Paddy's first attempt at jousting!

Yesterday, hubby and I went to a friend’s arena to start training up for a local jousting tournament that’s in about a month. For those of you who haven’t been following this blog for long, hubby does International Jousting League (IJL) affiliated tournaments as a hobby. Unlike some of the shows you see on TV, the goal is NOT to unhorse your opponent, but rather to break a balsa-tipped lance against your opponent’s shield. It’s all about the points and showmanship, so it tends to be a fairly comraderly sport. The best riders in the world are really amazing – they’re wearing 40-60 pounds of steel armor, handling a 10-12 foot lance at a full gallop, hitting a target that’s less than 18 inches square. I’ve done it myself (in the distant past), and let me tell you, it’s HARD.

Anyway. Hubby has been riding Taran for jousting since Oberon passed away last summer, but we want to get Paddy going as well. It takes a special horse to joust – they have to be calm enough to canter down the lane and not be worried about another horse coming almost straight at them, but they also have to be spunky enough to enjoy the smash of the lances. Paddy seems to have the necessary attitude for jousting, but it takes a lot of training to make a solid jousting horse.

What the jousting lane looks like from Paddy-back.

Yesterday we just played around with the basics. We started off walking and trotting up and down the lane with no opponent, being sure to stop and stand at the beginning and end. This is especially important when you’re handing off lances later, so putting in a good stop is really key. We tried a couple of canters, but the footing was quite deep and Paddy wasn’t very balanced. We then did several walk and trot passes against an opponent wearing some armor (not all), and he was super good for that. Clanking armor is a huge component of what horses need to deal with when jousting, so that was a good start.

About to strike the quintain for the first time at a trot.

We ended up doing a few walk and trot passes past the quintain. He didn’t mind the noise of the hit, nor did he seem to care about the spinning quintain, which is great! Unfortunately I’m no longer strong enough to handle the lance for long periods of time, so that’s something I’ll have to work on if I want to continue with his training myself.  Still, it was a super-successful first training session, so now we have to work in joust training with all our other work. There’s never enough time in the saddle, lol!

Haffie Birf-day to Meeeeeee!

Paddington here. Yesterday was my Birfday! I am TEN people years old, which is like eleventeen Haffie years. Because Haffie math is different, everyone knows that.

I got to wear a cool Birfday hat with little candle thingies. Apparently candles are a people tradition - I would have preferred carrot-candles. Just sayin'. 

Mom took me on a Birfday ride. I ate a lot of grass even though I wasn't supposed to. Otherwise I was Very Good.

I got a brand-new halter for my birfday. Mom wants to get a nameplate on it, but I don't need a nameplate because everyone already knows who I am. People see me at a show and they squeal and say "OOOH PADDINGTON!" So I am famous! Maybe instead I need sunglasses and a fedora so I can go out in public without being recognized?

Trying to 'splain to Mom that a nameplate is not needed. I look very fancy in this halter, don't you think?

Mom gave me a piece of carrot cake that she got as a people-birfday cake. I ate it, but I preferred the REAL carrot cake made with REAL carrots. I ate them all, see?

Omnomnomnom....

I may have dropped a few (note falling orange blobs)

But I cleaned them up later!

Even if it's not your Brifday today, you should have some carrot cake! Or at least some carrots!

Update on Cash - SO MUCH BETTER!

Follow-up to last week's icky pictures:

RF. See? Just hair and a little skin missing. 

Inside of LF. Just a scrape.

Somehow, despite losing a hand-sized patch of hair and banging himself up so well, the swelling has been minimal to non-existent. I think letting him out 24/7 and keeping him moving has helped a lot in that regard. The vet also put him on Tucoprim (antibiotics) to minimize the risk of cellulitis, and so far we seem to be doing OK in that regard. We kept everything wrapped over the weekend, but the big patch above the knee is really hard to keep covered - if I wrap tight enough to keep it on, it's too tight and his knee swells. Starting today, we're down to cleaning it 2x daily and slathering it with Silvadene. Hopefully that'll do the trick - he's already growing hair back over the area, so YAY!

At least he's getting a lot of carrots out if it, since every time I clean it, hubby stuff carrots in his face to keep him distracted. Somehow the old man has managed to pull through, despite trying to commit suicide. Again.

Not what you want to see at 6 a.m. :(

This morning, Red, Paddy, and Taran were in the barn when I turned the lights on, impatiently waiting for breakfast. Cash was conspicuous by his absence. I got the Three Stooges haltered and fed, then hubby (yay he's home!) went to get Mr. Schpot, who was for some reason hanging out on the other side of the track.

As soon as they walked in the barn, my heart stopped. Blood looks 10 times worse when it's on a white horse, just saying:

Major OW.

I have no idea how he did this. It looks like he got stuck somehow, but there were no signs of a struggle and no hair on any fences. 

He was a bit trembly, so we tossed a blanket on him while he ate. As soon as he was finished, we pulled him into the aisle and went to work. I pulled out my last surgical scrub sponge (gotta get more of those, they are awesome) and gently scrubbed all the bloody spots. They're all scrapes, no deep cuts, but as you can see there are a lot of them. Hubby stuffed Cash's face full of baby carrots while I worked, which mostly distracted Mr. Schpot while I worked. I rinsed as best i could, then slathered everything with Silvadene, put non-stick gauze pads everywhere, and wrapped with vetwrap. I put standing wraps on his legs since they were already starting to fill a bit (pardon the crappy wrapping job, apparently I have one front wrap and one hind one?), and hubby gave him 2 grams of Bute to help with the swelling and discomfort.

Not a classy job, but it'll do.

Cash panics if he's in a stall, so we put him out in his usual spot in the pasture. He went to grazing immediately, and seemed OK if somewhat sore/stiff. I'm hoping that moving around a little will help keep the swelling down. I've got a call in to my vet (pictures included!) to see what else I can do to help him. Probably just lots of cold-hosing, wrapping, and bute for a while, but we'll do whatever she thinks is best.

Poor Cash.

Why I spent $120 on a pair of ThinLine reins

I have a confession to make: I have a hard time dealing with lots of types of reins. I know, I know, you’re thinking “seriously, how hard can this be? There are lots of options for different reins out there, just pick one and go with it! ” Let me ‘splain.

• Braided reins – I have a love/hate relationship with these. They’re gorgeous, but how the hell do you keep them clean? Seriously – one ride on a hot day in Texas and it’s going to take you an hour to dig the scurf out of all those tiny cracks and crevices. I haven’t got the patience. But I won’t deny that they look awesome, and I am teensy bit jealous of those of you who have those beautiful fancy stitched braided reins. Ok, a whole lot jealous. Still, I don’t own any.
• Reins with stops – I love these, especially plain leather with leather stops. LOVE THEM. There’s just one tiiiiny problem – don't laugh, but I can only hold the damn things with my thumbs on the stops. I know, I know, you’re supposed to be able to hold them with the stops anywhere, but my brain never got this message. No matter how much I explain the theory to my hands (or my trainer yells at me to shorten my reins… again), 30 seconds later I find my thumbs on the next stop. It never fails. I’m mentally challenged somehow. This makes me sad, because I have like 3 sets of them.
• Rubber reins – I like these for XC, but good ones are hard to find and pricey. Lots of them are really stiff or super wide, which makes them hard to hold, or they are the webbed ones with stops (and we already know that stops are my kryptonite). Also, for dressage, I don’t want super grippy pebbled reins. In the summer, friction on the horse’s neck from the reins just makes more lather on the neck. Not attractive.
• Plain reins – These are my FAVORITES. I rode Cash in plain reins for years. Easy to clean, I can hold them anywhere and my brain doesn’t melt down. The problem? Mr. Haffington can pull like a freight train… which means he can pull the reins right through my hands. Yes, I ride with grippy gloves, but I don’t have enough strength in my hands to hold the reins when he’s running through my aids. Maybe in a year or two when he’s lighter? For now they have been relegated to Red’s bridle and the spare leather bits box. 

By now you’re probably wishing I’d quit whining about reins and just get on with it, so here’s my new investment: Thinline Reins. I accidently touched them when I was at the Dover store - no really, I was looking at the rubber reins, I touched the Thinlines and was like OOOOH. I picked them up and they folded in half over my hands, like a pair of well-oiled leather reins. They were super flexible and while they felt a bit thick, they are narrower than most reins so I didn’t feel like they would be too much in my hand. I winced when I saw the price tag – I’ve never spent $120 on a BRIDLE, much less a pair of reins, but what the hell (and SOMEONE who will remain nameless was shopping with me and may have been an enabler). Dover has a great return policy, so I figured I’d ride in them once and see what I thought.

I know, they don't look too exciting, do they?

And wow, I’ve been riding in them ever since. I LOVE these reins, LOVE THEM. They are super comfortable in my hand – the Thinline material has a little give to it, and they’re more of a round shape (but not so much that it’s awkward) than flat leather, so I find them easier to grab. They don’t stretch, and they don’t slip AT ALL. In fact I find that I can hold them in much less of a death grip, even if Paddy’s being strong, which means I’m carrying less tension in my arms and shoulders. They clean up quickly and easily, which is just my style.

Boo black mark on his neck.

I have two complaints about them – first, the black ones come with running martingale stops, which I had to cut off (well, I pulled out the stitching to remove them). Not sure why black dressage reins would have stops? Oh well. The other issue is that they leave a faint black mark on Paddy’s neck, but I think that will go away with a few more cleanings and a bit more wear. I’ve seen a few complaints in online reviews that the Thinline material doesn’t last, but hopefully that’s not the case because DAMN, these things are awesome!

So in the event that you are rein-challenged like me and you have some extra money just burning a hole in your pocket, give these things a try! Oh, and… anybody want three sets of plain leather reins with stops?

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

From, well, Paddy. Who is pretty sure that it's supposed to be "St. Paddington's" day, and not "St. Patrick's" day.

Everyone wore green today!

Green & green & green!

So squeezy! I luff him soooo much!

And of course, a prehensile nose pic. Because it's not authentic Paddy without the nose.

Losing your nerve

You know that sick feeling in your stomach, the adrenaline rush where you feel a little spacey, and your fingers and toes start to tingle? That was me the weekend of the Pine Hill show - I was strangely plagued by a really bad case of show nerves. I had a jumping lesson on Saturday before the show Sunday,  and I was totally second-guessing myself and Paddy. I  was SO NERVOUS in the lesson - I rode like crap, he stopped 3 or 4 times, and halfway through our ride I was to the point of withdrawing from the show. This was a new experience for me, and I didn’t quite know what to do.

In the distant past when I was competing Cash, I only showed when I knew we could go out and OWN the division. That sounds cocky, but I was always so confident in Cash, and what we could do, that I was never worried about stops on XC or rails in stadium (in fact our whole jumping career, he only stopped once). By the time we were showing seriously, we’d been a team for four years, and we had such an amazingly solid partnership that I knew exactly how pretty much every fence was going to go down. Don’t get me wrong, Cash was a tough ride – very sensitive, very fast, and you couldn’t touch his face – but we understood each other and we made it work. Sure, I’d get nervous in the start box, but the adrenaline rush is part of the fun, right?

This used to be no big thang. That's a maxed-out Training level fence - 3'3, with a 6 foot spread.

But my show nerves for Pine Hill were totally different – they were based on doubt. Could I ride Paddy well enough to get him over the jumps, or was I going to freeze up, get loose in the tack, and throw him at jumps? Was I fit enough to ride strongly for the entire course? Was he going to stop and stare at every single jump? My list of worst-case scenarios kept getting longer in my head and I got more and more worried.

Today, this is terrifying. It's 2'3.

What's even more strange is that I rode Red in his first event on this exact same course almost a year ago, and I was totally cool about it. But I've ridden Red for 10 years, and I knew he'd jump it all. Besides, I took him eventing on a total whim - we had nothing to prove to anyone and we were only there for fun.

This looks like fun, right?

Luckily, I have some good friends and a good trainer who put things into perspective for me and Paddy. I was NOT going out to win – I was going out to school my very green horse, who I’ve had for FOUR MONTHS, around his first event. My only goal was to make it a positive experience for him, and to set the stage for the future. I needed to ride the best I could and be positive so that HE would be positive and confident. Somehow, thinking about it that way took the pressure off enough for me to get us around the course without me throwing up. My stadium round was less than stellar (I threw him at the fences and crawled up his neck) and of course we had the stop XC.  But we lived, I didn't ride THAT badly, and there were a lot of really good things about each phase of the event. I came away feeling like I'd done a relatively good job, all things considered.

Alas, we weren't as together as we usually are.

But still. Where do I go from here? I have a green horse, and I'm not gonna lie, the Starter Novice jumps look plenty challenging. Paddy's got so many holes in his training - no fault of his, of course, but he got a late start in life and doesn't have the skills that Cash did at a similar point in his career (for comparison, Cash was started as a 2 yo in reining). I can (hopefully) work myself and Paddy through this and we'll be a stronger team, but to what end? I've done the eventing thing before - I know how much is involved and I'm not sure I want to do it again. I just don't want it bad enough right now.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have lost my nerve. What's your experience, and what was finally the tipping point where you were able to move forward again? If you're still struggling, what are you doing to work on it?