Slightly More Detailed Pony Update

 With all the bigger picture things going on, I've kind of been slacking on the in depth pony status updates. Which, for my lovely readers is probably just fine :) For my future self, though, I do like to keep more detailed notes and thoughts here to refer back to later.

Sophie:

Riding was limited last week due to weather and general chaos. 

I've been trying to take a long lunch break and exercise her while it's light out, but my plans still get cancelled when it's raining really hard. This was a 'stay warm and dry in the truck while Sophie just eats lunch' day :)

I've been good about longeing, but with limited daylight hours, I have been not good about tacking up and using side reins. My gut says that's not a huge deal - I think they've served their purpose. She's got a pretty good idea of where her feet and balance needs to be these days. She spends most of her time using her body well or stretching without the reminder of side reins or vienna reins. If she goes back to wanting to be inverted and holding herself like a giraffe, I'll revisit. For now she still lacks balance in the canter but it's coming.

pre ride longe

Clinic - as mentioned, went very well. We had a very similar lesson as last time. A lot of walk/trot transitions and back and forth in the gaits, followed by some leg yield exercises, followed by a little 'jump' course that was just poles and grids on the ground. She's absolutely fine with poles, but I am guilty of just trotting over random ones if someone else sets them, they're not something I set up or regularly work her over. Even so, she was a lot more confident with distances that didn't quite work for her and way more willing to adjust and figure it out. I think she'd probably be a careful little jumper if I ever went that direction.

In general, she was very spicy and forward and leaning on me, which took a lot of getting used to. She's normally very light in the contact and while forward, it's in a rhythm, not dragging you and accelerating. So, I feel like I got too handsy as she was blowing off my seat and running through me. In other circumstances I would have gone back to transitions and spirals, but this was a good experience - it was good to know where the holes are (I may have resorted to using the fence a few times to stop her).

We finished with a little canter and zero bucking into it. So, that was exciting. Unfortunately I had to miss the second day, but maybe it's just as well - she felt very tired by the end of day 1.

I got so many great shots of my friends riding, but haven't been pulling out the fancy camera and lens for myself. I need to do that!

Vet: We're waiting on more bloodwork to come back. The basic results were normal but we're waiting on a mineral panel too. Vet agreed she's not looking as well as she should be, especially given what I'm feeding. She's also very low on energy as compared to last year. While I appreciate quiet and well behaved, I'm not entirely sure that's who she really is. So she's likely not feeling the best and probably not using her food efficiently, but it could be for any number of reasons. The vet mentioned that with these gradual changes it's often it's a combination of small things rather than one specific big fix, so we start with the easy things (higher protein diet, blood work, mineral panel) then progress. We're currently trying new grain and a supplement for a month, then if the lab results come back normal and she still hasn't made improvements we'll likely investigate ulcers.

I bought a hay net that holds a whole bale and put it up today so hopefully she'll never run out of hay. BUT with Bridget accessing it too, I'm a bit skeptical this is a good idea (or that it will even last 24hrs).

I was given this to try, too. It's active ingredient is spirulina, which I was also feeding Sophie. She finds this much more palatable, but it is also 2x the price for equivalent grams/day of plain spirulina so unless it works miracles I'll have some reservations about using it long term :)

Bridget:

I just haven't had time and daylight to keep two horses in work. Thank goodness for the Bridgets of the world who happily go for a ride whenever you can fit them in. I miss her and feel guilty about letting her sit, but she seems pretty happy to just eat dinner and be groomed most days. I cross my fingers next winter we'll have a lighted riding space and this won't be a thing.

Was pretty excited for the giant hay net. May need a grazing muzzle before this experiment ends.

More interested in flirting with her neighbour, of course. Not like she's stressing me out by being thin or anything ;)