Back behind these red ears for the first time in 3 weeks. Happy to report he felt 100% (maybe more like 110% 🥴🤣). Going to reassess tomorrow now that we've taken the edge off but 🤞🤞🤞. Rides times and stabling are up for The Makeover and we'll be riding Wednesday morning. As soon as I'm sure we're all systems go I'll share more details!
A bit of a frustrating ride tonight as we work through some baby attitude things but I think he's got this whole self loading thing down at least!!! 💪💪
Warm up for "jumping" was definitely more chaotic and busy than for dressage and Odin had a few tense baby moments that probably would have made me panic had I not had good friends standing around and being super encouraging and also answering all my questions because I apparently forgot everything about horse showing 🤣🙈. My plan was actually to walk this course because I was being a big chicken but when we got in the arena Odin said he needed to move his feet a little faster to help deal with his nerves so that's what we did. He was literally foot perfect, don't know what I was worried about at all. I'm not sure we will be doing anything much bigger than cross rails for the foreseeable future but I'm looking forward to adding more cavaletti work into our training! Couldn't be more happy with my big red horse after this weekend and looking forward to the next show!
There are definitely things we can improve on this test but at the end of the day I'm so happy with how Odin tried hard in a challenging environment to put in a respectable first dressage test. Warmup was in a grass field and he handled that environment so beautifully and warmed up so relaxed and rideable. The arena for the test was an indoor he's never seen before and due to the size we didn't have room to go around the ring like you usually do so it really was a lot of firsts happening at once. Additionally the judge rang the bell really soon after I entered so I panicked a bit and didn't really get him together enough before trotting down centerline. He was definitely more tense and nervous in the indoor and the open windows were a lot of distractions to cope with but ultimately he did everything I asked and even handled a moment where a horse in the connecting barn screamed and kicked the wall just as we were turning down center line to finish (turn the volume up to hear it 🤣). We scored a 34.1 and the judges comments were about what I expected about needing to work on connection more but said Odin had "potential" which definitely made me smile. Definitely a huge weight off my shoulders to have this first test under our belt. Looking forward to improving for the next one!
I just had to take a video because I couldn't believe how cool, calm, and collected Odin was at the trailer all day. Started out with some expected nerves (I mean, sameeeee 🤣) but settled right in and watched horses walk past him going to and from the arenas all day like a seasoned pro. I've never actually owned a horse that is pleasant to be around at shows and relaxes enough that I can actually hang out and relax too. Maybe horse shows are fun after all 🤣.
Welp trailer is packed, tack is somewhat clean, horse will hopefully be clean in the morning at the crack a dawn when I get to the barn 🙃, and final prep ride is done. Had a pretty rough ride 2 days ago, took yesterday off to breathe, but super happy after our ride tonight. If we can do anything close to this tomorrow I'll be so happy. Now let's all 🤞hope I can remember the test when the bell rings. 🤣🥴
Had our 2nd lesson with Alexa Ehlers at Clear View on Sunday and honestly had the best time! Since our last lesson about a month ago I spent a lot of time working on our homework (rhythm and balance) and recently began incorporating more work in contact which Odin is really starting to pick up on. I still struggle with keeping constant connection but Alexa was able to give me some tools for that as well as help me to sort out exactly how to use my legs when riding again (I had apparently forgotten anything but the calf existed 🙈). Mostly I was so impressed with how Odin jumped right on the trailer and was relaxed and confident throughout the entire lesson but also while hanging out after while I hung out with friends and watched their lessons. It's so nice to finally have a horse that makes field trips enjoyable!
In other news, Odin has consistently struggled more with his right side vs his left and so we have been doing consistent chiropractic work every 6 weeks or so. This afternoon during his chiro session he was pretty stuck and sore to the right but in all the places indicating that he's using the correct parts of his body to work which made me feel like we're really on the right track. I love that Alexa is able to give us so many low impact tools to help him use his body (like small circles at the walk where he has to really put his hind leg under himself and work) so that we are still progressing while giving his body the time to adjust. Also counting my lucky stars that I already had an amazing team of vet, chiro, farrier, etc behind me before getting Odin because he definitely is a horse that requires all of us working together to help him as he transitions from the track into his new life and job. He's just been so fun so far and I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting my riding "sea legs" back. The TB Makeover in October seems way less of a daunting goal these past few weeks which is hugely beneficial for my stress level! 🤣
Doing better in our collection work! Most of the unsteadiness is my fault at this point although this direction (to the right) is much harder for Odin. Still thrilled with how quickly he's learning. I told some friends this morning that he finally feels like a real horse! I'm going to start incorporating some lunge work in the Pessoa system to try and help Odin strengthen more on his own as well and to give us more options of things we can do at our arena-less home barn! Officially entered for our first little show, a walk-trot poles combined test on May 14!
One of the trainers in the Makeover Trainer Facebook group posted about various things they did with their horse while training during a year when they didn't have an arena. So much of what she said made a ton of sense to me and I've been trying to incorporate some of that into Odin's training. One of the things I've really enjoyed is taking him for hand walks to the creek at the back of the property - it allows him to work through some of his separation anxiety from his friends in the field and allows me to get some exercise in as I work on my own fitness. Besides being chased by 2 Canadian Geese this weekend 🥴🥴, I think we are both enjoying these walks. Ive been doing them twice a week or so and I think they're really making a difference so far!
Little preview from our really fun and super helpful lesson with Alexa Ehlers at Clear View Equestrian Center yesterday evening! It was SO good to finally get in front of a trainer and get some great feedback and helpful exercises and homework to work on. We worked on rhythm and balance which were things I have been struggling with on my own! Odin was absolutely foot perfect and so relaxed for everything from trailering, trailer tying, and even happily hung out to watch the lesson after us! Can't say enough good things about our whole experience yesterday!
After a frustrating ride and then snow and a minor colic episode 1.5 weeks ago 🥴 I took advantage of the beautiful 60 and sunny today to take Odin on his first solo trip to Masterson. He showed that even during our most frustrating ride last time out, he still picked up some lessons and is finally starting to work in contact. Now if I could figure out how the heck to keep my rein a consistent length and my leg on 🥴🙃 ....... Looking forward to taking our first lesson ever tomorrow (Lord knows I need professional help badly 🤣)! Stay tuned!