Testing, One Two...

So, since I wasn't up to riding and still am not due to my whole accident, mouth issue, I decided to lunge Vinny with the new martingale on. Have never done the whole breastplate/martingale thing so am going to look up some photos to be sure I did it up right. Vinny had no issues with it and it seems to fit him nicely. I made him walk, trot, canter in both directions and I must say he looks much better going than he did a year ago. Then I decided to set up a jump so I could see how he'd respond. There were no issues there, he jumped it nicely in both directions and I even made it quite high but he did not knock it down. Then I decided to make one side of it an oxer to give it some width and make him work a little harder over it. I made it too wide the first time so he caught the back rail, but I adjusted it and he quickly figured out he needed to jump further over it.

I did not do anything with him today due to the fact that upon feeding him this morning I noticed he had cut his lower lid. If it is not one thing it is another. I am hoping he will be alright and that tomorrow, if we are both feeling up to it, I will lunge him again. I will just have to keep an eye on his eye and be sure it stays clean.

Today we also gave them their EWT/WN vaccine.

Accidents Happen...

Had a good ride with Vinny yesterday. More of the same basically. He was very responsive to my aids and corrections. I got my breastplate/martingale today so will get to start jumping him soon.

Unfortunately, I think I will be taking a few days off because of a little mishap that happened last night. Was heading out to the barn and it was dark so couldn't really see in front of me. Well there happened to be a utility dolly sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, which I just managed to run right into, fall on my jaw, break a bottom molar and scrape up both shoulders and legs. Oh good lord how I hate pain and how my jaw hurts so bad. I am hoping I did not do any really damage to it, but it is still upsetting that a ruined a tooth and one of my other bottom teeth has slightly moved.

The farrier did come out this morning and get everyone trimmed. Though Telly does have white line on one front hoof from a crack. So will have to get some stuff to take care of it. I just purchased White Lightning since farrier recommended it. Hopefully this will do the job.

Andd Awayy Wee Goo

Ha...yes I rode Mr. Vinny yesterday and he was very consistent. His counter canters are much improving, the right is better than the left, and we got a couple of good straight lead changes. He also impressed me with doing much smoother downward transitions from the canter, still needs more work but overall is way better. Plan on doing more of the same in todays ride but will work on lengthening and shortening the stride, keeping soft through transitions and may set up more cavelettis to go over.

They are over their 5 week farrier trim and both Vinny and Telly's hooves are not looking pretty. I really wish I could throw shoes back on Telly but I do not think that is likely to happen at the moment. Hopefully the farrier will be able to get out here soon.

I really find it fun riding Telly in the pond but am not sure how good it is for his hooves. But if I only keep it to like twice a week and no other water contact then I am hoping it will not mess up his hooves too bad.
I thought we had done a real swim before but the other day I got a real taste of him swimming with just his head poking out. It was super fun and I hope there will be some benefits to Telly.

Been doing a lot of advertising online to get some stuff sold and we are having a garage sale this weekend. Should be very interesting and hopefully we make some money.

Yes, I Did It...

I rode Vinny this afternoon. We did not push too hard but had a good workout overall. I am happy about how far he has progressed and I am looking forward to jumping him soon. I would also like to get him to Hilda Donahue's for a lesson before the end of the month and start preparing him for upcoming shows.

The main things we have been focusing on include being soft in a collected frame, using the hind end through all gaits and a lot of transition work. I have also set up some cavelettis (my version anyway) and ground poles and been going over those in all 3 gaits teaching him to stay consistent and collected.

We still have a ways to go before being very competitive but in the short time period we have resumed training he has developed quite a bit. Overall, he has finally matured into himself and is much easier to work with and more of a pleasure to ride.

There is Still No Improvement...

It is unfortunate that we have yet to get a diagnosis of Telly's lameness issue so we can do something about it. The closest we have gotten is the vet feels he may have a bone cyst, which if he does would probably require surgery. I hate to put Telly through another surgery unless I know for certain that this would cure him and he would be rideable and pain free.

Lately I have just been getting on him bareback or undersaddle and walking around for about 15min. I am also doing water therapy with him, which includes swimming in our pond. He seems to really enjoy this, splashing me till I am soaked and wading around in the cool water. I will probably not do this more than twice a week just for the fact of trying to keep his hooves dry. I have heard that making horses swim is really quite good rehab and I can only keep praying that it will be beneficial to my boy.

 Other than that, there is not much more I can do for him at this time. I would like for him to be on a supplement that could possibly lubricate his joints and make him more comfortable. Right now I am saving up for an HD Sony Handycam and then hopefully I can start saving up  to do something more for Telly by next year. Until then I will just keep enjoying our precious moments and good times in the pond.

Whoops...

OK So keeping a training blog has not really worked out. Vinny has been going very nicely and there has been much improvement flat work wise, but I am waiting to get a martingale before we start doing any jumping. I sorta gave him like a week off and I really need to get my butt going and start working him again. I want to get him to some shows this summer so we can possibly get him sold and I can move onto something else.

I have been distracted mostly due to our selling of horse tack and show clothing. So I have been responsible for taking pictures, advertising and adding it all to the website. We are also going to be having a garage sale this weekend, which will be scary but will hopefully bring in some bucks and I will have enough to finally get a new camera. I really want to get some new footage of Vinny online since everything else is over a year old. Plus I would really like to do some more fun videos of my life with Telly....and Vinny I guess for now.

So I WILL ride tomorrow, I will.