5/7/08 Conditioning hack around the block before breakfast. Fun...

5/6/08 Beauty shop. Nope, never going to be able to do that bridle path with a clipper...

5/5/08 School at Walnut Creek. He did excellently. I did pretty well too, but need to keep my upper body up through the triple.

5/4/08 Conditioning ride with a fair amount of transitions within the canter and lead changes. He did very well.

4/30/08 Dressage work in the arena. I did all the Prelim test stuff, though not the whole test at once. He just gets better all the time.

4/28/08 Four mile hack. After a trot warmup, did a lot of work in rebalancing the canter. The first few transitions back from gallop to a more collected canter were quite craptastic, but it got better. Lots of fun.

4/24/08 Took Eddie to speak at the Purina Horse Owner's Workshop in Nevada. Because of the mud we couldn't work outside in the arena, but we did a talk in the concrete arena. He stood better than I expected he would and we both had a good time.

4/22/08 3 mile road hack with some galloping after a long slow warmup. He did quite well, though not terribly fit.

4/21/08 I went to the USEA Instructor Certification Program dressage training this weekend and learned scads. I gave myself a private lesson which resulted in me shortening my stirrups one hole which made a huge difference. I made some other changes and had a great school. Awesome.

4/17/08 Evening hack. The footing was excellent in the field so we had a nice trot and canter fest, with quite a few lead changes, which he can do well in gallop now, but harder in canter. He needs more fitness before Longview in 3 weeks...

4/08 Horse Fair. Did a jumping demonstration that went very well. He was a little looky in the indoor at first, but he trusted me and went forward anyway and kept his mind on the task at hand.

4/9/08 Morning hack. The severe weather awareness week practice tornado siren went off when we were just a few minutes in to it. I thought it was the noon whistle and had no watch on. I thought I had to get in to go to another obligation. He was very slightly unsound on that left front yet, even though he was reshod on Sunday. Got home and turned him out and he looked quite good.

4/7/08 Schooled at Longview. I don't know if I have mentioned lately that I love this horse and am very grateful for the honor of knowing him, let alone riding him. He was a rock superstar today. We schooled the Prelim fences, including the trakehner with the huge ditch underneath it followed by the skinny, the one stride drop into water with the additional jump in the water, the bank, lots of skinnies. He was stellar. He lost a shoe yesterday and my farrier could not get out to fix it, so we schooled missing a left front shoe, which, due to soft footing was fine for the first 45 minutes, but eventually caught up with us in him being ever so slightly off on it. We suspect he got a stone bruise in the water complex. We quit immediately and he looked great getting off the trailer at home. George came out and put a new shoe on him tonight and I suspect he will be just fine. It cut our schooling slightly short, but we got all the major questions covered.

4/2/08 3.5 mile road hack. He started out rather sedate in a relaxed trot, but when we got to the place that we usually gallop, he was all about it. We had a very nice gallop of it and some nice lead change work on the way home. Fun.

4/1/08 Dressage school. Much work on counter canter and trot lengthenings. For Eddie, one is fun, one is not. I will let you guess. Coming along though.

3/30/08 Hack around the block. Lots of fun trot work and three short canter sets. Huge fun for both of us.

3/26/08 Went for a hack. Had some very nice trot work, but canter work was too much of a gallop fest to be characterized as "nice". Reminds me of the Tina Turner intro to Rollin' on the River. "We don't do anything nice and easy." But it was great fun and he really was polite. Had some clean lead changes too. Woohoo.

3/20/08 Eddie is getting tired of the mud. He was glad to come in for a brushing and scraping of his hooves. Worked in the arena, started out with walk lateral work, then on to trot lateral work, then canter spiral in and out and counter canter. Counter canter 20 m circle and then back to trot lateral work and lengthening, with appropriate stretch breaks throughout. Ended with walk lateral work. Very good man.

3/18/08 Took Eddie out on a road hack. Great footing. Meant to go only two miles, but he was so dang happy to go that I had to let him go about 4. We had a wonderful gallop, during which he was borderline impolite due to the sheer joy of galloping on good footing. I had to laugh. Big wonderful trot on the way home and then walk the last half mile. Great fun.

3/16/08 Walk warmup with shoulder in, leg yield and half pass, trot work much the same and getting softer. Some very nice canter work with that kind of warmup. Did some counter canter work and I think he might have actually taken a breath in counter canter which is a new development. Roll in the sand and cookies. Very good.

3/15/08 Finally decent footing in the outdoor. Did some slow lateral work and then on to canter and counter canter, which is haaaaard. He did very well.

2/22/08 I missed a few days in here, but all sessions have been short due to the footing and weather. He got his shoes on, I think to his delight, today. I had taken them off for the winter, but time to put them back on. We went for a pasture hack and it was treacherous, so we only walked and trotted, (ok, we cantered, but don't tell my mom). Then we came in and worked around the willow tree as we have been. We did a lot of transitions within the canter and softening and relaxing in trot and canter and he did well. What a delightful horse.

2/13/08 Rode in the afternoon with the sun setting in the west. It was around 20 degrees which felt warm, and no wind. We walked around the pasture, which, it turns out, is still quite icy. The south gate had a new drift around it, (and no time to dig it out before dark) so no going out. We worked in the same 20 m circle we did a few weeks ago, around the willow tree. It was fabulous. Eddie was delighted to be working and couldn't have gone better. I was just delighted in him and grateful. Lovely trot, canter transitions, canter, walk, shoulder in, leg yield, all there. We didn't work long in any gait because he is pretty unfit, but man it was great.

2/9/08 Jay was kind enough to help me dig out the south gate out of the pasture, which was a job. I tacked up Eddie and we went for a hack in the stiffening wind of an approaching cold front. It was sunny, though, so acceptable. He was, shall we say, exuberant, but well behaved. Pulled to make every trot an extended trot and every canter a gallop. I was not help to his exuberance as it was pretty danged fun so I went with it. Just a short hack, mabye 15 minutes, but great fun.

1/26/08 Billie groomed him up while I rode Speck. Ed was quite the pill in the cross ties, flipping his head about and being generally twitchy. But I got on and rode and he was very relaxed on his walk in the icy pasture and then produced some lovely work in the 20m circle of ground I found that is relatively ice free. It was wonderful to be back in the tack.

1/6/08 Finally a break in the weather! It thawed enough that the footing was at least not treacherous. I let Billie ride him at a walk on a leadrope, learning about the aids. He was very good. Then I got on and rode him for about 10 minutes in the snow, which was great fun. He felt wonderful, but the footing is still not good enough to be half serious. But still, it was great.

Ed and Camie through the water complex at the 2007 Area IV Preliminary Championships

12/20/07 38 degrees and desperate to ride Eddie despite horrible footing. So went for a walk in the pasture and around the arena. When we tried to sneak in a little canter, he nearly slipped and fell on some ice. Pblblblblbt. A little more walking and done for the day.

12/7/07 Eddie stayed in a few days after the last log entry. Also spike a 103 degree fever. Bute, rest, kisses, more rest, kisses, bute etc and he got over it. Then he had a week or so off due to ice everywhere. Had a dressage lesson with Marin today and worked on keeping my sternum down, which sounds weird, but it is amazing and it works. Eddie loved it. Need to work on slowing everything down, walk, trot and canter. Me as much as him.

11/26/07 Eddie didn't finish his grain this morning and wasn't all that interested in hay. Loose stool, 102 temp tonight. He did eat some grain and some hay and drank some water. Looks a little under the weather. Many kisses, ate some baby carrots.

11/20/07 Sarcoid continuing to headl well. Blanket on tonight due to windy and cold weather ahead.

11/15/07 The outer covering on the sarcoid peeled off tonight and there is nice pink healing stuff underneath it. No longer oogie. Yay. I took him for a hack to see if he would cough and he did have two coughing spells, but the passed quickly. Had some nice work too.

11/14/07 He was coughing a bit yesterday when Jay was riding him and Jay said again tonight that he was coughing when he was running around the pasture. Hmm... The sarcoid is drying up and the skin flap I bet will fall off tomorrow. Oogrific.

11/13/07 Yeah yeah, still oogie. Jay rode him tonight in preparation for hunting him this weekend. Jay figured out that the outside rein is key. Cool.

11/12/07 Oogtastic. Yoinks. Doesn't seem to bother him too much, though.

11/7/07 Put the Xxterra on today which inspired it to now ooze stuff at a slight greater rate. Delightful. Still a cookie monster.

11/6/07 The crustiness continues and tomorrow we are back to putting more Xxterra on. Ooooooogie. He is a serious cookies beggar t oday.

11/4/07 The sarcoid has a crusty scale to it and is starting to peel ver slightly. Quite oogie.

11/2/07 I've been treating his sarcoid on his neck with Xxterra, an herbal remedy my vet reccomended. Today is teh fourth day of it and he has a swelling around the sarcoid that is about a cm above the surrounding tissue. Now he gets 4 days off it and then four days back on, and we are to expect some "sloughing". Yikes. He says it is a bit owie, but not terribly bad. I rode him tonight just to see how he would feel and he says he feels fine. Had a lot of trot work, but with him that never lasts long, so we had some canter and trot work too.

10/31/07 Still some nasal discharge, but not green and less of it. We went for a nice walking hack, which was ok for about 15 minutes and then he said it was time to trot. And canter. Ok, I went with it and near the end we did some work on bringing his hind feet under and withers up, which went reasonably well. And when we had that, flying changes were easier. Very good. Update about the championships:

Long story short, Sauvage bumped his stifle and hind fetlocks when he fell on his butt turning to unload from the trailer.  He didn't go all the way down on his front.   He is recovering well, but we withdrew him before dressage as he was not sound.   We were sad and he was disappointed, but eventing requires that we learn to accept that these things happen.  He got the best care over the weekend, lots of cookies and grass walks and stall rest and he looked quite good tonight, which is both exasperating and wonderful.

Ed was a peach in dressage (35 pp, tied for 4th in the  Prelim Championships), jumping fault free on xc on a pretty stiff course (he was THE MAN), but had 3.6 time penalties to stay in fourth, within a rail of first.  His rider went useless on the first half of the showjumping course and we pulled 4 rails.  No time faults though, and a lot of other  people had rails, too, so we ended up a respectable 6th.  I learned a lot and had a blast.  Ryan ended up 6th in ON.  Jay was fabulous help and good company.  

Thanks all for your kind support.  It means a lot!  :-)

10/30/07 Slight green discharge from his nose in the morning. Hopefully it is some inhaled hay rather than something he picked up at the horse trial. He ate well tonight and does not have a fever, so I am intending for the best.

10/26-28/07. Eddie finished 6th in the Area IV Preliminary Championships. Much more detail and video/pictures to come. We are very psyched.

10/25/07 Jump school with Kyle Dwar at MLF. I need to get stronger in my trot position and also really focus on getting his hind feet under him. Eddie did excellently.

10/24/07 Conditioning hack and a little jump school. Felt good.

10/23/07 Dressage school. I incorported Marina's comments, much to Ed's delight. He was soft, relaxed and breathing. It was fabulous. As Einstein says, "God is in the details." Eddie just says he likes more release. yay.

10/22/07 Trimmed him up for the weekend. Had a mild tiz when I was crossing in front of him with the clippers on. He thought I was going to trim his ears or bridle path, which is NOT ALLOWED. He jumped back and snorted. Ok Ed, I'll use the scissors, ya big nut. He was fine for that.

10/21/07 Dressage lesson with Marina. She rode him to start out with because I felt like the half halt was not coming through. When she rode him she said his work is "quite correct" just needs to be tightened up. That was great to hear. I need to always think about asking him to bend his hind legs under and to fold. Also, in canter I need to follow more. In trot I need to get him over his back legs and then release so that he learns to carry himself. I need to hold my core in downward transitions to help him balance. When coming to stop think even in his hind legs, even under my seat, even in the reins and when all that is true, halt.

10/18/07 Missed a couple dressage schools in here, which went well. Today went around the block, with a lot of trot and canter. He is a galloping fool on the grass. What a nut. Love him.

10/11/07 Very nice dressage school. Horsie goes so well when Camie actually supports with her outside rein. Amazing.

10/10/07 I missed some entries in here, but he got to hunt last night. It was time for a conditioning ride anyway, and what better way to condition than foxhunting? He had a wonderful time. Eddie likes hunting.

9/28/07 Early morning gallop on the perfect footing of the harvested soybeans. We had a lovely time of it.

9/26/07 Dressage school, Went very well. Halfhalts are our friends. He is just fabulous.

9/24/07 Schooled at Margaret's focusing on the skinny triple brushes, which he did fabulously. What a good man!

9/20/07 Late report. We competed at the AECs where he was stellar (except he forgot how to flat-footed walk in dressage and that cost us a bit, whoops.) We ended up 22nd, which, considering the competition, is not too shabby. The rail he pulled in stadium was rider error. Whoops, don't push the tb at the wishing well. Video to come. Anyway, had a great dressage school tonight. What an amazing horse.

Early September: much work on dressage and flying lead changes.

8/30/07 Excellent dressage school. We are qualified and entered in the American Eventing Championships in the middle of next month. There are 51 people in my division at training level. The winner will finish on their dressage score, so it is important to do well there. He was very good and we had fun.

8/23-26 Heritage Park Horse Trial. Moved up to Prelim. Got there late on Friday so didn't have a chance to hack out. Paid for it with a (deservedly scored) 43. However, had a smashing good time with a double clear xc and showjumping run. Eddie was fabulous and saved my bacon a few times. Ended up 2nd. I'm exhausted, but delighted!

8/22/07 XC school. Went very well.

8/20/07 Dressage school. Worked on riding "Up to Heaven" in canter as Walter Zettl says. Works really well. Some very nice work in general.

8/17/07 Hacked around the block for conditioning. He did very well and had fun.

8/16/07 Conditioning trail hack while interviewing prospective working student who was riding Claude. Eddie had a blast and we all had a nice time. Almost forgot, video from Maui Jim:

8/15/07 Lesson with Kyle at Maffit Lake. We did bounces and a short course. We talked about rounding and balancing him and coming in a lot slower to fences. Eddie jumped well.

8/10/07 Dressage school in the morning when just starting to get hot. Worked on lengthening, which works much better when I get him coming from behind. Canter work coming right along.

8/8/07 4 mile conditioning hack on which we got caught in a downpour. It was way more fun than it should have been and the rain helped keep his heat down.

8/2/07 Morning ride. It was going to be a conditioning ride, but in light of the very high humidity, I changed my mind to thinking about just a fun hack. Eddie had different ideas. He felt fit and raring to go, so we had a very fast hack and some trot hill work. He was a delight.

7/31/07 Dressage school. Had some very nice work when he let go in his neck and I was soft and following with my back. He is just a delight.

7/29/07 School at Trott Brook. Eddie was a star, jumping things that in the past I had considered big. He made them feel easy. What a good man!

7/27/07 4 mile hack around the block. The air was quite thick with humidity so it was pretty hard. The footing was good though as we rec'd 0.8" last night. He did very well and had a rinse and roll at the end.

7/25/07 Note to self: if you accidently add 2 extra feet to the distance between a 3'3" vertical and the subsequent slightly uphill 3'6" square oxer one stride behind it, horsie will really have to stretch to make the distance. He will try, and he will make it, but if he has to stretch hard and he pulls a rail, remeasure. To my credit, at least I figured it out right away and then it went fine. He's jumping great. How thankful I am for Eddie.

7/23/07 Short hack and then dressage school. He did extremely well and I am working on swinging in my hips. Really works when I focus on it.

7/20/07 Dressage lesson with Marina. I took my test and comments from Maui Jim for her to read. It was a very good test, with 2 glaring errors, the freewalk and the stretchy circle. I watch the video and I ride with a slightly forked seat (behind the motion just a touch) and that would definitely effect those two movements. So we had a lesson just on my position, no horse work at all, Ed was just the lesson pony so no pressure. She had me ride with my legs ENTIRELY off the horse in walk and canter to get me to loosen up and balance on the horse rather than holding myself there. That was very hard on my butt muscles! Ha! But, it really got things in line in my body. By the end I had some very good swing and follow in my hips. We also worked on me keepin gmy fingers closed, looking between the horse's ears (rather than inside the circle) and stretching from hip to rib cage. Lots of thing to work on and great results!

7/19/07 Very humid and no wind. 2 mile road hack, but I ended there since I didn't want him to overheat. Fun.

7/17/07 He won the Training Rider division at Maui Jim Horse Trial last weekend. 31.5 in dressage, double clear xc and showjumping. XC was very difficult, but he made it feel easy. He was a dang star. Gave him Monday off. Went on a conditioning hack around the block to improve his level of fitness for his move up to prelim at the end of next month. I am more thankful for him every day.

7/10/07 Dressage school. Worked on having him follow my seat in lengthening to maintain tempo. Went well.

7/7-8/07 Schooled on Saturday around the Prelim course at Heritage Park. He did excellently and Jay was an incredible help. Sunday did the One Day Horse Trial at Prelim and earned a 34 on the dressage test, pulled one rail in stadium, but made the biggish course look easy otherwise, and absolutely SMOKED around xc to come in 3 seconds under optimum time, and had a lot of fun doing it. He won his division by a wide margin. I am thrilled.

7/5/07 After and trot and canter warmup, we did some jumping, which went well, so moved on to schooling the bounce. I rode like a weenie the first time (when I had made the out be a stadium jump, and he put a stride in. I got my mojo going and then it went perfectly. Much more forward was needed. Ended with bouncing the rolltops, which was WAY way too much fun.

7/3/07 Conditioning day haiku:

Seventeen hand corn
leaves flow fast over stirrups
joyful thoroughbred

6/28/07 Morning hill work session with some nice galloping sets thrown in. Great fun.

6/27/07 Went for an easy trail ride, being ridden by Kristen's sister MFH Jenny. HE was a perfect gentleman.

6/21/07 went for a conditioning hack with some hill work. He did very well and really got into it. He likes to move... Great fun.

6/19/07 Had a wonderful jump school. Footing was great as we got some rain yesterday. The oxer that used to scare me silly has become just a delight to ride with Eddie. We did the trakehner just fine (yay!) and the 3'8" log pile, the triple, the roll top and a max showjumping oxer. If I get a chance this week, I'd like to do the bounce rollops before the clinic with Buck this weekend.

6/17/07 Yes, had a week off, but that's ok as he fools around enough in the pasture to keep some basic fitness in tact. Went for a 4 mile hack in the heat and he felt excellent. Huge fun. Did some hill work too.

6/9-10/07 Eddie won Hill n Hound Horse Trial at Training Level with more than a rail in hand. I will post more and video, when it is edited. I am extremely pleased with his performance, but also see places where we can improve. He's just a really wonderful horse.

6/7/07 Very nice dressage school. Amazing how well the horse goes when given a release often...

6/6/07 Morning jump school. Very clever through the triple despite the fact that it had been, unbeknownst to me, moved slightly for mowing, so the distance was about 2' off. He was also good when I fixed it. Some flying changes. Yay.

6/5/07 Morning dressage ride. Went well. Some flying change.

6/2/07 Jay rode Eddie in the hunter pace at Cedar Run. They both had a blast.

5/31/07 I'm pretty psyched. We had been working on simple lead changes on a figure 8 during most rides over the last month in an effort to eventually transition to flying changes on a figure 8. Today the simple changes were getting down to one or two trot steps so after a warmup I asked for a flying change. The first few were not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, there was a fair amount of cow cantering going on, but with encouragement, in a few minutes, he did several correct, if exuberant and some what vertical lead changes. Woohoo!

5/30/07 Hack to the hilly field and work on strengthening behind by going up and down it. Had Claude in pony position and both were very good. Lots of fun.

5/24/07 Missed several rides in the training log here, but today I took him for a 4 mile conditioning hack. Lots of trotting and then, in the middle, a mile of gallop on the perfect turf of the Heart of Iowa Trail. That horse can fly and he loves it. I wonder how fast he can go without me on him to slow him down! Today is my 40th birthday, and what a lovely way to spend part of it, flying with my horsie! Thank you Eddie.

5/19/07 4 mile hack with lots of simple lead changes for strength and in prep for flying change coming soon!

5/18/07 Dressage lesson with Marina. Did 10 m figure 8 in trot and really tuned into accuracy. Then did the "bow tie"exercise, which has so many variations as to be an excellent training skill. Then on to canter serpentines with 10 m canter circles, then 10 m walk the other way, then 10 m walk the first way then the next loop of the serpentine. Tremendous diagnostic. General notes, I need to be more mindful with my upper body and more patient in downward transitions, supporting with leg aids.

5/16/07 Hill work at the neighbors. Went very well, despite the barking St. Bernard... :-)

5/12-13 Horse trial at Longview. Dressage was fairly blech and indicative of the fact that I need to ride him more to help with his strength and flexibility. XC was successful and super fun. Showjumping was not so fabulous--two rails and due to the same difficulties we had in dressage. This rests firmly on my shoulders and I am very pleased with how Eddie performed, considering the circumstances. Ended up 5th, not bad for a first outing at T level.

5/6/07 Schooling HT at Catalpa Corner. We entered P/T which means prelim dressage and showjumping and training level xc. He did a nice dressage test to earn only 36 penalties and jumped around the showjumping course with only one rail at the C element of the triple. He smoked confidently around XC to win the level. What a star!

5/5/07 Schooled a bit while leading a xc schooling. He was fabulous.

5/2/07 Practiced Prelim test A for this weekend. Fun test and Eddie did well. Lengthenings not strong yet and some difficulty in transitions within the canter, but we can shine a few things up and do fine this weekend. He was very good. Long term we will work on strengthening for lengthenings. I made a rhyme. I are a poet. (and also a little punchy apparently...)

4/30/07 Warm up in the arena for a morning jump school. Did the Becky Holder canter exercise (canter right lead, stop, turn on forehand, other lead, repeat) which really got him underneath himself. Very cool. Then over the skinny for warmup and then through the triple, which we are a little fast with yet, but coming along. Ended up doing the triple to a sweeping right to a 3'6" square oxer. The Ed horse can fly. Wow. Fun.

4/28/07 Took a hack around the block Much big trotting and feeling excellent. We galloped the 2nd mile and we were both loving it. Then trot the mile and a half home. Great fun.

4/24/07 Dragged my butt out of bed to ride in the early morning before the rain hit around 8. It was tough getting up, but so worth it to ride. Did some trail riding and big trotting and had some nice canter work. Also an "I feel good" tiny rear and snort. What a goofyball.

4/22/07 Went on what was going to be a nice easy trailride, but then we viewed a f ox (no kidding!) 50 yards behind our house so of course had to give chase. Eddie was definitely in to it and we had a blast. Perfect footing. Then went trotting and cantering around in the fields and then had a xc school in the pasture. It was lots of fun for both of us.

4/13-15 Burwell. He was a living star. Maybe a little happy to go in the first few miles of the first day, but other than that, just great. Jumped well, got bonked from behind twice on the hunt and didn't kick, though he had the right. He got a small scratch on his left eye, probably from a bit of hay or something in it. Treating with triple antibiotic.

4/8/07 Missed a few log entries in there. Schooled Eddie at Longview HP. Smoked around the training course and did the prelim bank up and down, coffin, water (including a log in the water) and the picture frame jump. He was stellar and we both had a blast.

3/28/07 Four mile hack by ourselves in the east wind, which is always cause for exuberance. (ironically, his registered name is "Exuberant Image" which actually fits him to a "T"). We had a lovely mile trot after a half mile walk warm up and then a mile canter, working on transitions within the gait, from really moving to a coffin canter and he did pretty well. Then some walk to catch our breath, then a trot home with some work on lengthening and collecting. Very good and great fun.

3/25/07 Road hack with Claude. Great fun.

3/22/07 Dressage school in the arena. Did some walk warm up and then some cantering to let him come through and forward. Several walk/canter transitions which are pretty unbalanced because he is out of condition. Got to start somewhere. Did some trot shoulder in to lengthen with the same result. Technically correct, but not powerful. Much praise for the effort. Good boy.

3/21/07 There is something completely joyous about galloping a good thoroughbred on perfect footing on a breezy spring day. Happy 9th birthday and thanks for the gallop Ed.

3/19/07 Had a lovely dressage school. Footing finally firmed up. He is really growing up.

3/11/07 Took Ed for the 4 mile road hack. Worked in all gaits and did some really fun lengthened trot. He says he feels really good and wants to go Prelim this summer. We have to get through 4 training level events clean first, but our eyes are both on the Prelim prize.

3/10/07 Hunted with Coal Valley Hunt. He was just fabulous. Polite, galloped great, dealt with hounds under his feet, stood on scary ridges, jumped excellently. Fun. What a horse.

3/5/07 Shoes reset. He was very good for the farrier who says that Eddie is a naughty beastie when I am not there to hold him and feed him cookies. My horse, a bit of a prima dona? Um yeah. ;-)

3/4/07 Rode dressage in the pasture. He hadn't been ridden in a while, so we took it slowly and worked on suppleness and relaxation. He did well. Lots of fun. Good horsie.

2/20/07 Beautiful day, but ran out of sunlight to go on a road hack which was about the only decent footing anywhere. So went for a walk in a pasture in the fading light, which was peaceful.

2/18/07 Had the absolute most delightful hack with Ed today. He just feels great and we had some trot work I will not soon forget. He is such a completely free spirit that riding him always make me giggle.

2/11/07 Aboe 30 degrees! Out for a hack. He was very happy to go and a little stuck in his poll, but still a lot of fun. Woohoo.

2/7/07 Still dang cold. Quicktime video of him playing at home.

1/27/07 Hunted at Grand River. Had a great day. An hour and a half in the 22 degrees and wind, but he was a star. Footing was about 3 inches of crusty snow, so nice cushion and good grip. Hounds did well and we got on a perfect run. Not too long to get them all sweated up, but long enough to get the carbon out of the cylinders. Great fun.

1/26/07 Eddie is not a winter fan and today it showed. He was a bit of a pill on a trailride today and I had to lay down the law a little bit about relaxing through his poll and tuning in to my frequency. By the end we had some very through shoulder in and a nicer horsie to ride, but it was work getting there. Monster giddy thoroughbred goof. Gotta love 'em.

1/24/07 I was popping around on Eddie tonight in the pasture doing some dressage work and I was thinking about upper body posture and focusing on stretching up through my torso, especially between my shoulder blades. Just riding along, dum da dum. All of a sudden I was much more solid in the saddle than I have ever been. I am sure there is a connection and leave it to Eddie to help me make the breakthrough. The horse is charmed I tell ya. He had some nice lengthenings and we had some discussion about letting a half halt come through his body. Very good day.

1/23/07 Nice dressage school in the outdoor. There was about 8 inches of soft snow which made it more of a workout than it would have otherwise. Stopped before he got too hot. He did very well.

1/11/07 Trail ride with Katie and Betty. Had a very fun time. He's feeling great.

1/7/07 4 mile hack with some nice gallop and good trot work. Much fun was had by all.

1/5/07 Missed several entries here. Very nice dressage school today. He is getting sick of the never-ending mud out there, but doing well otherwise.

12/29/06 Missed a few rides in here. Today I took him over to do some hill work whiche went well. His push from behind is getting stronger and had some very nice success in getting him to come back up after lengthenings with the help of 10 m circles.

12/15/06 Continuing to work on the exercises that Becky gave us and from Marina. Had a good school tonight working on lengthening to trot, flexibility, canter departs. Had good success in lengthened trot from canter rather than up from working.

12/2-3 Clinic with Becky Holder. Got some very nice exercises to help him in strengthening his canter, bend and get his feet to step under and keep moving. He did exceptionally well.

11/27/06 Obviously I missed a few updates in here, but Ed is doing well. I rode with Marina in early November and he is on the right track, now asking for more engagement in shoulder in, starting travers and getting some good medium trot and more lifted canter. Very exciting. Had a good dressage school tonight too.

11/04-5 Joint Meet. Eddie was a living star. He is growing up and really relaxing and getting hunting. It was a blast.

10/29/06 A lot has gone on this month, including schools with Marina who says our work is correct and gave us some new homework to do, including having a very through mediumish trot be his new working trot to help him strengthen. Canter work is on track. Today was a hunter pace at Walnut Creek. We took Eddie and Betty and had a blast. They both jumped the whoppin trakehner and the skinny weldon's wall very well. It was huge fun!

10/10/06 Dressage school in the bean field in the cold but soft rain. He was a bit of a pill, but we had some nice work at the end.

10/6-8 Briar Fox HT. Eddie was pretty tight on warmup on Friday night, but we goth im settled a little. Before dressage on Saturday I worked with MFH Jim Urban in warmup, and we really got some nice relaxed work out of Ed. Jim is a star. Ed was a little tight in the first few movements of the test, but came along nicely and eventually earned some nice marks at the end of the test including an 8 on his right lead canter circle. He really felt good. Ended up with a 35. Broke the magical 36 mark, that we have been getting all year, no matter what we did: good test, 36; bad test, 36. Oy. He was a star on XC, smoked everything, but his silly rider never even saw fence 15 on the course walk, so we missed it and were eliminated. HA! What a trip! Silly Camie! Got permission to do showjumping on Sunday and he was a distracted ride, but double clear. Good outing.

10/2/06 Beanfield dressage. Really forward, in the bridle and fun. Lots of work on forward and back in trot. Excellent. Some work in canter, but that will be tomorrow's focus.

10/1/06 Did some hill work. He is so much stronger than when we started this effort. It is pretty amazing. We also did a lot of trotting because he figured out the lengthening is fun. He's such a trip.

9/27/06 I've missed a couple schools in here, but he has been doing well. We did some hill work and then came home and did some jumping. He did very well.

9/12/06 Wonderful dressage school. Canter circles of a little smaller size and really sending him forward in trot. We had a fun, productive school.

9/10/06 Schooling HT at TRPC with Kiley. 31.5 in dressage to tie for first, double clear XC, double clear stadium. Tie broke on Eddie's higher collective marks. First place!

9/5-7 I am loaning Eddie to Kylie Robert to show in the TRPC schooling horse trial on Sunday because her horse is injured. They schooled well all three days and will get tomorrow off.

9/1-3 Trott Brook Horse Trial. Novice level. Very nice dressage, good on xc (with a "what's that?" stutter before fence 3, but no refusal) and double clear on showjumping. Finished second. Woohoo!

8/31/06 He was a really fun little pickle on a canter school in the Monsanto plot. The footing there is perfect where they mow between the plots and they think it is amusing that I ride there. Yay.

8/29/06 Wonderful dressage school.

8/26/06 Jay is schooling for training level coming up next weekend. Ed and I were schooling with them, so after warm up, we were doing 3'3". He has quite a left to right drift in the air, but he is jumping well. He took a trip after the oxer, the second element of the triple and from his knees manged to continue out over the third and only take the rail. Impressive. Not fun, mind you, but impressive. He did go through it before that quite well. We did a few jumps after that just to get his confidence back and he did fine.

8/19/06 Eddie has been sound for about 5 days in back to riding during that time. We went for a lesson with Marina at Canterbrooke. It was very useful. We worked on me holding on to my outside rein especially and focusing on being there for him and having good connection. Shoulder in in trot to walk to trot was a very good exercise for me and him. Also did shoulder in, straighten, to medium trot to shoulder in which was very cool. Cavelletti work and canter circles of smaller dimension down to about 14 feet, working again on outside connection and using inside leg during the part of his stride where he comes up and back with his ears naturally. Very good lesson. Learned a lot. Ed was a star.

8/4/06 Better after a few days stall rest. Turned out and still a little off. Hmmmm...

7/30/06 More hosing and bute. Maybe stall rest, deciding.

7/29/06 Unsound on his left hind. Some swelling nd heat above his fetlock. Hosing and bute, hosing and bute.

7/20-26/06 Trail riding in SD's Black Hills. He figured out that flat-footed walking on a long rein is a good passtime. Lots of fun.

7/15-16 School at HP on Saturday. He did excellently around the whole training course. Had a learning curve with the bank and log jump and finished well there. Did great in the water. Bit goofy into the half coffin, but finished well there too. Very pleased with him. Sunday was the ODE. He did well in dressage, but I may have warmed him up too much. He was breathing quickly quickly during the test. It was about 90 degrees with high humidity. I opted not to do stadium with him because of it. He had a great school yesterday and reasonably good dressage and I got some very useful comments from the judge, so that was wonderful. He recovered his P and Rs well after dressage and looked great when he got off the trailer at home.

7/12/06 Rode Eddie with the new Berney Dublin Jumper. First in the indoor with some lateral work, which went well. Then I had to see if the "jump" button works on the saddle so we went out and jumped a few XC things in the pasture. Saddle works fine!

7/10/06 Schooled dressage in the Berney again. Lots of flexibility work and lateral work. He did very well and breathed. Yay!

7/7/06 Got the new Berney saddles! I rode Eddie in the dressage saddle and I like it. I think he does too.

7/4/06 Dressage school. Worked a lot on flexibility and bending. His canter work is coming along too. What an exciting horse!

6/25/06 Novice one day horse trial at Fox River Valley HT. The stabling was entirely not horse friendly (horses couldn't see each other much, if at all and the espresso maker fired up outside about every 4 minutes during the morning) and Eddie hated it. He was quite upset and screaming. When I took him out to ride him, he settle down nicely. Yay. I was always sorry to put him back in a stall though. His dressage warm up was very nice, but when we went in around the ring, he got pretty tight, pretty fast. Bummer. The first part of the test was tight, but it got better. We earned a 36.5 for 5th out of 15 or so. XC was wonderful. He warmed up nicely and relaxed on course and jumped around nicely. Only difficult moment was the second bank which I didn't ride forward to, and we sort of blobbled up it. We were so far under time that we trotted the last two fences, which gave the jump judges a bit of a fright I think. He was stellar in showjumping and went double clear to move up to 2nd. Qualifed for regional championships. Pretty cool. Now to get that dressage worked out. I had a lesson with Marcia Kulak and we worked a lot on my position in keeping my shoulders open. Now I try to channel the erect posture of William Fox Pitt when I do dressage. Miles to go, but coming along!

6/23/06 Dressage day. Lot of work on relaxing the canter. Went well.

6/19/06 Missed some rides in here, but XC school at Walnut Creek. He was very good. Canter balance coming along!

6/11/06 I think I missed a ride in here, but all good. Rode with Marcia Kulak for a 35 minutes private dressage lesson. It was fabulous and I picked up some insight about my riding and how to contine to develop Ed. She is a wizard and Ed and I produced some very nice work. Yay!

6/3-4/06 Schooled at Heritage Park in KC. We warmed up and then rode the Novice course like we would in competition, just one jump after another. He had never seen the course before and went around it with only slight hesitation at a poorly mowed ditch, which I couldn't blame him for. Then we went around and schooled some of the training jumps, including the two stride combination drop into water a max cordwood and the trakehner. He did excellently. Sunday was the ODE, but XC was cancelled due to overnight rain. He had the best dressage test (video) of his career to date and earned a 33. Double clear on stadium (video) to finish second to Savauge. Most excellent!

6/2/06 Wormed with oxybendazole.

6/1/06 Dressage school with a short jump school at the end. Worked on him staying balanced in canter and light in the bridle which translated well to jumping. Very good.

5/27/06 School at Catalpa Corner. Jay came out on foot and I rode Eddie out and we schooled the XC course justl like at an event, where we warmed up over some jumps, then went to the start box and rode a course. He was justs excellent. Good man. Photos.

5/24/06 Train ride with Katie Hall up. They both did very well, and when Eddie suggested that jigging was superior to walking, Katie had a vivid example of the value and effect of breathing when atop a horse. Very successful day.

5/21/06 Jump school at Tommy Ghrist's. He did excellently and I learned not to let him get on his forehand in front of the square boat dock. Almost ate it. D'oh! Sorry Eddie. Won't make that mistake again. Otherwise, stellar.

5/20/06 Jump school at the hunter pace course at Cedar Run. I figured out that if I insist that he not be tight in his neck, good things happen. Imagine.

5/17/06 Dressage school. Lots of lateral work and canter transitions. Very good.

5/12-14: Longview Horse Trial: Warmed up well Friday night, did nice dressage other than a few odd moments to be third in his division after dressage. Wobbly at first on XC, but got into the spirit of the thing and went double clear. Moved up to 2nd. Should not have done large warm up circle in showjumping which got him looking at stuff and being unsettled. Pulled two rails in showjumping (one due to him, one due to me) to move to fifth. Some showjumping video. Next outing Fox River Valley in late June.

5/10/06 Little bit of swelling in his fetlock. I think I had the wrap too tight. I took it off and put on a new one and rode and it was much better. Yay.

5/9/06 Dressage school. Went very well.

5/7/06 Proud flesh gone and healing and soundess continues. Yay.

5/4/06 Eddie's cut is healing well, just a little proud flesh to deal with. I rode him tonight and he is fabulously sound and was amazingly attentive considering the time off. Yay!

5/1/06 I couldn't keep Eddie's cut clean during the three days of rain (should have made him deal with stall life during the whole storm, which he would have hated) so his cut is infected. Started penicillin this morning and by this evening, the swelling had already started to subside. Looks like the cut has some proud flesh too. Remarkably he is still sound on it. Wonderhorse.

4/28/06 Cut looks very good. I wrapped it up today in light of the rainy forecast. I want it to stay clean. He was seen cavorting about like a wild thing in the pasture, quite well thank you.

4/26/06 Eddie's cut continues to heal well. Today I took the bandage off to allow it some air to scab over. He is very sound in motion, though he does rest it more than the other one.

4/22/06 Day 4 of the penicillin experience. He is handling it well and the cut, though still ugly, is healing well and he remains sound on it. Now just stay the course. Sheath cleaning in the afternoon.

4/18/06 Brought Eddie and and found a fairly nasty cut on his right hind pastern. A "V" that was through several layers of skin, but not through to items below. Yikes. It was too late to stitch it, otherwise I would have had the vet out to try. It probably happened early this morning. He was sound on it and he allowed me to clean it up and rinse it, dry it and bandage it. Walked the fenceline to see if we could figure out how it happened, though it doesn't necessarily look like a wire cut. Glad he is fine. Thinking I will pick up some penicillin in the morning to keep it infection free.

4/12/06 Hack with much stretching down in trot and asking him to lengthen over his back. He made some real progress. Also some nice withers up canter work. Woohoo.

4/10/06 School at Longview. Eddie was a complete star. Dropped into water, jumped confidently every where else, had fun. Yay!

4/8/06 Trail ride and goof off jumping on a hunt trail ride. He was relaxed and good and even managed to walk flat-footed across the footbridge that he had crossed on a hunt by dratically bounding on it only once. At the end of it we jumped a bending line of three fairly significant coops and though he wobbled at the first one, he did jump it and did fine on the next two. Very good.

4/4/06 Trail hack with a fair amount of stretching at a trot and also plenty of galloping. Yeeha. Eddie approves.

4/2/06 Took Eddie and Savant to the Moingona Hunt Schooling Show where they were both stars. Savant jumped around with aplomb and had a blast. Placed well in several big classes and people loved him of course. Eddie was very good too, and won the Hunter under saddle division championships. Just a little schooling show, but good cheap mileage for both of them. They're in stalls overnight with rain coming down and everything mud out there. I don't know if this will work or not, but here are some short clips that Jay took with his digital still camera with the movie option.

4/1/06 Clinic with Lois Heyerdahl, who, by the way, is a genius. Savant and Eddie were fabulous both in the dressage clinic and when we went out to school. Much too tired to write details now. Video clips to follow after I get some sleep, with happy dreams of good horses.

3/26/06 Trail ride with Jay and Claude. Lots of walking and trotting with some canter. Nice relaxed time. Laked over a log. Fun. :-)

3/24/06 Dressage school. Lots of quiet transition work to help with relaxation. Great results. Some work on shoulder in, bending and lengthening, went very well.

3/22/06 Dressage school. Did a lot of walk halts and trot halts to encourage him to use his hind end. He did very well. Trot leg yield coming along. Good day.

3/18/06 Western Challenge hunt at Grand River. Eddie was extremely good, jumped great, got to gallop really fast and did well and rated well. Woohoo!

3/12/06 Bye hunt at South River. Other than unloading out of the trailer with entirely too much gusto (pulled back on the trailer tie before I could unfasten him, sat down abruptly when it gave, got up and backed off the trailer at about mach2), he was a star. Galloped, jumped, worked well in a group, crossed terrain, jumped things and dealt with hounds like a big boy. Woohoo.

3/11/06 Primp and pose day. Spent a good hour grooming and trimming him. He looks so cute for the hunt tomorrow!

3/10/06 Trail ride. Beautiful day. We worked a lot on him not being tight up to the bit, by asking him to give and then releasing that rein forward when he did. Very nice results. Nice canter work. What a cool horse.

3/9/06 Float and vaccination. Took a lot off his sideworn teeth per usual. Went fine.

3/6/06 Oh my gosh I got to ride Eddie today! I had given him February pretty much off since I had so much going on. Now I have limited horses in training so that I can continue to develop him for eventing. We went on a mile and a half road hack. He was only slightly goofy, which is amazing for a tb with a month off. He had some very nice trot work. He is such a fun horse!

2/7/06 I missed a couple of log entries in here... At any rate, rode today in the indoor, focusing on bending and coming off the inside rein or more precisely, going to the outside rein. He did very well and had some nice half relaxed canter work. Very good!

1/26/06 Ed and I were both in a rare quiet mood so we went on a walk trail ride. Long rein, doing a QH imitation. Lots of fun. When we got home, we both couldn't stand it anymore so we did a jump school, because, how often can you do that in January? Footing was perfect and he did well. Still a little tight to his fences, but coming around. Tomorrow off as he is will probably be sore because we haven't used those muscles in a few months.

1/23/06 Dressage school. I am working on softening my back and being more subtle with leg aids and he is responding well. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes to him.

1/22/06 Trail ride. Eddie did very nicely, with the exception of a few tizzes when asked to stand still. Working on that.

1/20/06 Eddie was excellent on a trail ride today. Seems to do really well when I am thoughtful in using either one rein or the other, not two. Much more relaxed. Yay, yay, yay. Spring eventing is coming and we are on track to have it together by then. Yay.

1/18/06 Oh. My. Goodness. Ed out on a trailride keeping his head about him and breathing. Very good. Wants to get quick in the canter, but walk and trot were quite relaxed. Very good.

1/16/05 Trail ride alone in the windy damp cold. He was kind of a pill, but also had some moments of real relaxation when I asked him to flex and stay mentally with me. Very good day.

1/11/05 Walk trail ride with Courtney on Betty. I left him on a long rein and when he got going too quickly I asked for some bending and he relaxed. It was a very good experience. He did great. Yay!

12/30/05 Took Eddie on a trail ride. He was a pill. Ended up having to seriously dumb it down by doing transitions every 10 strides to give his mind something to focus on rather than thinking of new ways to be a goof. Some success.

12/29/05 What a difference a day makes! Much more rateable. We did a lot of transitions whiche went well. He just needs steady riding and consistent work.

12/28/05 Ed had looked sound for a couple of days. I waited until today to ride him because I didn't want to push him or rather, allow him to push himself, because once you get in the tack with the Ed, it is 100%, says he. He was quite sound and quite full of himself. I tried to let me go on a nice long rein in trot and no go. We ended up doing a lot of trot halt and trot canter transitions. If not, I'd have had the next Gato del Sol on my hands. He was happy to be out and it was fun to play with him again.

12/17/05 Came home from hunting and found him lame on his right hind with a nice scrape on his right hip. I put some udder balm on it to keep it moist in the cold. He is pretty sore, but I think and hope it is just bruising.

12/14/05 Rode him in the pasture working on the same thing as Wednesday. He did very well.

12/12/05 Yes, he has had nearly a month off. Lack of time and some weather problems. Such is the life of the trainer's horse--the plumber's sink is always the last to be fixed. However, Eddie has not been suffering as I have been chatting with him every day and giving him kisses with his meals, so he doesn't feel slighted one bit. The work today went very well. We worked dressage in the pasture, with an emphasis on listening to the outside half halt and staying relaxed in the trot and canter. It went very well and it was nice to be back working him again.

11/10/05 Gave a lesson with flatwork and jumping. He was very good. Tolerant enough to be polite, intolerant enough for the student to figure out what was correct and what wasn't. Brilliant.

11/8/05 Dressage in the mowed corn, which is astonishingly good footing. His canter work is coming along. Then we had a jump school where we tried to carry the good canter work over to the jumping. Some success. Good!

11/7/05 Two mile hack with Jay and Betty. He was pretty dang happy to go, as one would think after having almost a week off. I only asked him to be polite, since he couldn't be blamed for exuberance. It was fun for both of us.

11/1/05 More soybean field dressage (surprise...). Everything is advancing nicely. He is starting to keep the energy in his body rather than letting it "run out his forehead". Did a little more work on travers tonight and had some nice canter work and very good leg yield. Lengthening is developing as he gets more strength. Yay.

10/31/05 Soybean dressage revisited. We are making progress! He is starting to relax even in his canter. What?! Yes, I know, amazing. Lots of shoulder in in trot and serpentines, travers and some lengthening in trot. Almost a stretch in the canter. What?! Yeah, I know, amazing again. I think he likes it too. Much fun.

10/28/05 More soybean field dressage. You'd think it would get boring, but he is really getting into it. Nice relaxed breathing and some stepping under and pushing. We worked on stretching at the canter and stepping under in the canter. He had one minor emotional attack, but it passed quickly. Coming along...

10/27/05 Dressage school in the soybean field. Another very good day with a lot of relaxed breathing and some nice canter departs. A few emotional lock ups, but he is coming out of them more quickly than he used to, and improvement is all we ask. Lots of fun on a beautiful fall day.

10/25/05 Soybean field dressage. We did a lot of figures: serpentines, spiraling in and out on a circle, leg yield, shoulder in, canter departs, lengthenings. Found some resistance, found some very nice work too. Very good.

10/21/05 Much better today! We schooled in the arena because it was after dark (yes, Friday night after dark riding. This is what married riding people do. :-) ). We did a lot of suppling exercises and had some very nice work and some good canter departs. We started elementary trot lengthening tonight by doing shoulder in to an across the diagonal lengthening. We had a few steps or relaxed lengthen. Not a huge one, but on the right track. Some good canter work too. Yay.

10/20/05 School in the pasture. Yikes, he was a ninny. Probably the hunting plus a couple of days off set him off. He was just not balanced and rushing. Probably the cool weather had something to do with it too. I went for a small victory in a reasonably balanced canter for a few strides and let it go for the day.

10/18/05 Though Eddie had the day off, it is of some interest to note that he jumped the 4'6" pipe gate between the pasture and the barnyard tonight. He had been chumming around the pasture with a new horse, and then decided he wanted to get back to his mare Betty. Jay stood in front of the log jump in the fenceline, which Eddie routinely jumps on his own, so that Eddie wouldn't jump it. Eddie simply opted for 15' up hill from the logs and jumped the pipe gate. He scraped his right knee on it a bit, but no lasting harm done. The thing has no groundline of course. I would have been happier had he not scraped his knee but I have to admit it ws fun to watch him jump it since there was no lasting harm. Goofball.

10/15 and 16: Double hunt weekend at Tipton. They were both very hard hunts, with some fast work, lots of jumping and some standing. He was absolutely spectacular, a perfect gentleman who stood still and did everything well. I am extremely pleased. Day off tomorrow.

10/13/05 More "I'm a big boy who can stand still" work. Improving!

10/11/05 Soybean field dressage. We had a discussion about the scary tent cover and then a subsequent one regarding standing still for more than 5 seconds.

10/10/05 Eddie already pulled a front shoe. I will call the farrier. I rode him anyway in the newly harvested soybean field, which is very soft footing. He was a totally nut since he hasn't been ridded in a while. Silly horsie.

10/4/05 Eddie got new shoes on his front feet and they look very good. We'll give him off until Monday the 10th and then start back to work. Yay!

10/1/05 He is quite sound! I will call the farrier and ask him to put some front shoes on and we'll be back in the swing. Yay!

9/27/05 Farrier out. Yep abscess. Dug out the crack a bit and found a small hole. Says that it probably isn't all opened up yet, but he doesn't want to go digging around too much. On the right track with sugardine and soaking and easy boot. Put him out to graze with the group. Came in for evening soak looking fabulous in volunteer trot on soft ground. Still ouchy a bit on hard ground.

9/26/05 A crack has opened up in his sole. He is still quite lame, but I am hoping that the abscess will drain through the crack. More soaking and sugardine and easy boot. He is quite tender so he will stay in the stall overnight.

9/25/05 He was slightly lame on his right front. With no heat in his leg and some sensitivity to tapping with the hoofpick, I suspected abscess. Farrier out on Tuesday, soak and sugardine pack until then.

9/22/05 Pasture dressage. We did a lot of lateral work, focusing on him living within the frame he is presented with and quietly doing upward transitions to canter. We did some jumping over the rolltop which went well. He's a good boy.

9/20/05. Trailride with Jay and Betty. Nice relaxed time.

9/17/05 Hunted at Tipton. Ed was very good leading the Turtle Group, but had some difficulty in standing quietly at checks. Would stand for 40 seconds very nicely and then just jump out of his own skin to the right without warning. Less than Ideal.

9/16/05 Denise, a student, rode Eddie in a lesson. It went very well. Trail ride to follow. Lots of fun.

9/14/05 Eddie led the Turtle Group at a hunt in South River. He was very good, but had a few issues with standing quietly a few times. He got better and better as the hunt went on. Great outing.

9/12/05 Rhonda had done his penicillin shots through the weekend and when we arrived home from hunting, Eddie was improved. I will continue with the penicillin through tomorrow at least. Ed is a less than patient shot receiver...

9/9/05 Started him on penicillin twice a day. He is a real treat to inject--not. All that thoroughbred angst!

9/8/05 Hock still swollen and cut still healing. I think it will be fine as he is sound on it at a trot, but he does choose to rest it more than the other when he is standing around. I think that is due to the contusion more than the cut. Poor dear.

9/5/05: Much to my chagrin, Ed came in with a deep scratch (shallow gash?) on his hock that had some localized swelling. My suspicion is pasture games with the mare. At any rate, he appears sound on it. Cleaned it up and gave him some bute which I will continue for a few days to get the swelling down.

8/30 Very nice dressage school. Lots of lateral work and canter transition work. We also are laying the foundation for flying lead changes with figures of 8 with changes of lead through trot at the intersection. Very good day.

8/27 and 8/29 Jump schools. He is quite quick when in doubt so we worked on
getting him to just give himself time to figure things out by keeping the same
pace. Metronome. The footing was great. We ended up jumping the 2'9" bounce,
the rolltops, the 3'8" log pile, the prelim oxer which he makes feel small, the triple
combination and the huge Intermediate ditch we have. What a fun and talented
horse he is! We had a blast. Hose, roll, cookies and out to graze.

8/24 Comedy of errors kept me off for a while, but we had another very good dressage school today. Yesterday, when we were doing hay, the horses were locked in the pasture. Of course they were all standing, staring at us over the fence, despite the 10 acres of grass they have to eat. All of a sudden I could almost see a light bulb go on over Ed's head. He turned left, did a 5 m trot circle, took 4 trot strides and jumped over the 3'6" log pile jump that separated the pasture from the barnyard! He thought he was quite clever!

8/18 Lovely dressage school in the evening. He is growing up right before my eyes. Even though he is 7, he is really just figuring out how to work all those long levers. We did a lot of walk lateral work and then had some very relaxed lateral work in trot. Coincidence? I think not. Introduced trot travers. Best canter work ever. Wow.

8/16 4.5 mile conditioning hack with Betty and Nicole. Really wanted to gallop but minded his manners like a champ.

8/15 Jump school at Margaret's XC course. He was stellar. The bigger the jumps the better he likes them. Jumped his first trakehner, not well, but successfully and with a lot of praise and also a half coffin with a mighty ditch. Did great!

8/8 4 mile morning hack. Walked the first quarter mile trotted the next 1.5 miles and had a few discussions about staying straight past scary mailboxes. Then we picked up a training level canter on the Heart of Iowa trail. After about 500 m, I allowed him to gallop and he found several gears, one of which was new to me. That horse can really run. He's a machine. I think he is finally coming in to himself. He probably left the track 5 years too soon, lucky for me.

8/4 Jump School in the pasture.  He did very well through the triple after his warm up.  I asked him to jump the 3’6” vertical and he took it down quite decidedly.  It wasn't a question of being able to do the height as much as not having a very clear ground line.  I lowered it to 3’3” and he did ok, but kind of ungainly, which is how I came up with the ground line theory.  He did just swimmingly the rest of the time.

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