Breathless

 At the same rider fitness session that we did the "bring sally up" squat track, the instructor was talking about breathing. The detail was in the mounted section, which I was watching and couldn't always hear....but...

One of the exercises she got the riders doing was to walk a circuit of the arena and count how many "breaths" it was. Then repeat in trot and count again.

She said that generally the count in trot is half that of the walk, and suggested that was because the trot is 2 time and the walk 4 time. But I got thinking about what impacts the number of breaths in a known distance (one circuit of an arena) - the main factor is simply going to be speed of travel, implying that generally the working trot is around twice the speed of the (working) walk.

Yes of course the rider's state of mind will impact their respiration rate. And the horse will pick up on that - whether calm and slow or tense and fast. And if a rider is more tense at higher speeds, you would see that show up in an increased number of breaths for a given distance. Or indeed if the rider starts to hold their breath e.g. over a jump. Many many years ago I did an Alexander Technique workshop and realised I had a tendency to hold my breath when I make "decisions". This isn't necessarily about big life decisions, but simple things like direction, speed, destination. The catch 22 is that holding your breath restricts the oxygen to your brain and won't assist those decision !

There's a slightly different exercise I've seen Mark Rashid do with riders, where you count how many of the horse's strides you get to each breath. (This only requires the rider to count for a shorter time - a number of the riders were losing their count on the way round the arena !) He then talks to the rider about taking a fuller slower breath, which means more "strides per breath".

The day before the rider fitness event, I was observing a Joe Midgley clinic. He talked about using his diaphragm when working the horse from the ground to cue a change in speed (up or down). While this is about more than "just" breathing.... it will be part of the overall cue.

Bring Sally Up..

 I took part in the unmounted part of a rider fitness & confidence session, organised by my local riding club, a few days ago.

The instructor talked about her key areas for fitness, and how she addressed them.... which meant we ended up getting introduced to the squat challenge "bring sally up" based on Moby's "Flower"

Anyway, it's a bit of an earworm so it's been in my head on and off since.... and I was watching the Tabata version (on both youtube and spotify - it has longer "holds" if you are feeling brave !)

I remember doing squats in exercise classes and feeling like it was a deep squat, but realising (especially if there was a mirror about) that it really wasn't.

So from a equestrian point of view, are there different squats and squat sessions for different disciplines ?

My squats would be dressage version - not that deep and session is maybe 4-6 minutes

But then you could have the happy hacker version, which would be slightly deeper but for longer

Or SJ version, deeper (shorter stirrups) but again only a few minutes,

Endurance version, not so deep but much much longer !

Eventing - intervals of short, medium and deep squats

Racing - deep ("Martini glass") squats for a few minutes 

Getting back out there (part 1 - there and back again)

With one thing and another, Belle and I really haven't been anywhere for over 3 years (and Belle has been with me for four years). Our last trip out was one of those "other" things, as she had sarcoid treatment last year and went in to the vets in my sister step-up slant trailer along with a HiPo pal. Trailer loading hasn't really been a problem, though she did sometimes get a bit sweated up.

So I was maybe a little *too* complacent about the travel aspect when I signed up for a 2 day clinic about an hour (in a trailer) away. I did some basic trailer and car checks, but didn't do any loading practice.

I'm guessing you can predict what happened next......

Belle, having spent the last 3 years being either in the company of another horse, or not far away from one, thought that the idea of getting in a "tin can" by herself was unreasonable and objected.

Luckily for me, I have a sister - who more than stepped up to the mark by 

- initially coming down to help

- and then going and getting her trailer (the step-up slant one) complete with HiPo pal, and taking Belle to the clinic venue for me

Belle was in that trailer within seconds (hmmmmm).

Also luckily, I had booked a stable as someone Belle could chill outside of her sessions, which meant that rather than bringing her home at the end of day 1 and having the same (or worse) issues on day 2, she could overnight and end of day 2 - either she came home in my trailer (I took it down empty) or I could ask for another really big favour from my sister to come get us.

 I'll cover the actual clinic in another post, but the clinic trainer (Joe Midgley ) was kind enough to spend some time at lunchtime day 2 to work on loading. While the ground work from day 1 had definitely helped, Joe's approach soon got Belle loading calmly. 

At the end of day 2 second session, Joe suggested I double check I could load ok, then let Belle chill in her stable. This also went ok.

However it's worth noting here that Joe talked about the different challenge of needing to load by yourself. You can't be both at the front of the horse, and also at the back putting up the bar and ramp.

Cue my first mistake - as I attempted to have Belle stand in the trailer when I went around to the back. She wasn't comfortable with that, and backed out.

She loaded again ok, and one of the other attendees helped by putting bar and ramp up while I stayed at the front. Phew..... (not quite)

I then went to shut things up to leave (e.g. jockey door) and Belle had another panic - doing little bucks/rears and kicking out at the ramp. I opened the door and she stopped, with people already running over to check we were ok. Upshot was that we got the door shut again and got moving without another panic. I kept an ear out for any sign of panic from behind and called my sister to see if she could meet us at the farm to help unload (she could and did).

Unloading was managed as a result (but might have been a problem without someone else to help).

Work to do here clearly !! (as well as getting the trailer checked out. It gets regularly serviced but also hasn't been anywhere for a while).

Best and worst

The best things about horses are the firsts.

And I don't mean rosettes/places.

I mean all those other firsts...

The first exhilarating canter. The first time they recognise you and come to call. The first whinny of hello. The first lesson, the first competition. The first time it starts to gel. The first time they trust you to do something scary or new. Even the first fall !

But the worst thing about horses is the lasts.

The ones you know....

The last time you fill a haynet, or prepare a feed. The last time you say goodnight.

And the ones you only realise after....

The last ride, the last farrier visit. That at the time you didn't even realise were a "last" anything.

This has been a week of lasts, and tonight I didn't need to fill any haynets as after tomorrow Rosie  won't be there to eat them.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Rosie-pony and help her across the Rainbow Bridge. She can't walk there by herself anymore. But once there, she will be pain free and able to run again.

I will cherish all those firsts, but so wish the lasts could have waited a few years more.

2016....from the rear view window

So my last post in May talked about wimping out of the 2016 Eriskay Trek. Turns out I made the right call as Rosie ended up off for May, June and July with what presented as a very mild case of lamimitis.

She seemed to be coming back into full health and was starting to do some light work towards the end of the summer when.... yep, here we go again, back on the laminitis roller-coaster. She's been off again since September. Both pedal bones have dropped (again) and updated x-rays in December show they are not back where they should be yet. She's still quite sore on off-fore, especially when the shoe is off :(  Her farrier is keeping an eye on the x-rays and adjusting the shoeing appropriately.

She has been tested a few years ago for Cushings and was fine but, given her age, I asked for a test to be done. And yes, she now has Cushings and is on Prascend. She isn't that keen on the tablet but puts up with it with just the occasional protest.

On top of all of that, the vet confirmed that a small lump on her hindquarters was indeed a sarcoid and we've got that treated too (in November). It had started as one small lump that was not a problem, but then a second larger lump developed alongside and she kept itching it :(

You can see  both the smaller lump (at about 11 o'clock) and the central "problematic" lump. The wider circle shows the margin that has been treated - the scab should eventually come off of its own accord. It is already starting to lift slightly as the fur grows under it. It was treated with 3 doses of Liverpool cream at 3 day intervals. After the first treatment, she rubbed it and it looked like Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I came down to give her breakfast .... luckily she only did it the once.

Anyway, I'm hoping 2017 will be a better year for her ....

Duds and Fi have been doing their thing. We have had a relatively mild winter so far and they've only had a couple of (separate) weeks where they have had rugs on..... even wimpy Fi has coped :)

Not quite up to it

So I've wimped out. Rosie and I were supposed to jaunt off for a weekend of Eriskay trekking next week only we're not.

I had a goal for the winter of keeping Rosie "hour fit". Which meant we needed to be able to cope with an hour lesson or an hour hack. And we can. At least a shared lesson and a hack at Rosie-pace. I think I thought that having lessons through the winter, and rugging her more, would mean she was fitter and less furry. And she probably is, but not quite fit enough.

Back in early April, we even did a taster endurance ride within the required speed/time (!!)

And maybe if we'd been able to get a few longer rides in between then and now, it would be a different story. But fates (weather, headaches etc) have conspired.

We did a local rural access group ride a few weeks back and there are a few steep sections in there. Rosie was getting tired and it brought back a few memories of the previous trek where she just ground to a halt. She tries her heart out for me and I don't want to put her in that situation again.

Last weekend we did a 1.5 hr hack locally, which I tracked on the phone. The proposed route for the trek is between 15-18 miles. When I thought about what that meant, extrapolating from what the phone told me about speed, I realised Rosie really isn't fit enough to carry me for a whole day - and I'm not going to make drastic changes to her or me in 2 weeks. So I made the decision and pulled the plug.

This weekend we managed another longer ride - just under 2 hours. And the morning's drizzle had turned into blue skies and *sun*. Rosie did her usual trying-to-walk-with-her-legs-crossed act before remembering that she could wee while out on a ride. But she was a hot sweaty beastie by the time we got home.

I think that needs to be the goal for next year, if we want to go on the trek - to be "two hour fit". I'll keep working on fitness this year and do a few more organised rides through the year.

Getting better....

Yesterday was sub-zero so, while it looked like a perfect riding day, the fields turned out to either be rock hard or still flooded from last week's downpours.... or both :(

Today was a thoroughly horsie day, to the detriment of my house - which is still a complete tip ! After horse's breakfast, I got dinner prepped (stew) as I knew it needed to be ready to bung in the oven before I got home.

Then it was time to (re)clip Rosie. She had an initial "bib" (keyhole) clip about a month ago but was still getting fairly warm, and even woolier. She had regrown a good couple of centimetres on the clip ! I managed to forget my boiler suit so had the biggest case of post-clip itch you can imagine.

Then it was time to empty the muck trailer - a weekly chore. Got that done and just had time to neck a bowl of soup and a slice of bread before loading Rosie up and heading off for our lesson.

Rosie had now had (I think) 4 lessons, the most recent today. We're not doing "fancy" things in the lessons, but we are clearly doing what is required as she gets better and more consistent every time.

The last two lessons have been shared with an other Eriskay pony, which has been lovely. We continued the work we started on last time, using transitions to encourage the ponies to be forward thinking. Rosie has had a couple of weekends of limited work due to the delightful weather (rain, wind, hail, snow,.....) so I was pleased that she seemed to be doing more fast work (longer trots) but still having gas in the tank at the end, for some "big" trots and some canter :)

This may not sound like a big deal, but Rosie's canter to start with was, to be honest, dreadful. She tended to hop into canter and all the effort was going up and down not forward. She was also very braced. She really just needed to work out how to use herself, but hasn't really been fit enough for any seriously long canters out on the stubble. However it seems that it has been doing more good than I realised.

The instructor asked me to ask her for a bigger trot....and she offered canter, so we took it. And then got our "big" trot on the other side of the canter :) I knew she had a big trot in there somewhere - we've found it on occasion when out and about with bigger ponies (Highlands). But she needs to be fit enough to offer it.

But even nicer to reflect on was that the canter itself is better. I know this is a bit of a a truism - her trot is so much better, her fitness better, that of course the canter would be better. Even so, it was
a tangible sign that we're getting there :)

Fi and Duds stayed at home and were allowed out on the main field. Their normal paddocks are short on grass and rather wet, so they appreciate the treat. They don't get to do this every day, but it's lovely to see them out there at the weekend.

Back from the lesson and just time to let Rosie have a quick graze before (their) dinner. Got them fed, rugs back on, and field cleared. And then a quick dash home to clean up before returning to have Sunday dinner with my father.

Last hay for Rosie. Duds came mooching down  so I put him some hay out but I think his stomach was still full of grass as he wasn't that bothered.

None of the ponies are in at night yet. This was initially because the stable partition between Fi and Duds was still the one she had mangled her leg on. Plus the weather up to the last two weeks had been very mild. Now we have both more typical weather *and* a new partition in place. So in theory they could start to come in. However so far they are showing a distinct preference to stay out so, unless I see some clear sign that it is not good for them, I will respect that choice. They are all, including Rosie, in rugs most of the time. Well the weather has been rubbish most of the last two weeks ! The farrier is due this week so we will see if I need to start to bring them in at night just to let their feet dry out.

How did it get that late ?

I honestly thought I had posted more recent photos of Fi's leg. These two are from consecutive weeks in June. 

Since then the last bits have healed up.... and then she has caught them on something again. But basically it is looking a lot better :)

And we finally have a proposal on how to replace the partition door to reduce the likelihood of her doing it at the same time. (Though it's not done yet - but hey even having a proposal is a step forward).

Rosie is getting slowly fitter and we've had a couple of lessons with a local (excellent) instructor. I wasn't sure she was fit enough, but the instructor knew us from before Rosie was off work and paced the lessons perfectly.

Duds is pootling along looking really quite good for his age.