Wizard Ride 150: Bits and Pieces
Wednesday, 6/16/10
Wizard is getting his stitches out on Saturday. The laceration is healing nicely. He wears a fly mask during turnout to keep the area free from debris and to keep him from popping a stitch. He’s off his antibiotic and he was feeling perky so we got back to riding.
Since the browband sits directly on the spot where he has his stitches, I took a few bits and pieces off the bridle. I removed the browland and the cavesson, leaving only the cheekpieces, throatlatch, and crownpiece (and bit). The bridle looks a little like a western bridle or a racehorse bridle, but with less style.
We rode in the indoor arena for about half an hour, working at the walk and trot. My goal was to keep him loose and relaxed and get a feel for any differences after his chiropractic adjustment last week. He definitely felt more flexible and was offering lots of stretching. After he was warmed up at the walk and trot, we worked on very large circles, changing direction and asking for a stretch. Wizard complied beautifully- it was a great return ride after an unexpected layoff.
Frankenwizzy
On Monday, June 7, Wizard had his chiropractic appointment. The chiropractor was very pleased with his condition. His pelvis was out of alignment, which is typical for him. She reiterated that the source seems like it is on the left side, up high. This correlates perfectly with how he wears his hind shoes- outside of the right hind and inside of the left hind. She was also pleased with his shoeing angles, etc. One vertebra in his neck was out and there was a little tightness in his withers. She said the saddle seemed to fit him well (whew!) based on how his back looked and felt. The best news of all was how much she liked his neck- the muscling is developing in all the right places… no easy feat for a cribber!
So Wizard got a day off to let the adjustment settle.
On Tuesday, I got a call from Wizard’s owner. He had a cut on his head that required half a dozen stitches. It is on the right side of his forehead. He looks a little like Frankenstein. We have absolutely no idea how or where he did it. On Wednesday, I visited the patient with a box of animal crackers. He was shy at first, but then accepted his treats and we enjoyed some outdoor grazing time. I took him out again on Thursday. He’s getting a few days off so he can heal up. I put a fly mask on him during the day so the stitches don’t get too dirty. Miracle of miracles, JR has not yet removed it :^D
Wizard Ride 149: Cross Training
Thursday, 6/2/10
Wizard seems to thrive on variety. When possible, I try to spice up the routine. We do a trail ride once a week or sometimes every other week. We ride in the deeper outdoor arena and alternate with the shallower indoor arena, and also ride in the smaller outdoor dressage court. On Thursday, it was time to ride indoors and do a little work over trot poles and a few cross-rails.
The weather was very warm and humid. We warmed up at the walk, followed by some trot work in circles and serpentines. When he was responding nicely to leg and hand, we did a little lateral work, leg-yielding in each direction and starting just a whisper of shoulder-in.
Between the trot work and the canter work, we did a little trotting over poles and X’s. I set up four trot poles, and Wizard trotted through them with style. He is learning to round his topline and relax as he trots the poles. I do my best to keep my hands soft so he can stretch into the bit. After the poles, we took the cross rail a few times. My mom took pictures. The first few times, Wizard trotted the jump and he cantered through it once. I allowed him to canter since I wanted to encourage his forwardness. The top photo is his cantered jump. I hooked my pinky into his mane so I would not punish his mouth when I released over the jump. I’m not thrilled with my release- I like my release much better in the bottom photo. The other thing I see in the photos is that I am pivoting a little on my knee. I need to do some work to stabilize my leg. I was very pleased with Wizard, though!
We did a little cantering in each direction- he picked up the left lead after one try and the right lead after two tries. He is able to move more forwardly in the indoor arena since there is less cushion to the footing. With every ride, he improves.
Once he was cooled out, he got some well-deserved grazing time. And on Monday, the equine chiropractor will be here :^)
Wizard Ride 148: East Meets West
Wednesday, 6/2/10
It has been almost seven months since my once-in-a-lifetime West Coast Breeders’ Cup pony rider adventure. The person responsible for making that dream come true was Karen Headley, daughter and assistant trainer to legendary trainer Bruce Headley. This week, Karen was on the East Coast and she paid a visit to the barn and took a little spin on Wizard.
I was admittedly a little self-conscious about this visit. I have the utmost respect for Karen and her family, a group of great horsemen and horsewomen. Karen has ridden and worked with horses of the highest caliber and I was a little nervous wondering about what she would think about how I rode and the horse I was riding.
What would she think of Wizard’s weight, his muscling, his shoeing, his tack, and his gaits? It turns out that she really likes him :^)
The weather was warm and Wizard was quite low-key for having a week off from work. I rode him first, warming up at a walk and then doing some trot work. I took a few pointers from Karen about cantering and picking up the correct lead and they were quite effective on Wizard.
I dismounted and Karen rode Wizard for a few minutes. She is a beautifully tactful rider and I could see Wizard respond to her immediately, with a relaxed topline and a soft connection to the bit. He was a happy horse. Karen liked how responsive Wizard is to seat and leg. She smiled, gave him a pat (photo above), and dismounted. It was a proud day- all this work is paying off in so many ways.
Wizard Ride 147: Glutton for Punishment
Tuesday, 5/25/10
Wizard is fine- the glutton would be your fearless narrator. So even though I threw out my back and it was just starting to feel better, I foolishly rode two days in a row. My back was fine after Monday’s ride (long trail walk with a little trot work at the end), but it was quite sore after Tuesday’s ride.
But it was a great ride! I rode in the large outdoor arena after dark under the lights. The weather was warm and heavy and Wizard was a little slow to get going, but still responsive to the aids. We worked on some simple bending exercises as well as transitions within the gaits (small trot, big trot, small trot). Wizard always perks up and really seems to get into that exercise, snorting and throwing his ears around.
Once he was responding well to my leg and hand, we worked at the canter. I rode him on a half circle and we did about 5 or 6 rotations in each direction. His right lead was a little sticky and it took a few tries to get it, but he held it once he got it. He starts out a little tense and unbalanced with each trot/canter transition, but the softer I ride, the softer he gets. I usually like transitions for rebalancing, but right now I am just doing half halts since his trot-to-canter is still awkward. As he continued in the canter, I was able to soften my hands and give, give, give with my hands. I was able to sit a little deeper and use my seat. It was a lot of work, but it felt great. And my aching back reminded me exactly how much work it was. Argh. More time off until I am 100%. At least the horse is going nicely.
Wizard Ride 146: Wizzy Pulitzer
Monday, 5/24/10
Fashion icon Lilly Pulitzer has partnered with Animal Crackers to produce a limited edition box for charity. I should have known Wizard would love them- he’s a preppy guy.
He polished off his adorable treat, and then we went on a trail ride with two boarders. We rode almost 5 miles, and rotated leaders. Wizard was the leader past the pig pen (in which there are no pigs), and was happy to be in the middle on the last leg of the journey. That’s progress! There was a time last summer when he’d fuss and fret if he was behind another horse.
After our trail ride (which used to be our entire ride), Wizard was nicely warmed up so we did about 10 minutes of trot work in the arena. It was dark and the moon was rising. I did not turn on the arena lights since I could see just fine with the barn lights and moonlight. We both enjoy riding in the dark. Wizard’s trot work was superb, elastic, supple, and forward. We worked on a loose rein, stretching into the bit and maintaining rhythm around the arena. I threw out my back and had to rest it over the weekend so Wizard had a week off- he was a perfect gentleman after the layoff.
He was such a good horse- the whole ride felt like I was playing with house money. I’m really enjoying my time with Wizard.
Five Paragallo Fillies up for Adoption
For those not familiar with the Ernie Paragallo case, please click here, and here, and here, and here to learn more. Note: as with all rescues, please research thoroughly before donating your money or adopting an animal.
A few Paragallo fillies came into the care of a NJ equine rescue group. Visit this link for more information about adopting them: www.njhorseangelsrescue.org
I went out to the quarantine facility and photographed them last week:
Hip #40- “Virgin Voyage” filly
Hip 45- “Southgate” filly
Hip 42- “Always in Fashion” filly
Hip 46- “Danzasouth” filly
Hip 44- “Unbridled Ride” filly
Wizard Ride 145: Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Monday, 5/17/10
The fabled Tree Nursery. I’ve Google Mapped it, I’ve asked about it, and now we’ve finally ridden to it! It’s the New Jersey Forest Tree Nursery and Forest Resource Education Center and it’s located in Jackson, NJ.
My friend has ridden there before, but never on her Warmblood/Thoroughbred filly. I don’t know if Wizard has been there before. We set out around 7pm and returned after dark. It was a wonderful ride and a great change of scenery… literally!
Before we hit the trails, I had an “if I only had a brain” moment and got on Wizard without a helmet. How on earth did that happen? I’ve ridden with a strict helmet policy for well over a decade, and yet did not notice the breeze blowing through my hair til somebody mentioned it- yikes!
In order to get to the nursery, we had to do some road riding. I don’t love riding on roads, but I know that Wizard is pretty awesome at it so I was more confident. Trucks, cars, everything passed us and he did not bat an eye… yet another advantage of riding a Thoroughbred who is off the track.
We cut through the edge of a development and rode up a really cool hill, which was great for strengthening and fitness. From the top, we could see a nice view. We descended and kept on riding. We reached a grassy field, where my friend asked if we could do a little trot. Why not?
So we began our trot, but Wizard broke into a canter. I slowed him, but as the filly trotted away from him, he leapt around a few times, not a buck and not a rear, more like Bill the Cat having a freakout (thanks for the reference, Wendy!).
The prospect of being separated from the filly and the filly going ahead of him was what set him off. I remember having similar experiences with Alibar. I held him together and we were able to do a little trot. We will have to work on that in the future. During the ride, we practiced letting each horse lead and it worked nicely. They also got along really well, there were no flattened ears or angry faces. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company.
We reached the entrance to the Tree Nursery and rode down the road. There was some stone dust footing and some dirt footing. We walked over a wooden bridge (GOOD BOY, WIZARD!) quite well. Wizard flinched when he heard the noise of hoof on wood but then crossed it like a pro. Baby followed his lead. There were lots of really cool log benches which looked like fantastic log jumps. We hopped over one little one. I can hardly wait until we’re jumping more and we can hop these logs for practice.
We rode past the education center and looped around on one of the trails. The trail was the Yellow Trail, which struck me as funny since I was riding Wizard on the Yellow Brick Road. The trail snaked in the wrong direction (we DID want to go home, eventually) and we hit the road but got back on course and headed back to the barn.
As we rode back, it was getting dark (see photo below). Wizard did one more round, fancy jump over a stone curb, much to my surprise, but he looked and felt great as he hopped it. We took the wooded way back to the barn, only crossing one road. Wizard walked on sidewalks, up and down curbs, and stood nicely at the road crossing.
Once we hit our usual network of trails, I virtually dropped the reins and Wizard picked his way back in the dark. We rode for about two hours and he was only sweaty under the saddle pad and girth. I was SO proud of him. This was our first real challenge on the trails (besided the pig pen, I suppose) and he passed with flying colors. This summer, I hope to do a few nice rides like this per month.
Product raves: Bug Balm and Cocosoya. I smeared the Bug Balm on Wizard’s ankles and belly before our ride. Bug season is not in full swing, but he came home with no noticeable bites or ticks. And he LOVES the Cocosoya oil! I added a little to his rice bran mash- it has a sweet, pleasant smell and Omega 3, 6, and 9.
Thursday, 5/13/10
A crisp, cool and sunny May afternoon… perfect for a ride. The arena was a little damp from recent rain, so the footing was superb. And superb footing tempted me to set up a little cross-rail and some trot poles for our ride :^) Mom was at the barn so I recruited her to be the photographer- she got some nice shots to show Wizard’s progress.
We started with some walk and trot work. Wizard’s coordination at the leg yield is improving and he is becoming more responsive and less resistant to leg pressure. We did some circles, serpentines, and big-trot-little-trot work. He started out on the energetic side and settled pretty nicely into work, even though it was feeding time.
Once I got a little impulsion and a little contact with the bit, we headed over the trot poles a few times. Once, he leapt over the last two poles and cantered away, but for the rest of the trot work was quite good with nice rhythm and balance. We trotted over a cross rail twice, and he was wonderful. He broke into a canter after the second jump, and felt round and willing.
After the jump, we did a little canter work on each lead. He picked up his left lead perfectly, and took only one effort to pick up the right lead. We cantered a little more than one rotation in each direction. He is quite springy at the canter and improves with each ride. He gets a little nervous, but settles as be becomes more balanced.
It feels greatly rewarding to have such progressive and fun rides after all our work. I love it when a plan comes together…
Wizard Ride 143: Ladies’ Night
Monday, 5/10/10
Poooor Wizard was surrounded by girls, yet again. Wizard and I went on a trail ride with my barn buddy and her Warmblood/Thoroughbred filly. He did not seem to mind, as long as the filly did not try to pass him or walk too close :^) We took the short trail loop across the street and were out for about 30 minutes, all at a walk. Wizard is very nice to ride alone on the trails, but he is definitely a little better in company.
When we returned, it was getting dark, but we rode in the big arena anyway. The lights from the barn illuminated the arena just enough for us to see where we were going. We chatted and walked for about another 10 minutes. When the filly walked close to Wizard, he pinned his ears and made a face. Now I KNOW that he had to ride in close quarters as a racehorse, since most are ponied on the track, so this was an opinion of his and not inexperience. I asked him for just a little trot work, about five minutes, and he trotted beautifully, really stretching into the bit a few times. Then, we went back to the walk. And voila… no more mean faces at the filly!
Rock and Racehorses: The Blog 