Never Say Never...

Its a two in one blog kind of day. Mostly I just don't want to miss writing down all the cool things that have been happening lately, but putting them all in one post it started to seem... well a bit like trying to read The Odyssey, Gone With The Wind or War and Peace rather then a blog update. Anyways make sure to check out my blog from last weekend that was posted this weekend because I'm so busy I don't have time to blog... you can see that here. 

And, the reason I don't have time to blog.... 

School is officially back in session. Which means long, long, torturous work hours. I keep reminding myself that its worth it to be able to have Rio. And, I do love the kids despite all my complaining. 

My real reason for posting this blog though is this!...

We've been slowly working on adding a little bit of jumping to our routine with the help of my trainer, but up to this point he'd only free jumped 2' and never done more then an 18" cross rail under saddle.

My leaser was riding with me to day and she asked if he'd go over the vertical. I said I don't know lets find out fully expecting him to stop short and the above is what I got instead! 

 When I bought Rio, he would either plow through or just plain refuse to jump anything, even a six inch cross rail. I know this doesn't look like much... and lets ignore for the moment my HORRIBLE form, but it is indeed a 2'2" vertical. And the standards that he's pretty close to clearing thanks to his majorly over jumping the fence are 3'3. Verticals are also more difficult to jump then a cross rail because they maintain their hight all the way across so they look more imposing to the horse. Just to make sure it wasn't a flue we went over it again 2 more times. 

I once had a trainer tell me that maybe he was just not cut out to be a jumper and I foolishly believed her. All the dressage we've been working on has improved both our balance so much that even though he still hesitates at times going to a fence we are doing more then I ever thought possible and of course when things don't go as planned to a jump its usually my fault not his...

Something to be said for the saying "never say never". 

Personally I think I should get extra points for jumping in a dressage saddle... cannot wait until I get a replacement saddle and a few more months with the trainer under our belt. 

Happy three day weekend all!

Flying Solo...

Do you remember that moment as a child when you finally road your bike with out training wheels? That feeling of sheer terror when mom or dad let go of the bike and you thought you might fall for the one millionth and one time, followed by the exhilaration of freedom in finally accomplishing something you'd worked so hard for when you managed to stay upright moving forward, the wind blowing in your hair and newfound independence finally within your grasp. Learning to ride a bike is a right of passage for youth, and its just one of many steps we take along the path to growing up.

Being an educator and now an Aunt to two beautiful little kids I can't help, but look at the world around me with my "teacher" glasses on, realizing that we never stop growing (if we're lucky). There are always fears and unknowns, but each experience makes us a stronger version of ourselves. 

I see that in my riding and in my horse's development, especially lately, since starting back in lessons with my most awesome trainer. Rio has always been a curious willing horse, but there have been times when he was afraid of his own shadow, or the trash can on the corner, or the giant sandhill cranes trumpeting as they walk lazily down the road in front of us, or the enormous... at least to Rio, barking Chihuahua, or the kid on the bike wising by with out a a care in the world, or the imaginary horse eating monster that no one else can see. You get the idea.  

When I first acquired Rio he was a green coming six year old. And, when I say green I'm not exaggerating . We used to go around the ring with our head in the air looking more like a giraffe then a horse looking at everything and pulling every stop in the book to avoid any real work. We used to spook on a regular basis sometimes sitting down like a dog in the process. New things always triggered disaster.

In the past few weekends I've out and down the road by myself relaxed (for the most part) and enjoying the ride going a mile and a half all on our own. And, I realized in that moment how much my pony has matured and grown up.

I am a super proud momma.

Horse Therapy?

Trying on a friends saddle...

Its quite amazing what the human body can adapt to. I watch my niece learning to walk... and actually learning to walk in general is a pretty tough feet even when you don't have added roadblocks to fight through like hypotonia (low muscle town) in her case; And, I"m truly amazed.

And, then I look at my own history and what I've overcome, and how my body has adapted to life's activities with out me really even realizing it.

There's a lot of similarities between my niece and I. We were both born premature. We were both born posteriorly (face up as apposed to the normal face down position).  We both had some abnormal muscle tone, and neither of us crawled. 30+ years ago they didn't have the medical knowledge they do today. It was labeled developmental delay because I was 10 weeks premie. I eventually caught up with my milestones, and aside from some fine motor issues due to week shoulder and girth muscles and some mild scoliosis that has affected overall body alignment,   I never really felt that I was different or that anything held me back.

Its funny that at almost 32 years of age horses and riding are forcing me to realize just how much the things I was born with have affected the way my body moves, and works. I've been in denial for a while... I'd had doctors ask me about back pain as an adult because apparently I am far enough out of alignment in my hips that it "should" be causing me some pain, and it became more apparent to me when my sister moved my feet into proper alignment to complete an exercise during a work out and I actually felt off balance standing correctly because I had become so used to standing incorrectly.

My riding lesson this week was just one more confirmation of just how much my body has incorrectly adapted itself to be able to do daily activities despite being out of alignment & having weaker muscles.

Because I want to start jumping more we've been trying different saddles on Rio. Riding in my dressage saddle I've felt slightly off center, and uneven in my stirrups despite the stirrups being very much even. I chalked it up to the fact the saddle needs to be reflocked and was sitting uneven. When I started riding in other saddles and realized the off balance feeling was not limited to my dressage saddle the thought popped into my head that perhaps I was sitting unevenly because of the way my hips are misaligned. When I pointed this out to my trainer she confirmed that I do tend to ride with more weight on one seat bone and let my right shoulder collapse in, sitting lower then the left shoulder. On that same right side I have much harder time keeping my leg position and heel down position required to have a good anchored seat in the saddle. When we work to the left I have a bad habit of picking up the wrong diagonal so much so that I know when I'm actually on the right diagonal because I feel out of sync with the horse's movements.... what an odd concept.

An even more interesting concept to me though, was how much my habits as a rider have affected Rio. He tends to favor my good side when we ride, and struggles more on the side that is more difficult for me. When the chiropractor adjusted him at one point last year she mentioned that he had more muscle development on one side of his back then the other. And, when we were trying on saddles they consistently fit better on one side over the other because of the amount of muscled development on each side, and the difference in his shoulder alignment. The more I look at it the more I realize these things are definitely not a coincidence.  He's developed in this way because of how I ride.

My trainer, of course was quick to point out that they use horses for physical therapy for exactly this reason. Their gait mimics natural walking movement for riders with more sever disabilities. It's going to take a lot of work to retrain my brain and muscles to ride in a correct position, but riding offers a really unique, and natural way of working on my issues that will only benefit me in every aspect of my life.  Having a personal trainer and doing some weight resistance training is also helping. Yes the horse is an expensive investment BUT, hey he's my councilor, and now he's my physical therapist as well.

I hope with all my heart my niece doesn't face anymore struggles in her life, that she achieves everything she wants in life... but that doesn't mean I won't use this to convince my sister to let me get her on a pony as soon as possible...

What Do You Feed Your Horse?

What do you feed?

Lets play a game... who actually reads my blog? For the most part I write mainly to to document my life with my horse for myself, but occasionally it turns out to be a good way to get some feed back.

Todays topic? Equine Nutrition.

I've had horses in a variety of settings for 2/3'rds of my life... that's over 20 years for those who want to date me... I won't actually put out there how old I am getting... yikes. One major thing I've noticed since coming here to Central Florida is that compared to other states and even other areas of Florida, feeding a horse in Central Florida is particularly expensive, a lot of horse barns (unless you're at an $800 a month show barn and sadly sometimes even then) do one of two things to save money. One, they skimp on feed and are ok with a horse who has a body conditioning score of 3 or 4 (go here to see what I'm talking about with regards to a BC Score) OR they feed crappy feed. I've been in four barns in three years since moving here and been at both types of barns.

I've never had to worry about these problems until I moved to Sanford. When I had my horse on my own property in Colorado I fed close to a bale of T&A a day and grain if needed and kept my expenses to $150/horse roughly a month. At the bigger boarding barns you payed a fixed rate and the horse got what they needed regardless of how much or how little the amount was. I think the least I paid for boarding was $150 (pasture) $250 (stall) and the  most I ever paid was $350 for a stall with T&A, grain, shavings and full care.

Our most recent move has turned into a major headache, but at the moment I don't have an affordable alternative so here I sit trying to make the best out of the situation. Rio initially lost weight for a couple of reasons. One, he was put into heavier work being ridden 4-5 hours a week W/T/C and occasionally jumping as opposed to a weekly trail ride. 2. He was sharing his paddock with a food aggressive horse. And, 3. H went from eating 24/7 on a round bale or pasture his whole life to eating a fixed diet that was really not enough given his increased work load.

At his thinest I would have put him at a 3.5 BC. He's now what I would consider a 4 maybe a 4.5 after adding extra hay to his diet and increasing his grain intake. While he is maintaining at that level he's stalled in gaining, and I still see a difference in his energy levels so I'm now looking at further changing his feed. I'm looking for the most cost effective way to give him a quality diet long term and to help him gain a little more weight through his top line and neck.

Rio - working with my trainer

He's currently getting 2 good size flakes of T&A & 4 quarts of Safe Choice pelleted feed twice a day.

I would rather increase hay then grain, but T&A is so expensive here that its difficult to add too much more with out going well over my budget. Feeding coastal requires feeding so much more coastal then T&A to maintain his weight that it doesn't end up being that much more cost effective unless you're feeding round bales. Why not get a round bale? A. He is a big waister of hay when I feed off a round bale. B. most places won't deliver to where I'm at because its hard to get a big truck or trailer onto the property. C. A round bale won't fit through his current paddock gate and moving him to an alternate paddock means he looses shade and shelter that is ideal in his current paddock.

I've also looked at feeding alternative supplements like beat pulp or alfalfa cubes, but unless I want to be responsible for soaking and feeding the beat pulp or alfalfa cubes twice a day this is pretty much impossible. The Barn Owner doesn't want to take the time to soak feed, and my schedule is so hectic that I would be lucky to get there once a day.

So my current solution? Buy a few extra bales of coastal so that I can add a flake or two more hay to his diet and change to a feed with a higher get/protein content. Which is where you come in... if anybody takes the time to read and respond to the blog that is (which I would really appreciate!).

I'm looking at different feeds and trying to make a decision between them. I'm looking at content of the feeds hoping to find something that is not too much above a 12% protein content, but that has a high fat content. I'd prefer to stay away from high sugar/starch based feeds, and from anything that has corn as the number one ingredient.

So far I've narrowed it down to the following...

Purina Products

Ultium - currently my top pick I think

Southern States Products

Legends Performance
Triple Crown Senior
Triple Crown Training

Nutrina Products

XTN
Safe Choice Perform
Safe Choice Original - what he currently gets

My questions are many, but I'll try to keep it short. Has anybody used any of these with success for gaining/maintaining weight on a horse in moderate or above work? Are there any that I should know to stay away from for whatever reason? What's better, textured or pelleted? I like the TC feeds, but they are textured and I've heard that textured feeds are not as easily digestible??? Safe Choice Original that he's currently on has a protein content of 14% and a fat content of 7%. All the other feeds range between a 12-14% protein content & have an 8%-12% fat content. Should I look at adding weight builder or similar supplements into his diet or will bumping his fat content up by 5% really make that big of a difference? How do the different products compare price wise in this area?

Note that, yes, he had his teeth floated in April. Yes he had normal blood work panels done at that same time. Yes, he is wormed on a rotation on a regular basis. He has no known health problems. The one thing I have not ruled out, but will call a vet for if a change in feed doesn't help, are ulcers.

No he is not extremely thin, but my trainer, and vet do agree with me he does need some weight.

Suggestions that I haven't listed are more then welcome!

Check out the most awesome Fergus...