, he was limping horribly. I really felt like he wasn't getting better consistently, and he was starting to go bonkers in his stall, even with Cash up in the barn to keep him company.

We xrayed Saga for the fourth time in 6 weeks... and finally, we saw something. There are arthritic changes in the fetlock joint, as one would expect with the massive infection in the joint a month ago. These changes will probably continue to get worse over time, but they can be managed with steroid injections.

Unfortunately, the other thing we saw was a bone lesion on the pastern, just under the fetlock joint. Oddly enough, Cash has ALSO a bone lesion on his left hock, just under the joint where the suspensory connects. This is what sidelined him from jumping all those years ago, and also what eventually caused me to retire him from all but light dressage work. Basically the lesion will reattach with rest, but as soon as there is enough motion in the area, the lesion will reappear. For Cash, the breaking point was any collection or extension work, which basically limited him to Training Level dressage movements. Of course, the fetlock is a much more mobile joint than the hock, which means it's likely that the healing/reinjury cycle will be constant. One wrong step, or even a moment of trotting, may be enough to exacerbate Saga's bone lesion. Time will tell.

There's also the lesion on the sesamoid ligament that we have to worry about too, so pretty much we're looking at three problems together - on top of the joint infection, which we've managed to take care of. Taken together, these are career-ending, and it's extremely likely (because of the bone lesion) that Saga will never be rideable again. My vet does think that he will be pasture sound in a month or two, so there is some hope for that.

We're taking it one day at a time. We've weaned him off the splint, and he's going out in the barn with Cash during the day. The two of them hang out and eat hay, and pick on each other a little bit (it's very cute). Saga is standing with weight on both front feet now, pretty constantly. He'll take a few steps that look almost normal, then he'll take one where it's obvious something is horribly wrong. He only makes left-hand turns, where the injured right leg is on the outside. I've seen him try to go right, and he literally has to hop around (like a canter pirouette) to do it. He cannot trot, although he really seems to want to at times. He's still wearing standing wraps pretty much all the time, but we're going to start to wean him off of those as well, and the bute. Whether or not he will ever get any better than this only time will tell, but as long as he continues to improve we're going to give him the chance.

I've starting thinking about horse shopping again, but to be honest, my heart really isn't in it. I have two broken horses, and although neither one of them got hurt while doing something riding-related, I still feel responsible. How is it that people keep horses sound and eventing at 16+, I have absolutely no idea. Plus, the thought of starting over is hard. Saga and I were really starting to form a solid team, a good partnership... and now that's gone.

Go hug your horses, y'all.

Finally, some hope

It seems like this week has been about taking one step forward, only to end up taking two steps back. Sunday, I took Saga to the vet. We took new rads, on the suspicion that he HAD to have a fracture somewhere to be so incredibly lame. The rads were clean. We checked to make sure the infection wasn't back in his fetlock joint - and while the white blood cell count was a little high, the numbers were more in line with inflammation rather than infection, but we put some antibiotic in there just in case.

Monday and Tuesday Saga got about 20-30 minutes of hand grazing 10 feet from his stall, and both times, he was noticeably worse after. Since then, he has literally not been out of his stall... and he seems to be doing markedly better. He's standing solidly on his RF now, at least some of the time, and when he moves around the stall the limp is not as painfully evident as it was. He's not sweating constantly from the pain anymore either, so that's good. I'm re-wrapping the RF every other day with standing wraps, then putting the splint on over it, then duct-taping the whole mess together. It's ungainly but it seems to help him be more comfortable, and he's being a saint about the whole process, thank goodness.

 

The wrap, pre-splint (this is actually the gamgee wrap the vet put on, but at $50 per wrap, I'm now using plain standing wraps. DIY and all that!)

 

Here's the splint that hubby made (the vet was impressed... we could have a sideline business!) The bottom corners are cut out so that the PVC won't put pressure on his heel bulbs.

 

Here's how the splint fits on. It has to touch the ground at the bottom in order to provide support.

 

Saga models the finished duct-taped mass while Fuzzypony fills his water buckets. He has been getting immense amounts of joy out of messing with the hose while his buckets are being filled.

The plan right now is to keep him in the stall with the splint on for another week and a half or so, then take rads again. Assuming we see nothing, then we'll start trying to wean him off the splint, a few hours at a time. If that works, we'll see about some hand-grazing and then plan from there. Long-term, the goal is to get him to a pasture at one of two retirement facilities that I've found nearby - with Cash as his buddy. Of course, if we take him out of the splint and he gets worse again, or we start hand-grazing and he gets worse again, then the question becomes how long we want to keep trying to fix him when we really have no idea what we're up against.

The really strange thing is, even if he has a tiiiiny hairline fracture on a sesamoid bone (which often don't show up on rads for several weeks after they've happened) it should not be causing him this much pain. I'm more inclined to think that all this is caused by some combination of the lesion in the ligament that we DO know about, the infection in the fetlock (which seems to have cleared up, thank goodness), and probably something going on (DDFT or impar ligament) in the foot that we cannot see. But of course, this is all pure speculation. We really have very little to go off of, except how lame he is. Poor pony.

What 4+/5 lame looks like

Well, we did the joint lavage on Thursday afternoon. Friday Saga was only a bit better, but analysis of the synovial fluid showed the white blood cell count within normal limits. The hope was that we'd gotten the infection is just one lavage, so Saga came home to convalesce in his stall.

Honestly, when I picked him up he was not noticeably better. This morning when I took him out to graze for a bit (about 10 feet from his stall), he looked pretty bad.

 

This is how he stands most of the time - right foot out, with no weight on it.

This evening after dinner he looked even worse. The only way for him to be any MORE lame would be if he was 100% NWB on that foot - and that would make him a 5/5 lame.

It's horrible to watch, isn't it?

I called my vet, but at this point, there aren't many options. We are going to check the joint fluid again in the morning to make sure the infection isn't back. In the meantime, we've made a splint (per the vet's instructions) out of PVC pipe and duct tape, to immobilize the joint. Even immediately after we put it on, it seemed to help him a little. So that's something, I guess.

 

Slightly redneck splint, but it seems to be working.

I am not going to let my horse limp around like this for very long. Every day he's essentially non-weight-bearing on that foot, the risk of compromising the supporting foot increases. I'm keeping him in standing wraps, and checking him several times a day for signs of laminitis, but he could also bow a tendon or something. Not good. He's still perky and eating, but he is clearly in a lot of pain and it's not getting better.

At this point I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility that this is not going to have a happy ending. Have I mentioned lately how much horse ownership sucks?

Show pics - better late than never!

MC, Fuzzypony and I finally managed to trade pics from the LOPE benefit show. I'm still waiting on the professional pics from the show, and am hoping that maybe there's one or two of the jumping. But, they took some lovely shots of Saga and Oberon, so here goes!

 Saga looking pretty fly (for a bay guy).

 Mr. I-won't-bend-at-the-poll Oberon (me tipping forward probably does not help. What am I DOING?).

And for your viewing entertainment, we have Intro C on Oberon. Notice the lovely walk-canter transition at 3:08 (which I don't actually recall being in the test...)

 MC riding Cash, AKA Black Tie Affair, AKA The Fabulous M'sieur Schpot. (Yes, he is being ridden bitless. The show allows sidepulls - how awesome is THAT!?!?)

 Me and Saga with Lynn Reardon, the driving force behind LOPE.

This one's my fav. :)

Saga wins ex-racehorse award; Oberon kicks butt in dressage (but gets eliminated by a culvert)

Today was the LOPE benefit show, which was rained out last weekend and rescheduled for today. Fuzzypony took Taran, MC took Cash (his first show in 5 years!!!), and I took Oberon and Saga. I had entered Oberon in an in-hand trail course, Intro B and C, and the 18 inch hunter class. Saga was entered in Intro B and C, the 2' hunter class, and an under-saddle trail course. In hindsight, riding two horses in four classes each, with only about 30 minutes in between each class, was probably a really bad idea, especially since I had to change tack between every class. BUT... we had a fantastic day, all four of the boys were great, and we brought home some really nice ribbons!

I started out with Oberon in the in-hand trail course. It involved walking through an L, a zig-zag, over a bridge, and a few other things. I thought he would stop at the bridge, but after a slight hesitation, he walked right over it. I got a few points off because I told him "good boy!", but whatever. We ended up 4th out of a very big class... I think there were 15 or so people in it. Considering he'd never done anything like that, I was very pleased with him.

Next up was Saga on Intro B. I had let him get some yucks out in the round pen several hours earlier, so I kept our warmup short and sweet. He was not as through his back as I would like (an ongoing issue), and I failed to set him up for good bend through some of the corners. All in all, I felt like I rode a really solid test, and we scored a 67.19%. This tied us for second place...

... with Oberon. Yep, somehow I managed to ALSO get a 67.19% on Oberon. I wasn't as happy with this test to be honest - we had almost no warmup time (the show was running 15 minutes ahead) and he took a really hard look at the judge's stand. He was also really sluggish and behind my leg for most of the test - I got "Needs ERG" like 5 times on my test. Oh well, we managed to muddle our way through.

After a quick tack change and even quicker warm-up, Oberon and I were off to the hunter class. The hunt classes at this venue are always fun, because it's over undulating terrain out in a big field, and in addition to jumping stuff you also have to some trail-type things. At this show we had to go into a "pen" with fake Canadian geese. I was really worried about the geese, but I SHOULD have worried about the culvert and bridge to the right of fence 4. He had a tantrum right in front of the jump - which in of itself didn't phase him, but the culvert, OMG THE CULVERT. After three refusals (the last of which involved me smacking him, HARD, and kicking the tar out if him) it became apparent that we were not going to get over that jump, so I went around it and finished the course. It's funny - the actual jumps were not the problem, but all the other stuff around them was. He spooked at the pond. He looked at some rocks. He looked at wreaths hanging on the fences. He spooked at the flowers in the finish box. ARGH! I could not keep his little walnut brain on the task at hand. Since we skipped the one fence, we were eliminated, but dammit, we made it around, more or less. Brat.

Another speedy tack change and it was Saga up for the 2' hunter. He didn't look at a single thing, but was a bit full of himself. He tossed in a buck coming off the second fence, then would not come back to a trot for the third element (the Canadian geese). We managed the geese without a problem, then got a good rhythm going for fences 4, 5, 6, and 7. I remembered to stay steady before the jump, but I am making huge movements for such tiny fences and it's really throwing him off. Oops. I again had a hard time getting him back for the 8th obstacle (walking over some logs on the ground), but our last fence was tidy enough. We're fine if we have a rhythm, but if anything interrupts it I just can't get our shit together fast enough. We managed a 3rd place on that one, behind two girls who ride at a hunter barn.

Next Saga and I had to go put in our ride for Intro C. Saga was hot from the jumping and had suddenly forgotten how to canter on the right lead, so going into the test I was concerned about getting the canters AT ALL. As it turned out, the canters were fine (well, for him. We scored poorly because we were unbalanced, but I expected that). However, he kept doing his "hopping" thing at the trot, where he throws his head up and tries to do a little mincing canter transition. My fault entirely, I didn't give him a real chance to come back to dressage mode and relax into forward contact. Still, we landed a very generous 62.5% for 6th place.

Finally, I had Oberon for Intro C. In the warmup I focused on forward. I got really lucky in that we rode right after the judge took a break, so I while she was gone I took the opportunity to show Oberon the judge's stand, and go down center line a few times. The result was that, if our turn off centerline wasn't perfect, at least we didn't spook and careen off centerline! I was very pleased with our test - it was much more forward, our canters were decent (for us, they still aren't super), and he had a lot more energy. I still can't really get him to bend a the poll - like at all - so we got marked down on submission. But I'll still take our 67.5% and second place!

By then, I was pretty beat. Today's high was about 95, no breeze, no shade. Oberon takes a lot of energy to ride, and his Intro C test was my 7th go of the day. I was supposed to ride Saga in a trail class, but I scratched. I knew that he was done, and I was toast for sure.

When we went over to collect our scores and such, and the show organizer told me that the judges had nominated Saga for their special "ex-racehorse" award! He got a giant purple neck ribbon, a tub full of sooper speshul horse cookies (I may eat one or two), and his photo taken with the organizer. *I* got a $75 gift card to a local saddlery. Woot! It's possible that I also got reserve champion for the show, but they were having some issues tallying scores. I should know in a couple of days.

I only have a few pics that we took when we got home, but I'm hoping that I'll get some nicer ones from other photographers later in the week. 

 Doesn't Saga look handsome with that big purple ribbon around his neck?

 Oberon required carrot bribery to stand for pictures.

MC did a lovely job with Cash in Intro B and C. I believe she scored above a 60% in both! Not bad for a rider who hasn't shown in 15 years and a horse that hasn't shown in 5. She also took him in the advanced in-hand trail class, where she got 2nd. She would have won if she hadn't used her voice to tell him "good boy" a few times, but oh well. He was a super star and he knows it!

I'm off to bed now - hopefully more pics soon. I hope everyone else had a really great weekend too!

And then suddenly...

... I started blogging again.

You know how sometimes there's plenty going on, but you're just not inspired to blog? Yeah, that's been me. I've been riding - although with highs last week of 105, I admit not as much as I'd like, especially given that we've got a show this Saturday. I've made it through the entire four seasons of White Collar (yes, in two weeks. Don't ask.), and am now bummed that I will only get to see Matt Bomer (swooooon) weekly, or on re-runs. The husband is out of town, but nothing has broken (yet) - still waiting for that axe to fall. And the current scorpion body count stands somewhere north of 15 (UPDATE: Make that 16. I just squished another one on the wall. Ugh). I have no idea why there are so many all at once when I haven't seen any for months, but at least the little bastards are showing up dead or nearly so.

Let's see, what to catch up on. Oh, Saga's got a new farrier. This one also works for a (different) vet, but actually calls back and responds to text messages. He makes house calls too, so I might not have to haul any more to get Saga shod. That would be super-awesome-nice. The first shoeing job was a little scary, but Saga is sound and comfortable, so... I guess it's all good.

 LF. That damn bulge is STILL there, after two years of trying so many ways to let it grow out. The new farrier is trying to rasp down the hoof wall, which makes me cringe. HOWEVER, when I pointed out that what really needs to happen is that the wall needs to be at the same angle all the way down WITHOUT rasping, he said, "You're right, and that's where we're going to be in six months or so." At least we both have the same end goal in mind!

 When he pulled the previous set of shoes, a huge chunk of toe came off. Awesome. Saga was at 5 weeks exactly... he looked more like 9 weeks.

 LF. Better, although the hairline is still pushed up at the quarters.

At least he's sound.

I've been doing regular jumping lessons, and seem to be mostly improving. I'll work on one thing and then something else (that I thought I'd already fixed) will break. Also, after seeing me school some of the Training XC fences (3'3 ish), Paige has jacked the fences up. We're jumping mostly 2'6-3'. It's going pretty well - my big challenges continue to be keeping the elbows in, and not letting him get rolling up to the fence. Saga is naturally downhill and has a big chest and shoulder, so it's hard for him to balance back. We're getting better, but we've got a long ways to go before I'll really feel like the power is coming from behind.

Paige also snuck up a nice 3'3-ish oxer on a line we were doing. I came around and said something like "HOLY CARP THAT'S HUGE". She reminded me not to look at it, and Saga jumped through like a pro. Is he awesome or what?!?! (Please ignore my 'flying chicken' elbows).

This coming Saturday is the LOPE benefit horse show. I'm riding Saga and Oberon in two dressage classes each (Intro B and C), a hunter over fences class each (Saga at 2'6 and Oberon is jumping Xs and will likely spook at the flowers), and a trail versatility class each (Saga ridden and Oberon in-hand). One of the likely obstacles on the trail versatility course will be walking over a tarp on the ground. Oberon will walk over one, but every time I move it to a new place, it's a whole new game. Most recently, he licked the tarp and then picked it up in his teeth, managing to scare the crap out of himself when the whole thing moved. Yep, he's speshul. I just hope he doesn't do something that classy at the show. I'm also on to him about eating fake flowers (he tried that at our jumping lesson last week). With his penchant for sampling anything and everything, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps he's part goat.

Intro B I'm not worried about. Intro C, with the canter, is going to be ... bad. Oberon has a canter departure that sort of resembles a Lazy Boy sofa trying to throw itself across the room, or maybe a hippo trying to heave itself to its feet. You can almost hear him go "UH!" on the departure. It's not exactly the most graceful thing ever, and I can't wait to hear what the judge has to say about it. Saga's canter departs, especially to the right, usually involve falling in on his shoulder, pinning his ears, and running. They're awesome and make me feel like SUCH a good rider (NOT). I decided to take him out and longe him the other night to see how he did on the longe line, and the answer is... he can't do a canter depart to save his life. He's so unbalanced he just can't do one cleanly, even on his own. It was really eye-opening watching him struggle so much - it's not just me, although I am obviously not helping any. We're not going to fix anything in time for Saturday, but I'll be longing him more regularly to help him figure it out on his own. In the meantime, we'll just muddle through the test and hope for a miracle.

Did I mention that MC, Cash's beloved Auntie (and Chief Bringer of Carrots) is taking him to the show as well? And that Cash's canter departs are nothing short of perfect? I'm going to get my ass kicked by my friend riding my "retired" schoolmaster. But hey, the ribbon she's going to come home with will look great just the same! ;)

Every ride should be this much fun!

Hubby and I went roading with the hounds again today. They were short on whippers-in and the MFH was traveling, so instead of staying out of the way of the huntsmistress and hounds, we were actively encouraged to help set up a perimeter and discourage the hounds from leaving the property in case they caught the scent of anything. It was a good thing too - they flushed three rabbits, and we were actively engaged in holding a perimeter twice.

Saga now knows exactly what's going down when we unload him at the huntsmistress's barn. His ears were on high alert as we tacked and groomed.  Fortunately, he was pretty chill once I got on, and was cool to hangout chatting. Naturally, Oberon just looked around for more foods.

The hunt started off going counterclockwise from the kennels. As we made our way down along the northern fenceline, the hounds flushed a rabbit, which headed straight for us. The leader of second flight and I got there first, and did our best to stop the hounds, but they were quite keen on their quarry and didn't listen to our shouts of "LEAVE IT" and "GET TO HER". About half the pack made it past us before the whippers-in and ATV got there, and there was much excitement as they laid about with rat shot and hunting whips (note, I've never seen anyone hit a dog, it's just used for noise to distract them). We were in among the hounds and the ensuing chaos, and I remember thinking that Saga was being SO GOOD about all the commotion. He went where I asked, didn't flinch at all, and just sort of waded in and did his job. He's such a good boy!

After that excitement, we rounded up the hounds (well, I got out of the way while others rounded up the hounds) and got them back to the huntsmistress. We continued our ride over to the southern fenceline, when another jackrabbit popped up between us and the hounds. The rabbit was downwind of them and I'm not sure if they saw it, but when we started yelling "rabbit" and got into position to potentially head the hounds off, they figured it out and started going after it. Fortunately, it was much too fast for them and they left off the chase pretty quickly.

Because the hounds were cueing off of things that move instead of scent, they were put up for the day. As usual, we got to go play on the XC fences. I'm still sticking to the smaller ones, but I'm definitely feeling much more confident over them. Saga is staying much more balanced under me for longer, and I can tell he's getting more fit. I, unfortunately, can't keep up with him. He's getting really strong when there are horses in front of us, and the waterford that I'm using just doesn't give me enough brakes. I'm thinking of bitting up to a kimberwicke, or possibly a pelham with a converter on it. One of the other riders even commented that I'm so little and he's just yanking me around. It's embarrassing not to be able to stop your horse, you know? It's also way embarrassing to have to pull off because you are gasping for air. I HATE jogging, but I'm going to have to do something to get more fit. Sure, I can buck hay with the best of them, but that's clearly not going to be enough if I want the fast ride up in front.

Anyway, the XC fences. We did our usual little logs, and did the training-level doghouse into the water with a log coming out. There were a couple of other training fences that I wanted to try, but there was nothing really straightforward (that is, not funny-looking, and either on a flat area or uphill) that caught my eye. Next time. ;)

Oberon is also getting more confident, and for some reason today was really putting forth a lot of effort on the jumps. Well, OK, some of the time. This one 2'6 log pile he cantered up to, broke to a trot about 2 strides out, walked about 1 stride out, and then delicately hopped over from a walk. It was quite tidy, he didn't touch a thing, but he was clearly going over it in his own time, thank-you-very-much. Goofball. He also launched off the bank (normally he just drops down), although his effort up was less than stellar (more of a climb than a jump, really). I think he just needs more time and more miles - this is really only his 15th or so ride over fences, so I'd say he's doing pretty damn well all things considered. And he takes good care of hubby, which is really the important part.

Oberon and hubby on the final jump of the day - a coop on a fenceline. Not too shabby!

Next weekend is more roading and possibly some trails... we'll have to see what the plan is. I am SO looking forward to it!

In which I convince my H/J trainer to come over to the dark side

Today Fuzzypony, my H/J trainer Paige, and I went roading with the hounds. We also got in a number of XC fences while we were at it, and man did we have a BLAST!

Roading was significantly calmer this time than last. For the most part, we stayed even with the hounds for about 30 minutes, helping to set up a perimeter around where they were working. We got some good trots and canters in, and Saga was much happier right behind the leader than he was last week at the back of the pack last week. We had another moment of excitement at the end where the hounds flushed another jackrabbit and we tried to head them off, but we were really too far away to be of any use so after a brief uphill gallop, we pulled off and let the whippers-in go after them. Oberon lumbered along gamely enough, and Paige seemed happy to have a horse that didn't need to be at the front of the pack. I asked her a couple of times if he was fast enough for her and she said yes - I know he can keep up and really get going, so I think she was holding him back a bit. Totally fine for someone who is used to being in an arena all the time!

After they put the hounds up, we went off to do some XC fences. I was feeling pretty brave after yesterday's fantastic jump school, and opted to do a few of the easier Training level fences. Saga and I were not as balanced and together as we could have been, and I'm learning that he gets like that when he gets tired. If we want to do any eventing this fall or next spring, we are really going to have to work on fitness for both of us!

When in doubt, go for the really long spot?

We started off playing in the water jump. Oberon was pretty sure that he was DONE, and Paige had a lot to do convincing him to go forward to the jumps. He did actually jump them all, he just sort of trotted up to them and flopped over. *Facepalm*

I did a Training-level "doghouse" style jump into the water, then a log coming out. Saga really made the effort over the doghouse but lost momentum in the water. Oh well, he gets an "A" for effort over the element that really counted.

Next we headed off to do a couple of logs. Once Paige convinced Oberon that it was time to jump, he was really nice and steady to the fences. He's jumped all these before with the hubby, but a refresher course was good for him.

Next up was the stairsteps that I had caught my eye last week. We came around, but about five stride out Saga threw his head up in the air and said "OMGWTFBBQ!" He veered off to the left, but I managed to stop him before he got past it. We went up the side of the first step instead of the main part. I really think he just looked at it and had no idea what he was supposed to do - stair steps look kind of like a solid wall when you're coming at them. We came back around again, and the second time through he jumped it quite well. There was a bit of a shuffle in between, but he got up it well enough. Good boy!

saga-stairs-8-12-12

Awwww yeah.

After that success, I was ready to call it a day since I knew that Saga was tired. Paige wanted to see if Oberon could do the stairstep, but from about 50 feet away he decided he didn't want to even get near the side of it. I gave her a lead and we walked across the middle of the first step, parallel to the jump. On the far side, I went down a tiny hill, then turned around, expecting to see her following after. Instead, Oberon had taken exception to a clump of grass (!?!?!) and was handily backing away from it - right toward the step down! It was one of those slow-motion things you wish you had on tape - he got to the edge, backed down the 2'6 drop, and then nonchalantly brought his front end down with him. Luckily, Paige had the forethought to grab his neck, and they landed tidily, with Oberon still staring at the suspicious clump of grass. We all agreed that's the first time we'd ever seen a horse do a drop backwards, LOL!

After that bit of fun, we decided that Oberon needed a little practice with single banks, so we went over to the bank up/down that I did last week. Paige picked up a nice canter, and all was going so well, until...

My favorite part is when Oberon realizes that the grass is RIGHT AT NOSE LEVEL! You can see his ears flick forwards and he's like "Oooh! FOODS!" just before he decides to heave himself to the top of it. We were all laughing at his antics.

Paige turned him around and went down the bank, which he did quite handily.

Nice and tidy.

We decided to call it a day after that, and watched some of the other riders do a couple of Training-level fences. Once Saga is a bit more fit, I think we'll be able to do a few more of those, too. :)

On the way home, Paige informed me that I'm not allowed to do the 2'3 hunters anymore. Something about watching us do those Training-level XC fences, I guess? She's also planning to look at her calendar to find the next available Sunday so she can come back, and is contemplating which of her horses might work for hunting.

I HAVE BROUGHT HER TO THE DARK SIDE! MUAHAHAHAHAAA! And I didn't even need any cookies!

Fab jumping lesson on The Big Bay Boys

Hubby is out of town (in Alaska, where it is NOT 102 degrees, the lucky man), so I took both Saga and Oberon for a jumping lesson this morning. I figured Oberon would require more energy to ride, so I hopped on him first, and boy am I glad I did!

Oberon started out very looky in the arena. The roll-top and the stone wall were both horse-eating objects that required careful inspection. There were also some piles of new arena footing that were somewhat suspicious, so our trot warm-up was less than straight and together. We sort of swerved around the arena a couple of times, not really spooking but definitely looking at stuff. Eventually he decided that it wasn't worth the effort and settled down. When we went to canter, I ended up pulling him back to a walk and asking for a walk-canter transition, which he does very well. His trot-canter transition tends to flop on the forehand and end up with some running, so I need to get with my dressage instructor and work on that a LOT.

The thing about Oberon is that he doesn't ever feel like he's really going anywhere at the canter. If he does get forward, he sort of flattens out his stride, which is not good for jumping. He also likes to chip in to the fences if he's not right on stride. Lucky for me I've been working on waiting to the base of the fence for oh... the past two years!... so I'm getting pretty good at staying with the horse even if the spot is less than perfect. I can also usually now tell when it's really going to suck, but am still not to the point of being able to reliably fix it before it falls apart.

This is the first lesson I've had since the hunter show, and after staring at the pictures of me jumping for faar too long, I knew what I wanted to focus on. I concentrated on keeping my wrists against his neck instead of my knuckles, and keeping my elbows in. And you know what? My problem with popping up too quickly after the fence magically disappeared! I think that I was somehow compromising my balance on the landing side with my hands in chicken-wing knuckle-in position, and I was having to sit up really early as a result. Biomechanics are so interesting!

One thing about today is that Oberon was much more respectful of the fences than he has been in the past. I think the solid XC fences that we've been doing have really helped with that. He also requires a huge amount of leg strength to keep him going. I felt like my leg was on him constantly, whereas with Saga I'll use my leg to support him when needed. Using my leg all the time meant that I was sitting more in the saddle than when I ride Saga. Not sure if that's good or bad, it's just different.

I did manage to get a little video of us at the very end. I'm still arching my back far too much, which means my core is not engaged. I think my hands are a little better though. One thing at a time!


Next up was Saga. I was having serious reservations about doing two horses back-to-back - it was already 95 degrees out and I'm not in any kind of shape. Lucky for me, Saga's the "easy" one, so it wasn't so bad. We warmed up very nicely in trot - Paige said we looked "pleasant". It's amazing how much nicer things are when you're not trying to run your poor horse off his feet! Our canter transitions were still kind of sticky the first time, but he got better as the ride went on. He's definitely still falling in on his right shoulder - that's something I really need to spend some time on in the walk and trot to try to build him up so that we don't careen around corners when jumping. He did canter very nicely - better to the left than to the right, where he loses his balance and falls in.

We warmed up over the verticals that Oberon had finished on (LOL!) and then we did a little course. And DAMN, we were ON! Steady all the way around (yes, I counted one-TWO, one-TWO the whole time. What's your point?) and we got to the base of every fence. We missed the left-to-right lead change (same one we missed at the show) but did a simple change quite tidily in the corner. His balance was great, I was steady over the fences, and I didn't pop up after. Interestingly, he also landed in a much more balanced frame when I stayed down after the fence, which is something we've really been struggling with. When we'd finished the course, I patted him like crazy and told him what a good boy he was, then looked back at the jumps - which had all magically gone up to 2'9. Paige was smiling and said "Wow, that looked like a really nice hunter round!" Not that I wanna do hunters, but that's a pretty good compliment considering where we were not that long ago!

I asked about teaching Saga to do flying changes, which he doesn't currently do (or if he does, I don't know how to ask). I pointed out that if I'm going to do a few hunter schooling shows, at least I can *try* to get the leads, since that's part of what knocked us out of the ribbons last time. Paige said we should start by asking him to do them over the fence, gave instructions for how to do so, and then I gave it a go:


In my efforts to get the lead change, I completely forgot about pretty much everything else, and left poor Saga to save my sorry ass crawl over the fence. He's SUCH a good boy!

I sort of managed to redeem myself on the next line though. We came in a little awkwardly, but I managed to sit up and ride in between, so the second fence was pretty clean. We even got the right lead on the landing after the last fence, which is his hard lead. Guess I just have to ask correctly!



Oh, and I captured this still from the video, of the last fence.

Hellz yeah.

Paige did ask if we wanted to try the 2'6 or 2'9 hunter classes next weekend. I told her I'd think about it. :)

Rockin' XC schooling / roading with the hounds

This morning, we headed back to do some roading with the hounds, and jump a few XC fences while we were there. We rode on the huntsmaster's and huntsmistress's course where we schooled jumps two weeks ago. There were about 6 other folks that had hauled in, mostly the hunt "regulars", so we had a good field.

The hounds were let out of their kennel, and almost immediately caught the scent of a jackrabbit. They raced across the course and zipped through the fence on the far side, horses in hot pursuit. Our "second flight" group followed at a more sedate pace, then held for a while while the whippers-in rounded the hounds back up. We eventually met back up with the rest of the field in the middle of the course at the water jump, then went off to the other side of the course to try to flush out any more jackrabbits.

We spread out and trotted in parallel up the side of the field, when suddenly the huntsmistress yelled "JACKRABBIT TO YOUR LEFT!!!!" We all looked over to see the the entire pack of hounds sprinting toward a jackrabbit that was between our second flight horses and the fenceline. The rabbit dodged among the horses, and suddenly it was up to us to keep the hounds from going through the fence. The huntsmaster and one other rider from our group took off, and it was all I could do to keep Saga from racing after them. (Yeah, there's a reason I go second flight. They go slower. This was not slower.) The ATV that was out with us came roaring up behind us, trying to head off the hounds, while the huntsmistress and whippers-in came galloping up, yelling to the hounds and firing rat shot to try to dissuade them from chasing the rabbit. With all the chaos happening around us, I kept expecting Saga to absolutely lose it and take off with me, but he (we?) managed to hold it together and not bolt for the hills.

After that excitement, we put the hounds back up and took a bit of a walk break. Those of us who hauled in decided to go do a few fences. Saga was tired but recovered fairly well, so we did a few small log piles. He was steady to the fences and much happier to be out on his own than he was with the field of horses. We galloped around to a hanging log that was set on a small natural rise with a fairly big natural dip in front of it, and he sucked back a bit to look at it. I closed my leg, clucked to him, and he went right over. It's so wonderful to have a horse that's bold to the fences - even though he looked at it, he never really seriously thought about stopping. Man, I love that horse!

It was getting really hot out, so I decided to finish up with the water jump and check out the up/down bank complex. FuzzyPony got a couple of videos of us:

Through the water. I wish we could keep the canter all the way through, but we make it OK. I need to not pop up so fast after the jump!

Back through the water again, with more energy this time, even though he took a bit of a look jumping over the first fence.

For the grande finale, we headed over to the up/down bank complex (although I must admit that the stair steps were awfully tempting). I took Saga down the bank, then back up, then did both of them together:

Saga took a rather enormous (and unexpected) leap off the bank, and you can hear me yell on the way down. We landed in a bit of a heap on the off side, and I didn't help him much, but I'm so proud that he just went even though I didn't give him a very good ride. What a star pony!

We'll go back next Sunday to do it all again - hopefully with a bit less excitement. I'm hoping that my jumping instructor will come and ride Oberon. I don't think she's ever jumped anything outside of an arena, so it should be a very interesting experience for her! Muahahahaa... I shall bring her over to the dark side!

These pics will NOT be submitted to the George Morris jumping clinic

I got the proofs from the show this weekend. They are... erm... rather embarrassing, actually.

Here's what I like:

• My horse is tidy, shiny, and relaxed. He also has great form with his front end, knees up and square.
• It's clear that we are taking off from good spots and are not charging at the fences.
• My leg hasn't slipped back.
• I'm looking up.

Otherwise,  my position is pretty atrocious. Please don't laugh too hard, mmmmkay?

 Ye gods, I look like a chicken trying to take off with those elbows. And WTF am I doing with my hands?

 With the way I'm arching my back at such an extreme, I've clearly completely relaxed all of my core muscles. Yikes. I really need to engage them and KEEP THEM ENGAGED all the way up and over the fence.

 Way to ask for a lead change over the top of the fence, eh? Just leeeeeaaaaan in the direction you want to go! NOT. Uhm... at least my elbows are in a little more in this picture?

 I actually like this one. He's relaxed and balanced, and I don't look too awful. I do wonder if my stirrup is a bit long though.

So. I liked our round, it was steady and balanced. That in itself is a huge step in the right direction. As for my form, I definitely have a lot to work on. At least these pictures are helpful in showing where the problem areas are, even if they're not they prettiest thing ever.

Although, I admit, I'm thinking about getting a print of the first one. It's the only pic I have of Saga and I jumping at a show.