Step 4: Tough Love?

Well, my vet didn't find anything major on Friday that she immediately thought could explain Kwik's crow hopping. His poll was stuck and his left SI was out, but she said that's all pretty typical stuff. I'm to give him three weeks, and if he doesn't improve, she wants to x-ray his feet to see if there is anything going on there.

I gave him the day off and lunged him on Sunday. This did not go well. As I was warming him up at the walk, he suddenly dropped down and attempted to roll. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I got him up immediately before he could roll over onto my saddle and put his ass straight to work. I can x-ray every part of his body, but it will be a waste of money if this is an attitude thing. He clearly isn't taking me seriously, and at this point, I think he's just being a snot. We did lots of transitions, and once he was good and warmed up, I asked him to canter. He jumped around like an idiot, putting on an impressive show for the dressage instructor giving a lesson in the grass arena. Thanks buddy. It was pretty hot, so once I got him to canter around politely for a few laps, I got on and we went for a cool down trail ride where he proceeded to be an angel.

I think it's time to cowgirl up and see if we can't work through this. The problem is that I've come off a handful of times trying to work through this and 1) it's scary  2) it hurts to fall like that and 3) I don't really know how. We need to be working consistently with a trainer- I need help figuring out if this is a pain thing or an attitude thing. There is a trainer that teaches at my farm ever Wednesday, and I sent her an email explaining our little situation. She was super nice and agreed to meet us for a private lesson tomorrow. We're going to start him off on the lunge line and go from there. Am I making the right call here? 

 

A Weekend of Firsts Part. 1

I had Kwik adjusted for the first time (probably in his life) on Friday, and I was pleasantly surprised at what Dr. Jay didn't find. I was half expecting there to be something major going on, but he said that, other than typical racehorse stuff, there isn't much else going on. Yay! Kwik does have some TMJ, but Dr. J showed me a massage technique to help manage this. I'm planning to get his teeth floated in March, so hopefully that will help some as well.

Earlier in the week I learned about a mini cross country clinic to be conducted by Ann Haller at the farm over the weekend. I told the BO I might be interested in participating if there is a green/beginner group. Anne called me that night to learn a little bit more about Kwik and my goals. We had a really nice chat, and she assured me that there is a lot we can do to introduce Kwik to the field and build confidence.

We ended up being placed with M and her horse Sherlock, who is actually Kwik's next door neighbor in the barn. After we tacked up, we rode over to the xc field. Kwik was a very brave boy walking down the trail. When we reached the xc field, Kwik stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at the big scary things lurking in the field. He felt like a loaded spring, so I decided to hop off and walk him the rest of the way. The group before us was finishing up some course work, and Anne gave me a leg up so Kwik could take in the sights as they finished up. Since the girls were coming through the water complex, Anne wanted Kwik and Sherlock to follow one of the seasoned guys on a walk around the perimeter of the water and then circle back so Kwik could see the riders coming through the water. Apparently the horse splashing through the water was pretty scary because Kwik exploded into a bucking, twisting fit which was pretty damn hard to sit. I really thought I had it, but I ended up sliding off anyway. I was totally fine, just really surprised and kind of embarrassed. Kwik was a good boy though and just stood there trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Anne gave me another leg up, promised these kind of things happen with green horses and that they'd all been there before, and stood with us while the rest of the advanced girls finished up.

Thankfully, the rest of our ride was much better! We spent the time breaking up the field into "classrooms" and worked on leaving the group to perform a task, riding uphill, and putting your horse into "4-wheel-drive" for downhill riding. Then we transferred these skills to walking up and down the small bank. Kwik tackled walking up the bank no problem, but he was a little weary about going down. When he finally did step down, I was so proud that he trusted me enough at that point to tackle something like that! We practiced walking over a small ditch next, and then worked on walking through the water complex. To my surprise, Kwik followed Sherlock right into the water (which was actually pretty deep). He started to play in the water, but Ann talked me through riding him safely through, and we did the exercise again without Sherlock. Our last challenge was to leave the group and ride one of the obstacles we worked on solo. I chose the teeny ditch, and Kwik threw a little hissy fit walking down and over but did great walking back up.

M and I had two very tired (emotionally and physically) horses by the end, and I couldn't have asked for a better xc introduction for Kwik. Anne was fantastic - she did a wonderful job challenging us and building confidence simultaneously. Sure we had some meltdowns, but this is all new to Kwik, he's only been at Ashland for a little over a week now, and honestly, I couldn't be more proud. :)

Watching coursework

Me, Kwik, M, and Sherlock 

 

Right before the rodeo show

In Unison Farm Hunter Pace

A bunch of us from the farm packed up the ponies and traveled to Rome, GA for In Unison Farm's annual hunter pace two weekends ago. I'm not going to lie- I had never been to a hunter pace before, and at this point I hadn't ridden Kwik off-site yet. A offered up her  gelding Pecker since she wouldn't be in town for the ride. I was still a little nervous about cantering/galloping an unfamiliar horse out in the open (why am I such a chicken?!?!?!!?), but I went anyway. I'm so glad I did! The course was absolutely beautiful, it was a lovely sunny fall day, Pecker took super good care of me, and I had a great time! AP and I rode together in the Bluebird hilltopping division. We had some great trot and canter stretches, did a bit of up-hill galloping, and just enjoyed each other's company. Bonus! We even managed to win our division! Thanks to all of the In Unison Farm staff and volunteers who made such a great ride possible!

Meet Kwik!

Well, I've finally consented that Finn and I just aren't a good match. He is a beautiful horse with loads of potential, but he requires an experienced, confident rider- waaay more experienced and confident than me. I've thought this through over and over, cried quite a bit, and have finally made peace with this decision. I think I've found an excellent opportunity (cross fingers!) for him- so more details on that soon if all goes well.

And...

 I have a NEW HORSE! Kwik is the 9-year old OTTB I have been riding out at the farm. It definitely was not my intention to buy another horse while still trying to figure out what to do with Finn, but sometimes opportunities like this just don't care about your best laid plans. I've spent a lot of time feeling guilty about this as well, but I've decided it's just time to be happy and excited.

The Treat Lady's Here!

H likes to call Kwik "The Most Wonderful Horse in the World," and I agree.  He raced fairly successfully from 2005-2010 with 62 starts, earning $72,603. All of these races, save for 3, were claiming races, and he changed owners quite often. After he retired in 2010, he came to the farm and found a home as a yearling babysitter. Afterwards he went to live with a family. Unfortunately the family was no longer able to keep him due to financial reasons, and he wound up back at the farm a few weeks before Finn and I arrived. He is still a greenie, but this horse has the best attitude!

I had a lesson with A two weeks ago on him, and we started him over some little crossrails. He was a bit confused, but he just popped over anyway. After a couple of goes, he figured out how to jump like a big boy and you could tell he was proud of himself. We've also done some off-site riding as well, and he didn't bat an eye at the deer, dogs, strollers, and cars we encountered along the trails. Riding a horse with this kind of attitude is such a big change for me, and it is so much FUN!! I'm really starting to enjoy riding again, and I'm feeling much more confident. Isn't that what this is all about?