A glorious Sunday in March

Hello March!

March is my Bday month, it's also the starting tastes of Spring is near, longer daylight is coming back and I LOVE me some March...

Sunday, Billy (El Hubbie), Mason and I went to the barn.

Billy went for a jog as I groomed and warmed up Laz. I had been begging him to come out to take videos and pictures of us.  Being he's a HS varsity Basketball coach, winter season gets fun but hectic, so finally he got a day off to come to the barn.

After lunging Laz to warm him up, he trotted right up to his Dad.

So cute...after he put on a little snorting trot show when Billy came running back, he pretended that Billy was a horse eating monster.

"ohh u is safeeeee, I is silleee ponee. We is OK, MaySon."

I brought him back to bridle in our bitless, helmet up and stack the crates to hop on

Oh!?

What's that you say?

Why yes...this IS a glorious new beautiful custom saddle pad that Laz doth don on his rumpa

He thinks it's pretty snazzy that an artist painted his face that he gets to wear proudly. 

"I is HANDSUMMMMMmmm"

Thank you to Polar Square Designs for this most amazing pad. 

HUGS to you Kate! 

You make us look way better than we are

Off we go to the pasture

Pasture de Bucks a lot

I kid..that was just one day, he's been 10000% better

Isn't this field glorious?

Seriously...I pinch myself that I get to board here

Sometimes I wonder if Laz would misbehave without his Mason pup by his side.

I'm sure unknowingly, Mason gives Laz comfort.

I love that dog.

Warming up at a walk, a bit past sleeping.

Easing into a trot..

Cantering a bit...

 Some canters I ask for, some he offers up

I know as we ease back into riding, I TRY to be extra careful NOT to push him past what he can comfortably do

Sometimes when trotting gets tiresome, he'll hop into an awkward canterTrot so I allow it so he can stretch into it better 

Correct leads...NOT even worrying about those right now

Hunch back much?

Oh well, as least I've got slack reins

Let me tell you, riding in a saddle again is SO weird after two years off.

I feel like a hot sloppy mess and I'm trying to ride, give Laz the correct commands (lol at that lately) and not slap around his back. 

Practice makes perfect, right?...as he can handle it

Love me this OTTBreath

And a couple videos below

They tell the truth don't they?

I see where his RH is still mega weak, but as both my Vet, Trimmer, Chiro seem to agree ; work him as he can handle

Some moments of it looks great to me (him, NOT me) and some breaks my heart that he isn't sound and I want to pull him up. 

It's balancing his fitness, happiness, soundness, work ethic, humane ethic, horsemanship, riding properly (what's that anymore?), retraining an OTTB, building confidence...what else?!

Oh, having fun :)

 My aim is 1x/2x a week riding to start, with every other day hand walking to get him to 3x a week riding, and so on...for now...

Steady Laz comes back

The past couple of weeks, Laz has had CRAZY energy

He was pushy, herd bound, spooking at everything and anxious.

This was on the ground none the less.

I don't know what caused it, but I've lowered his Chia intake, weather is a bit better and he's come back to earth.

Phew. 

I think he senses when I'm fed up

In the midst of this energy, I was trying to funnel it into working and playing our ground work games to give him mental focus and well as reminding him that I am his partner/leader and not a herd mate.  We had a come to Jesus conversation when I was trotting and running along side him and he went to playfully bite at me. 

Um, say what?! I went full on MARE on him and he looked at me like "Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, ya right...sorry sorry sorry."

So, training aside. Spring is definitly in the air.

1. Laz is like MOLTING. 

It is officially do NOT wear chapstick at barn or else you will have a furried upper/lower lip

2. His itchy spots on his hock area are back and they always appear in Spring and get weepy in summer. When I had the vet out last week, I had her look at it and told her it's been 2+ yrs and what I've tried (Animax, Coconut oil, zephyrs anti itch, MTG) all products that I LOVE..but none that really healed it unfortunately. 

Oh and I would put the holy water Vetryicyn on it but wouldn't you know I let it FREEZE solid and now it's no good. 

Yea, for $28 down the toilet

She gave me a new product to try...so we'll see

It's one of her favorites, new to me.

I've been putting it on so far for a few days.

Next up, big news. Last May...yup last MAY, I bought a barefoot treeless saddle.

I found an almost brand new used Tahoe Classic for under  $700 with leathers/irons and shipping so I jumped on it. I knew I liked that model because it's a hybrid of English, Dressage, Trail friendly Pack Mule saddle, lol. I thought it would be great to go treeless in hopes that it would fit Laz better. I worked with several professionals to pick the right one, right pad, etc so fingers crossed it pans out for us. I'll have Chiro double check fit on Laz next time he's out

So, I started tacking up.

Laz knocked over my saddle instantly

"Wha dis??? I never had dis on me...?!"

OMG fat pony alert! 

Buddha belly anyone? 

Time to do some crunches....er, for us both really.

And with this treeless, they recommend using a dressage girth.

Since I've ridden 0  minutes in dressage, I purchased one that I thought would fit.

So; dressage people...is this girth too small??? 

Should it extend up higher to actually be resting on pad on both sides? If so, we are WAY off.

This saddle actually cracks me up. It's not going to win in the beauty dept, but I hope it's comfortable for us both which was my goal. I still have my beautiful AP Crosby but I'm sure right now, it would pinch at his shoulders...I may be selling it...but I love that saddle (Wah!)

My old days of a young H/J people wouldn't even recognize our daily ghetto ways...and it's ok.

 My goal was to see how Laz went in this/any saddle.

Last time he had a saddle on his back was last Feb (a year ago) for a day when I borrowed Enzo's Mom's saddle

I'm happy to report he trotted off like he's been wearing a saddle forEVER. He let out one buck/side kick but it was more in excitement and didn't throw an odd move after.

He was really moving out

LOOK.AT.THAT.RIGHT.HIND.REACH.UNDER.HIM!!!

omg...I was dying with happiness

 He was stretching down (grass motivated clearly) but it showed me he was comfortable

 Looking good...

Laz has such a downhill feel to him when riding, and I see it even on the flat

 He was moving so well, his wits seemed to be in a perfect place I figured I would test our luck and take him out on a road walk in the saddle.

I brought him back to the barn

Look at my sweet gentleman who STAYED standing, in saddle (me=risk much?) and waited for me to get helmet/bridle. 

Say what, perfect pony!??! 

UGH..these are the moments that I LOOOOOVE him so much. 

Always willing to go go go go and when he's tuned in...he is TUNED in

He was great.

Riding in a saddle feels 100% odd to me after almost 2 yrs bareback, but it's time.

I'll still alternate, but in order to ride some real momentum, I'm needing the saddle.

Laz feels extra downhill in a saddle to me. I literally felt like I was sitting in a ladder on top of him. Bareback, I fit into his grooves so perfectly...

The road walk went great, we even did a little trot in a soft section and he moved out like a proper horse.  We had 4-5 cars pass us with no problem (they drive slower on this dead end road anyway) and even had a white poofy dog dash out to the road to try to attack us, and with some fancy side stepping, snorting and giraffe necking, Laz maintained his cool even though he was asking/telling "I may be running soon" lol. Thankfully Mason diffused the situation and the owner finally came out to get their little yapper.

Overall, Day 1 in saddle=success.

Body weight/shape over the last 7 months

I wouldn't say Laz is a hard keeper, but he isn't an easy keeper.
He can gain weight, yet he can loose it quickly if I don't watch it.

He requires a LOT of hay to keep him going

If I watch his intake, bump it up on colder days and balance with his BP during winter, I can maintain a pretty even weight (visually) on him.

Let's take a look...

AUGUST 2011

Looking great, but still ribby/bony/thin top line. 

Maybe due to nutrition/diet/lack of 'real' exercise

I know typically OTTBS are a ribbier horse but I do want some fat layer along his rib cage...slight not padding

 Our first day at new barn-SEPT 2011

 Middle of SEPT 2011

tummy goes POUF

Beginning of OCT 2011

Looking perfect in my eyes..I think this is the best he's ever looked.
He was on full pasture with additional hay

End of OCT 2011

Looking a bit lean..lost weight in neck, base of tail, behind shoulders

We were riding A LOT, grass was changing, and I had yet to up his hay

Beginning of NOVEMEBER 2011

upped his hay and upped his BP amount to 3 cups (dry)

 End of NOV 2011

Looking better, whew...gained it back quickly

 DECEMBER 2011

Looked good in my eyes..yes, I see he has a bigger fiber belly...

JAN 2012

Little thicker, but also FUZZ HAIR BALL so it can be deceiving

I was OK with some extra fat layering being I left him naked

 FEB 2012

Depending on how he is holding himself, he will have a belly...

 Or tucks it up..

Both above photos were taken on the same day

I've been very happy with his weight and hope to start to tighten him up as he feet can tolerate it!

What do you look for in your horse to make you comfortable with their weight?

Wild eyed

Someone has been feeling "Spring Air" with wild eyes and crazyeee behavior.

It's been funny and at times, totally frustrating. 

Laz can slip into "SAVE MYSELF!!" behavior quickly and can try to tune me out, so I have to match that energy and remind him "Um no...."

We had a visit from our lovely Vet for a Rabies vaccine. It went off without a hitch (phew!) and she is SO great about helping me work through my anxiety with certain vaccinations for Laz.

Next up will be Tetanus next month.

She did a follow up lameness check on him and thought he looked so much better in comparison to November. His Chiro adjustments, my Trimmer's hoof work, balancing his diet and his ability to stay out and moving. 

BOOM BOOM BOOM! :)

She told me to get to work on really starting to exercise him and double check with Chiro to make sure back is happy with those slow changes at his next visit

So, this past week, we took just long hand walks as he was a crazy pants McGee for a bareback hack.

He acted like he had never walked down this dirt road before.

In his defense, it was a bit slippery so I'm not sure if that made him feel uneasy but I kept him in the deeper sections of snow.

Every noise made him jump and spook.

I had asked Vet about his excitable behavior and she seemed to think his amount of Triple Crown L/S couldn't be enough calories to make him hotter.  I'm not sure I agree 100%..I've cut back his Chia seed and in about a month, I may start cutting back his feed too (currently getting 3 cups not scoops, twice a day).  She thinks he's feeling better and is not able to use his body in a stronger way.  He can feel great, but he needs to keep his manners...so I've been doing a lot of reminding and ground work to try and instill that good behavior and space around me. 

On Sunday, the winds were just whipping through and something by the barn just kept freaking him out.  He would snort and side leap.  We worked on ground, circling towards and away the barn, squeezing through and backing off, until he finally settled. 

It took a good 45 minutes and a lot of games.  He fought the first 25 and was a total lunatic and then finally started to breathe and calm down.

See, calmer eye below

Then, after our work, it was complete mind resetting.  He kept eye rolling, yawning, shaking his head. It must have been a lot for his OTTB brain to handle.

I will say, he did SO great in the end.  He even started listening to me MORE as the two other horses were racing all around us.  

I think with this newer set up we need to work on; I come first, his friends come 2nd.  

He is fighting his instinct of flight versus thinking...

Oh, and shedding has BEGUN...!

Happy Valentine's Day

"I haz a seekretz fur u...."

 "U do?!"

 "I's your new Momz n I's gunna take u fer Walkz n u's my new dogz"

 "No! I's not a dogz..Maysun iz a dogz..LEGGGO"

 "No more seekretz!!"

"Uh..no..surrrry.

I luvs you my beeoutiful colured frind"

Me; "Hey Laz...what about me?!"

"Uh-k..beecuz u gotz yummies!!"

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

 xoxo