Catching Up

Well it's probably been a solid month since I've gotten a good ride in. I don't mean "Oh, I got to ride today!" I mean a brow-beating, catch-your-breath, concentrate-so-hard-you-forget-what-time-it-is ride. Last night I did that :-) ....it was so enjoyable!!

Because of our my lack of work ethic this month as a whole, I'm going to estimate that Jimmy and I are about 5 weeks behind in where I was hoping to be right now to get ready for the season. First it was the blizzard, then it was horribly cold, then I was sick, then it was my birthday (Oh yeah, I'm 23 now! Hoorah!), so now it's FINALLY time to get back to work. Thankfully, lessons haven't suffered throughout this month, I've actually acquired another client who will be on the team to show with us this summer. Exciting!!!

So last night Jimmy and I tried to work as a team and we were in all honesty only 70% together, if that much. Lateral work was okay, not great...He rooted at the bit quite frequently and was entirely too impatient when it came to walk breaks - he just wanted to get back to work & wouldn't relax. We jumped only because he needs to remember how, and he was about straight as the Pride parade to every fence....which made me crazy, but I couldn't blame him. It's been a WHILE since we've really worked on anything at all - and I think the last thing we really worked on over fences was turns...so it'd make sense that he was a little wonky. Nothing like sending mixed signals!!

My focus tonight will be patience and straightness. I'll have about an hour when I get there before my students so I'll be sure to spend it wisely. And speaking of lessons...look what my dad gave me & my brother came out to hang up!!!! HOORAY!!! A LESSON BOARD!!! I feel so official :-D Happy riding!!

Free Jumping Costs Too Much for Jimmy Choo

Well today I thought would be a great day to free jump Jimmy. We've never done it before & it seemed like a great way to see how big he could jump.

I can't even tell you how WRONG I was on that one!!! Typically I ride for 30-45 minutes and the "cardio" days I will canter for at least 30 of the 45 minutes I ride, even gallop most of that time. I can't make him sweat if I try & it's never because it's so cold or anything like that, he is just so hyper-fit that he won't break a sweat or even puff his lungs.

Today, after 15 minutes of attempting to free jump, Jimmy was lathered in sweat, eyes bulged out of his head, and panting like a dog on a hot summer day. He had a complete & total meltdown and I absolutely never say it coming. He LOST his mind and had an emotional meltdown.

Silly me, didn't entirely see it building until it was too late & he was in a 100% "flight" mode. I calmed him down enough that he would come into me and let me put reins on him. I put the vertical down to an X and slipped onto him bareback & we cantered it a few times. He WAY over jumped it, but at least he was calmer about it. Poor guy just had a complete meltdown and needed his mom to make him relax!!!! Clearly, he gets his confidence to the jumps from his rider & without that he doesn't trust himself!! I never realized how insecure he was. Today was truly and eye-opening experience!

The video is garbage and I don't have the patience to edit it down (it's over 20 min long) so I'm just going to post some screen shots of his finer moments jumping. Enjoy!

One of the earlier jumps. Probably 3' or so. Little.

Getting bigger. This is the biggest I've jumped on his back.

Much more comfortable over this one.

This is my favorite - it shows his lack of logic in this situation.
He thought this would be easier than jumping the actual vertical...

4'6" vertical. He pulled it down but look how pretty he looks!

Note the excessive hair between the middle of the X & his front legs.
Oh, Jimmy. You poor, nervous thing.

 
 

Dreams Come True

Well, I've gone a little off the deep end in jumping. I think it's just been so darn long that I couldn't jump Jimmy that now all I want to do is JUMP JUMP JUMP!!!!!! It's so much fun and Jimmy is so good at it...HOW COULD I NOT?!?!?! So we've done the big vertical probably 10 times over 3 days now. It's just so fun. Jimmy loves it. Now he jumps it properly - not OVER jumping it - and very smooth. Love him.

There's some massive snow storm heading right at us right now, so Jimmy will be getting the week off of Mom and a week ON with Cassie. She's responsible for hacking the whole barn of horses & jumping everyone in a rotation so everyone gets their exercises this week. I'm taking the week OFF of the barn! Until Saturday, when lessons are back on & life is back to normal :-)

Bill came out to the barn with me Sunday & found a new horse that he likes to hang out with, so he takes her for walks/jogs while I ride Jimmy then brushes her while I clean Jimmy up & put him away. It's amazingly cute to see him interact with such a big, sweet horse and he seems to really enjoy her!!! He said next time....he wants to ride. It is possible. Dreams do come true.

Be safe everyone!!!

Finding Happiness – Big Jumps

As we know, I love testing Jimmy and in my once a week school over fences I like to really push him and make him work.

Last night was our school for the week & I set up a simple combination of a one stride / one stride. The long side in our arena is JUST long enough for this combination to have a nice steady, straight approach & a good corner to land in. I started warming him up on a little box I had set in one corner that he loves to test me in, then I moved into a straightness exercise to get him focused on moving forward through the "shoot" of my hands and legs. I've drawn a diagram to show the exercise using jumps in the combination individually to practice slicing & straightness. Click to zoom.

He wanted to rush to the first vertical (set at about 2') and "pat the ground" or canter a step in front. A few times when I found my straight line/slice from the rail I had to ask him to walk or halt and THEN proceed at trotting over the fence. He landed beautifully as directed on his right lead and turned right in a nice roll-back over to the rail, at which point we broke to a trot, found out line, and sliced the big X I had set up. Land straight, left lead, canter away, rollback left, break to the trot, repeat the exercise.

He seemed to tolerate the exercise and once we'd completed it well a few times I let him canter around the arena to get his rhythm and then cantered through the combination. As you can see from the image I set the first one stride close to horse stride length & the second closer to pony. This forces him to jump & REACH & stretch for the first one, and come right back with a "WHOA!" to jump up & out over the last vertical, which was set at 2'9". He adjusted through the combination beautifully and I had a large 3'3" vertical set up (a pole on top of barrels standing up, I'm guessing on the height) that I decided he was ready for. I cantered through the combination a few more times to help him warm up even more & then continued cantering around to jump the big vertical.

Cassie was standing next to the "warm-up box" so she had a perfect view. Coming out of the corner, I knew my only option was a bit long, so I galloped him up and sent up a little prayer to God that he would listen and get there. ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR. FIVE. LAUNCH. He powered over it harder than I've EVER felt him jump over anything and at the same time Cassie and I said "HOLY $*&T!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I laughed and patted him while we cantered past Cassie & when I looked at her, her jaw was practically on the floor. I said "Does that mean he jumped it like a deer, or he jumped it like he's supposed to and was actually kinda cute??" She stared at me and blinked, jaw dropped & laughing while I cantered by & eventually laughed out the words "He jumped like 'this much' over it and looked INSANELY CUTE" she held her hands about a foot apart from one another. Jimmy jumped over 4'. Holy power.

I cantered around, with adrenaline bursting from every pore in my body & gave him the perfect ride to the perfect distance and he did it again. PERFECT, beautiful amazingly strong power off the ground and just gave everything up into me when he jumped. I have to say that it was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced because this is the horse I saw in the pasture one day and said "Mom, I want him." This is the horse I have been through trials, tribulations, and heartbreak with. THIS is the horse I was ready to put down because we all thought he'd just "never really come back". It still gives me goosebumps to think about how incredible it felt to have him jump that way. My barn owner Julie always tells me "He has a LOT of power for a little horse", which I know...but WOW. I've never felt it like that. I can't even describe the level of pride I feel right now and I can't wait to go back out there tonight to see him.

When I cantered away the second time I paid more attention to how he handled himself and even cantering away from the jump, he felt bigger. He felt so full of himself and like my mom and I say he felt "All bad" like he was kind of snickering "Yeah. That's right. I did that. Yeah." Haha! I cooled down & got off & brought him in to untack and he just seemed like he was glowing as much as I was. It was like for the first time he was telling me THANK YOU MOM! THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME DO SOMETHING FUN!!!!!!!! He was in my lap the rest of the night rubbing on me and snuggling with me – proof that he was so happy he didn't know how else to tell me than to just rub himself all over me.

Gosh am I ever proud of him. Not only for doing such a great job, but for finding happiness in it. I am truly blessed to have this horse. Truly.

It's Just Too Easy

Sorry I haven't been updating!!!! And THANK YOU to all of the nominations for Stylish Blogger award! I feel so blessed to have so many followers love me :-D Well, it's Jimmy you all love, that's alright. I know it's true.

Jimmy is fit as a fiddle. The wounds on his back legs are healing beautifully & I'm keeping them dressed so they won't get icky & scabby & flakey. We want nice SOFT, MOIST wounds so they grow HAIR back! Hopefully BLACK hair to match those legs! (A few years ago he got cast in his stall & cut himself up & those scars on his front legs grew in white! HELLO PAINT GENES!)

I set up some jumps the other night & tried to make them things he would question, or at least put effort into... Boy, does this horse love to prove me wrong. I set up a rail to canter over while we circled, he found his rhythm and got the perfect distance every time. I set up a big giant "X" to try & get a little scope out of him, he barely made any extra motion at all, just softly jumped up & cantered away. I cantered an X off of a short turn, in the dark spot of the arena, he saw it a mile away & cantered over it. I set up the door to an old rubbermaid cabinet with a tire behind it as a "wall" to jump with no standards & jumped it from the tire side - so all he saw was a tire & a big wide door behind it....cantered over it. Didn't blink an eye. So THEN I was like "Well that didn't matter at all..." I had a 3' vertical set up on upside-down cups in a far corner of the arena on an angle so it was a bit of a short turn. I thought in my head, "This will DEFINITELY get a question out of him" so I cantered around the arena, cantered up, short turn.....Jump.Land.Canter.Lead change. COME ON JIMMY!!!!! NOTHING?!?! NO QUESTION AT ALL?!?! It's just too easy for him. So, I did it one more time, a little off pace & grabbed him at it so he got right into the base and he ever so slightly rubbed it on his way up & pulled the rail. THANK YOU! SOME kind of question! This whole jumping thing is just way too flipping easy for him. I know, I know, this is a WONDERFUL problem to have and trust me, I'm overwhelmingly proud to have raised such a careful, soft, able, and well-bodied horse. But sometimes I just want a CHALLENGE!!!! He will be teaching lessons a LONG time because then SOMEONE will be learning from his unbelievable abilities!!! I will continue to try & find things that will question him over fences. I know what he questions when we aren't jumping - ALL FLATWORK. He gets SO BORED with flatwork with me and so sassy because he hates it. Oh well, another post for another day.

I stopped after the vertical for the day because it wasn't even fun. I just laughed and patted him & said, "You're too easy to ride, buddy! It's not even fun for Mama!!"

Next up: Gymnastics. Let's really test him ;-)

***EDITED TO ADD*** This week Mick jumped out of the paddock again, into the outdoor arena. Jimmy did NOT follow. Lesson: Learned. :-) 

Mom & Dad Watch Jimmy Jump

Tonight my parents came out to watch Jimmy jump! I hand raked the entire arena & set up a new course – so by the time I got on I was pretty beat. I was sweating like an animal by the half-way point down one long side – not a good way to start!!! I had to peel off layers until I was comfortable enough to finish the job. WOW what an undertaking! Hopefully this week the arena gets drug for real by the tractor :-)

Jimmy bucked once tonight :-( It was a "STOP SPURRING ME" buck, which he never ever does. So I'm a little concerned because when we did carrot stretches before our ride tonight both sides of his neck popped quite a few times. Something to keep my eye on... I hope it was just an emotional moment, not him telling me his neck is out of alignment again so quickly!

Mom & Dad were very impressed with his flatwork, but especially impressed with his jumping. I had Mom take a video, which unfortunately is very pixelated because our arena is just so dark the camera can't really adjust and record unless it's full sunlight. Anyway - Enjoy the video! Jimmy was WONDERFUL tonight! A little hot, but I like him that way :-) My mom said he reminded her of Doobie tonight. Hearing that made my heart sing with rejoice and melt with love. RIP, my sweet, sweet Doobie.

Also - for those who love emotional, quick reads - this weekend I read "The Art of Racing in the Rain". It's similar to "Marley & Me", if that gives you an idea of what type of book it is. I read it straight through Friday night, I couldn't put it down. It was absolutely wonderful & the first four pages I was literally crying because I felt like Doobie himself had written those pages. Dogs and horses are astoundingly similar, I think.

Spectacular All-Around

This week Jimmy was great. Of course, he's always great. But this week....he just seemed exceptionally great. We've been practicing all sorts of different things but two main exercises have me very excited. I've been working on spirals at the canter, where I go from a collected 10(ish) meter circle and continue spiraling in at the canter until we're in a piaffe. Jimmy has successfully done if 6 times, and only broke & trotted one of those times!! He is so nimble it's quite unbelievable. He turns on a DIME (...seriously) and he's so compact and under himself. He has been carrying himself so properly since the adjustment with John I just couldn't be happier.

The other item I'm excited about is we jumped BIGGER still! Just twice last night I had him canter a slightly larger vertical than what we've been doing. It was probably a hair over 2'6" and he jumped so flippin' easy. I swear the jumps could go straight to 3'6" and he probably wouldn't notice. I can't wait until he's up to that height because it's going to be SO MUCH FUN. I was telling Bill tonight it's so wonderful to just get on, warm up, and jump around. I don't have to worry about teaching him this or that or letting him "experience" anything for the first time....He just sees the jump, picks his spot, jumps it easy, and canters away. It's absolute bliss. I feel like he taught himself everything he knows because I just never imagined that I could turn out a horse this well on my own!!!! He's absolute perfection and even though I'm completely biased, I believe that it is completely true.

Today Jimmy was a little excited for Lucy's lesson - but I like that about him. He always challenges her in a way that she (and her mom!) still feel safe. She learns to handle it and stay calm and ride through it. Also: Today she cantered off the lunge line! I was calling out what she should do next "Walk. Trot. Walk. Halt. Trot. Walk" then I said "Canter." and she looked at me, eyes bulging out of her head. I said "You can walk and trot and halt and sit trot and back up...but you think you need the line to canter still? I don't think you do...I believe you can canter by yourself. Don't you think so?" And she smiled and POW! Just like that, Jimmy was cantering. Another thing I love so much about him - his canter transition. You STEP in that outside stirrup with our reins collected and he immediately canters from a stand still. Gosh I love him.

After Lucy's wonderful lesson I had another lesson to teach - a walking and balance lesson on Pepe. His rider (Dori) did a great job and Pepe handled it very well too! He was very calm and understanding and just strolled along the whole time while she practiced extended, collected and regular walk, halt, back, and posting at the walk. It was a great Saturday of lessons!!

Tomorrow I ride alone, but the ring really needs to be drug so I'll probably rake the whole arena by hand before I get on. If I can rake it up enough around the jumps then I'll set something fun up so Jimmy and I can jump a little combination.

He hasn't bucked (or thought about it) since last Saturday (before he was adjusted) and he seems to be very happy & comfortable! Before we ride he gets one cookie to do his carrot stretches with & today after I bridled him for Lucy (she's a hair too short still) he took his nose and touched each side of his girth & looked at me as if he were saying "Alright, I stretched. Now cookie." He's unbelievable.

Starting The New Year Off Right

Well it's a new year and I'm going to try to update REGULARLY again! WOO HOO! Jimmy has been an exceptionally good boy recently and I am very happy with how his legs have been looking. No heat, swelling, or sign of discomfort whatsoever….in his legs. We'll get to what IS causing some discomfort later on.

FIRST: Lucy is a cantering MACHINE!!!! She's cantering up a storm in her lessons on the lunge line now and absolutely having a blast. She's learned that outside leg + rein + cluck = CANTER and Jimmy picks it RIGHT up! Every time he does it just like that she giggles and SMIIIILES wide. It's an incredible feeling to watch a horse I brought from nothing teach a rider who also knew nothing when I started with her just over a year ago. I am so grateful for every opportunity to teach!!!!

NOW: Onto Jimmy. He's started bucking. Not viscous or dangerous by ANY means, but certainly a "knock-knock: Mom, I'm hurting" type of buck. It started just before Christmas, I thought it was because he didn't like his gorgeous new quarter sheet from Lucy. So I punished him the first time. The next time, it was the same thing. When he went to do a lead change he'd buck. He has NEVER EVER EVER bucked with me, even in his earliest training days learning what leg pressure was and learning to canter (the typical time a horse WILL buck!) so after two rides with the buck I was concerned.

Saturday morning before Lucy's lesson he had a little too munch skip in his step, so I decided to lunge him first and what do you know? He REALLY bucked. He made a big motion a few times, then just kept kicking out, violently at the canter. Once he seemed to have it "out of his system" he moved gracefully and didn't show another sign of discomfort, so I let Lucy get on and have her lesson, making sure to watch his body language all along.

I was going to see John for more Adequan that afternoon anyway, so I asked if he could stop out and give Jimmy a little chiro adjustment Monday morning.

I jumped Jimmy yesterday and he was flawless. A potential client unexpectedly showed up while I was schooling him and I couldn't help but puff up with pride a little bit as my little wonder-horse jumped the 2'6" course I had set up in perfect rhythm. Cassie had set up a pretty serious looking oxer & I filled in the empty space on it with random pieces of broken boxes to make it look more "impressive" and Jimmy couldn't have cared less. He cantered out of the corner to a perfect spot and rocked it both times I jumped it, landed and did his lead change before I could think to ask. WOO HOO!!!! NOTE: The warm up I used Sunday involved a lot of bending and lateral work/leg yields to get him fluid through his hind end. The lead changes were there and there was no bucking. Do we see a connection?

On my lunch break today I called John, who said Jimmy's back seemed fine, not sore. He had a minor pelvic twist….but (in John's words) "His neck was a mess" WHAT?!? I'm wondering if all of that beautiful frame work that Jimmy does to himself (literally, I just use consistent leg and hand pressure, he puts himself in the right places) has him out of whack? Or possibly if from my playing like a short stirrup kid and laying up the neck while he jumps X's to warm up is knocking him out of whack?! OUCH OUCH OUCH!!! SORRY JIM!!!!!

I asked if carrot stretches are helping or hurting & he said keep doing them regularly as I have been. Who's to say if I didn't do them how much worse his neck would be. So we're gunna watch and make sure little Jim doesn't start bucking again in a few weeks & if he does, he will get another visit from the glorious Dr. J.

Having a vet I feel this comfortable with means more than words can say.

I hope everyone had a great New Year!!!

Far Too Busy

Not only have I been too busy to write blogs, I've been too busy to READ all of yours!!! I am so, so sorry!!! This season has taken a hold of me and try as I might, I can't seem to find any more free time - when I DO have free time I have no motivation to get things DONE! You don't even want to see my bathroom, you really don't.

But, to fill you all in there are just two major quick points I want to share:

1. Jimmy jumped a whole course yesterday - 2 X's, a vertical, and a box! HOORAY! All strides & lead changes & pure happiness resulted. THREE CHEERS FOR JIMMY CHOO!!!! My perfect horse :-) I need some work over fences since it's been so long...but luckily....

2. Pepe has moved in with us! Saturday we decided to make the move & bring Pepe to where Jimmy is now for 30 days to try & get some more time in the saddle on him & get more people out to see him. Cross your fingers the seeds I've put out there will harvest and turn into a sale!!

Hope everyone is doing what they can to STAY WARM!!! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr CHICAGO!!! Happy riding <3

First One Stride Back

The last few nights Jimmy has been a star. He's getting very athletic again & regaining so much stamina so quickly I'm pretty shocked. We're up to working for a solid 40 minutes with usually only one or two walk breaks & he doesn't break a sweat or breathe hard at all. He needs maybe two laps around the arena walking & he's ready for bed.

I think part of why his stamina has gotten so strong is because I warm up really slowly. I walk 4 or 5 times around the arena (at least 2x per direction) before I do any trotting, and once we're trotting we trot A LOT before we start to canter.

Last night I set up a gymnastic for the first time since he's jumping again. I had a simple ground rail set at 9' before an X, then 24' to another X, making that a true no-stride to one-stride. In HORSE strides. Not Jimmy/cob strides. Before the surgery he was just learning to open his stride and kind of struggling to get through lines in the horse strides. I know he can do it, I just have to work to lengthen his stride & relax him so he goes nice and long.

I warmed up & started trotting the second X only, slicing so there was a clear line & an obvious choice that the second X wasn't part of the equation yet. He kept getting impatient and taking one pathetic canter step before the X. I like to nip these habits in the bud, so when he starts something like this I make a pretty huge deal out of it (safely) so he understands that this behavior is not acceptable.

The second time he thought to take a canter stride I tugged and asked him to come back to me & slowly trot. He walked & jumped the X. The next time he got rushy & took a canter step anyway & left when he wanted to, so I made an immediate straight line halt about 2 strides after the X. The third time he thought to canter I felt it one stride before and pulled up for a halt, yelling "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO NO NO NO!" I then quietly asked him to back clear back to the corner of the arena where we started and nicely trot forward & up/over the X. He did so, and trotted the X like a kitten. Soft, fluffy, happy. Gorgeous. Big pat, lots of praise, mush mush mush, Jimmy you're awesome.

Then we went onto something else completely opposite - I like training horses this way because the "lesson" he just learned about jumping from the base I will apply later, but right now, he has to switch gears and flex something else in his repetiore. I think it makes them more alert, agile, & athletic. The three A's ;-) We went on to canter the gymnastic. He's little & previously in his "prime" (pre-op) he had about a 11' or 10.5' stride. Typical horses have a 12' stride & courses at horse shows are always set to the 12' stride.

We got our rhythm, we cantered in. We did one stride. We jumped out. OH. MY. GOOD. GRACIOUS. I set it true 24' as a horse one-stride and I was so amped that THE FIRST TRY HE DID IT IN ONE!!!!!! And he had gusto doing it!!! He tried SO hard and did it THE FIRST TIME!!!! I cantered around and did it again. One-stride. Too good to be true? Lucky draw? I stopped for a little bit...walked...and cantered it again. One stride. Even when he got in ugly, he lowered, reached, and got one out. ONE!!! I gave him ridiculous amounts of praise and pets & let him walk & hang out while Cass jumped it with her horse.

Then I decided to bring back the lesson we learned earlier - Jump from the base. I trotted in, put my hands up on his neck, and just let him figure it out while I cooed out a little baby "Ho ho" and what do you know? Two perfect pony strides, jump out, land, lead change, canter down the next long side. Holy moly I love this horse. I got a good gallop started mid-long side & continued cantering around to canter the one-stride one last time & see if he really was the champion I thought he was. What do you know? Did it in one again, just like I asked.

Needless to say, I'm on cloud nine still because I worked a lot before the surgery on trying to get him to lower & lengthen & be that elastic with his stride and he just wouldn't figure it out. He'd always bump that one extra stride in there so it was one & a half, we couldn't get the solid one unless we were really hauling @$$ & that's just not comfortable for anyone.

All along, he just plugged away last night. Never got emotional, never got huffed up, just did his job. My mom & I call him a little sewing machine when he's like this because he's just even paced, consistent, and steady as can be. Blessed doesn't even begin to describe how I feel to him. He is truly amazing.

Looking Forward

I'm looking forward to being like this again:

Someday soon, Jimmy!!! We're on our way!!!!!!

Excellent First Jump Night

Tonight I jumped Jimmy!!! For the first time IN A YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was actually pretty mundane in the scheme of exciting things.

When I got there I set an X up:

The lovely X

While I was unbelievably excited, Jimmy didn't seem to share my enthusiasm:  

"You're acting stupid, Mom. Stop it."

I started with my typical warm up, which you all know & understand painstaking well by this point, I'm sure. He felt very uphill today, which consequently he also brought his head up, but I didn't mind a bit. It was just like he remembered warm up for jumping means track uphill :-) I embraced it. When it came time to jump I just trotted the little X 3 or 4 times. He kind of took off at a random point and landed in a heap the first handful of times. Once he remembered "trot to the base/canter FORWARD away" he was beautiful. I ended with trotting the X and cantering (which ended up being a perfect 5 stride) to the no-stride at the end of the arena in the corner.

X, 5 stride, no-stride (NOTE: He jumped dead center every time! You can see it!! Way to rock, Jim!!)

What a wonderful first time back!!!!!!! I was so thrilled, not only did he handle the jump well, but the way he composed himself through the no-stride tonight was night & day different than last night. Last night it seemed that he was still just "remembering", like his vision was fuzzy in his head & he was pretty sure that's what he was supposed to do, but not 100%. Tonight he cantered up, through, and away. He was just incredible. I couldn't be happier. I am so grateful that he has progressed to this point, and if I were to guess...I see a very bright future of happy jumping days ahead :-D

Jimmy Choo all tucked in for bed

Very Good News

Yesterday I e-mailed both Dr. John & Dr. Jacob Goodin (Jimmy's surgeon at Morrie Waud) to ask what they thought about getting Jimmy back over fences. GREAT NEWS FROM BOTH! Jacob replied first:

Jess,
Glad to hear that Jimmy Choo is doing so well!  He looks great in the video.  As far as jumping goes, if he is sound and fit enough, I see no reason why he can't start.  As long as you start slow and work your way up, he should be okay.  Let me know how it goes.

Jacob

HOORAYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now for John's:

All you can do is try and see how he does.    Time will not help anymore at this point.  Congrats.

 HOORAYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGAIN!!!

I am thrilled to hear this news. It's what I had suspected all along but couldn't justify without any approval from one of Jimmy's vets. I am very lucky to be blessed with the most kind, considerate and educated staff of vets for my guy. I can't wait to start over X's tonight!!! 

Last night I rode before I had read the emails from the vets but I decided some raised cavaletti work wouldn't kill him, so I set up a no-stride. I love setting them up in a corner so he has to keep his pace all the way through the corner and continue on down the long/short side, pending which direction we're tracking. He fumbled through it the first time, as I suspected he would, and was a real champ the rest of the time. He adjusted himself appropriately to make sure he got in and out correctly and never "powered down" after the fact, just kept truckin' along. Very good boy. 

His lead changes are iffy again - I think that one day was just luck that he nailed every single one I asked him to do again & again. It's the same thing we were dealing with before the surgery - his left-to-right is flawless, but the right-to-left sticks most of the time. I think it has to do with a weak left hind, which I had Dr. John look at last winter when we were going through the diagnosis process, and he said "there's absolutely nothing wrong with that leg".....so I think he just babies it. According to X-rays, it's clean so I'm just going to keep working him up and doing everything I can to strengthen. 

We're still working lots on transitions within each gate - starting with the walk. I don't ever ask him to do something at the trot or canter that I haven't asked at the walk. Something I learned from Diane - if you expect your horse to do something at a higher speed that they've never been asked to do before, you're wrong. So we start the rides with collecting, extending, and regular walking with a shoulder in down two long sides & a haunches in down one long side. This seems to be doing the trick because at a trot and a canter he's very soft and supple - like he used to be. I'm so proud of my big guy!! 

Swooning

I just saw on IHO that Bull Run Farm is hosting another horse show this year - in September....and guess who the judge is? Diane. *SWOON*!!!!!!!!!!

Last summer I rode Jimmy in the Fields and Fences NIHJA Hunter Derby for fun, to get him around all-natural jumps. They had split rails and lots of brush, logs, sod-covered roll-tops, the whole sha-bang, all at 2'6" with a 3' option. It was marvelous.

The next day my dad saw Diane at Lamplight and he said "Jess said you judged the hunter derby last night! What did you think of the little brown horse she rode in it?" (I had multiple mounts) Diane said "That little horse can JUMP!" Hahahaha. I love her so much.

In a perfect world, Jimmy will be ready in September to horse show, I will get a killer freelance gig to cover the cost, and someone awesome will give Jimmy and I a ride there :-D Hey, I can dream, can't I?!? I'd love for Diane to see Jimmy go again. That was one of my favorite moments with Jimmy so far! He's so good.

Let's Talk Jumper Boots

So Jimmy goes in Roma's open front boots. They're a lot like the Eskadron classic boots, but actually affordable. ($20ish compared to $90ish) He's got splints on both front cannon's and then just had surgery of course for OCD's, so I'm wondering what everyone with "problem" front-legged horses uses for protection and support? He's a jumper, so keep that in mind. I just e-mailed my vet the same question, very interested to see what he says. I am familiar with SMB's but, haven't used them in years. I've only had experience with the Eskadron style boots. Am I using the right boots? Or is there a better option I should be aware of?

**UPDATE**
General consensus of IHO commenters is that the style of boot I use on him now are just dandy. Hooray! That way it shall stay, then! If Dr. John says different, I'll be sure to keep ya'll posted!

No News is Good News

Well not much here to report. Tonight I went out with Mom and gave JC his Adequan, he was a champ about it. He's so good with shots. Why do you stand perfectly still for shots, but run backwards during baths, Jimmy? Some things I will never understand.

Meanwhile, Mom and I were talking about all the amazing memories and milestones of my riding career while we were on our way up to the barn tonight. A few came to mind:

When my very best friend (other than Bill) in the world Molly rode in her first ASPCA Maclay Medal her horse reared when he refused the end jump. Naturally, her instinct was to reach up and pop him between the ears...at an A show...in the ASPCA Medal. So the judge excused her for misconduct and called her up to talk to him in the box. She was so hysterical, she was hyperventilating and crying and while wearing her black gloves, wiping her face....So I go to try & console her and can't help but bust up laughing, because she's hysterical, her eyes and mouth are all swollen from sobbing, she's still hiccuping cries of embarrassment, and her entire face is streaks of black dye from her gloves. It was the funniest moment of my life. We still laugh about it today. I love her. Tons. Here she is on her latest greenie, Rae. She's a super cool 5 y/o who's learning to be a jumper. In Molly's words: "She's the real deal". Can't wait to see how she grows up!


Another good moment was when I accidentally slurped up a fly in my iced tea and thought it was a lemon seed. I bit down and realized it was definitely alive, and definitely not a lemon seed and my friend who saw it laughed so hysterically that my horse Doobie behind me began pacing in his stall and nickering - he loved to do this when something was really outrageous. It was like he was laughing too. Here's the one and only:


And of course, a less funny, but equally amazing memory from my younger years in riding was when I got to lease my trainer Diane Carney's grand prix horse, Dublin, to do the Jr/AO jumpers before I went to college. He was the craziest, most out of control, asshole of a horse. Riding him was like trying to control a speeding locomotive. It was the biggest adrenaline rush I've ever experienced in my life. Every second was brimming from exhilarating to nearly being terrifying. A very, very fine line. Dublin made me brave. On that horse, I knew anything was possible. I could only ride him once or twice a week - and we could only jump. If he hacked, he became violent and would literally kill things. He only liked to jump. Also, if he was straight on to any jump, he would just...leave. In lines, I had to break them up. A five stride went like this: Take off at a 45º angle, land & one stride at 45º, three strides using pulley-rein and straight-ish, fifth stride back 45º the other way to jump the out. Combinations were basically get him in and he will somehow jump you out. His stride was normally 16', easy. Every second you had to be four strides ahead of where he thought you were going. He could never know for sure, or he'd kill you. He was unreal. But he was the most fun I've ever had on a horse. And here he is: enjoy :-)

Decisions

So, I get that we're a little premature to be talking about this...But I'm just going to jump into it anyway.

This is something I've been thinking about for a while, and desperately wanted to jump into THIS season, but clearly it just isn't going to happen... I think when Jimmy comes back to "work" we are going to start....*drum roll* EVENTING.

Keep in mind, that I've been a hunter/jumper rider for 13 years, and I love it more than anything, but the hunter/jumpers just aren't a good fit for Jimmy and I. I've jumped "out" of the divisions I'd be able to show Jimmy in because I did the Jr/AO (4'6") when I was younger, so I can't do the 3' money classes with him due to that AND I'm a PRO now so I can't actually be in ANY money classes in the h/j world....unless they're Prix's. I love Jimmy....but let's be real here. Hahaha.

So I've gone to watch on mini-event, and I'm going to the "Big Barrington" event in a few weeks to watch with some fellow IHO friends and although I understand little to none about dressage tests and scoring...I get the concept, and let's be honest, Jimmy and I can really jump so 2 out of 3 of the events we will be more than okay at.

Because of his leg situation, I don't think I ever want to do more than 3' on him competitively. 3'3" would really be pushing it. We'll see how strong he comes back (hopefully stronger than ever!) but the fact that I will be able to do money classes, try something new, and do something I'm almost 100% certain Jimmy will excel in kind of makes it a no-brainer. My mom still has the firm belief that eventing is the devil's sport and I'm surely going to kill myself, or Jim. I'm pretty confident we can handle the 3' derby-style jumps on turf...since they're even less intimidating than the hunter derby jumps we did at Fields and Fences last summer. Jimmy absolutely had a blast at that hunter derby, (t00 much fun....he was hauling @$$) and clearly enjoyed it still the second day when we did the same course in the Training Jumpers at 2'9" and was 2nd of 20 -- all the others were very seasoned jumpers or equitation horses, who were really in it to win it, and this little 4 year old Heinz 57 mutt of a horse comes in and whips their pants off. God Bless Jimmy Choo.

So what do you think? Good decision? Bad decision? Jess, you've gone off the deep end decision? Tell me your thoughts. I wanna know!!

Jumper PIcture

I described this picture to Betsi when I was telling her that Jimmy thought the jumpers last summer were the best thing that ever happened. I didn't "practice" any jump off speed over fences whatsoever before I brought him, just always asked him to jump around clean and politely. However, when the speed portion of the power & speed kicked in in this class - his first ever time in the jumper ring - he just got lower to the ground, like a race car, and rocked it hard. He jumped and turned and galloped and was SUPER clean. I love remembering this day.



***EDIT*** I just watched the video of us in this class - this photo is the result of him getting himself out of the way of a pretty deep chip. I kept looking at this pic thinking "he doesn't look as tidy as usual..." LOL. Pretty dang tidy for getting out of a chip!!! LOOOVEEE HIMMMM

Mini Events

Today I went to Baby Barrington to meet up with a client, and watched a few xc rides. It was definitely not at all what I was expecting!!!!!

Mini Events xc is just a big turf derby field, with little tiny jumps sprinkled all over the place. I think I offended one of the trainers there, I asked (which, in retrospect, I understand was pretty bitchy sounding, but I ABSOLUTELY didn't intend for it to come out bitchy) "Is this the whole course?" LOL because it wasn't much bigger than our derby field at Telluride.

So then I text & proceeded to call my friend Betsi and talked to her for a while about it. We agreed that eventing seems to be something that JC is going to rule at, and it just seems like fun. I'm just going to look for events that are about 3' (so they're good competition for us, bc the 2'6" that I watched today wouldn't be fair for us to do. Most of the riders trotted the course...And Jimmy could do that course blindfolded, at a gallop....not fair) and look for mini events with cash back. The Maui Jim Horse Trials Eventing Derby this year would be absolutely perfect for us. I don't want to push him to be ready by August of this year, because he can just come back to being ridden in early July. I want to give him as much time as he needs to recover. Maybe by this fall we can find someone to give us a ride to Fox Valley for on of their IDCTA shows or something.

So that'd be a blast for end of this year - or sometime next year. Eventing. I'll need a vest...anyone have one I can buy...or borrow eventually? I'm 5'6" / 130lbs. :-D

Jimmy himself was wonderful today. Very cheerful. Mom and I went to see "Letters to Juliet" and then went out to take care of Jimmy. The wraps still look perfect!!! I will definitely be able to leave them until Monday. MONEY!!!

I hid some carrots for him in his stall so he would have something to do for a while :) He watched me hide them, so he went right in and found some:


Then I wanted to give him a kiss goodbye...and realized the joke was on me! He REALLY found the carrots:


He was very proud of how crafty he was in "Find the Carrots"


Adequan tomorrow!! I cannot wait until he's better. 50ish days ;-)

Message from Diane

Just now on Facebook I got a message from my old trainer Diane Carney - telling me that my old horse Slim is still going strong, is sound, and taking great care of all of his riders at Ledges this weekend.

I thought that was so incredibly thoughtful of her to do! It's amazing to have technology like Facebook to keep us all connected. I love hearing about my old horses. Only two are still around and kickin'.

Here's a photo of Slim and I - we were both about 16 in this picture. He is now 22. Same age as me :) God Bless the horses like this.