Just call *yourself* Martha

Ok kids, here's how to make your own knock-off Pessoa Training Device.

Total cost for today's project was $7 for the rope from WalMart, $4 for the clips at Walmart, and $3 for the towel. I found that buying the rope in bulk at WalMart (or even Home Depot) was cheaper than buying it by the foot.

I tried to take a photo of each step but if anyone needs clarification, let me know.

All of the supplies, minus the towel

Step 1: measure about 40' of rope and cut off any excess. This particular package of rope was 50' long so I cut 10' off. Then I used a lighter to melt the end of the rope where I had cut it. The heat melted the nylon material and that will prevent unraveling in the future.

Find the middle of the rope and slide the spring clip on there.

Step 2: Tie a simple knot behind the spring clip to prevent it from moving in either direction.

Step 3: lay a blanket out on the floor and arrange the rope out on the blanket so you can get a good idea of proportions and sizing. The spring clip that you just tied a knot behind will go on the top of the surcingle just behind the horse's withers. Then the rope should go straight back to just above the horse's hocks, and then straight up to the horse's head. It should look like a backwards "C".

Step 3: Make the padded sleeve to go behind the horse's hocks. Now, there are a million ways you could do this. I found out that just a simple sleeve made from fleece will bunch up. For round 2, I used a towel with rolled-up fleece inside to give it a bit more rigidness.  Make sure to leave an opening that you can thread the rope through.

Step 4: thread the rope through the padded sleeve that you just made. Each end of the rope should pass through in opposite directions from the other end, if that makes sense. You should essentially make a figure 8 with the rope.

Here, one side of the rope has been threaded through, but the other side has not:

Step 5: After you get both ends threaded through the pad, lay everything out neatly so you can see where it's all at. The padded sleeve goes at the back of the horse.

Step 6: Thread the two swivel clips through the front ends, like this:

Step 7: Tie a sliding knot so that the length of the front pieces can be shortened or lengthened.

Close-up of sliding knots:

And that is it!

Now, go get your horse. Put a saddle pad and the surcingle on the horse like so:

That spring clip gets attached to the top of the surcingle:

The rope coming off of the spring clip goes around the horse's hips and then the padded sleeve rests on the tops of the hocks:

Lucy is endlessly patient with me.

You're almost done! Now the front end of the ropes come up the sides of the horse, and you thread the clips through the horse's halter or bit, and then clip them to the sides of the surcingle like this:

If your clips are too big to fit through the halter or bit, you can get two double-ended snaps and do this:

Top spring clip and the other end of the device, the swivel clip, attached to the side of the surcingle:

Again, showing how it all looks in the end

The shorter you make the front part of the device, the more "contact" it will have with your horse's face. You can also rig it in different ways to encourage the horse to stretch/collect/lower or raise the head carriage.

So due to Lauren and Maddy's interest in this gizmo, I am going to leave this one at the barn for them to use, but maybe in the future we will do another giveaway.

Day 3 of the "Pessoa"

Day 1 was better than I expected. Lucy tried her very best to understand how she had to carry herself. She stretched down a couple of times but immediately seemed to lose her balance, and had to catch herself.

Day 2 was an improvement, but she wasn't quite sure enough of herself to really go forward. I also tweaked the rigging a bit so it supported her more.

Day 3, today, was so much better!! I used a lunge whip to encourage her to go a bit more forward and that seemed to help a lot.

Maddy took some photos for me, thanks Maddy!!!

I do need a better solution for this, and I don't particularly want to buy a
girth cover for $30. I know I can make something better, just have to figure
out how to do it! I'm considering using a quilt batting liner to give the tube
some structure so it doesn't get crumpled like this.

I am working on a "how to" post to make one of these. Unfortunately I deleted the photos I had of making the original one, so I will make another one so that I can get photos of it, and then probably do a giveaway. Sound good? ;)

Just Call Me Martha

Lucy's vet wanted her to start lunging in the Pessoa Training System five minutes per day. I don't own one and don't have the budget to go out and spend $200 on one. My barn owner has one and was happy to lend it to me but I figured if I'm going to have to use this thing every single day for the foreseeable future, I should try to get my own.

I had a good look at them online and thought, "you know, these things really aren't that complicated".

I decided to try and make my own. I found some plans online and adapted them slightly, went to Home Depot and WalMart for supplies, and spent about an hour sewing the fleece sleeve to go around her bum, and laying the rig out on the floor against a spare fleece cooler I had at home for sizing. I finished it and stepped back to admire my handiwork. It looked good, and my total cost was about $25! If anyone is interested, I will do a step-by-step post to show you how I made it, but here is the finished result:

This is a video still, hence the bad quality. I hope Kenny can take some photos of her going in it today in the outdoor. But doesn't she look cute? She got the hang of it quickly. I left it fairly loose since this was her first time going in it and I was impressed by her willing attitude! I think she's so happy to have something to DO! :)

Contest Time!

Now that Lucy is back in work-ish, my priorities are to keep her feeling good, and not leave room for any reinjury. This means a careful warm-up each time I take her out to work on the lunge line, and a careful cool-down. I am also using liniment to treat her muscles with, to ensure she does not feel sore.

of course when a big honkin' bomber fly lands on her butt and makes her
 take off like a rocket and pull stunts like this, I can't help but sigh...

My usual go-to product for anything muscle-related is SoreNoMore, but I recently heard about Abraxas Equine (website), a small business specializing in all-natural herb-based horse care products. You can sign up for a free sample on their website, and I love trying out new products. They sent me some of their Hydra-Luxe Liniment, and also some of their Supra Daily Shampoo to try on Lucy. The shampoo is awesome because it is a low-sudsing formula, so it rinses out really easily. A lot of us equate bubbles with cleansing, but honestly, whenever I give Lucy a bath I spend more time getting all of the suds out of her than anything else, and it's frustrating! I don't want to leave any in there, because that would cause skin issues, and I do wish the shampoo rinsed out easier.

The Supra shampoo does just that: cleanses thoroughly and rinses out easily. It is very concentrated, and they recommend putting some in a bucket, adding water, and bathing the horse with the soapy water instead of putting soap directly on the sponge.

As for the liniment, it is Arnica-based and safe to use as a normal liniment, brace, or under wraps. It is the consistency of water, and spreads easily. A little bit seems to go a long way. I have a huge bruise on my wrist and hand that is very sore. I put some of the liniment on there and while it didn't have the immediate effect I usually get when using a liniment, it really soaked in and helped the discomfort, lasting for quite a long time. Today, the area is much less sore. The Hydra-Luxe formula doesn't use any alcohol or menthol to create that cooling effect, but instead focuses on long-term soothing and deep healing. You can read more about the formula on their website here.

Today I tested the shampoo and the liniment out on Lucy. After I lunged her, I cooled her out and then put her in the wash rack.

looking kind of clean, but really very dirty

I followed the directions of the shampoo and put some in a bucket, along with water. I sponged the soapy water onto Lucy and washed her normally. I thought the suds were quite bubbly.

after soap

I rinsed her off and I could immediately tell a difference between this soap and Gallop Shampoo, which is what I normally use. This rinsed right out of her coat and tail, and didn't leave any residue. When I used the sweat scraper to dry her off, the water ran out of her coat clear, without any additional soap that I missed.

I put her out in a grass paddock and let her dry in the sun. I didn't brush her at all and this is how she looked:

When I put her away to eat dinner, I applied the liniment down her spine and to her knees, suspensories, and hocks. She was busy eating dinner and didn't seem bothered by any of it. It smelled nice and felt light and slightly oily on my hands, but not gross. I hope it helps her muscles tonight.

Anyway, I am pretty impressed with this stuff, and no, I didn't get paid to say any of this! If you want to try out samples, check out their website, and if you'd like to win a bottle of liniment or a bottle of shampoo (I have one of each to give away), leave a comment here with your name, email, and which product you'd most like to try! Winners will be chosen randomly on Friday 7/5. Thanks to Abraxas Equine for sponsoring this giveaway!

Progress Check

Today was Lucy's appointment with the vet to check the progress of her healing. I have had many dreams of riding her on the beach and through the woods leading up to today, and I felt very nervous about this appointment. I could have done shockwave or other therapies and I chose not to, mostly for financial reasons. What if I made the wrong choice? What if I should have kept her on stall rest? I just hoped she had improved and that maybe I could ride her soon.

I called the vet at 8:30am to see when they would be out, and the receptionist said that she didn't have the schedule finalized yet, and needed to call me back. Ok, no problem! I went back to work and waited for the call. Two hours passed, which is an exceptionally long time, and then she finally called back. She said that the ultrasound machine was not working correctly, and they couldn't come out today. I was so gutted, I cannot even tell you. I had persuaded my boss to let me work from home today, I had gotten up at the crack of dawn to start work early in case they had to come out first thing this morning, and I had waited three months and spent over $4,000 to get to this point. Not to mention I made this appointment almost a month ago, and the only piece of equipment they needed was the one thing that wasn't working! I was so overwhelmed and upset, but I remained totally polite and said I understood, and agreed to reschedule the appointment. The first date that worked for both of us was two weeks away. I hung up the phone and felt sorry for myself. Did I really have to wait another two weeks? Ugh!

A few minutes later they called back, and said they had been able to swap the machine out with another vet's machine, and they could come out that day! What a relief! After that, I felt shaky and even more nervous for the appointment.

When the vet called to say he was on his way, I rushed over to the barn, brushed her off, and then waited. He first sedated her, and since she was in lala land and he had the ultrasound machine, he checked her ovaries. They are both 100% normal; the one on the right has a huge follicle (so she is in heat right now) and I am pretty sure that we can put that entire thing to rest. Then he clipped her along her spine (bummer) and his assistant cleaned her off really well with alcohol pads so that no dirt got into the ultrasound probe.

getting clipped

They applied gel and then started the ultrasound. As he went along the spine I could see the tissue between the spinus processes: normal, normal, normal, not normal.....ahhh crap, she wasn't healed. He confirmed that he could see the injury, but from the report from Tuft's, it seemed to have healed significantly. It had originally spanned across three vertebra, and now barely stretched along one. So that is great news. However, she will need more time off before I can ride. She is allowed to start lunging, 5 minutes a day and working up from there. She cannot be silly or kick out on the lunge line, and he advised using a Pessoa system or side reins. If she is too hot or crazy, I can give her Ace.

I took her out today on the lunge line, even though I didn't have a Pessoa system, and had her trot around. I didn't give her any Ace because she seemed very chill. She was awesome, and behaved perfectly. She stretched down and trotted out nicely, not getting riled up in the least.

So I am happy she's progressing, but sad that we still have a long time ahead of us before I can ride.

Appropriately, I got the reimbursement cheque back from the insurance today. They covered $3700 of the bill, so yes, insurance is totally worth it. :)

Big Apple Circus

On Saturday, I surprised Kenny with two tickets to the Big Apple Circus. They are in town for two weeks and it has been ages since I've been to the circus, and I was very excited!

They allowed non-flash photography and I was super happy with the photos I got. They had six beautiful Arabians, three grey and three black. The trainer had trained them to alternate colours, and the horses really knew exactly where they had to be! At one point, they were out of order and the black horse that was supposed to be between two of the greys was so so distraught about this. He kept trying to get back into place but got cut off by the six miniature grey ponies going the other direction every time. You could see his ears pinned back, like "I HAVE to get up there!" and as soon as he finagled his way back between the two grey horses, his whole body relaxed and he was obviously very relieved!

Here are some photos:

Chahhhhlie (New England's version of "Charlie")

I had a few nice rides on Mr. Charlie this past week, while Lauren was away. The first was spent just with us getting to know each other. I rode again on Friday and things were a little more smooth. He's a big horse, and very long, and trying to keep his front end up (but not TOO far up!) is a lot of work. He tried hard to do what I asked even though it was very hot and buggy, and he still lacks a lot of muscle to hold himself together with.

We dealt with hives throughout the week, but got them under control on Saturday thanks to a moderate dose of Benadryl. I had never given a horse Benadryl before, but the vet recommended 25mg/100 lbs, and said to give Charlie 10 pills. He's probably more than 1000 pounds, but I preferred to play it safe since he's not my horse, and Lauren was away.

Sunday I rode again, and he was slightly sassy. He got a little bit naughty at the canter, kind of light in his front end and I felt like a rear was very close, so I booted him forward and growled, "KNOCK IT OFF!" and he was like, oh shit I had better behave. After that he was very good! As a cool-down, we walked through the XC course and I showed him the "ditch" jump, which is really two logs buried in the ground, with about 6" of space between them. He flat out refused to go anywhere near this and even popped a little rear, so I kicked him forward and made him take two steps towards it, and then patted him and hopped off. I walked him up to it, let him see it, and then he walked right over it like it was no big deal. We walked over it a few times, me leading him on the ground, and then I got back on and rode him over it. He stepped over like it was just a stick on the ground. What a good boy!

One thing that I worked with him on consistently is learning how to stand at the mounting block. I suspect he knows exactly how to do this, but simply chooses not to, so I decided to prove to him that standing there was really the BEST option he had. He is pretty food-motivated so I used treats to do this. I did it in a few different stages:

-teaching him that when I lead him up to the mounting block and ask him to stop, he needs to wait there patiently, even if I stand and have a 10 minute conversation, or send some text messages on my phone, or sing a little song before I decide to get on. If he moved, I corrected him by backing him up next to the mounting block again. After he stood quietly for a few seconds, I praised him and he got a small treat. He got the hang of this pretty fast. "Oh, so if I stand here and do nothing, I get cookies? COOL!!!"

-teaching him to stand as I walk up the steps of the mounting block. There's nothing worse than getting a horse all lined up with the mounting block, getting halfway up the steps, and having them walk off and drag you off the mounting block! He got the hang of this quickly, also.

-teaching him to stand as I get in the saddle. he likes to walk off as soon as the rider's butt sits down on his back, so basically I stood by his side on the mounting block, and gave him a cookie. I got halfway on, and gave him a cookie. I sat on him but did not put my right foot in the stirrup, and gave him a cookie. I put my foot in the stirrup, and gave him a cookie. This way he wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere, because he figured out that the mounting block is cookie central!

-teaching him to stand as I spend time adjusting my stirrups, fiddling with the reins, making sure my helmet is square on my head, etc. by the time I got to this step, he was happy to stand there all day, so we had no problems here.

Now all these cookies made him a little bit greedy, which I didn't hesitate to discourage. He did not get a cookie when he was frisking me for them. He had to stand politely, not beg, and not be obnoxious. Then the cookie came.

He got better and better with this each ride and I hope he retains it for Lauren!

Here are some photos that Kenny took of my first ride on him. He was a bit distracted and I am super out of shape but we did our best!