Training Log for Savant Brown

8/24-26 Heritage Park horse trial. 34 in dressage which was 7th in a tight division. He was a little tight in his body for some reason, probably because I didn't get a chance to ride him out Friday night because we arrived late due to circumstances beyond my control. Cross country went swimmingly! We had a bit of a bow in his body to fence one, but then he got into the spirit of the things and galloped around like a champ. No time penalties, moved up to 5th. On Sunday he warmed up well, jumped around stadium in a mostly relaxed manner and didn't touch a rail. He finished 3rd! Wonderful good boy and he was proud of himself. He also, throughout the weekend, was polite to the people I had helping me and was generally a good sport. He is now qualified for the regional championships at the end of October at Hill n Hound Horse Trial, an event I was aiming him for anyway. I think we should let him have a shot at it. Afterall, he got 5th his first time out, 3rd his second, the next one will apparently be 1st. :-)

8/22/07 Hauled over a few miles to a friend's for a XC school. He loaded well, traveled well, unloaded well, schooled well (with the notable exception of not wanting to go by the water very early in the session when I was trying to show the dog where the water was for playing, but I had just thrown a leg over the poor guy and he was dropping off a bank into the water later in the session). He jumped very well and then a friend hosed him while I was schooling another horse and then she retied him to the trailer where he stood politely while I schooled the other horse. No, he wasn't perfect, but he had only a few moments of being stuck in his neck and gave the horse and rider who were schooling with me good leads over strange fences. Yay!

8/20/07 Dressage school and he was very good. Some work on half halt, stretchy canter. Soft and relaxed. Then took a walk around the pasture. What was once a major challenge is now what we do for cooling out. What a pleasure.

8/17/07 4.5 mile road and field hack. Did exceptionally well and had some significant amoutn of time being soft in his neck. His canter is even fabulouser (yes, that is now a word) that he is getting more fit. The high fat diet is really kicking in. Had two little meltdowns about large weeds that were grown out into the gravel road, but got over it quickly. Did a mile long hand gallop, which was made easier by the milder weather. He roars pretty loudly of course during it, but held up pretty well.

8/16/07 Distant thunder rumbling as we worked in the outdoor. He did very well. Lots of trot and canter work and softness and general goodness. Yay. Then went for a cooling out walk in the pasture, and when we got to the far end, the skies opened up. Ha! There are worse things than getting caught in the rain on a formerly sassy horsie turned partner.

8/15/07 Some time off here due to the heat and humidity, but back at it today. Went down to Maffit Lake Farm in West Des Moines, and after my lesson with Eddie, S and I went out and schooled their courses. He did really well. He had one minor pushback early, but he got over himself, softened in his neck and jumped everything. Even cranked them up a little bit toward the end and he did great. A garbage truck went by and he kept his cool. It was great. It may be time to start to thinking about having the tie back surgery done, now that he is coming into himself...

8/9/07 Evening ride in the humidity again. We started out in the outdoor with some walk work which is really coming along. Walk is his weakest gait, so improvement there is welcome. Then we went out for a pasture hack and he did well. On the way out of the arena, when I opened the gate, Ed and Speck came in (to roll in the soft sand, always a treat!) and S didn't like having to leave when they were coming in so he pushed back a little, but a moderate boot (without the spur) got the job done nicely. His walk work continued to be good in the pastures and we did a little jumping after we had some canter work. We found some holes that were dug overnight, though, so had to cut it short to fill them before nightfall. Very nice ride though. It is just a treat to have him getting more confident.

8/7/07 Evening ride. Humid as a bathroom after a shower, and storms to the south, but on we went. He was reshod today and I am gratified to have my usual farrier back. (He was out of town for a few weeks). He does a great job. He also put a shoe on his right hind to help protect that breakoff and it looks almost normal unless you get down on your hands and knees and inspect it. His scratches are nearly gone and now I am treating them with my friend Sheri's Not so Sweet Itch remedy and it continues to improve. I am on a mission to have it gone entirely. We worked some dressage in the arena and something is different. He actually was softly chewing the bit at times tonight and I was not having to do serious riding to request it. He never even suggested pushing back. After warmup we worked on flying changes after working on simple changes. I am using the exercises to help him come through from behind and he did very well. Then out to the pasture for a little gallop. On the walk home Peppa the newfoundland came bounding out of the corn and he only jumped a little, like any horse would. Yay! I forgot to mention the best part about Catalpa. When Quincy (trailer mate) was back from xc and being rinsed by his people, S was in his stall and very annoyed at having seen his friend come back and then quickly whisked away to be hosed after he had his tack removed. S was pawing at the stall door and upset. I went in, asked him kindly but firmly to drop his head, and then I stroked his face in long strokes. After about a minute he took a long slow breath and relaxed visibly and then he was fine the rest of the day no matter what the other horse did. It was very humbling. Yay, he is starting to trust people.

8/3-5 Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trial. He settled in nicely on Friday and we went out for a hack. He was a little bit nappy about crossing a footing issue, but he got over it. Then worked very nicely. Had around 34 in dressage, to be fourth on Saturday morning, which I thought was a bit of a rook, but he was a bight tight. (There was a wagon being pulled by two horses near the ring while I rode the test, which upset him and all the horses in warmup, so bad luck there.) XC was fabulous, with a double clear. He was really good and my friends said he looked like he knew his job and liked it. Yay! Showjumping on Sunday was less of a success, but still one. We had a stop at the first fence (scary rolltop painted like a waterfall!), but then he went clean. Dropped to 5th, but still, his first completion at a recognized event! Too hot to write much more. Must sleep.

8/2/07 Beauty shop day. Trimmed the hair on his legs and face, banged tail, shortened mane, trimmed chestnuts and ergots, thorough brushing. He shines up quite nicely. He also got about 10 cookies during the process. He likes beauty shop day...

7/31/07 Out for a hack. The outside layer of hoof below the horizontal crack he had on his right hind hoof has broken off. It looks fairly alarming, but seems to present no problem to him. My farrier is not as impressed with it as I am, so that is good. But with that in mind I didn't want to ride him on the gravel for a conditioning ride today, so we went out the back gate. No ring warmup, just out the gate like a big boy. He had one pushback when closing the gate (from his back) which was unceremoniously overruled and then praise when he went off at a slinging trot down the edge of the soybean field, ears up. He did quite well in letting go in his neck and we went about 2 miles over hill and dale. We crossed the DARK WOODS CREEK CROSSING OF MONSTERS on the way home with only a minor push back. Have to give him a lot of credit, it is dark in there and the grass is tall. Good boy. Rinse, cookies, and out with his pals.

7/30/07 Morning dressage session and also some work on flying changes to help him get engagegd behind. He was a little twitchy about them at first, but by the end he was doing them pretty well. When he was trying to figure it out, at one point, he popped his butt up in back so that he could switch. It was a very clever solution and totally non-threatening. I giggled and he was better the next time. I had both arena gates open so Claude the goofy thoroughbreds could graze the north paddock if they wanted to. Late in the ride, they got the wind in their sails and did a brilliant gallop through the outdoor where S and I were working. S got a little (understandably) upset, but was back with me politely in 3 strides. Fabulous. Fun day.

7/27/07 Off on a trail ride, again like a big boy. No arena warmup, just trot to the end of the driveway, halt to wait for traffic, and cross. This time no push back. Good boy. After the first third mile trot, we did a fair amount of canter, both for fitness and to help him practice staying soft in canter. Went well. Went a mile and a half out on gravel, then came back the back way along the field edges. Did very well, emjoyed himself, and today figured out that hand gallop is FUN. Yay, I've been telling him that for months. Near home, I presented him to the DARK WOODS CREEK CROSSING OF MONSTERS. It is actually a log in the grass that needs to be stepped over, followed by a one foot wide creek (of seasonally varying depth, but flowing well today in light of 0.8" rain last night) and then a short, steep grassy grade immediately beyond. He took a look at it and turned away (scaled down spin). I turned him back and reassured him that he could do it and gave him a confidence boot. He looked at it, considering it, I gave him a pet and another mild boot and he went forward and leaped over the huge raging one foot wide trickle. Much praise for the courage and he was rightfully proud of himself. Hose and cookies at home and out to pasture with his pals.

7/25/07 Some days I have to pinch myself. Not only is he completely all good in the soundness department (pasture bonk, away!), today he was absolutely how he should be to ride. Those thousand years of Belgian breeding are coming to the fore: all power and glory and swing and float, just a few moments of neck tension. Times past the percentages would have been reversed. Did some very nice trot leg yield and shoulder in and canter work. I actually got to engage a few brain cells working on my riding him, focusing on swinging with my seat. When I worked on that, he rewarded me by going even better. Spiral of increasing relaxation all around. Look out Catalpa Corner Horse Trial!

7/23/07 Two mile road hack. No warmup in the arena, just go out like a big boy. We trotted to the end of the driveway and had to stop and wait for passing traffic. When I asked him to go forward again he gave a mild pushback for which he got a "You gotta go!" boot back down the driveway and then off we went just fine. He was great the rest of the ride, including (drumroll please) some walking away from home. (Note to interested readers, walk is the gait he really has trouble staying forward in.) Had some nice canter work where we are working on keeping softness in a hand gallop. Not great at it yet, but improving steadily. In the trot on the way home he felt just a little "dead" on one of his hind legs. Not enough to call unsound, but NQR either. I checked him when I got home and found nothing. Probably just a pasture bonk. Will monitor. Nice cool hosing and roll when we got home.

7/22/07 Working in the arena, focusing on staying soft in his back and throatlatch. Went quite well. Much praise. Boring log entry, I know, but boring is actually good news. :-)

7/19/07 Today we had state and local government people helping to educate Savauge. As we headed out in the wide ditch along highway 210, a state trooper pulled a car over along the road, red and blue lights flashing. S found this fairly overwhelming at first, but after a moment, got over it and went by. Then we had a very nice 3 mile hack on the gravel road, including a good gallop, (rained last night so perfect footing) and on the way home met a huge road grader. Since it took up about 2/3 the width of the road, there was no way I was going to ask S to meet it head on. It really was huge, and loud. So I took him into the field and we walked in the soybean rows about 10' in. S was dubious, but brave and went by it without a fit and then went through the relatively deep ditch back to the road without a problem. Had a nice hack home. Nice of the government guys to help out with S's desensitization today. I hope we don't get a bill.

7/17/07 Warmed up slightly in the arena and then out the front gate to go down the highway ditch. He hesitated at the gate, for which he got a boot and then he was happy to go forward. Trotted fabulously for a quarter mile and then we did some walking. A bird flew up and scared him and he spun, but I was easily able to turn him back around instantly. It was as if I could hear him say, "oops, sorry, that isn't who I am anymore." It was pretty cute. We went another 3 miles round trip to home and he was stellar. Getting more relaxed in his neck out in the big world every ride. Lifestyle note: I have increased his oil and it shows. He is starting to look really buff. I am continuing to treat his scratches and that is slowly improving. Must keep the skin soft. Somewhere along the line, months ago, he got an injury to his RH hoof that is now growing out. It is a horizontal discontinuity that looks like it is about to break off about an inch up from the ground. My farrier was just out, but I will give him a call to see if I should be alarmed. Also note the new picture.

7/10/07 Warmed him up in the dressage arena which went well, then had one of my students ride him as she is working on cueing for canter from her leg rather than from her upper body. He was an excellent schoolmaster and she learned a ton. I was very interested to see if he would continue his good ways with another rider, even if only for a day. He did. He was very proud of himself. Even jumped a jump together at the end. A month ago I would have not thought it possible. Yay! Received a picture from Heritage Park from a friend.

7/9/07 Moved him up to a Mylar snaffle (still very mild) for a dressage session. He did very well. Had some nice forward and lateral work. Yay.

7/8/07 One Day Horse Trial day at the same park. Did a very nice dressage test to earn a 27. (Wow.) Jumped well in stadium after inspecting a jump on the way to fence two, but jumping clean around the course. Went around xc without fault, no balking, through the water, over lots of different types of jumps. Won the horse trial at his level by a wide margin. Yay. Yay. YAY for Savauge! Now the caveat. He needs more fitness if he is going to go training level at Catalpa Corner. The novice course took a lot out of him, but it was 90 degrees too. I will work on his fitness and also increase his oil intake. I am also going to move him to more bit for xc and stadium as he gets extremely tight in his neck. I can't easily get him to let go so that I can give him a release, so in this case less bit is actually unkind. I will play around with it the next couple rides and see what works. Very very good outing.

7/7/07 School at Heritage Park. Got up in the wee hours to drive down to KC to school before the heat of the afternoon. We schooled all of the novice stuff and some of the training, including the bank up one stride to vertical, which he thought was FUN. Only one minor tiz was had in the beginning of the schooling when I was walking around explaining something to a student. S is not so good at walking around in the beginning of a ride. But he got over it quickly. Did the entire novice course, start box to finish flags. Bought him some new bell boots that fit him well. The ones I have were not big enough and looked more like bracelets...

7/5/07 I hauled him over to KMJ to get a trim and reset. My farrier is out of town for 10 days so this was my only option before the weekend and he needed it. This is also a very good farrier. But Goofy did not want to load on the trailer. We had a probably minute and a half discussion about that, but even that is longer than I like. He figured it out. When we got back (he loaded fine on the way home), I rode him first in the arena which went very well, event had some nice lateral work. Then went out in the pasture and jumped a bit which went well. Very good!

7/1/07 Rode him during the xc school portion of the clinic. He was very good. Had one minor meltdown which passed quickly. That there was only one minor one was amazing since we were starting and stopping a lot which is hard for him. Jumped ALL the training level stuff including drops into water and a combination and all sorts of wacky stuff, by himiself going away from the group and starting and stopping. Very very good. I am considering running him at training level in August. I have to decide soon. I don't want to scare him, but recognize that his active mind needs a challenge. We're doing novice this weekend at Heritage Park. Hmmm.

6/30/07 Rode in the afternoon after the clinic. Went out on the rail to trail path and he had a moderate meltdown about a big wet area on the path. At least he is choosing to have metldowns AT something rather than randomly. We got through the water and past the log pile, where he had his meltdown last year, with no problem. Then we schooled showjumping which went well. Then out to xc again where we did some training level stuff which went great.

6/29/07 Hauled him over to Catalpa Corner for the clinic. Traveled fine, settled in fine. Took him for an evening hack which turned into a jumping festival. He was a little behind the leg on teh way out to the start box, but with firm encouragement, stepped up. He jumped great and had a wonderful time.

6/28/07 Beautiful morning. Started out with longe work which went well, then got in the tack and warmed up in the arena. He slightly objected to Peppa (Newfoundland) muddling around in the grass outside the arena, but dealt with it. Then out to the pasture with no pushback when going out the gate and jumped the log pile first thing going away from the barn, no problem. Then did some more jump schooling over an in and out and over the rolltop and oxer and a vertical and all went well. Cantered over to the gate out of the pasture, with no intention of going out, but checking if he would if asked. He was going to the gate, but then shied at the burn pile, to which Jay had added a scad of new stuff. So it was a legitimate shy and he got over it quickly. Went up to the gate, no problem. A bit more of a jump school and done for the day. Very good.

6/27/07 Can't call it 6, but a very good day. Longed and warmed up in the outdoor. When we left the arena at a canter, he had a mild push back, got a swat on the rump and went forward. Then did some jumping which went very well. Then out on the trail and he was doing very well until we came around a corner and a huge patch of something was blooming brightly in the shadows and it surprised and unnerved him enough to spin and try to leave. I turned him around and sent him there again and he said no, but just with resistance, not rearing or bucking. Did some softening exercises. Re-presented and he went on through. Then continued the hack away from home, no problem and went to a new place where Monsanto has a test plot (always nice truck paths to follow) and he was very bold about that. A bit of a bummer that we didn't get 6 good rides in a row, but the fact that the resistance was much less dramatic and had a clear reason and passed quickly makes it not a big deal.

6/26/07 Five. Yep. Crazier yet. I even didn't longe him this morning as it was 78 degrees and humid at 6 a.m. when I was grooming. We worked in the arena on dressage and he was very good. Lots of lightness, lots of transitions, alacrity. Yay!!!

6/25/07 Four. Yep. Crazy. Four days in a row of proper cooperative horse behaviour. Started out with a bit of longeing which went well and he even let out a "I feel good" buck, which is a new one. Bridled up and got on and did some dressage (all about forward and loose in the poll, nothing about drudgery of circles. Lots of transitions) which went well. Opened the gate, out into the pasture, did some more forward dressage in the pasture, with no problem and some nice lightness, then jumped a few jumps and went out the back gate for a short trail ride, no problem, other than being confused by the now belly-high corn tickling him as we trotted along the rows. Just a few understandable scoots happening. Then a, get this, walk around the pasture to catch his breath. You might remember that walk is the hardest gait for him to keep forward in, but with just a few subtle reminders he kept it up. Investigated a plastic bag stuck on the fence on the way back which was scary to him, but he dealt. Yay, another good day. Time to send in entries for Catalpa.

6/20/07 I forgot to mention the funny thig he did on the last ride we wer on. On the way home in the very wide and flat ditch along the highway, we were trotting along in the tall grass, when suddenly an old feed bag revealed itself on the ground in the grass. He gave a great leap of about 3' over its 0.5 cm height. It was highly comical. The key point is that he kept going forward, however, he chose to do it! For today, longe warmup then got on and out to the pasture. Did very well with that. On to some jumping, which went well and then some flat work, which went with out blowups, but could do with a lot more softness. That will come. Very good day. Officially 3 days in a row. Woohoo.

6/19/07 99% of two in a row. Warmed up with some longeing, then got on and went forward in trot and canter. He did very well in the pasture and out the gate. Dealt with the deer we flushed out of the tall grass with remarkable aplomb. Went forward fabulously, with ears up and joy. Through the beaver field and on to the downhill field where he just barely threw a minor tizz, just a moderate lean toward home and some neck resistance. Came around and forward with a swat to the big red hiney and on his way again. Over the bridge (in canter!) and on for another mile. Even did some walking, which is hardest for him to maintain "forward" in, and he did quite well. Homebound in a large circle over the landbridge with a low hanging branch and more to step over, past the huge barking dog, crossed the highway with the scary lines on it and trotted and cantered past our driveway without a problem. Much praising throughout.

6/17/07 It was fun today. It was fun! Forward, relaxed, polite, interested, trail ride, trotting, cantering, galloped with a deer, jumped some, no problem, no pushback, ears up, grinning red horse. Tuesday is the opening date for entering the August horse trial at Catalpa Corner near your parent's house. First weekend in August. Site of the major meltdown last summer. I think we should enter and go and have some real fun this year. Woohoo. Very psyched.

6/14/07 Tacked up and warmed up in the arena, then sent him to canter out of the gate at which point he started to throw a fit, for which he earned some galloping around the ring (I'm flashing back to having to run windsprints for missing free throws in college! Works!) Second try he went right out the gate and around the pasture. Fooled around out there in trot and canter with no problem and jumped the log pile. Then went to the gate out of the pasture to go out on a quick trail ride and he started to throw a fit by the gate and got more wind sprints, after which he decided going out the gate would be fine with him. Down to the creek and back, no problem. Nice cool rinse, cookies and out with his pals when done. Not bad.

6/11/07 Had a great weekend at the horse trial and am inspired even more than usual for S to get out and do it. Gotta get him straightened out on the flat first, so out at it again today. Warmed up in the arena which went fine and then turned to leave the arena and he started to throw a little fit for which he was rewarded with some very hard work--lots of galloping forward on a long rein, stopping, backing up, galloping forward, etc. This is not ripping him around by the bit, but making sure he is forward and then stopping when I say (and given proper advance notice for the stop. I really don't want to frustrate him, just make clear the ground rules...). Then I sent him out of the arena again and he refused again and started into fet mode, so repeat, and now he was getting a little winded. Send him out again and no problem. Then some good gallop in the pasture, then out on an absolutely perfect trail ride. Through all the "past scene of a fit" spots, and over the bridge etc. No problem and he had fun. Coming along. The push back is becoming lessened.

6/7/07 Warmed up with in hand work and under tack work in the arena which went well. Then out to the trail. He started to push back, spin, buck and rear  when were about to leave the pasture for the field, so I sent him forward like nobody's business and made him canter/gallop a half mile in lines in the pasture, with frequent halts and backing up.  He was an angel after that on a 2 mile hack over hill and dale and including a bolting deer right by us, nearly stepping on a bunny and crossing the bridge.  I think sometimes he gets stuck "out of gear" and it takes some priming to get the flywheel spinning in the right direction again.  His forward trot is absolutely unbelievable (yes, worth all the work...) and his canter in open space is like riding a dolphin dancing in front of the bow of a ship.  Powerful, joyful, full of life and fun.

6/5/07 3 mile hack after in hand work. I made the mistake of asking him to WALK out on the start of the trail. That is not possible yet, he creeps behind the leg and eventually throws a fit. Had to get through that and then re-establish forward, then things got better. Over the bridge he started to throw a fit and had spun, but I sent him forward toward home in a gallop for 50 strides, had him stop and back up, turn around and canter across the bridge. Went about 3 miles and on the way home had him stop at the neighbors and stand still and be polite while I had a beer. Every good horse should be "beer with a friend broke" and he did pretty well, despite the St. Bernard and arrival of a 4 wheeler. Walked home, crossed the scary road with the new patches on it. Did fine.

6/3/07 In hand work and then in the ring work and then out on the trail. He was a little owly at first and tried some hyjinx, but he got through them and then we had a nice ride.

6/1/07 In hand work followed by work in the arena (quite muddy elsewhere, and not every day needs to be a hack into the wild blue!). He did very well, with much softness and good work.

5/30/07 I took him out for a hack this morning before the rain and in the 20 mph wind.  I was diligent about the ground work and had a great outing-- (after a slight moment about the scary garbage cans at the end of the driveway due to it being garbage day. He stopped and turned (not spun) back but allowed himself to be quickly righted. Then he marched at the cans. He could just walk forward, he doesn't have to goosestep!) The rest of the ride was a lovely, swinging trot and canter fest (and some walk) for 3 miles, by himself, over the bridge and having to deal with two barking dogs along the way.  Neck down, ears forward and no meltdown.

Woohoo.  Each relaxed step undoes ten tight ones.

5/29/07 Jay was in a hurry to go on a trail ride so I didn't get a chance to do as much in hand work as I would have liked. S was good for the first quarter mile, but got excited and had a minor fit at one point and another minor one later in the ride. I am annoyed that I let myself be hurried with the ground work (will not happen again for any reason), but happy to see that it clearly makes a difference and does plenty good. We went about 3 miles, and last month I would have been elated with his behaviour on this ride.

5/25/07 His scratches are healing, but it takes time. I talked to a vet friend about it, and she said that once the scabs are off, and it has been treated with betadine shampoo, the most important thing is to keep it moist so that the cracks can heal. I bought some "heel cream" at Target which is actually for cracked people heels, but I thought it would work well on Himself. I treat it twice a day when I feed, and he likes it. Instead of pulling up his feet and saying "ouchie", he keeps them down and lowers his head and gets a dreamy look in his eyes. Very cute. I rode him today with a warm up with in hand work in the arena and then riding in the arena. Then out to the pasture (too muddy in fields) He was exceptional, with not one push back or even impolite moment. He had his spring vaccinations yesterday.

5/22/07 We warmed up in the arena with more Kip in-hand work, which went pretty well. I can now tell when I am really getting the work through to him, which is most excellent. I got on and warmed him up in the tack and then Jay asked if I wanted to go on a road hack. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea so we did. On the way out the driveway he spotted the garbage can (tomorrow is garbage day) and he stopped for a second, but when I put my leg on he went forward right away. Yay oh Yay. In the past that would have been the start of a difficulty. We walked in the wide ditch along the state highway with traffic going by. He stayed with me mentally. Then took the right to go on the gravel road and he went fine. This was the site of a major meltdown in the past, so it was great to just breathe and ride it. He led across the bridge. What? Repeat and clarify: led at a trot across the bridge. Then we trotted another half mile to the corner and turned right. He was getting a little tight in his neck so at the corner I asked him to do some suppling work for a minute. That seemed to re-center him and he went on beautifully. We went another third of a mile and turned around. Jay turned left back at the corner to go home and I went straight, which was away from home. S only very briefly suggested going home and went forward without a fit, away from home and away from his buddy. That is truly amazing. Much praise and release of reins and sending on in big happy trot. Yay. A few halt canters to make sure he was really on my aids and then we went and caught up with Jay (at my speed in lovely canter and trot, not in a silly rush). Then we trotted the last half mile home together. Very VERY good. Very nearly amazing.

I treated the "scratches" he has on his hind pasterns and bulbs of heel. I have been doing that for the last two days. I don't know how they got so bad, but there it is. I have used iodine shampoo daily, then dried, clipped the hair and got off the scabs as they let go. I am treating the left hind with wound cote which treats bacterial infection and the right with tolnaftate, which is an athlete's foot fungus cream that kills most fungi. I've found that scratches can from either or both. We'll see if one works better than the other and then proceed in that direction.

5/20/07 Trail ride with the Babes On Ornery Broncs (I leave the acronym to you.) This is a sliver group of the foxhunt who meets occasionally to take out green horses on leisurely trail rides to get them used to stuff. Some go on made horses just to enjoy the ride and give us leads across things. We went 6 miles at a walk. S was very well-behaved in the back, but when asked to lead, he threw a little fit (that made the other Babes' eyes a little large!). So I made him gallop away from the group in the direction of home, then pass the group and lead, in fact, canter the next mile and a half by himself. He was a little looky, but went. Then back to the group and he led fine until we got to the railroad tracks which freaked all the horses out. We got across that and then he led through a tunnel and over a bridge, very brave! Perfect gentleman all the way home, sometimes leading, sometimes following. Had to cross under the Interstate on the way home and it was very scary with a lot of loud trucks. He did it, but was very scared. Brave of him to do it. All the horses were a little scared. Excellent day.

5/19/07 Wormed yesterday with ivermectin. Warmed up with inhand work and then some tune up under tack in the arena. Out on a trail ride. Not one hissy fit. Not one. Nada. None, no hissy fit. Repeat, no hissy fit. I like writing that. He had one second of "push back" which went away with just sending him forward. Now, I was paying a lot of attention to him as I always do and when he started to get tighte we went to circles and bending for a reminder and then on, but what a delight to have not one "moment'. He was proud of himself too. Also did spring sheath cleaning after the ride.

5/17/07 Started out with in hand work and then into the tack for an arena warm up. Lots of transitions and much lightness in bridle. Off for a trail ride. He just started to get behind my leg and we went immediately into moving the hindquarters and moving the forequarters and he came out of it in less than 5 seconds. Then on through the field gate that he sometimes balks at, with no problems, through the treeline, where he had balked in the past, no problem, then another quarter mile and turn for home. I let him think he was going home then turned him back the way we came from and he (predictably) started to ramp up. This time the fit lasted about 30 seconds before it was contained, and forward he went. Did very well until I turned him away from home yet again and he started to pop another fit, but it was over in 5 seconds. I do not expect the tizzes to disappear entirely for a while yet, but I really like the tendency of them to pass more quickly and generally be less dramatic. Yay.

5/14/07 Worked in the arena on ground work and then into the tack with lots of flexibility stuff and much softness and relaxation from himself. Then out to the pasture. For the most part he managed to keep his softness and had some very nice work. He did have a moment about a truck going by with a loudly flapping tarp, but we got it back together more quickly than we have in the past. In fact, in general, things are righting themselves more quickly. Yippee. I had many opportunities to quietly praise him and he also stoppped, stood and breathed quite nicely several times. Again, yippeee. Also, got his feet trimmed today with new front shoes.

5/10/07 Trail ride. We started out with ground work which went pretty well. I am not as good at it as Kip, but we had some good work. It will become more fluent for both of us. Then rode in the indoor doing hindquarters left, front quarters right and vice versa. This is easier to the right for him, predicatably, but it went pretty well. Then some lightness on the leg aids things and backing and quiet praise and release when he stood with his neck down in a relaxed manner, which he did a lot. Out to the fields. I opened the gate from his back as I always do, but required him to be where it was convenient for me, not him. Quiet pet when he did so. Head out across the field and he just suggested that he would stop and turn back, at which point I corrected him with hindquarters right, forequarters left for just two reps and he decided that going forward was more fun. Good choice. Went through the gate that he has had meltdowns at in the past and then through the narrow place into the beaver field, site of past meltdowns. All good. Then we attempted the SCARY BRIDGE where I learned that I didn't really have him through and he pitched a moderate fit. I took him back a field and did more fundamental work again to get him through and then re-presented to the bridge. It wasn't pretty the first time, but it was effective. By the end we were going over the bridge, turning left and going up the hill or going over the bridge going straight and up the hill. Quiet praise. Also some stopping and standing with his neck down and a pet just to let him settle. On the way home through the Beaver field, a deer jumped out and surprised him (we also viewed a fox earlier, but he never saw it!). He recoverd from the deer pretty quickly and then went where it had gone when I asked him. (Away from the barn and scary and he did it. Very good.). We also met my farmer neighbor on his 4 wheeler on the way home and while he found the 4 wheeler slightly alarming he dealt with it. Fooled around in the pasture a bit when we got home too and he did well. Once, he got a little behind my leg, but I sent him forward until he was not balky, then let him wind down and pet him. Very encouraging. Interesting side note. As you probably know he likes to bang on his stall if he is the last one let out or has to be in too long or whatever. Today I had to take Ed over to the other side of the barn and leave S in the stall for a few minutes while I did so. No banging. Hmmmm...

5/7-9/07 Went out to Council Bluffs to train with Kip Fladland. He or we worked for 2 hours each day with S. There is no way I can explain all that I learned over this time, and can only suggest that if you are interested in starting young horses or retraining difficult horses, go and learn from Kip or Buck Branaman or Ray Hunt. They are the real deal. Proof for me was the trail ride we took today. Yes, S threw his usual hissy to start out. The difference this time was that I had the tools to work through it in less than a minute, and during the ride we had some of the most relaxed, happy work I have ever had with S. There is work to do to get him consistent, but I am psyched to have the tools I needed to help S figure out how to be a productive member of working horse society. Very psyched!

4/29/07 Evening trail walk. Yep, just what it sounds like. Put on a halter and walk on the trail. Some grazing. I am going back to basics in advance of going to work with Kip Fladland early next week. We walked in all the scary places and when he started to get worked up, we just stopped and I let him look at it and graze until he slowed down in his mind and breathed. Then he was fine with whatever "it" was. This may seem like slow work, but we are getting somewhere faster than pushing him, I'm sure of it. I hope Kip will help us have the breakthrough we need and I think this is groundwork for that.

4/27 and 28: Did in hand work with lots of cookies. Turn on hindquarters, stopping, backing, trot transitions, etc. He was quite good.

4/24/07 All stayed inside and hid out from the cold rain.

4/22/07 Did some in hand work on minding and stopping and backing etc. He was a little bully at first, but came around nicely, with his neck down. Much praise.

4/19/07 Evening trail ride. Recalcitrant as ever. My bag of tricks is exhausted. I recommend we take him to Kip Fladland who specializes in difficulties like this. I talked with Kip tonight and described the difficulty and he said it is "probably not a big deal". I would like to take S there for 2 or 3 days on May 7-9. I would watch him work with S or work with S under Kip's guidance. I acknowledge that the Universe gives each of us a set of skills and I can't know everything about horses. I am ready to learn how to help S through this problem.

4/17/07 Evening trail ride. I got a little cocky, I guess, and didn't longe him before riding. He was recalcitrant for the first while, not wanting to go forward, throwing the usual fit. I kept up with ignoring it, calmly correcting him back to what I wanted and praising him quietly when he went correctly. When he did go, he did very well on about a 3 mile trail ride. He just threw one minor tiz at a gate that he always does. I asked him to stop, let him stand on a long rein, put my hand on his shoulder and took a really long deep relaxed breath. He did the same and then walked forward perfectly. I remain convinced he is just scared and unconfident. We had some relaxed moments, even in trot, out in the fields, where he let go in his neck. He has a simply brilliant trot when he does so. It is like nothing I've ever had the pleasure of riding. I make a motion we continue with the trail riding and experiencing life in a more relaxed manner before we spend money on a horse trial this spring.

4/16/07 Mud and an out of town trip meant he had some time off. After I longed him we went out the gate. After I shut it and turned to go off on our ride, he started in with the usual routine. I didn't say a word, didn't even quit humming my song, which today was "love is all you need" and after a few minutes, he turned the direction I wanted to go and seemed happy to go. He threw two more minor moments later in the ride, but importantly, each was smaller than the last. Each time he started to throw it, I simply went like putty in the saddle, no smacking on the butt, no reaction to his hysterics and each time he went in the direction I wanted, I rubbed his neck. Oh, also occasional cookies for no reason when he was being good. (Not right after a fit of course.) He did excellently and was very proud of himself, so was I. Good boy Red.

4/8/07 We trailered down to Longview Horse Park for a XC school. S and I and 2 of my students on their horses went out and schooled the beginner novice and most of the novice course. S was a little behind my leg at first, and distracted by all the goings on, so had a few refusals early, but he came around nicely and had some good jumping and went in the water with his friends and after that, alone. He had some overwhelmed bug-eyed moments at a few things, but after halting and breathing for a bit, went forward. When we turned away from the barn to go do the other half of the course, he was quite naughty, bucking and turning away from forward to home. We did get through it. Then we were way out on the course and decided to do the last half toward home. We did and he did very well, galloping and jumping, but being quite tight in his neck, so I asked him to walk and relax a few times and then we went back to it and he did very well. So well in fact, that I asked him then to continue on to the first half of the course away from the barn and he smoked over every jump very well. Excellent! Then Jay walked him around and spectated on him while I schooled the Eddie around the course. He was mostly relaxed for Jay. On the way home we taked about it and we think he just gets overwhelmed and nervous. With your approval I would like to put him on this supplement which is supposed to help them be able to relax, without drugs. If you read the ingredients it is all vitamins and minerals. It is relatively inexpensive and from a good company.

4/7/07 Trailered over and played in the fun show at KMJ. Barrel raced (quite laughably, but good turning!), flag raced, egg raced, egg and spooned and more. He had a wonderful time and played well with others all day. Ears up all day and very interested in all goings on. Polite and just fun. Pictures from after horsie painting contest.

4/2/07 Started to longe him in the outdoor, but with the wetness, the footing wasn't holding up well so resorted to getting on and trotting large forward circles and also lots of cantering. Forward, forward forward. He was loving it. Then on to some lateral work including leg yield and shoulder in. Changed it up a lot with lateral work and forward work and back and forth. He thought it was a lot more fun and he did well. Lighter in bridle most times and really up in canter. What a big bouyant horsie. He did have one goofy shy in walk, which only indicates to me that he needs more forward, forward forward to keep him on track. Pretty much fun.

3/29/07 Go ahead and get a cup of coffee, this is going to be a long one. :-) So, I've been thinking a LOT about S lately, and meanwhile riding a lot of other horses and auditing clinics and so on. The first piece of the puzzle was a driving lesson I was watching with a very good international calibre clinician last week. She was having one of the ponies go in a loose balancing rein, which goes from the saddle through the bit and to the center top of the saddle. I have used a similar set up for riding, but not actually tied to the saddle so the horse just got to figure it out without any hand input. Interesting, but how could I use it since I was riding and I wouldn't tie a horse's head down (even in this loose manner) that I was sitting on? The next thing that happened was that I was riding Cielo, a wonderful off track tb, outside the other day. He was very up and tight in his neck for the first 20 minutes outside, but once he got the edge off he was relaxed, light and lovely. Happens all the time with OTTBs, but it was a dramatic enough change that I thought a little more about it. The last thing that happened, and it happened today, was I was riding a young horse who is usually mellow, but today, he was tense enough that he actually reared when asked a simple question that he knew the answer too. After a few more minutes of quiet working in trot, he was going lovely and would never have thought about rearing. So, I got to thinking about S and how these other horses reacted to what I'll call a "sugar high" for lack of a better description of being "up" and tight at the start of a ride (one got tight in his neck and one reared) and got to thinking that maybe S, who is given to the occasional rear and is the crown prince of being tight in his neck, could simply be on a sugar high. Afterall, once I get him through whatever fit he threw at the beginning of the ride, he was always fine afterwards. He never was good starting out and then threw a big fit after an hour or whatever, now that I thought about it. Finally, I got to thinking about stories friends have shared about people having trouble with Irish horses when they bring them over to the states. The Irish horses are bred to be ridden 6-8 hours per day and they just need to just go and go. Now of course S isn't Irish, but he certainly is bred, frankly, to be phenotypically physically superior to alot of the horses we are used to. It was beginning to occur to me that, even though his symptoms are balking and spinning (which usually means to me that they want to go back to the barn), it could be that he is just on a sugar high and just acting out. Thoroughbreds run when they are acting out, why can't warmbloods stop?

With all that in mind, I brushed him, tacked him up and put on his draw reins (attached at the top of the girth, not between his legs) through the bit, and put the other end around the stirrup bars. This made for a nice loose connection so that he couldn't raise his neck like a giraffe, but could stretch down or move his neck normally in all gaits. (Yes I could have used side reins, but I've never been a huge fan, for reasons I'll not bore you with.) I put him on the longe line and sent him out. To my surprise, he happily trotted and cantered around without prompting for 5 minutes in each direction, twice. Twenty minutes on the longe in trot and canter is a lot of work. You try running in a circle for 20 minutes! ;-) He was pretty tired, but happy, when I asked him to stop. I had never raised the longe whip or even clucked to him to encourage him to go and he was just clipping right along in a relaxed but animated manner, so it was his wish to go.

I got on, and Jay and Claude and I and S went for a 4 mile road hack. No shying, leaping, spinning, balking, rearing or even a laid back ear. He led through the mild ditch crossing and crossed the bridge with little comment. We trotted in a relaxed manner for half a mile and had some nice canter. He stood quietly while we chatted for a few minutes with neighbors and didn't freak out at the group of dogs in the field. Walked with neck down, floppy ears on a long rein, enjoying himself. He was a very fun horse to ride. He was a polite member of horse society. Jay and I could actually talk and ride in a relaxed manner and S clearly enjoyed himself immensely.

I very rarely drink on days that don't begin with "S", but in this case, I'm having a celebratory beer. Man it tastes great. I think we're on to something.

3/27/07 Worked in the arena (while we wait out mud season!) and did a lot suppling work. Started out with some ground work asking him to come through his back and be light to the rein aids. Had nice work with that. Had some good trot half pass work and nice canter work. He did have one meltdown over the gate being open and the electric tap being down (outside the arena), but he got over it. Ended with some very nice canter work.

3/25/07 Lots of flatwork in the arena (mud elsewhere). He did very well with his stretching work in walk and trot and pretty well in canter. Did some walk and trot canter half pass, some of which was excellent.

3/24/07 More rain, so the arena was pretty sloppy. Did a lot of walk suppling work, which is much needed, so all good. Made more progress.

3/22/07 Was intending to go on a trail ride because the mud has somewhat abated, but since Jay was attempting to start a bonfire which was about 15' high branches about 40' outside the arena, I considered that sufficient distraction to challenge our attention while working in the arena. We warmed up with some walk work with his neck down. He did well with that. Then on to walk half pass and trot half pass. Left is a lot more difficult for him and we had a few moments of discussion regarding submission, but nothing as dramatic as his board kick Tuesday. We did come to an understanding regarding trot half pass in both directions and we took frequent walk breaks during the process so that he could stretch. We had some nice canter work and even some moments of good canter half pass to the right. Trot leg yield was very nice. During this whole ride, Jay was throwing more branches on the pile and trying to start the branches, which were a bit green, with a torch. There was crackling and smoke blowing away from us. S thought sometimes that that would be a good reason to not pay attention to me, but for the most part, he did very well. Lifestyle note: When he came into his stall for grain in the evening, I had placed 2 bags of bedding, still in the bag, in the stall. It is a new type of bedding that comes in a bag that looks exactly like a feed bag. He thought so too. He picked one up and shook it sharply so that it broke open. Then he took a big moutful of the shavings pellets and started chewing. The look on his face when he tasted them was priceless. I am sure he also did not appreciate my guffaw. I comforted him after the fact, but it really was pretty dang funny.

3/20/07 Approaching storm, sustained east winds around 18 mph. I thought it would be a good day to see if we were getting somewhere with the relaxation deal and letting go in his poll. All in all it went well. We had some very nice trot work, including trot leg yield. Some barely acceptable trot half pass (this is harder than leg yield, and it is coming) and some very nice canter work. When I asked for canter half pass, which for some horses is easier than trot half pass, we had very nice work to the right. When asked to go left we had a LOT of resistance in the poll. We had a real discussion about yielding to the left rein and leg and he had a few words to say about it, especially when he kicked out and popped a board out of the fence, for which he signed up for a swat and some serious work for the next 3 minutes. He figured it out and apologized by going politely and well. We did some more canter half pass and had some passing good work. Then we cooled down with walk and walk half pass, which went well. Yay.

3/19/07 Did a lot of work in the arena, focusing on soft in the poll and through from behind. It is much harder for him to come through on the left than the right. But he had some lovely work in trot and passing work in canter. Very satisfying.

3/16/07 Arena is finally firm enough to ride, though still has a few wet spots. Good for balance to have to deal with it! I've been thinking a lot about his moments and think that if I would insist that he stay absolutely unlocked in his poll, it would make a really big difference. (When horses lock their poll, they are in a position of resistance and in some cases fear, and it tends to be a spiral of increasing tension and fear, but if you can unlock the poll and keep it unlocked, the spiral starts to unwind.) So we spent the first 20 minutes walking around and doing small circles and frequent soft halts, all insisting on softness in his poll. If he locked up, we stopped "reset" and started again. When we had that, we went on to trot, with the same requirement--absolute softness or back to walk circles or halt to unlock. After 10 minutes of rapt attention to that, we had a soft trot (it required maintenance, but it was soft!). Then on to canter, which was actually quite good to the right and quite tight to the left. Same deal. When he tightened up, back to whatever lower gait it took to fix it. I could usually fix it in trot. Encouraging day and he seemed pleased with himself. He even had floppy ears for most of the time, which is not only cute, it is a good sign of relaxation.

3/14/07 Mud is pretty bad and I don't want to risk straining a tendon in it. Back in the tack when the arena dries up, which, if we get a little sun, shouldn't be long.

3/12/07 Trail ride with Jay and Claude. He was fine until we got to the gravel road where we turn south. He threw a tiz, but we got through it pretty quickly, certainly more quickly than the other tiz he threw there last week. Progress. We are lately working under the assumption that this is mostly being a bit nappy/barnsour. It seems that once we get through it, the rest of the ride is fine. Then we went on a 3 mile hack on the gravel road and through teh CRP fields on the way home. He was relaxed most times and did well.

3/11/07 We were out of town for a few days, but now we are back and the weather is nice too! Unfortunately, that means mud and ice at the same time, but I got on today anyway and out we went. I opened the gate from the barn yard to the pasture while I was mounted on him and then we went through it and I asked him to side pass over so I could shut it. He started to throw a hissy and I started to get off to get out the can of whup, and he stopped immediately, so I did too, and off we went, having come to an agreement. We went to the other side of the pasture and did a lot of walk figures, because the footing really was by turns mushy and icy. But he kept his neck down and his attention on me and performed very well. I surprised him by giving him a cookie for his good behaviour while I was riding. That was ok with him for sure. I figured that if I turned up the volume on the discipline for him it is only fair to turn up the volume on the other end of the spectrum as well. I think he approves, judging by his relaxed good behaviour the rest of the ride.

3/6/07 Trail ride with Jay and Claude. He was going along fine, if just a little doggy. He picked a spot to stop and whirl for home. I jumped off and snapped him 3 times in the butt with the dressage whip. Then stopped and made him settle, stand still, put his neck down and politeley let me mount. After that he was a complete angel. Led when I asked him to, even at a canter and was fun and had fun. Improvement. Much less drama than Sunday's trailride and to watch his expression as I used the whip on his deserving butt, he was convinced that the wrath of the Cookie Girl was upon him, which it was. But Cookie Girl is quick to forgive and we had a very fun ride after that and cookies afterward. Believe it or not I'm about euphoric about how the day ended up. He is just a delight to ride when he is minding his ps and qs. Jay remarked that he has the "coolest canter". Yep.

3/4/07 Went on a trail ride with Jay and Claude. When I asked S to lead he was going along fine until he decided to stop and turn back. Jay passed me and led for the next bit. Then as we were going down the gravel road, S stopped and spun back and reared slightly. I got him straightened out and on his way again. After another minute or so, he did it again and I got him straightened out again, but he was still trying to crawl behind my leg, being owly and uncooperative. When he did the spin and rear thing again, I jumped off and cracked him three times hard on the butt with the dressage whip. No jury in the world would convict me and it was a dark delight to see how very surprised S was at my breaking out a can of whup. It passed quickly and afterwards I made him stop, stand still with his neck down and stand politely while I mounted. We went another mile and half and he didn't pull one more thing on even enjoyed himself. On the way home, I was leading when Jay's horse got stuck in a big snowdrift which we had just scrambled through. Jay's and his horse took a slightly different path (I ride this country more than Jay and knew it was low and there would be deeper snow where he was crossing, but he had to Lewis and Clark it...) had to stop and rest because the horse was up to his chest and more in snow and eventually they had to retreat and go home the other way. I did not want to cross back through the drift after watching what they went through, even if I went my way, so I ended up continuing home away from Jay and his horse. S was a perfect gentleman. He left the other horse without difficulty, blazed a trail by himself and was just a fun ride.

2/27/07 The weather gods conspired to bring two days in a row with weather nice enough to ride out side. Crazy! Tacked up and went for a trail ride, which eventually proved to be a mistake because 10" of snow on top of harrowed unfrozen fields, means 10" of snow, 8 inches of mud and very tough going for S. We did a lot of walking and also found some unturned areas to ride. We went past the scary combine, the terrifying ice-coated cage of some sort, the parked semi and the grain elevator, not entirely without trepidation, but successfully none the less. Very good day and he was proud of himself.

2/26/07 The weekend brought an ice and snow storm, 1/2 inch of ice and 10 inches of snow. They spent Friday night through Sunday morning inside and then ran around like kids when they went out Sunday morning. They were quite funny to watch. They were also nibbling on the ice on a tree when a big branch came down. It was not a real danger to them, but certainly a good excuse to run around the yard with their tails over their backs! What fun! I took him out for a pasture hack this morning. It was 18 degress, but sunny and still, so quite bearable. We went all over the pasture and he was good. Considering he has had the easiest month of his time with me, he was quite good. He is not as far in front of my leg as he will be, but he is at least in front of my leg most of the time. We had a good time walking, trotting and cantering about in the snow!

2/20/07 Fifty degrees! Went for a gravel road hack with Jay and Claude. We walked 4 miles. It was perfect for both of them as S got to see things while going slow and with a buddy, and Claude got to work out some stiffness from hunting pretty hard 2 days ago. S was very good and only had three minor pushback moments--great considering we went over 2 bridges, past a big drop off at a washout, past Mimi the huge dog and the small pack of dogs owned by another neightbor. Oh I forgot, we did a little trotting in the last quarter mile. He was tight in his neck to start out, but came around nicely. Very good day.

2/18/06 The weather this month is allowing me to ride on occasional Sundays. Well, take it where you can get it, I guess, for now! The weather was nice enough to allow us to hunt with our hunt horses for two hours in the morning. When I got home and settled those horses in, I was still on a high from hunting so, instead of tacking up S and doing some ringwork or maybe pasture dressage work, I kicked it up a notch and just took him out for a two mile hack in the fields. He was great! There's no reason he should have been, since he had a week off, I would have expected him to be at least a little goofy, but I think he was so happy for the change of scenery that he chose to enjoy it. He didn't do one naughty thing and one time when he shied at a bird flying up out of a bush, he did so in place. Wonderful! He had some moments of tension in his neck and we had a few canters that I had to nip in the bud for their tension, especially, but we worked through it and we had the most lovely canter for a long period! I finally had to make myself stop him because I didn't want him to get too sweaty and have him catch a chill when the sun went down, which was due soon. He was extremely pleased with himself and I am encouraged. Woohoo.

2/11/07 What? Above 20 degrees? Heck, even above 30! Out we went for a ride in the pasture. He is a little foot-tender since his shoes are off and he is acclimating, on the hard snow patches, but out in the other side of the pasture, it is softer and he felt just fine. Did some nice work in trot and not completely stuck work in canter. This is wonderful considering that he had oh, what, 2 weeks off due to the cold. Good job S!

2/7/07 Still dang cold.

1/29/07 Dang cold the last few days and not looking very promising for the next week. It will be catch as catch can for riding, but know that I still see him and play with him at least twice a day and on the really brutal wind chill nights, they are in. The barn gets comfortably warm with all 5 in.

1/26/07 Almost two in a row. Went straight out to the pasture again and everything was going along just fine until he surprised himself by noticing a truck that was parked on the side of the road. Did an about face, but recovered extremely quickly and back on the aids. He then proceeded to get entirely over it and did his nicest work to date out in the big wide world. Leg yield, shoulder in, even got to play with some extended trot. Nice canter work. Walked back to the barn at the end with his neck down and breathing in a relaxed manner. Woohoo.

1/25/07 Again skipped the arena warmup and headed out to the pasture. I had him on the aids and doing lateral work on the way to the scary part of the pasture and he was mindful and lovely. We did some trot and canter work around the trakehner jump in the middle of the pasture and he was quite good. He had one (understandable) question about a low area that had deeper snow in it. He only hesitated slightly and it just showed good sense. Semis went by and he stayed with me mentally. We worked in the heretofore scary part of the pasture and he kept his neck down and opted to keep breathing and relaxed. He really did well. When we get 10 days in a row like this I will be ecstatic. That's one. :-)

1/24/07 Skipped the arena warm up and warmed up in the pasture. He did very well, staying relaxed for most of the work. He did have a moment about a truck on the gravel road behind us, but to be fair the response was much smaller than it has been in the past. He had some very nice trot and canter work and relaxed walk back to the barn at the end. Yay.

1/23/07 Yay, got his shoes removed today so that he will have better traction in the snow. We worked in the outdoor with a lot of lateral work and a new focus on haunches in which he thinks is hard. He'll get it and he was a game tryer. He did very well, especially in light of a new horse in an adjoining paddock and some really loud traffic going by. Nice day and many cookies consumed.

1/18/07 Caught a break in the morning weatherwise, too bad I didn't get home to ride until afternoon. When I swung into the tack we had a northwest wind around 15 mph and flurries. I'd be danged if I wasn't riding through. That's why God blessed us with thinsulate. We worked in the arena and did a lot of lateral work, including squares, leg yields and shoulder in. By the end of the session we were doing some very nice leg yield trot zig zags and it was particularly fun to observe our zaggy hoofprints in the snow. We did some canter work, but since he is smooth shod, that was a little tricky. I may have his shoes pulled to give his hooves a break from being shod and have better traction in the snow. My farrier will be back in town Monday. S was in a particularly good mood today and did very well.

1/17/07 Just a little update here. Cold, wind and now ice balls in horses' feet is precluding riding. As soon as the difficulty abates we'll be back out. He is doing fine in his big wooly coat, with plenty of hay to munch, shelter from wind (and they could go in the barn entirely if they wanted to) and twice daily ice ball removal.

1/11/07 Big weather is supposed to be coming in this weekend, so went out on a trail ride today with Katie and Claude even though it was drizzling. We pretended we were in Ireland. S did really well. Was not entirely relaxed in canter, but was more than he had been. We had one moment about crossing over a culvert bridge and he pulled the wheel around card, which I aced by sending him forward in strong canter and then bringing him right back to the question at a walk. He did go across it and earned much praise. We went all over God's creation again and he went past the scary silos and elevator in canter, in front of Claude. Pretty big deal. Much praise. He had some delightful canter work and was so soft and light toward the end in trot that I actually was able to put riding him on a back burner while I coached Katie about lateral work on Claude. That is huge too. It was fun for him to get to be the shining example rather than the behaviour problem poster child. "And this is shoulder in, and this is leg yield. <spring, float, spring> Here's the right angle for shoulder fore." I am convinced that horses do have some self pride, and today was good for his pride, which will help his confidence, which will make him more relaxed, which will make him easier and more fun to ride. Success breeds success. He had a great time and so did I. Coming right along. The next few days I am going to ride if I can, but the weather does not look promising...

1/10/07 Big fat huge red letter day. I warmed up in the arena with some lateral work, really focusing on him keeping his attention on me, and then did some canter work, with much the same emphasis. I hate to get after him right away, but he has taught me that if I am too allowing in the first few minutes, he will challenge everything the rest of the whole ride. If I insist on him minding his manners right out of the box, he's a very fun partner thereafter. We (Katie on Claude, Denise on Eddie, and I) went out for an epic trail ride. We went about 5 miles. Over bridges, through water, up and down hills, fabulous canters in big fields with great footing! Trotting up hills and getting to be a big huge floating trot warmblood among mere mortals. S had a huge lot of fun. Several times I could feel him grinning. He was unsure about the stream crossing at first, but did it, following the others twice. The third time I asked him to lead over it and he said no fairly louldy to which I responded with a huge boot to the ribs. Amazingly, in an instant, he looked at the creek, walked up to it as if on a mission and marched right through. I couldn't believe the change in attitude. Fabulous! Much praise. He was very proud of himself. The next step in his ever expanding education is going to be more group trail rides when I can arrange them and he will lead some times and get confidence doing that and also follow in new situations to let the other horses show him how to be. Gold star for Sauvage!

1/7/07 Rode in the morning before the big wind came up. Warmed up in the arena with a lot of lateral work, which went well. Then went out in the pasture and did some squares in trot and some canter work, requiring him to keep his attention on me. Then went out to the far corner of the pasture and did much the same. He started to have a moment of naughtiness, he was thinking about working up to it, and I was able to nip it in the bud and keep him on task. This is the next step in his training and a very positive one. Had a nice relaxed walk back in when done. Much praise, very good.

1/5/07 Had a session with a balancing reing (like draw reins, but go to the billets rather than between the front legs) and had some very nice work. I used the balancing rein because he was coming up tight against the left rein periodicly and I wanted him to have a very steady reminder when he chose to do that, that there is a better way. I much prefer the balancing rein to a draw rein, though I'm not fond of gadgets. A season for all things though. Canter work was very nice and trot work was polite and through. Very good. All the horses are getting tired of mud.

1/2/07 Rode in the late afternoon when the mud puddles in the arena were just starting to suggest they might refreeze. Despite that, we had some good stretching trot and canter work and some attentive walk work. He has gotten to the point where he is now pretty polite most of the time and I am very pleased with that. However, now that he is strong enough and we understand each other clearly, I am going to be asking more of him in the next few weeks. More throughness, more lightness up front, more alacrity of attitude. There will be plently of praise as always, as he strives to the next level of rideability.

1/1/07 Half an inch of snow overnight, but a sunny day today with light wind, so Jay and I took S and Claude for a road hack. He was very good for the first mile, neck down and attentive. He got a little overwhelmed on the way home when I asked him to lead at a trot. He didn't want to cross the bridge and put in an abrupt stop. He did end up leading over it. The ride was successful in that most of the time he kept his neck down and was polite.

12/29/06 Started with a walk warmup which went well, then on to trot walk transitions and some very nice canter work. All focusing on keeping his attention focused on his rider with about 90% success and very good correction of the errant 10%. Halfway through the session, Ed went trotting by outside the arena with a very messed up blanket. I put S's reins around his neck and went trotting after Ed; and S very hilariously followed me at a goofy trot right over my shoulder to the gate. I gave him a giggle and a pet on the nose when I was back a minute later. Got back on and did some lateral work which is sticky, but coming along and then did some nice swinging, forward trot work in between which he thought was prertty fun. He is getting stronger, and clearly I am going to need to work on my sitting trot to be able to sit what he is offering lately! Lovely problem to have.

12/28/06 He's getting better at cookie games. This is more important than even I anticipated as that and the other little things I am doing (more "neck down" work on the ground) is softening his attitude about asserting his authority. Figuring out it is more fun to get along. We had some very nice work today. Warmed up in walk to trot to walk transitions which were very polite and attentive. Then on to trot work which was really lovely at times and just dang nice at other times. No ick moments. Canter was extremely round and soft and attentive. He had one completely understandable shy when Rudy, the cat that I have specially trained to hide in scary spots around the outside of the arena, jumped in front of S when we were coming down the rail in trot shoulder in. To S's great credit, he only wavered for one stride and was back in shoulder in the next. Wonderful.

12/27/06 Back from the holiday tour of the Midwest family and back in the tack. We continue to play the cookie game, which he was a little rusty at before the ride , forgot how to make the cute face. He did eventually remember and got the cookie (and several more), but he made it so hard on himself! We went out and did some leg yielding and side passing to get him on the leg aids, then moved on to squares, where you walk about 10 m, then do a quarter turn in walk and then do the same again and again. It really engages the inside hind, and though I didn't ask for it, I appreciated the one step of piaffe he gave me. Quite fun. Then on to some trot and canter work. The trot work went well, but in canter he was quite annoyed with me refusing to hold him up on the left rein. Even managed to have a minor hissy about it, but we just kept going forward and it got much better. By the end of the ride he was mostly engaged in canter. I cooled him down with some walk work and then revisited the cookies cute face game, at which he was much improved. :-)

12/22/06 It has just been miserable mud out in the barnyard and the horses have been staying inside overnight to give them a break from it. They go out during the day to play though, 'cause a horse is a horse of course of course. I rode him in the outdoor, which had wet but firm enough footing. We started out with some walk work and the usual-of-late moving off my leg exercises. He did very well with that. We went on to canter, halt, turn on forehand, canter on other lead back and forth around half the arena exercises and that went well, with the exception of some heaviness in the downward transitions, which got better when he started to step under from behind more effectively. Good boy. Then we went on to trot work and it was LOVELY. All that warmup really made a difference. We would have been a sight to see in context though: Woman in flapping barn jacket whose zipper broke just before the ride and somewhat muddy half chaps, extremely fuzzy big red horse being polite as a school marm and delightfully forward, on the aids, swinging along, huge hooves flinging wet arena sand, with the overcast sky and damp west wind the only audience. Huge grins on woman and horse. A little early for a Christmas present, but I am thankful none the less.

12/20/06 Quite unpleasant outside with 37 degree rain. Brought them in about 4 p.m. to give them a break from it. They'll stay in all night and probably out in the morning. Not fit for man or beast and all that...

12/19/06 Nice day today and tomorrow is possibly going to be a cold rainy day, so out we went. We warmed up in the arena, focusing on forward and having rapt attention to my leg aids. He did very well with that and had some nice stretch too. Yaaaaaaay. Then a brisk trot and canter out in the pasture with no pushback whatsoever. Some good relaxation and forwardness. Woooohooo. Lifestyle note: in the last few days I have been educating him about effective facial expressions while mugging for cookies. Making the owly face does not get him cookies. He is learning very quickly to make the "cute face" and the most comical thing is when he is annoyed because he didn't get the cookie when he made the owly face, so he knows he has to make the cute face if he wants the cookie. He then very sloooooowly will put one ear up and then the other in a monumental effort. He's figuring it out and gets probably more cookies during this education process, so don't cry for him Argentina. ;-)

12/18/06 A bit cooler, but not too bad out. No windy anyway. Rode in the outdoor and continued on the stretching theme of the last workout with good success. Very nice stretch in canter even. Then I took him out for a trot around the pasture at twilight. The light was paying tricks and he scared himself with the look of a jump we passed by, did a whirl and short bolt. I got him refocused and sent him forward and steadied him and he did well. We had some nice trot work in the pasture.

12/14/06 Another fabulous day. We rode in the outdoor and warmed up with the usual "this is my leg, hear it please" exercises, which went well. There is more to go in that department, but he is definitely getting on board with it. We did a lot of transition work and there is no doubt in my mind that he is getting stronger in his body all the time. After some canter work, we had some nice walk and walk leg yield, where I focused on him coming forward through this neck, which he sometimes is loathe to do in trot. After we confirmed that in walk, we moved back to trot and had some admirable work. After that we did some trot circles in the loveliest, soft, relaxed trot it has been my lot to ride in a good while. Come down the center line, halt square at x, rub, rub, good boy, cookies.

12/13/06 Beautiful warm day, let's go for a trail ride. We warmed up in the arena with some reminders about leg aids and set out on a ride. I focused on him keeping his neck down and ears relaxed and he did very well, even over the freshly buried drain tile. We walked through the scary gate that we had a big fight about in other days. Then we went up to Indian hill and turned around and came back, past the windmill, which had him on his toes, but he managed to keep it together. Then we went back over the drain tile and into the next field back away from the barn. He decided that was far enough for today and did a stop and spin for which he earned a sharp tap with the dressage whip on the butt and turned around and sent back to work with a growl. We were going along fine for a while until I spotted the orange of a deer hunter in the distance so we took our leave and headed home. Good day.

12/10/06 Had a tough start today. I was just about to get on when my neighbor drove his team by. The horses always get spooky about the team going by, but today the team had the added scariness of having jingle bells on. Blew their little minds! Sauvage, who I was leading, was truly scared and, as a result, unruly and huge. I just required him to be careful of me, but I couldn't punish him for being scared. He was just starting to settle down as the bells faded in the distance, and I had gotten on and started riding, when Jay started measuring things with a tape measure just out side the arena. Lots of horses are afraid of the metalic crackly noises that tape measures make and S agreed with that general assessment. I required him to continue working, which he did, but he was highly suspicious of the activities by Jay. We did some warm up work after that and some very nice trot and canter work. I was very pleased that he worked through the rough start to produce some nice results. Learning to recover from scary moments is a nice skill. At the end we took a nice neck down walk around the pasture which went well.

12/9/06 For being 50 degrees and sunny, it didn't feel balmy for December, but still not bad. We warmed up in the arena and he did very well. Then out to the pasture for lots of trotting in softness with frequent changes of direction, which went well. We even had some canter in softness and throughness out in the BIG WORLD. He managed to do an elevated canter stride that some would call a buck, but I prefer to think of it as being very round, which he most certainly was. I think he felt good. We closed with a walk around the entire pasture with his neck down and relaxed ears. Very very good.

12/8/06 We warmed up in the outdoor, focusing on him being light off the leg and forward. He did very well. Then out to the pasture where we did a lot of trot and flexibility work, focusing on him focusing on me and not traffic on the highway or whatever. He got annoyed with me once and started to buck in place. I booted him forward with no room for question and off he went. Any horse who can buck that slowly and athletically in place (balancing on his haunches like a carousel horse) has the ability to use all that athletecism for good! We worked in the far scary side of the pasture and he managed to stay with me about 95% of the time, which is great. After he did so well, we walked around the whole pasture, with his neck down and breathing in a relaxed manner. Yippy skippy. :-)

12/5/06 Nicely above normal temps so in the tack are we. Started out in the outdoor where we reviewed being light on the aids. Did lots of bending and flexing and transitions and forward, forward forward. He's so smart and did very well. Then out in the pasture for more of the same-staying politely on the aids and performing in the BIG WORLD. He did very well, even when a huge noisy truck went by. Getting better at carrying himself from behind and staying looser in his neck. He worked very hard and had some nice results. Much praise.

12/4/06 Overcast, breezy, but not too cold, around 30. Rode in the outdoor with the intention of just taking it easy on him, easing back into it after some time off. Well, there was this stray piece of styrofoam that blew near the arena that slightly changed our plans. He shied at it and spun away at which point I turned him back to it. He did very well with it and things were going along swimmingly after that with a lot of slow flexibility work. I was focusing on him being soft and he was doing well, especially after I made myself clear that I was not interested in physically moving him with my leg, but that he should move his body under his own power in response to a leg aid. We got that straight and moved forward with a clear understanding and had some very nice lightness!

11/28/06 Rode in the morning before the front came through, or it was just starting anyway. A little windy, overcast, but no precip. We warmed up at a walk and he was very relaxed and forward in his neck, then some canter work which went swimmingly with good stretch and some bit chewing and his trot work was through too! Wacky good fun. Now to make that into a habit in the arena and then transfer that skill to work elsewhere. Keep the relaxed posture and encourage the confident mind. On the way.

11/27/06 We had fun today! It was foggy and drizzling a little, but quite mild. We warmed up in walk and he was very through in his neck. After a warmup, we cantered, to get him thinking forward and then did some trot work. He sort of fell apart at the trot, not coming through his body and not having great rhythm. I asked hiim for some leg yielding which was at first ugly, but got him coming through soon enough. Then we did some work on canter trot transitions and transitions from working to a more lengthened trot and back again, which went very well. He was really getting into the spirit of the thing and was very proud of himself and a dangerously cute cookie beggar afterward. Very good night.

11/26/06 He'd had a few days off due to the holiday, and was a little goofy, as were all the horses. When I went out to catch him he popped around the place like a spring filly, tail in the air and just bouncing from diagonal to diagonal in trot. Silly boy! I went and got a cookie and they all came over pretty quickly after they'd had a little fun. Since the other two horses I'd worked today were a little goofy, I thought it might be a good day to choose to longe him and see how he went rather than hop aboard. He looked very good and got a good workout in walk, trot and canter. I learned that he shies a lot less after he has gone forward for a while and gotten some energy out. I guess I knew that, but the change really was pretty dramatic. By the end of the session he was really moving well over his back and looked great. Looking forward to being back in the tack tomorrow.

11/22/06 Rode him in the outdoor just after sunset. The arena lights were on and he was fine with that. However, he objected to the cat rustling just outside the ring in the dark in the leaves. I could not blame him for that assessment. However, he did very well trusting me about it, which is encouraging. We had one very interesting shy. We were cantering along and the cat sped across some pine needles making them sort of hiss as he moved them. S did an unceremonious about face and kept cantering, I ordered another about face and to keep cantering and he went right by the spot where the cat had just been. That is a huge step in the right direction, and also gave me a good giggle and got him a pat. His trot work was a little more through, he was quite light in the bridle and his canter work was very relaxed. Yay. Yet another thing to be thankful for tomorrow. :-)

11/21/06 He got his hooves trimmed and shoes reset. I was setting jumps in the pasture when a really loud tractor and two wagons went by. All the horses acknowledged it, and S added a flourish of buck and bolt to his acknowledgement. He didn't go far or long, but this little display is more support for my growing theory that he is simply more sensitive to sound and sight than the other horses. A little more fear or at least inexperience. At any rate not simply just naughtiness under tack, but a general way of being. I take this as very positive because we can work on helping him deal with stuff. Acclimitization work is a big part of training. Interesting.

11/20/06 Another nice day! Rode in the outdoor and he was excellent. Nice walk work, getting stronger in trot and good stretch in canter. Took him for a pasture walk to wind down and he was good until he got really scared in the southeast corner. He settled down aftermy growl for the slight bolt and then some support to get him to relax. I've half a mind to just longe him at a walk out there until he gets used to working by himself in an open environment. He's fine by himself in the arena, but he'd really like to have a horse leader out in the open. Need to continue to develop his independent confidence.

11/19/06 Another beautiful, still fall day. He's had a lot of ringwork lately, but today the fields were dry enough to not be gumbo mud, so I mounted up at the mounting block behind the barn and set off on a ride in the big field behind our place. We did a lot of walk work warmup and then went off with some trot work. He was occasionally very tight in his neck (look at all the new stuff!) and when he was we would do a few 15 m circles, get it worked out and move on. He did not like the large pile of junk that is in the corner of the field and had a minor spin and short bolt about that, but got over it and went back to work. He did quite well, even doing some very nice canter work. Fun day.

11/17/06 Beautiful, still fall day. The pasture was just a little wet yet and the fields were entirely too boggy, so we were in the arena. Did a long walk warm up which went well. Then some trot work with shoulder in and leg yielding. Today's focus was (besides the basic of encouraging contact with the right rein, back up, yield in the poll) having him stay focused on me. When we are going toward the barn he is always right with me. When we go toward the field, he usually focuses elsewhere. Today when he did that he got a quiet verbal "Where are you?" and if he didn't give me an ear, he got a tap on the shoulder. He figured it out and did very well. Much praise. He had one tiny push back moment in trot and when I took both legs off to give him a boot he jumped forward. Good response, Prince, good boy. Canter work was stellar today.

11/15/06 Since he had all those days off he can work a few days in a row here. This isn't exactly Tevis Cup work we are doing here. ;-) Blustery horrid day, so we stayed in the arena which at least has a wind break. We had some very nice walk work again and some nice lift in his back in walk and trot. Had one push back moment that was corrected immediately and in no uncertain terms and then much praise later when he went right back to work. Canter work was a little sticky in not coming through his neck, but it will come. Good day. Much cookie celebration.

11/14/06 We were gone for the weekend and then I was suffering from a lovely bit of the chest krank Monday, but today I am mostly better. I rode Sauvage in the arena, and partially due to still being a little weak myself, did a longer than usual walk warm up, paying special attention to him going to the right rein and moving off my left leg when asked. We did walk leg yield and all manner of spirals and such and after a few minutes he got measurably taller and his back really came up. Woohoo! Muscles! When we finally did trot work, it was really quite good and plenty polite and correct. His canter work was nice to, though occasionally a little budgy up front. Maybe not strong enough to carry that really "up" yet for more than a few strides. Nice day. Not one second of push back. He was proud of himself.

11/9/06 Another nice day. We worked in the arena, and after a walk warmup focused on him staying relaxed in his poll. This is important for all horses, but for him it seems to be a real key. When he gets worried about something, he gets tight and then he worries, and then he gets tighter. When I can keep him yielded in his poll, the cycle returns to the positive side. He did very well in all three gaits. As a warmdown we went out in the pasture for a walk and short trot. He did very well.

11/07/06 Really a pretty day out. I tacked up Sauvage and we went out for a walk warm up around the pasture. He felt very good in his body. After the warm up we did a pretty good amount of trot work, focusing on him yielding in his poll and carrying himself. It went very well and he felt proud of himself, as I interpreted the feel I was getting. We interspersed it with walk work and then went on to canter work which was just so lovely. We worked in the far side of the pasture and a huge combine went by on the highway and he stayed with me mentally. We did have one moment late in the workout where he shied at a xc jump and did a spin and short bolt, but he reacted approiately to the tongue lashing and smart tap on the butt he got and went right back to work with a "Sorry Ma'am" demeanor. Pat on the shoulder when he did. His walk work on the way in later was much improved with no tripping. Coming along...

11/6/06 Lately every day is Sauvage's birthday and I am just a very pleased birthday partygoer. We were out of town for the weekend and our barn person reported that Sauvage was an absolutely delightful-to-observe-frolic goofball in the pasture. Sunday when we got home we appreciated a repeat performance and today he went to Al Garcia for his follow up apointment to get his sacroilliac evened out. Since Sauvage's first apointment, Al has figured out how to get the sacroilliac to sort of "snap back" into place. It was facinating to watch. Al put S's left hind on a farrier hoof stand and then got on a step ladder and pushed first the front of S's sacroilliac and then just a little pressure on the back and it just went in. I went and looked at it and S is now perfectly even over that spot. It was cool to watch S's expression while Al did it too. He was not alarmed, and mostly acutely interested. It will be fun to ride him soon and see if a difference can be felt.

11/2/06 A bit breezy and cool, but not too bad out due to a little sunshine. I tacked up and got on with the aid of the mounting block outside of the arena. Getting a little cocky now, skipping the arena check for mood. ;-) As it turns out, he balked right off the bat. We got about 15 steps from the mounting block and he said he was not leaving his group (all the other horses were nearby). We had a discussion about that and he was a little owly, but I've experienced much worse from him and he got over it and out we went. We did a nice walk warm up and then a lot of easy trot work, focusing on him yielding in the poll and coming through his back. He had some very nice moments and got much praise and withers scritches. We had one minor meltdown when a lowboy flatbed with a backhoe went by on the gravel road. He found this objectionable and did a short bolt (maybe 3 strides and then under control again). I spent a few more minutes in trot, gave him a walk break (not major tripping, woohoo!) and then off for some canter work which went swimmingly. Relaxed walk back to the barn, untack and cookies.

10/31/06 A major cold front came through last night and today it is much cooler and breezy. I was interested to see how Sauvage was going to react. He was very calm despite the cool weather and warmed up in the arena without comment so out we went to the pasture. We did a lot of walking to get going. He is required to march and carry himself in this walk. He was doing great with the exception of one impressive trip. The voice in my head said, "Oh he's tripping, he'll come right back up. Oh, he's still tripping and I don't think he's going to save it. I think this meeting with the ground will be pretty slo mo. Nope, he saved it. Good save Sauvage!" He did go down on his knees for a stride or two. He very rarely trips and only slightly at that, at a trot and never at a canter. It has to do with engagement I think and will improve as he gets stronger. He had one naughty spin and very short bolt during the trot work, but he just isn't selling it to me like he used to. Kind of amusing actually. I just growl at him and send him back to work and he goes with much less drama than before. I do give him a break after a little more work (to make my point that he has to be polite!) though when he does that, because I do think that he is naughty when he starts to get sore. They key is challenging him physically to help build him up, but without asking really challenging things for a long time. We want to work right at the edge of his max. His trot and canter work were very very good. He is starting to come softer in his throatlatch and more active behind which is the name of the game. Woohoo.

10/29/06 Beautiful day so Jay and I went out for a walk trail ride with Sauvage and Claude. S tried to be a little snarky in the first few minutes, but he got back in front of my leg when I made an issue of it. Then we had a nice 40 minute tour of all the harvested fields by us in the warm sunshine. Long rein and relaxed. He did surprise himseslf late in the ride by noticing a combine on a flatbed over the hill and did a shy and short bolt, but when Claude just looked at him like he was silly, he got over it. Stopped to much a few ears of corn the combine missed on the way home. Yum.

10/26/06 Rained in the morning so too wet to go traipsing about the pasture. Worked in the outdoor with a lot of walk warmup and once he was warmed up, some walk lateral work, shoulder in, leg yield, half pass, focussing on staying up and through and being light in the bridle. He did very well as evidenced by Jay commenting that he looked like he was so "bouncy that he could do passage at any time." We did some trot and canter work which went well. Very good day.

10/25/06 Savant had his left hind shoe replaced. Found it in the pasture last night, even before I knew it was missing!

10/24/06 Beautiful autumn day with sun shining and no wind. He walked around the ring without comment other than one shy at a bird that flew abnormally near him, so we went out to the pasture. My plan was to keep it simple today, as there were combines working corn fields literally on 3 sides of us. I thought that would be enough of a challenge. So we did 15 minutes of marching walk and he was puffing during the end. He dealt with heavy truck traffic going by on the highway (harvest trucks) and watched a truck being filled in the next field from the combine and watched with intense but relaxed interest. The walking really was an alert, forward up walk I was requiring and he was enjoying. He did pull one naughty shy and short mini bolt for which he got no response and a simple return to work. I think it really embarasses him when I don't have a big reaction to antics and he just has to go back to work. He settles down more quickly each time and we are back on track. After the walk work, we did some trot and canter work , focusing on quality and not requiring quantity. He had some very nice work in canter and some just lovely work in trot. Yay.

10/22/06 Since this was two days in a row, I did a lot of walk suppling work to warm up, but we did eventually get to the trot and canter work. He did very well.

10/21/06 It has been an extremely busy week, with some nasty weather thrown in , so today was the first day I got to ride him. He has been doing a fair amount of self-exercising in the pasture, as the cool weather is conducive to a new fervor in horseplay in the pasture, of course. The weather wasn't exactly welcoming today either, with north wind and little needles of rain, but still I was happy to be back with Savauge. We did a lot of trot work and some shoulder in and leg yield with some half pass. Work those muscles!

10/15/06 I met Becky! She's fabulous! Had a good workout with Sauvage. He started out a little stiff, but came around and did some nice work, especially near the end. Lots of fun.

10/13/06 Had a few days off due to huge winds and cold temps. Back in the tack today. He was goofing off with Ed when I came home, feeling pretty good. I tacked up and he was fine in the arena so we went out in the pasture. We went around in trot once and then when we turned out for the second go round he had a good push back. I dealt with that and got him going again, but decided to take it easier on him because he was tripping a fair amount, and I think doing his best. We did a lot of walking and then we did approximately minute trots, focusing on really correct work--quality vs. quantity, with frequent short walk breaks. That seemed to work a lot better for him. That's just fine, we get the same amount of conditioning out of it eventually and better work in the meanwhile. Ok to let him have input on how this process goes. He had some very lovely work.

10/10/06 Soft rain and cool. We did a trot around the pasture, but he felt a little tight. Could have been the cold rain on his muscles. He put up a pretty big fit when I asked him to turn away from the barn for the second lap around the pasture. I eased him through it but then had him walk instead of trot. We did about an hour walking around. He threw a few minor fits, but we got through them. We're not even 8 weeks into the diet. We are lucky that we are doing as well as we are already. Setbacks like this will happen. S'okay.

10/8/06 We were at a horse trial in Wichita with Eddie so Sauvage missed a day of conditioning. When we drove in the driveway, he was trotting around the pasture with Claude and then when Eddie got off the trailer they played for a while. It was quite comical. Sauvage clearly feels better. He was bucking and playing and cantering small circles. Amazing. After some unpacking of the trailer, I brought Sauvage in and tacked up. He was standing normally. I walked and trotted around the outdoor and he didn't even shy at the pyramid of blue buckets from the horse trial that were drying just outside the arena. I took him out to the pasture and did 8 minutes of trot, and after the first four asked him with some half halts to carry himself a little more and he was able to for a reasonable length of time. There were times where he felt really great in his body. Then we had a walk break for a minute (He did have several trips when we were on the walk break, both front and back. I am confident this is a phase, as I went through this with Claude) and went 8 minutes more with more stretched and self carriage and some more long frame trotting. It went very well, and noisy motorcycles went by and he handled it. Woohoo. He did have one push back moment, but just a grind to walk from trot which, with a little coercion, he picked back up in trot again with less than 5 seconds. Big praise. Then we did some canter work in each direction. He's not strong enough to do it really well yet and carry himself, but he is such a natural athlete that it still feels great. I can not even yet imagine how he will feel to ride when he is strong enough to carry himself. When I brought him in to untack, he was standing stretched out as he does when he is a little tired. That's just fine. He was still bright and begging for cookies, which he got, of course. :-)

10/5/06 Another very warm day. We walked briefly around in the arena just to see if he was on the aids today and he was, so out we went to the pasture. We trotted around the outside of the pasture 9 minutes then did a walk rest and then cantered around it on the left lead. He was extremely good through all of that. When we were doing a short walk rest after that canter, a really noisy truck with trailer went by and he got a little up, but not even in the league of what he would have presented in the past, and frankly, I think any horse would have been slightly alarmed by this rig. He took a minute or two to settle and then we were off in canter in the other direction, which went well. Then some trot circle work in the middle of the pasture that went well and a walk back to the barn. Good day.

10/3/06 Wow, hot. Took it a little bit easy today since he is starting to get a winter coat and it was 88 degrees! We did a walk warm up and then 8 minutes of trot and two minutes each direction of canter. Very good. It was breezy and a dried corn leaf blew up in to the air right in front of him and he just kept trotting. Most cool. Also, saddle pads drying on the fence were moving around and he was unfazed. Woohoo. Then did another 6 minutes of trot after a short walk break and then out in the pasture for a walkout. There were huge combines in the next field and he was all alone as the other horses were hiding from the sun in the barn. He manged to keep his head about him and just mildly disagreed once when asked to do yet another turn away from the barn. When I brought him in to untack, he was standing stretched out over the ground, which seems to indicate that he was a little tired. I think we are working right at the edge of his fitness and metabolism and perhaps the ligament, so I feel good about that. We want him to be slightly, but not overly challenged.

10/1/06 Well, not every day is my birthday, but today was still much improved over past performances. We warmed up with an 8 minute trot and two minute canter in each direction in the arena. He was relaxed and not spooky, but he felt a little doggy. Then we went around the scary willow tree twice at a trot and it went fine. Then out to the pasture. We went around the 10 acres of it at a trot twice very well. The third time, which would have been the last, he planted his feet and stopped and one time did a half spin when I turned him around to face away from the barn again. We were successful going all the way back out at a walk. My suspicion is that he got some muscle cramping because when I watched him after the ride, he was standing over a lot of ground, stretched out a little like he does sometimes. He was fine in an hour. The good news is that when I rinsed him off after the ride, (hot, 88 degrees!) he didn't snatch up his hind feet like he used to. On the right track.

9/27/06 Riding Sauvage lately is like having every day be my birthday. Something new and good every time. Today we did 8 minutes of trot in the arena to warm up and then one minute of canter in each direction. Then we went out in to the pasture to continue with the trot sets. On the way there we went aroung the willow tree twice with no problem, then did 10 more minutes of trot in big rectangles. It may have been helpful that the other horses were in the "scary" part of the pasture and grazing, but he went there several times, with only slightly raised pulse and tight neck, but not one push back. It was fabulous.

9/25/06 He was nicely relaxed for the first 8 minute trot in the outdoor, so I endevoured to expand his comfort zone and went out to the willow tree outside the arena, site of his last major tantrum. Walked and trotted around it perfectly, not a bat of an eyelash. Then we went out in the pasture, all the way out to the end and did some trotting around. He was very good, especially during the time a young cat jumped out of the grass and ran across the pasture at the same time a car went by on the other side. In August, this would certainly have been his undoing. He watched it happen and kept trotting. Amazing. Then we did some circles in the pasture and at one point he planted his feet and refused to go forward, but no spin and vacate play. I just smoozed him forward with a strong leg and a twinge of spur and he went. Just so much better than it used to be. He was even relaxed in his neck for most of the time in the pasture. Very good.

9/24/06 Day off, but I had a few moments to take some pictures of him for you. The first one is he and his friend Claude (Jay's hunt horse) in the pasture. Sauvage actually looks thin next to Claude, who is as close to a barrel on legs as they come. Yes we needed a custom saddle for him! One of the best parts of this picture is Sauvage's soft expression. I have noticed a generall softening in his attitude and expression. Jay and Katie have noticed it too.

They like to groom each other.

Savant is growing muscles! The diet and the trotting is helping! Look at the butt muscles!

Gaskin muscles!

Forearm muscles!

9/23/06 He was standing well in the cross ties and had a relaxed way about him. We did some walking and trotting in the arena and he was non-reactive to stimuli (trotted around the outside of the arena in a mostly relaxed manner, no balking. So we went on a walk trail ride with Claude and Katie. Savant had a few good looks at things and few moments of buck/small rear, but all in all much toned down from the past. We trail rode for a bit and then came home and Sauvage and I had a walk around the pasture. He was recalcitrant a few times, but not as vociferously as he had been in the past and we did go all the way down to the other side of the pasture with his neck down and mostly chewing the bit, which is what we are looking for. Loud traffic went by and he handled it fine. Very very good. Later in the day I did sheath cleaning, for which he was a saint.

9/21/06 School in the arena. 16 minutes of trot, changing directions many times. When I tacked him up I noticed he was standing in the old way that he used to, camped out in back. It made me wonder how he was feeling. It turns out, he was feeling a little like he used to, because he did do a few of his old tricks-the stop and spin twice and one buck and he was a little tight in his neck at first. However, he got better and better as the work went on, rather than the other way, so that was great. There will be fits and starts along the way. At the end we warmed down with some walk lateral work which went well.

9/20/06 Day off, but I was coaching Jay on Betty (horse) in the pasture and Ed and Sauvage came over and were just obnoxious pocket ponies. "Hey, whadya doing? Got cookies? I'm so cute. Pet me." Then they turned tail and went bucking and flatulating around the pasture. Clearly he is feeling quite well.

9/19/06 Another great workout. We did a 16 minute trot set in the arena and he did not have one major difficulty, just one very minor push back that passed quickly. Trotting 16 minutes straight is more of a workout for a horse than you might think and he is usually moderately sweaty by the end of it. He had his front shoes reset today and they look great. His left eye looks better all the time.

9/18/06 His eye lower eye lid was a little less swollen. I treated it this morning with tripple antibiotic in case there is a little infection in there. I will keep monitoring it and treat as needed.

9/17/06 Today was a very encouraging day. We did the 16 minute trot set in the arena and he was much more settled than he has EVER been. We started out with some 20 m trot circles and then I was going to move the center of the circle nearer the scary end of the arena and there was just no reason to do it that way, he just trotted right down the side of the arena to "scaryland" with no push back or spook. He trotted with his neck down and only tensed it up slightly maybe 3 times. One time he had a shy that any reasonable horse would have had when a bird flew out of the pine tree right in front of his face (the cat was hunting it). I was very pleased when he only took a slight hesitation in stride and kept trotting forward. Any horse would have done that. His whole manner was much more relaxed. There will be blips in the advancement of this trend, but I am encouraged that we are on the right track. His left lower eye lid was a little puffy today, probably from the wind in the last two days. I will endevour to keep a supermask on him on windy days. The left front tendon is holding up and he does not favor or point that leg, so we'll stay the steady course with the trot work. He just has so many subtle positive changes going on. It is a delight to see.

9/15/06 16 minute trot in the outdoor. He started out hesitant to go in the far side of the arena, so we did circles whose centers moved slightly toward that end until we were circling in the "scary end" of the arena. When he gets his head up his "push back" can be quite strong and at its strongest, results in the stop and spin move. He did that once today, but he got back on track more quickly than usual, which is a good sign. We also did the tap, kick, tap, kick, tap routine once. At times today he had a lovely swinging "flywheel spinning in the right direction" feel to his trot and it was delightful for both of us! I feel like I should explain why I am optimistic about him getting less spooky in the future and why I see positive signs where they may not be evident. It is my experience, though I haven't done anything scientifically valid to prove it, that EPSM horses, when they are not being fed the high fat diet, become "spooky" or recalcitrant at least. Our horse Claude was that way and got better, and a welsch driving pony of a client/friend's is 3 months into the diet and his owner commented, unprompted, concerning how much "braver" or less spooky he is since being on the diet. It may take a while for Sauvage to come around, average for real change is 5 months, but there is reason to believe it finally will come. Tomorrow night he will have been on the diet exactly one month.

9/13/06 Ok! Footing much improved, back at it. 16 minutes of trot in the arena. During the trot work, we are focusing on him staying in front of my leg at all times. He had two moments where he got behind it. Both times we had a discussion about it and he was back up front in just a quick bit. After about 5 minutes of warm up he was really moving well and having fun. Felt good.

9/11/06 Much rain has made it improssible to trail ride, inadvisable to ride in the pasture (tear up the sod), and pretty slick even in the sand arena. In stead of complicating things by riding, I lunged him in the arena to make sure that he got his trot sets in. It went well.

9/7/06 I got to thinking about yesterday and surmised that I don't need to be in the tack to get experience out in the open by himself performing. So tonight I got out a longe line and led him out to the pasture by himself. When he started to get upset (almost agoraphobic about halfway out in the pasture) I just put him on a 15 m circle and let him work it out on the longe. He was quite active with a fair amount of bolting and a buck or two and being really upset and even a good attempt at pulling the line out of my hands, but he didn't prevail at that, tired out a little and took a look around and settled somewhat. Reversed direction, did a few minutes of trot on that direction and then walked quietly back to the barn. Yay.

9/6/06 Savage is clearly feeling better. His eye is almost entirely recovered, just a little swelling. I rode him in the outdoor and then ventured out to the paddock and he had some quite sassy moments that were disconcerting. This is going to be a tough time balancing taking care of the tendon issue in his left front and him starting to develop muscles and feel good. After we were done with the 15 minutes of trot and undersaddle work, he rolled (laid down a lot easier than he used to) and then sprung up into the air from being all the way down and then set out to bucking and playing all over the arena. I'm glad he's on 24/7 turnout!

9/4/06 10 minute trot set (ok, and a little more because he felt so good) in the dressage arena. He is a lot freer in his back and his trot is less "jolty". Did very well. He volunteered a few strides of canter and I went with it. Felt great. Had to get off because it was too tempting to overwork his left front.

9/1/06 Rode Savauage for his 10 minute trot set. He was very relaxed on the walk out, but got upset by a particularly noisy truck that went by on the highway. Some bucking and goofing about. Completed the trot set and untacked. Hot compressed his eye and gave him banamine. They eye is still a 3 on the oogie scale, but improving nicely.

8/31/06 Savauage came in fo breakfast with his left eye nearly swollen shut. I got him an appointment at ISU to have it examined. The eyeball was not involved, but he had some traumatic injury to the lower lid. They said ice and bute or banamine is the way to go, to continue that today, change to hot pack tomorrow. It is oogie, he looks like a prize fighter, but it gets better by the hour. Side note: really fabulous trot work in the pasture and some playful bucking that I have never seen him do. Good sign.

8/30/06 He came in with a slightly swollen left lower eye lid. They eye does not appear to be involved at all. I iced it for 10 minutes and gave him some bute and then iced it again later. It looked pretty pathetic even after that, but they eyeball itself looks good and there is no abrasion or skin break. Classic pasture bonk. I imagine it will still be a little swollen in the morning, when I will ice and bute again.

8/28/06 We are starting to call him Muscle Boy. There is no doubt in my mind that he is starting to develop some muscles where he had none before. It is inspiring me to start eating better! If he can start to improve his body in 2 weeks, so can we all! :-) Took him for his 10 minute trot set, ponying from Claude in the pasture. We rec'd 1.6 inches of rain and it was still drizzling when we went out, so we were all pretending to be in Ireland, which was not a stretch. He had to go by the scary trees and monster bushes in the two corners of the pasture and had a little bronc fit for a moment at one point. Nice to be on an equally tall and even more heavy horse when he did it. He stopped pretty quickly. Heh, heh, heh. He did well. Nice workout.

8/26/06 I swear he is gettin more muscles already, but Jay says I must be hallucinating. Another 10 minute pony from Claude. A few times he got behind us and got a little tap on his rump. He jumped like the very hand for God touched him. I guess he didn't see the dressage whip I was carrying on the other side of Claude. Tee hee. He started not to eat the grain because it had too much alfalfa pellets in it for him (to soak up the oil). I tailed back on that and increased the Ultium and now he's back to "yum".

8/24/06 The recovery begins. I tacked up Claude, Jay's hunt horse and ponied Savauge off him. We first had a little warm up in the arena to get the hang of it and then out ot the pasture for laps around the 9 acres. I put a big soft cotton rope over Savauge's nose just in case he got a little strong and it did come in handy a few times, but all in all, both boys were very good and we had a nice 10 minute trot, which is more work for them than you'd suspect. They did great. Lifestyle note: he likes the oil and eats it right up. Yay.

8/22/06 Took him to Roy to have his left front superficial digital flexor tendon ultrasounded. He says he thinks it is a relatively old injury, but it is still healing. He is going to show the ultrasound output to Scott McClure DVM at Iowa State for his input as to how to proceed. Scott may reccommend shockwave therapy, about which I have heard great things, but I also know it is pricey. On exam, Savauge was Quite sound, except on two steps on an arc. Roy says that he should be on an every other day schedule of exercise, starting with 10 minutes of trot to continue to strengthen the tendon. He says it would be just fine for his EPSM recovery too.

8/21/06 He is up to 2 cups of oil per day and loving it. Yummy. Playing with him and telling him he's cute a lot.

8/19/06 Roy Kipper was out for neurologic exam, which, because Roy is so thorough, turned into a complete exam, head to hoof. This is exactly why I wanted Roy to look at Savauge. Roy is not only an excellent vet, but a thoughtful, caring horseman. Long story short, left front deep digital flexor slight pain, but no obvious unsoundness, much lameness on flexion of left hind. Much careful thought, diagnosis EPSM. Start high fat diet immediately, come in mid week for ultrasound of left front.

8/17/06 Another very good dressage school. Wondering...

8/16/06 Excellent school in the dressage arena. I was a little firmer with him than I have been in the past, requiring him to really come through in his neck and up in his back. Is it just that the more he is asked the better he is? Is he simply like a really talented kid who can't stop himiself from goofing off in class unless he is given quadratic equations to solve? We'll see.

8/15/06 School in the dressage arena which went well. Then out to the pasture to see if we could keep it together out in the open. He was good 80% of the time, but about 5 minutes in he put up a little bucking/rearing few moments when he apparently figured we were done. We worked through it and had some nice polite work at the end.

8/13/06 HT at Catalpa Corner. Dressage was ok, but the 1/4 mile hack out was very difficult as he was bucking and rearing. On XC he was enough of a pill that we had to retire after fence 4. Due to various very subtle things and his unusually uncooperatiave behaviour, we are going to have him neurologically evaluated on Saturday.

8/11/06 Worked in in the arena and he did quite well.

8/7/06 Took him to the chiropractor for treatment. I had been concerned over the bump that he has along his spine near his hips on the right and his tendencey to stand stretched out rather than square. You can see the bump, though it appears slight, in this picture:



Jay and Al worked together to fix it, with Jay pushing on an acupuncture point, while Al nudged Savant's pelvis nearer to correct :



Al explained that Savant's pelvic girdle had somehow in his life been shifted up on the right. It should meet like this



But it actually is like this:



After the first adjustment from below, Al continued with manipulation from above.



Savauge was very good for the adjustment, though he was a little dubious at times as evidenced by his spying at me with the camera.



Al said that we will not get rid of that bump, but we can make things lie a lot better and he was happy with the result. He says that Savauge should have off until Friday to let things settle in.

8/5/06 Lovely day, nice southerly breeze, some welcome rain in the morning. Jay was riding in the arena, so we went out to the pasture. Again we are focusing on him stretching forward in his neck and keeping his attention on his rider. He did well walking out to the far side of the pasture, but once there, was shying at everything (traffic going by which he deals with all the time when he is grazing, birds, you name it.) I was reassuring him but he was just getting more and more worked up. I decided to try a different tack and put him on a 30 m circle in canter in the middle of the pasture. We probably cantered a solid 5 minutes in both directions, still working on unlocking his neck and stretching down. He got better and better. Then he produced some nice work. There is a fine line between letting him stretch and encouraging him to relax or just sending him forward, requesting that he stretch and helping him burn off the extra fuel so he can relax. Plan B worked well today, so we'll see if it carries over into other situations. By the end of the ride, he was doing some very nice walk and canter work, with the flywheel spinning in the right direction. His trot work was occasionally heavy in the bridle, but his halts and halfhalts are getting better which is great. I finally got an appointment on Monday for some of my other horses with the wonder chiropractor. Savauge will be among the group to see the guru Monday.

8/4/06 Much better day. Worked in the arena focusing on long and low work, getting him to stretch through his neck and back. We've been generally working on that the whole while, but today I asked for even more and he was able to give it. Then out to the pasture, focusing on maintaining it in the GREAT WIDE OPEN, as he seems to think it is. He did extremely well and did a lot of relaxed breathing and letting go in his neck and back. Very very good sign. In the evening, he was wormed with ivermectin.

8/3/06 A couple of days off due to really high heat indices. The horses would just stand around and sweat for about 18 hours of the day. Poor things. Weather broke today so I warmed up in the outdoor and then went out in the pasture to do some dressage work out there. He was quite frisky and annoyed at having to work and managed to register his displeasure by throwing a short but moderately impressive bucking fit and a few minutes later a wayward drift to the left half way across the 10 acre pasture. We got through it and had some decent work after it.

7/30/06 Hauled up to Anoka, MN to school at Trott Brook. It was very hot, with temps around 95 degrees. They hauled up well and were fine when unloaded. I really think that on a properly ventilated moving horse trailer is about the best place for a horse in hot weather. Shade and air moving over them is hard to beat. We went out to school and dear Savauge had a real moment about an American flag on a flagpole as it snapped in the wind. He was really scared of it, but came around with Betty showing him how unimpressed she was with it. We went out and schooled all of the novice course and a few of the training fences. They both did extremely well with the jumping, including the water (yay!). Savauge even went into the water without a lead! Crazy. He walked in gingerly, but in he did indeed walk. Much praise! He ended up cantering through the water very well. We had one fairly ugly moment when I asked him to jump out of the water and up a small bank and take one stride to a small ramp. He didn't see the ramp until the last minute and couldn't figure out what I wanted. He put in an extra stride and almost popped me out of the saddle (or rather he did, but the Universe was with me once again and Savant was kind enough to stay straight to help me get back in the middle) and he popped over the fence from a halt. Very good. On part of the course there is a landbridge to cross and it backs off a lot of horses. The first time he was asked to go over it he spun back left a few times and did his usual theatrics, though Jay notes that they are less dramatic and last for a shorter period than they used to. I agree. He is getting more confident all the time, but there is just so much to learn about so it takes time and repetition. Later in the day I asked him to go over the same bridge again and he pushed back pretty hard, but with only a slight delay, went over. The third time he really came forward and went over it just fabulously. I had a distinct feeling of a flywheel cleanly spinning in the right direction. It was fabulous. My friend sent me a picture of Savauge, Jay and me at Wind's Reach HT earlier this season. It was taken after xc and it was about 90 degrees. Thus the water in our hands and Savauge's plentiful sweat. He is pretty danged bright of expression nonetheless! He was off for a rinse right after this picture.

7/29/06 Home from vacation and half unpacked. Time to start riding. Went on a trail hack with Jay and Claude. Went over some new ground, and with a lead from Claude he was just fine. I'm just trying to get his experiences up so that he learns how to learn about new things. He just gets scared of stuff. Getting better. Worked on him staying light in the bridle and he did very well with that.

7/19/06 Savant was trimmed and reshod. The farrier commented that his hooves aren't growing much, so I started with Super Hoof daily supplement. It isn't terribly expensive and really helps some horses. Downside is that it takes about 6 months to show any results. Well, 5 months and 29 days to go...

7/16/06 One Day Event (ODE) at Heritage Park. It was very hot by the time we did our dressage test. He warmed up a little heavy in the bridle, but I think that was to be expected in the heat. He did a pretty nice test for a 34 and second in a large division. There were some very nice horses there, so that was nice. He jumped around stadium adequately, but I am thinking that I may have not warmed him up enough. I was trying to save him in the heat and as a result he was not quite "on the aids" in showjumping. It was double clear (no time or jump faults) but not exactly pretty. After showjumping it was in the upper 90s with high humidity. I didn't think he needed to do the whole XC course, but we did an abbreviated course, which included the meat of the course, including, of course the water. He went through it fine! We cantered down to it and in the very last stride he just put in one trot step but went in splashing all the way through. Wonderful! Much praise and he was giggling I think. Then, we took a left, did 3/4 of a circle and dropped in trotting over the training log and he did fine. Much more praise and giggling and one more circle to canter in over the training log and more giggling and praise. Excellent. Come down to a trot and walk and hack back home. Very good outing! We stripped off his tack and hosed him and grazed him in the shade. He recovered his P and R well after XC, even considering the 115 degree heat index. He looked great going on the trailer and trailered home without incident and looked bright at home as they all did. I should mention that we gave them all electrolytes with their meals on Thursday night through the weekend and did much encouraging of water drinking. Worked well.

7/15/06 XC school at Heritage Park in KC. We got up at 2:50 a.m. and were on the road by 4 to get down there by 8. Wanted to avoid the heat. My working student rode home around the course with us while we schooled some other horses just to give him more mileage. She didn't jump with her, just out with the group. He was a bit of pill for her and had a few moments of exuberance, but she handled them beautifully. In return he rewarded her with some very lovely light trot work and graceful balanced canter that was like nothing she'd ever ridden, she said. Then I took Savauge out with another student on her horse and we schooled aroudn the course. Savauge was jumping well, but got anxious when the other horse would canter away to jump. This is pretty difficult and not surprising, and he was better than last time, so that is great. We schooled around the whole course and he did well, even did the water fairly confidently and did the training drop over the log in to the water, and had fun with it, which is so important. He is starting to get the idea that this is where he gets to express himself and have fun!

7/12/06 Savant has a little spot on the back of his right hind that the flies are bothering. It has a crusty scab on it. I have to get the scabby crud off before it will heal. I put some udder balm on it. By morning it should be soft enough to remove the scabs without any pain for him.

7/11/06 We got 0.9" inch rain yesterday! Thank the Universe. The horses are a little annoyed because I kept them off the pasture today so that they wouldn't tear it up. They spent the day in the barnyard. When it dries I will turn them back out. We worked in the arena on dressage. He warmed up very nicely, with a relaxed manner and most importantly, stretching forward in his neck. Yay! We did some nice work in canter and then some flexibility work in trot with shoulder in down the long side with a volte in the middle of the longside and then back into shoulder in. The volte really helps them balance. He did excellently. We both had fun.

7/10/06 Had several days off in light of putting up hay. Let us just say that riding horses is easier. Had a nice forward hack around the pasture and then a nice dressage school with a lot of trot and canter work with intermittent walk work. He did very well and was pleased with himself, as was I.

7/5/06 Dressage trail hack. We went out and he was doing very well. Then we got to the spot between the two fields where he has thrown his tiz in the past. Today was no exception, but I am happy to report that he came around to my way of thinking more quickly. This is very encouraging. He threw a very minor tiz at the drop a little while later, but went forward when I mentioned that I was wearing small spurs for a reason. Had a nice hack out and then came back. Did a lot of relaxed walk circles up and down the bank, which went well. Then some more circles in the spot where he threw the tiz. Much praise. Very good.

7/4/06 Dressage work in the arena. He had moments of brilliance interspersed with moments of lack of focus. By the end he was producing some nice work, especially in canter.

7/3/06 Trail ride at Brushy Creek State park with some friends. He was very good, especially when he could follow others. After we got going, the ranger stopped us to tell us the trails were closed due to rains the night before. Whoops. We missed the small sign that was posted. Bummer. But there were some very nice B level (not maintained, not used much) roads to hack on so we did that. Savauge led some of the way, and I had him go away from the group and he did very well, which a lot of horses won't do. I was leading when we came to a downhill stretch that had dense trees very close to it, so it kind of looked like a dark cave. Savauge was sure bears lived there and threw one of his bucking rearing fits when I asked him to lead down it. My friends are good horsewomen, so they just stepped back 50 yards and let me work with him on it. After a few minutes, Savauge settled down and looked at it and figured out that he could go there. We went all the way down the hill just fine. Once he figured out that it was not a cliff or ditch or cave, he was very happy to go. I just read a book called Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin (highly recommend the book to all those who have ANY animals in their lives) and this instance was consistent with what she talks about in her book. Horses see dark shadows as ditches, and until they have enough experience to figure out that they are not actually ditches, they can be terrified of dark shadows. Classic example of this is when Savauge jumped the shadow of the phone pole when we were warming up on the friday night before longview HT. I don't know if I put that in the log, there was so much to write... He is getting better. On the right track. All just experience and expanding that comfort zone.

6/29/06 Trail hack. After a short walk, we trotted out past the tent and Monsanto stuff and it went well. Past the windmill. Then to the next two fields and through the beaver field. Fine. Then went out on the gravel road where I spent half an hour finesseing him over a bridge. He was acting like he was very afraid of it, so I was carefull not to shove him over it. He did eventually go over it, but then he just picked his way up the hill on the other side, balking, threatening to spin at about every 3rd walk step. I was patient with that, but he alarmed me a couple of times when he would back up and spin and get near the edge of the ditch, which drops off quickly. Then we went past the neighbor's place. They have a dog in a kennel that was barking and he let that upset him. I sent him forward and after various other naughtiness, he bucked hard enough to send my butt about 8" above the tack. I came down back in the tack (thankful to the Universe and all that is good). I also came down with a brand new attitude. That was just naughty, and I'd had enough. I put him on a volte (8 m circle) and precisely on the aids and he was going to listen and listen now, be polite, and like it. Much forward, engaged work to each direction and in figure 8 volte. 560th avenue, Cambridge IA witnessed one magnificent, proper horse and one determined rider. Then I put him in shoulder in from the volte and sent him past the dog on the aids. "Yes ma'am, how much bend would you like?" That's more like it. Went another 3/4 mile out and then back without incident. Back and forth over the bridge in lovely, engaged trot, with every hoof where it was directed. Went home a new way, on the aids, and not a shy at anything. Got to the barn, then directed him to turn and canter a few strides away from it three times. Did fine. Hose and roll in the sand. We both learned something today.

6/27/06 Hack on the land near our house. He did very well going past all the strange stuff that Monsanto moved today at the neighbor's place and past the scary windmill of death without comment. Then on into the next field where we had a nice big relaxed trot. Then walked to the small drop we do into the next field and he was thinking maybe not. His argument was a minor one and he went down it without too much fuss. Then another nice trot on the edge of the field and into the beaver field where the deer always are. For whatever reason, he didn't want to go through the tree line and pitched a moderate fit with a few rears and bucks to force the issue. He was pretty goofy, so I decided to take the pressure off and just loop around the other way and come back through it from the other side. That was scary for him, but he was brave and got through it. Then I turned him around and we went through the treeline in the original requested direction. It was a little scary for him, but he did it. Much praise. On the way home we did a lot of canter work and transitions from canter to walk and back about every 4 strides to encourage him to stay over his center and in balance. He really produced some nice work. On the way home, we went by even more scary stuff that I didn't notice on the other side of the Monsanto barn on the way out. He went past a huge semi with flatbed and a tractor with planter, very nicely and only slightly bug-eyed. It is so nice of Monsanto to be so obliging in moving all the equipment around, to help Savauge expand his horizons. Go Monsanto!

6/26/06 Trailered to a friend's house for a trail ride on her property. We went around their big hay field, which is bordered by neighbor's with all sorts of interesting items, like an impromptu batting cage and a batting cage. He got by all of it with only mild alarm. Then we went for a hack on the gravel roads, which don't have a lot of traffic on them. He did very well and even relaxed and swung along. When we got back home, I asked Diane if I could do a solo trip around the property for Savauge's experience and we did. Past the pond, through a ditch up on the road and only minor hesitation when we were crossing the ditch and he accidently stepped on an old flattened cardboard box and it made a scraping sound when he stepped on it and moved it. He recovered very quickly and would have walked over it if I had asked him to, but since it slipped, I didn't aks him to. We had a nice trot and canter back up the hill and home for a roll in the sand, some water, a little rest and on the trailer and home. Very good!

6/24/06 Early morning trail hack. Oh so much better than yesterday. Yay! Did the same ride, but with no problems and he seemed to enjoy himself. Also did much going toward home and turning back to home and away again and he was obliging. On the way home, we went throught "Monsanto tent village" and there w as some changes in placement of items and a couple odd new pieces of farm equiment. He looked at it all, but dealt with it pretty confidently. Extremely satisfying!

6/23/06 Off on a trail ride. Monsanto is renting the neighbor's field. They set up big white tents for their field days and all sorts of interesting things for Savauge to look at. I didn't want to take the tent on right away so, we went in another direction with the plan of passing it on the way home. He had a minor meltdown on the way out, suggesting that he wasn't going to go forward, and went on a 180 turn back for home. Without much difficulty I suggested he turn around and march and he did, good boy. Then we went past the windmill and down to the corner, which we have done about 50 times before, but he decided he was not doing it today. He threw a moderate fit, with bucking and turning back and small rears followed by bucks. Thanks goodness he didn't twist or I'd have been toast. As it stood though, it was just quite anoying and took about 15 minutes to get through. The thing that finally worked was completely ignoring the rearing, and praising muchly when he would go in the right direction. Training theory aside, let me just share with you that it is a real challenge to ignore a 17 hand really athletic warmblood's rearing followed by bucking. But I was really impressed with how quickly he stopped it when I stopped reacting to it and started doing what I praised. Then we went on and into the next field and the next one where we always see the deer. Just when I was thinking that he was really unconfident about this whole trail riding thing (because of the earlier fit), a deer jumped out, he startled and I put a leg on but figured he would spin, but he didn't, just made a hesitation mid-stride and kept walking. Good boy! He IS getting more confident. Then we did a big loop, including the tall fountain grass (ticklish!) and home again. Just to prove a point, I had him turn around and go through the corner again, where he had had a fit. He didn't even hesitate. Yay! On the way home we went past the tent and he never offered a bad moment. He was a little unsure, but I gave him space and just a second of time to take it all in and he did. Walked right past it, all by his lonesome. Did several turns away from home to help him learn that he has to go the direction his rider asks at all time. Got it. Good boy.

6/20/06 Went for a short trail ride to warm up, which went well. Then did some dressage work in the arena, working on stretching down in his neck, especially in canter. Coming along. He was especially affectionate today, feeling quite happy it seems. I gave him a nice rinse and let him roll after the ride.

6/15/06 Lone trail ride. Had to go through the neighbor's yard (this is ok with them) that had a lot of equipment (tractors, 4 weheelers, sprayers, trailers, but not junky, just farm stuff ready for use) in it. He managed to get by all of it without melting down. Very good. We did a lot of walking, focusing on him stretching down. Went all over the place, including through the very tall (withers high) fountain grass patch. He did very well with it. At the end we did some trot and canter work, where I insisted, with the occasional help of the curb rein, that he stay soft in his neck. There were some stretches of really fantastic work. His bad times are coming less often these days and when he is good, he is very very good. He's really an amazing horse.

6/14/06 Dressage work in the arena. We did a lot of forward and stretching work. He is going well in the pelham. I can ride him on the snaffle rein most of the time, but when he thinks about going tight against the bit, I can remind him about being polite with the curb. He produced some excellent swinging work tonight. Hose at the end and good roll in the soft sand of tha arena.

6/11/06 I've been toying with the idea of putting a little more bit in his mouth for the short term. I do not like to use more than a snaffle on horses, but there is a time and a place for all things. The astute Jay pointed out that I am working too hard physically on encouraging him to soften and that I'm not doing anybody any favors by doing so. I've been thinking a lot about it, and finally decided on a double jointed (french link type) pelham. I like the pelham because I can ride entirely on the snaffle rein when things are going swimmingly, and I have the curb around for when he thinks that muscling his rider is the thing to do. Jay and I went on a trail ride with Savauge and Claude. We did a lot of walking at first, and it was very nice to use the curb rein occasionally when he started to lock his lower neck. I could get him out of it and immediately allow him to stretch forward. I used the bit a lot less than I would have had to use a snaffle alone. We did some trotting and cantering and he noticed the difference in bits, but didn't object too strenuously. When we got home, we did some trot and canter work in the arena and it was much lighter and through with much less work for his rider. Much praise and done for the day.

6/9/06 Log note: Derith sent pictures from the Catalpa clinic. Now on the photos page.

6/8/06 Group trail ride at Brushy Creek. I kept him in the back because sometimes he gets nervous and then if a horse hurries him from behind he feels pressured and shows them the bottoms of his hind hooves. We went probably 6 miles and crossed many streams, big and small. This was his first experience with moving water and slightly deeper water and he did quite well. Of course he was always following, but good experiences will add up to eventually more confidence when out independently. We did some trotting and cantering and he was a bit unruly, (yeeha! This is fun!) but manageable. After the group went home, Katie and I went out for a short trail ride with just our horses, Savauge leading. He was pretty sure that he didn't have to leave the horse camp and threw a moderate fit of small rearing (they are getting smaller!) and turning away (becoming less convincing) at the entrance to the trail. Then we got going and he was unsure but fine. Then we came to a steep hill and he tried to small rear and turn back again, but I turned him around and made him look at it and just let him stand there. He figured it out, relaxed, and went down the hill. It occured to me then, that he had never really been looking at new things, just noticing that they were new and turning away. At the small water crossing I next asked him to do (which was entirely new, he hadn't crossed it before) when he started to throw his fit, I just asked him to look at it and when he did, he got more relaxed and walked right across. This was just excellent. He needs much more experience like this. I am VERY encouraged. He had fun.

6/7/06 Chiropractor came out for a follow up with his sacrum. Despite our best efforts, we didn't get much movement. Yes, the horse is sound, certainly, and we could just ignore it (but now I see it like a huge billboard, though it is subtle!). I'd like to follow up with Al Garcia, the guru chiropractor. Yes he is expensive at $100 and we have to haul the horse to him, but I believe he is that good and might be able to get this worked out. My concern is that in years to come it could be a problem. If we can head that off now, $100 is cheap.

6/3-4/06 Schooled at Heritage Park in KC. We warmed up and then schooled the novice course with a group. The jumps were not a problem, but he did have some issues with waiting his turn and listening to me on the approach. All in good fun and he is coming along. I don't like to put stronger bits in horse's mouths for XC, but he does get really quite strong, and rather than constantly pull on him, I'd like a little more leverage. I will fool around with that at home. He managed to go in the water (after other horses, and later in the day, without the other horses around. We also schooled the drop into the water over a log and he did very well. He jumped UP and out over the log into the water, instead of out and down, which gave me a good chuckle and I think some of the group a good fright. Funny horsie. At then end of the day, we did the whole course as we would in competition and he was quite good. Sunday was the One day Event (ODE), but XC was cancelled due to overnight rain. He had a pretty nice dressage test and was relaxed enough to have occasionally floppy ears (video) and nice trot work (video) and earned a 29. Double clear on stadium (video) to finish first, with Eddie second. Most excellent!

6/2/06 Wormed with Oxybendazole.

6/1/06 Dressage school. He was quite tight at first, but came around nicely and produced some nice work. Tomorrow off with the big weekend ahead.

5/31/06 Savant got bonked or stung near his left eye. No visible skin break, eye not involved, moderate swelling around the eye. I iced it for 20 minutes which helped a lot and he was very good during it. I gave him some bute and when I rechecked it at 10 p.m. it was very near normal.

5/30/06 Trail hack. Worked on him staying relaxed in his neck. We came upon a deer and he was ok with that. Then it ran away and he was sure that something (not him of course!) scared it and he should not go where it was. Very hesitant to move forward. With some prodding and coaxing he went forward, figured it out and relaxed. Very very good. The more times I can get him to explore by himself when he is a little scared, the more brave he will get. Yay. When we got back, the chiropractor was just arriving. She looked at him and says he has something going on with his sacrum. It is slightly shifted, which is not uncommon, probably will not bother him too much, even in the long run, but we might be able to help it out if we get after it. I can see it now that she pointed it out. His neck had a few kinks in it that she fixed to his obvious delight. She is about half the cost that I anticipated she would be, so to have her out again in a week or two will still be within the budget. Then, the farrier called and said he had a cancellation and said he could come out to do the barn, so I had him come out (chiro and manicure in the same day, wow!). So he got his feet trimmed and shoes reset as well as back shoes put on. His back feet were very slightly tender on the gravel that we passed over on the way to the dressage ring Sunday, so I thought it would be wise to put shoes back on to avoid a stone bruise. It has been a little dry here and sometimes that happens.

5/28/06 Wind's Reach Horse Trial. We had distracted dressage. I didn't get the warm up I wanted because the ride times between Ed and Savauge were very close together (and my working student couldn't be there, though she wanted to) and I didn't get the warmup I wanted. It was a tight test but not an all bad score at 31. XC started out a little wobbly at fence one, but it got better at 2-10, which he did very well. At the water though, he was scared silly and would not go. Since it was a schooling HT, they let me work with him until he went in. I had to get off and walk in it myself and then he hesitantly went in. He was actually shaking while he was at the edge of it. He is truly worried about it. But then he went in and even took a breath and relaxed somewhat. At the end we trotted in and jumped out. Very good. Later in the day we came back and schooled it again and he went in with only some hesitation. We also schooled the two very small (trickle) creek crossings, which he would not have done at all if Jay hadn't come down to see how we were doing. Savauge was throwing a fit when Jay arrived, but as soon as Jay got in front of him to look at the creek crossing, Savauge got behind him like a little duckling behind his mamma and marched right across! Then he did it fine by himself. What a silly pony. Glad we have that XC school and ODE planned for next weekend. Our goal there will be to get through the water while on course.

5/27/06 School at Catalpa Corner. We went out in a group which I was coaching and we jumped a lot of beginner novice, novice and some training level fences. He did very well. Oddly enough, the only thing he looked at was a beginner novice pheasant feeder, and then only for a second. Good day.

5/24/06 Trail ride with Eddie and Katie, my working student. We went over hill and dale, and other than a few hesitations at odd looking grass, he did very well. Good good.

5/23/06 Left fetlock has no heat. Dressage school. He was quite unruly at first, spun and reared several times when he was pointed to the corner of the arena with the trees in it, with boisterous birds making a racket. After a time he got over it and we did get some dressage schooling done.

5/20/06 Adventure to Cedar Run in eastern Iowa, home of the Cedar Run Hunter pace and my kind friends Tom Leavenworth and Lyse Strnad who were game to help me expose Savant to more varied terrain and water. They have a stream that is perfect for crossing on their property. Savant was quite wary of it at first, but when he saw the others horses do it and not die or anything even, he decided it might be ok. At the second water crossing he was improved, too. We haven't licked this yet, but it was a good confidence building day. Had a lot of jumping opportunities too and he had some buy-eyed looks, but he did jump them all on the first try. He came off the trailer just ever so slightly unsound on his left hind. I hosed it and poulticed it and he was much better Sunday. I also liniminted it tonight (5/22/06) just to be sure. We'll be back at it tomorrow.

5/17/06 Windy and cool day, worked on dressage in the field. He was really full of it and at two points went into a bucking/resisting fit when asked to complete the half of the circle that was away from the barn. So I put him to real work and he got over it and produced some nice work.

5/14/06 Showjumping day. He warmed up beautifully and did pretty well in the ring too. He went double clear (no jumping or time penalties) and of course everyone noticed how GORGEOUS he is, and he sucked up the attention. All in all not a bad outing for a first. Video clip.

5/13/06 Dressage at 8 a.m. My fabulous friend/working student/grooms had him looking stellar. Braided to the nines and glowing generally. He warmed up nicely, but not quite as soft and responsive as Friday night, but it was cold and breezy and there was the show thing going on, so some tightness was expected. However, he produced a pretty good test and earned only 29.5 penalties, (70.5% good marks) to lead his division (and all of his level, actually) by 4 points, which is quite a lot. Nice start. In cross country, he warmed up pretty well, jumped fine, but was a little sticky. He was sticky to the first fence on course too, but he got over it and fences 2,3,4,5,6a and 6b, 7,8 and 9 (bench, barrels, tiger trap, doghouse, half coffin, drop bank, max table and vertical with drop) all went well. At the water however, he was not going to go in. There was just too much stuff going on with jump judges and spectators and the excitement of galloping etcetera. We had three refusals and were thus eliminated. It was disappointing to be eliminated, but I was quite pleased with the rest of the work he did. He had never schooled the barrels as they didn't exist when we were down to school at the park. He jumped them first try, which is a sign his confidence is coming up. The water will come. I get the feeling it wasn't as much about water as about whether or not he believes he really NEEDS to go forward when directed. This has been an issue from the start (see early logs on kicking out at whip) and will be resolved with more mileage. I got permission to do a courtesy showjumping round for tomorrow.

5/12/06 Travel and settle in at Longview horse park in KC. He was quite good in his work in session on Friday night. Had some issues of lack of focus, but eventually came around and produced some good work. Looking forward to Saturday.

5/9/06 Dressage school. Had a discussion about staying in front of my leg and not lying on the reins. He produced some stellar work. Much praise.

5/8/06 Took him for a hack around the block, which is 4 miles. He was not enthused about going out with all the scary new stuff (mailboxes, traffic, tractors, dogs, you name it) but he was doing well until about 3/4 mile into it when he decided he had had enough of new things when he saw a garbage bag in the ditch, and let me know by spinning 180 degrees and refusing to turn back around. I'm not kidding you he would not. He reared in very small rears, he used every evasion in the book. It took me about 25 minutes to go 50 yards. He eventually went and rec'd much praise, though I did not feel like praising much at all at that point. ;-) Then we cantered a half mile on the grass path until we came upon a couple and their dog walking on the path and he stopped and spun again. This time it only took about 3 minutes to get him to go bravely forward. He just needs to see more new stuff over and over again.

5/7/06 Dressage day. The conditioning hack certainly reinvigorated him for forward, so we had some time to spend in reinventing the half halt. By the end of the day we had relaxation and some nice shoulder in, half pass and canter work. He still wants to jump into the bridle and lean, but we are discussing him balancing himself rather than relying on my hands as training wheels. Coming along. :-)

5/4/06 Three mile conditioning hack. We had to go past a scary planting tractor (it was huge) and Savant wanted none of it. Halted, stared, spun and refused to turn back around. Actually reared when I pushed him, for which he earned a growl and a swat. He eventually did turn around and face and pass the demon very bravely. Lots of trotting and cantering after that, requiring him to stay on the aids at all times, despite culverts, birds, changes in gravel color and deer. He did very well, but it was a paradigm shift for him to just go past stuff and keep on going. Did fine. Though he appears fat (grass is good!) he isn't in as bad a shape as I thought. He needs to have continued conditioning before Longview, but I think he'll make it around the course. Lots of fun tonight.

5/2/06 Dressage school. Worked on getting the half halt through and carrying himself better in transitions. He did excellently.

5/1/06 Horses stayed in overnight last night due to the nasty cold rain. They were happy to come in and eqally happy to go out this morning. Grass pasture is fantastic and they are very happy out eating!

4/29/06 Schooling horse trial (one day event, ODE) at Cedar Falls Equestrian Center. He travelled well and warmed up for dressage well. We did a lot of long and low to start out, which went well. Then on to figures and the rest of the warm up which went well. The test went well, too, strongest at the beginning and end (video) with some tightness in the middle. We earmed a 72% or 28 penalties which led the class. On cross country he was a little green, which would be true to his experience. He jumped everything on the first try (video), but had enough hesitation at two of them to be marked as refusals. This is ok for now and exactly why we do schooling shows – to get mileage and experience. In stadium he was quite good, though he looked fairly hard at a jump with a bright red spot in the middle of it, but jumped it on the first try and finished the rest of the course very nicely (video). Very good boy and a good outing. He had lots of fun.

4/28/06 Much grooming, primping and tack cleaning in preparation for tomorrow's one day event.

4/27/06 Feet trimmed and front shoes reset.

4/26/06 Came in from the pasture with a small ding on his right hind coronary band. Totally sound, just a scrape. We worked dressage in the arena. After a long and low warm up in all gaits we did sprial in and out on a circle in trot and canter and then some shoulder in and half pass in trot. Coming along. Good boy.

4/25/06 Conditioning hack in the eventing. We came upon some retreating deer. He was surprised, but continued to go forward when I asked him to. That is excellent. A long way from the while and spin deal he was into earlier. Good good boy. We did a long trot set, then some walking and then a pair of canter sets. He kicked out with glee while going up a hill. He sure can get up. He galloped aroung the big corn field. His wind is pretty loud, but he seems to feel well enough. It will be interesting to see how he does on course Saturday.

4/23/06 Dressage school with a lot of long and low. He got some nice stretching in walk, trot and canter, which he needs more of, but it was a good process today. Then we had some very nice work and also ran through the test we will ride in KC next month. A little rought around the edges, but not a bad start... Another hosing at the end of the ride. He is getting more used to it and even seemed to like it at the end.

4/22/06 XC school with some friends at a local course. He was quite good and brave and had a blast. He had a refusal each at some very odd-looking fences, but went the second time. He jumped very well, but now the difficulty is containing the enthusiasm. He landed and bucked with joy a few times, which is ok, but probably should be somewhat discouraged. I suppose my giggling at it didn't help... :-). We hosed him off to get the sweat and dead hair off when we got home. He was at first not happy with by the process, but he got better when he figured out that we weren't trying to drown him. In the afternoon I cleaned his sheath. This too, was looked askance by Himself, but with Jay feeding him cookies, Savant figured out that it was not all bad.

4/20/06 Hack with lots of transitions and requiring him to be light in the bridle. Lots of transitions and a few moments of volunteer piaffe when we passed a huge tractor that was planting soybeans. Quite amusing. He did very well and had a good workout.

4/19/06 Beauty shop day! I got out the clippers and trimmed all the long hair from his legs, trimmed up his mane and tail and scissored the goat hair from under his chin. He looks very handsome. Then we had a dressage school, focusing on transitions which went well.

4/17/06 Took Savant on a conditioning ride. It was quite warm and he still has half his winter coat. When cantering he was quite labored. I go back and forth about the roaring surgery. I think that when he is shed out it will be better, but right now it seems hard, though he is bright and upbeat about it. We took a walk break after the first set and then did some more cantering, this time focusing on him staying soft in the bridle. Lots of transitions, which are hard work. Some trot work, with nice stretch in his neck. Getting much steadier out in the open. Not shying at birds unless they flush from underfoot, which is understandable. Very good boy.

4/13/06: Pasture dressage. Lots of work in stretching down in trot and some lengthening. Canter work coming along. Despite the heat, he was happy to go. Woohoo.

4/10/06 Schooling at Longview. We rented the park so the group of us friends had the whole place to ourselves. It was a wonderful luxury. Savant led the group over beginner novice and novice jumps. He started out examining every jump, but jumping without refusal. Much praise for bravery. By the end of the day he was jumping new jumps without examining them and having a confident blast. He did banks up and down and drops into and out of water, cordwood piles, verticals, jumps with drops after them, you name it. He had fun, learned a lot and proved that he is ready to go to Longview Horse Trial in mid May. Yay!

4/9/06 Lifestyle note: opened up the pasture since the grass is started. They had a wonderful day of grazing and galloping about, being silly.

4/5/06 Forward hack on lovely, but breezy day. Our intention was to go into the neighbor's land and school the water crossing, but with the odd location of the Texas gate, it really is a two handed job, which is hard to do while holding a horse. So we let it go for another day when Jay is along, or I will investigate the other gate next time out. So we went on a big 3 mile conditioning hack oval through fields and over small ditches. A lot of trotting and cantering with an emphasis on rateability. He was strong, but good and came back sweaty enough to warrant a hosing which he at first found alarming but once he felt all the winter ick coming out of his coat, he decided it felt good and stood quite well. Nice roll in the sand afterwards and a few cookies = happy horsie.

4/4/06 (Log note: computer memory nearly fully. Will have to wait until the more memory I ordered is installed before I can further edit video clips.) Dressage school on a lovely evening. Started out with some walk stretch work which went well and then on to trot stretch work. Then canter transitions and trot shoulder in and leg yield work. He concentrated very well and we both enjoyed it.

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. Dark, but fun. Eddie Savant

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.

3/30/06 Much grooming and primping for the clinic and school on Saturday

3/28/06Trail ride with Jay and Claude. Lots of walking and trotting and following and leading and being polite. Very good.

3/27/06 Trimmed and re-shod in front. Great day to do it as it would have been a miserable day to ride due to the drizzly, cool weather and mud. He was good for the farrier. He basically just mugged me for cookies during the whole time.

3/26/06 Dressage work in the arena. Started out with walk halts and trot halts which went well. He was a little exuberant in canter, but did well. I had him work hard enough that he got over himself. Ended with some very nice trot work and fairly respectable shoulder in. He just needs more practice in staying balanced rather than leaning on the reins. Coming right along. He did a really funny thing later in the day when I was stacking wood with Jay in the barnyard. He came over from the herd over by the barn, and followed me back and forth as I was carrying the wood. Even after he knew I didn't have cookies. We think he must be part golden retreiver.

3/25/06 Hack with Jay and Betty (Betty is one of Jay's hunt horses). Went all over "billy hell" as one of my driving people likes to say. I was trying to show Jay the hawk/owl bird I can't identify that I keep seeing, so we went everywhere I've seen him and, of course, never saw him. So now I have the ribbing that goes with that to contend with. ;-) In the process of phantom bird chasing, we crossed a new, water-filled ditch, which was a bit of a stress for him the first time, but he figured it out and lived to tell the tale. We got in some nice canters, a few "yeeha, this is fun" bucks and also schooled through a small stream that the tractors drive through, so nice easy access. He was unsure at first, but eventually walked and trotted through it, first with a lead from Betty, then by himself. As a grand finale we cantered down to the stream and he, of course, simply jumped the entire thing in one bound. Good gravy he's an athletic creature! Not exactly what I was looking for, but effective and joyful nonetheless. Lots of time on a long rein on the way home. Nice roll in the sandy arena when he was done. Very good.

3/23/06 Dressage work in the arena. Working on balance. Did a lot of relaxed transitions in walk and trot and he came around to tuning in to seat aids nicely. Did a lot walk leg yield and trot shoulder in which he finds very simple. Had some wonderful moments of real self carriage in trot leg yield which was a treat to ride. Good canter work too, though he needs to come through his back more, but it is coming. Very good.

3/22/06 Brilliant blue sky, no wind, let's hack! We went out and had a lovely time. Today he had an epiphany about relaxing in the walk, with his neck down and just chilling out. I caught myself humming "I'm an old cowhand, from the Rio Grande." This is fabulous. In trot and canter he is still too fired up to relax entirely, but it is coming, and if we have it in one gait, it is just a matter of time to get it in others. Trotted past the scary concrete pile with the attached plastic and kept mostly focused. Fabulous. Didn't shy at anything all day. Getting more confident. Good boy.

3/20/06 Constant east wind is no reason not to ride. We worked in the arena, on staying light in the bridle through half halts and being balanced in his body. We did some trot shoulder in and leg yielding along with transitions within the canter. Went very well, despite the fact that Jay was moving a stump with the tractor right next to the arena. Savant wanted very badly to watch, but I insisted he stay with me and he did for the most part. Very good boy.

3/19/06 East wind ahead of the storm we are supposed to experience tomorrow. Went for a trail ride. He was quite good starting out, with a big walk and mostly neck down. Then some trot work when he wanted to invert a bit, but he came around. He just gets excited looking at the big world out there. We trotted over the natural ditch and he did it well the first time, then on to the landbridge crossing, which today was complicated by a piece of plastic stuck in a pile of rocks. The plastic was blowing in the wind. Savant thought that was reason enough to spin and vacate the area, but I turned him right around and sent him forward and he bravely went past it. Good boy. Then some canter work in which I asked him to canter by the grain bins, which he had never seen before. He was crooked and crabbing along, but he did it. Good boy. Then we hacked home and had a short jump school. We were having a day where we couldn't really find a distance to the fence to save our souls, so I just went back to having him focus on being balanced in the canter and then we did well. Good day!

3/16/06 Dressage in the arena. Very nice day. He stayed soft for the most part in all gaits, which is wonderful. We did some lateral work and shoulder in. Some very nice work.

3/15/06 Brisk east wind and overcast skies. Always means goofy horses. Savant was no exception for the start of today. We worked in the arena. Rudy the barn cat was chasing leaves just outside one corner of the arena. Savant decided that was enough to spin and bolt. He got a sound whap on the butt for that and put right back in the corner. He got over it relatively quickly. We were working on half halts after that and did a lot of walk halts focusing on releasing and praising as soon as he came to a full square halt. Then carried the same idea over to trot halts, which when well. The we moved on to canter and enjoyed his best canter work to date. Very very good!

3/11/06 Another lovely day. Out for at hack. A guy was over to do some tile work and when Savant and I left, the backhoe was doing its thing 50' behind the barn. We had to walk near it. He wasn't relaxed, but he did manage to carry on politely, very good. He was quite good on the hack, and had some moments of lovely relaxation in trot. Swinging back. Woohoo. Lots of canter work in the coyote field. Some tightness, some relaxation. He was really slow on the way out and I was thinking that with the warm weather and his coat, that he was being physically challenged. Then we turned around for home and he was miraculously recovered. Ahem. We'll work on that. He had a moment of staring intently and moderate upset at a distant white something in an adjacent field (looked like a white-painted sheet of plywood...). He got over it. On the way home, a bit of newspaper was blowing across the field and he just watched it and carried about his business. Very good!

3/10/06 Mud somewhat at bay enough that we could trail ride in the grassy CRP areas. We went out and had a big lotta fun. Much discussion about being soft in his neck, by asking him to give and then releasing forward. Some very nice work and I was happy that he proved me right that the German martingale is not necessary any more. Even managed to cross the bridge on the gravel road which can be scary for some horses. He was slightly hesitant, but went forward and over. We also had a nice trot and canter along the gravel road (remember it has been wet, so the footing on the gravel road is about perfect for horses). Even scared a pheasant out of the ditch and he only bobbled in his stride a second. His confidence when dealing with suprises and new things is coming up. Yay. Even dealt with a barking dog sort of near him and a scary junk pile. Very very good.

3/9/06 Hellacious mud and nasty damp wind has kept things quiet on the riding front. Vet out today for spring shots and floats. Found a very small wolf tooth which the vet reccommended be removed when he floated him. The process went very well and he came out of the sedative quite well. Ate his supper like nothing happened. Vet said he can be ridden tomorrow.

3/6/06 Dressage school in the morning. It went very well. He is learning to stay upright in his shoulders and going more consitently to the outside rein. He loves to ignore leg aids occasionally and we are having some discussions about that and he is coming along. When he gets off the leg, he also carries himself better and gets to unlock his neck. Huzzah. Nice canter work, especially, of course, to the right. He is clearly enjoying his work, the big goofball. Lifestyle note: my friend who fed the beasts while we were gone for the weekend said he was very sweet to her, and amused her with his stall door sliding trick!

3/5/06 We got a lot of rain last night and all the horses are a little cranky from being in the mud, and with their shedding this time of year, they are looking like ragamuffins. (Mind you, they can get in out of the mud in the barn, but choose not to...) I worked him in the arena which had the best footing around. We did a lot of work on flexibility and changing bend, which started out a little rusty, but got much better as we went on. Some very nice canter work. Yay.

3/1/06 Dressage school in anticipation of XC schooling at a local course tomorrow. He was very good. We did a lot of transitions and bending, including shoulder in and voltes at a trot. Canter work becoming more balanced. I am making this log entry a day late, so I can tell you that I was disappointed that the wind came up dramatically so my schooling partner did not want to haul her horse, so we didn't get to school since it is a bad idea to school alone. Another day will come and we will be ready. :-)

2/27/06 Beautiful day. Worked on dressage in the arena and had an equally lovely school. He is starting to develop some occasional throughness and going to the outside rein much much better. Canter work was a treat. Nice relaxation and stretch. We worked on shoulder in at a trot which went very well. Good boy.

2/25/06 Hack on a lovely, windless afternoon. We warmed up in the arena and then went out through the south gate where we came upon the windblown cardboard beer case of death. You just never can be too careful about these things, and Savant's idea of care in this case had him thinking of turning and bolting. I mentioned to him the inadvisability of that idea with a quick tap (after I put a leg on that was unconvincing) and he went forward. Then trot down past the no longer scary windmill and had a very lovely trot down the lane. Nice trot across the coyote field and the creek on the other side. Not too sure about crossing the culvert with the mud puddles by it with the low sun glinting off them. Came to an agreement on going past that, then had our best canter ever in the old barn field. Mostly round and relaxed and focused canter. Yay! Then a walk on a long rein and another trot across the next field and in a big circle home. Very very good.

2/23/06 Dressage work in the arena. I asked him to really come under himself and carry his front end. After warmup we did a lot of transitions within the gate in trot and canter. We also did an exercise on a 20 m circle which included 10 m circles within in the circle (so more collected) and then a little lengthening on the 20 m circle. Lot of hard work, so we kept it short with nice stretching at a walk during breaks. Very good.

2/21/06 Almost 50 degrees. Out for a trail ride. We were trotting along and I thought he was in front of my leg, but he was faking it. He shied at a dirty snowbank and turned and tried to bolt for home. I got him stopped, turned him around and sent him forward past the snowbank and then we had a discussion concerning really being in front of my leg, with lots of transitions in and to walk, trot and canter. He basically got a lot of work thrown at him. At the end of the session, we went out along the woods and relaxed on a long rein. A bit of a blip in the progres, which is something I expect and don't get too worked up about, as long as we end on a good note, which we did.

2/20/06 Almost 40 degrees. Out for a trail ride. We did a fair bit of cantering today, as I wanted to see if I could start to get him unstuck in his neck outside of an arena, which he have conqured for the most part in an arena. He did pretty well with it, though it has some miles to go. The challenge of teh day was the changes in the appearance of the soil--wet in some spots, dry in others and therefore quite a concern to Mr. Big Stuff. He was pretty brave and went forward when directed. Maybe not textbook straight, but forward none the less, so much praise. Good day.

2/19/06 Gap in riding here due to a storm that came through on Thursday, and the serious cold that followed. We got up to 8 yesterday. Today up to 20, which felt warm. Light wind and sun, so a pretty day. Went for a trail ride with the German martingale. I like German martingales because they allow a horse to stretch forward and down when the rider puts some slack in the rein, but they also disallow bracing in the neck, which is a favorite party trick of Himself, especially if he gets a little worried about something on the trail. We went down to the burned area, which was now half covered with snow, and he handled it with aplomb. We had a really lovely trot down the lane on the other side where he let go in his neck and relaxed. It was great. Then we cantered in the tall grass, which of course had about 10" of snow stuck in it, so it was fun to puff through. He was amused. Then we went to a new area, the Beaver field, (because there has been sign of a beaver there). There is a lot of stuff to look at there, with the CRP grass and the downed tree limbs and a creek. He handled it, though he got about a hand taller. Then we went across a land bridge and up the hill with the house just on the other side of the road with a yipping dog. He was pretty worked up about that, so we went up and down it three times until he figured out it was not too much of a big deal. On one repetition I had him canter up the other hill and he was pretty fired up and tried to lock his neck and pull. With the help of the martingale, I could stop him from doing it. He found this annoying and bucked! Ha. Then I laughed at him being so silly so then he played it off. We did the whole thing again and he was much more polite the second time. We had some nice canter work on the way home. Very good day.

2/14/06 65 degrees. Definite hacking day in just a sweatshirt. Amazing. Right out of the back gate I had him marching forward and focusing because I knew that when we got down to the burned area he was going to have some misgivings about that. He looked pretty hard at it, did a half turn, but came back around with prodding and stepped onto the burned area like a kid sticking his toe in an icy bath. It was really quite amusing. But he did it, which shows really courage and trust. Much praise. Then we went out in the coyote field and had a LOVELY trot where he let go in his neck and started to swing in his back. Wonderful. Then on to canter which wasn't quite as lovely as he really wants to barge in his neck, but it is coming along. He has some moments of softness in canter. After one canter depart he had 4 strides of real throughness, with a dropped hindquarter and good connection. It was so impressive and effortless for him that I lost track of my riding while being in awe and then of course it fell apart. D'oh! But the beauty of it is that one of the Riding Laws I know about could be written as "If you can get it once, rest assured, it will come home to roost". So that is very exciting.

2/13/06 Big exciting day in the country for the horses. The neighbor had burned some old hay last Thursday and today was scraping together all the unburnt other hay onto piles. Apparently some of the embers still survived. They started the moved hay on fire and the whole buffer strip went up in flames sometimes 15' high. It was about 500 yards downwind, so no danger of it spreading to the horses or property, but they had a high time watching the tractors and grassfire trucks scramble about putting it out. Oh boy! Fire trucks were still arriving when I saddled up Savant and rode him in the arena. He got a 9.5 on the focus scale as he performed very well despite the lights and sirens in the next field. Walk, trot canter with only momentary loss of concentration. Really very good! Some very nice canter work, even to the left. Perhaps he does better with more action around? If that's the case, eventing should be a snap!

2/9/06 Wind is supposed to come up this afternoon, so trail ride in the morning. Walked across the field right underneath the Scary Windmill which was starting to creak and spin, and only a small bit of tension. Very good. Then near the old hay bales and woodpile that yesterday were being burned. Not sure about the wisps of smoke coming out of them, but dealt with it went near and past it. We had a nice trot and canter in the coyote field and through into the next small field. We had to cross a narrow opening in the fence line under a big tree and he was not sure about that at all. He did it though, and we did it several more times until he did it in an almost relaxed manner. Then we had a nice trot and canter in the coyote field and even jumped a small ditch, right in stride. Very brave! Then we actually crossed through the area where they had pushed the hay bales with a tractor, so it looked weird, and right next to where they burned some of them, with the smoking pile right there. He was really NOT SURE, but I assured him he could do it, and he did on the first try, without turning away. Really remarkable. Good good good. Walk home on a loose rein.

2/8/06 Pasture school. We did a nice big trot around the perimeter of the 8 acre pasture twice to get him warmed up and thinking forward. He thought that was pretty fun. Then we did some dressage work, especially asking him to come to the right rein, with some moments of very good success. Half-heartedly kicked out at a canter depart cue and got a smart tap on the butt for his efforts. He got over it. I am not worried that he does that once in a while because it will take a while for the behaviour to extenguish entirely. I am encouraged that he is less convinced it will work when he tries it! Had some nice canter work and some quite pushy canter work and everything in between. Coming along and we both had lots of fun.

2/7/06 Farrier was out and pulled his hind shoes and trimmed his hind feet. He said Savant has a lot of wall and could probably go barefoot very nicely, so we are going to give it a try in the back first. He had to go and work some other horses and will be back tomorrow to trim and re-set the front so that Savant will be set for another 5 or 6 weeks. (This farrier lives just up the road and comes and works on horses in my barn even if I am not home, so he sort of comes and goes sometimes as his schedule allows. He is a very good farrier and extremely fair and kind to the horses and a real treasure to me. If he wants to do 2 feet on a horse and come back and do the other two tomorrow, I don't have to lose any sleep, it will be done!) I rode Savant in the arena so that on the level footing I could feel if he was at all uneven or odd behind. Not at all. He was an extreme peach today--relaxed attentive and a real pleasure to ride. We both had a blast. Much praise and kisses on the nose. You may need to come out and watch him go and perhaps ride him yourself someday soon.

2/2/06 Off for a trail ride on a lovely day. 60 degrees. Hard to believe it is February! 10 steps out of the pasture he planted both front feet and announced that he was done. Approximately 1 second after his statement he amended his statement due to a motivated dressage whip's one swat to his butt. We came to an agreement and nothing more was said about it. After another hundred yards a HUGE hawk flew up out of a dead tree and surprised us both a little and he was off on a short bolt. Got over it quickly and back on track. Walk and trot along the woods went very well, with a usually relaxed neck and some swinging in his back. Through the coyote field and over to the adjoining corn field where we negotiated the natural ditch, first at a hesitant walk, and eventually at a happy trot. So proud of himself for conquering it. Much praise. Then a canter in the corn field, trot over the land bridge, canter in the next cornfield (with some relaxation in his neck!), walk past the scary farm equipment like a big horse, over the culvert, trot bending on the mowed path by the winding creek, past the bush of a thousand birds (eeeeek!) and a rousing hand gallop in the coyote field on the way home. Trot past the scary collapsed grain bins and the not-so-terrifying water tank and under the almost-not-scary windmill and walk home on a loose rein home. Most of the ride he was relaxed in his neck or negotiably close to it. Very good!

1/31/06 Relaxed stretch at the canter Woohoo! Everything else was good in our session today, but this was the first day he stretched over his back in canter, and in both directions. This is not only physically good, it shows that he is mentally with his rider. Horses can not be relaxed or allow themselves to stretch if their focus is elsewhere. It was a lovely joy to ride and he liked it too. Good good good.

1/30/05 His little mouth scrape is scabbed over nicely and not bothering him one bit. I put some salve on it to be sure the bit wouldn't bother it and rode in the arena. He is coming more unstuck in his neck all the time and starting to come through his back. I am requiring him to be more responsive to the aids, which he actually doesn't seem to mind. Actually had some canter work tonight to the left where he was off the inside rein. This is a major step and he earned much praise. Didn't ask him to do it too long because it is hard for them to work their weaker side correctly and if they are pushed too long while trying a new set of muscles, the muscles tire and they are forced to find ways to cheat. We don't want that. Lots of breaks with walk leg yield and then back to short cantering spurts. Very good day.

1/29/06 Poor witto Savant has a scrape on his muzzle just above the corners of his lips on the left. It is entirely superficial, but has some slight swelling with it, so putting a bit in his mouth today would be ill-advised. I suspect it is the result of he and Eddie playing, as they are wont to do. They are great pals. I put some bag balm on it to keep it soft, which he thought was ok, but that it smelled funny. The scrape will be good to go tomorrow, methinks. He mentioned several times that it wasn't too sore to eat cookies with it.

1/26/06 Warmed up in the outdoor where he was very good. He is starting to go to the right rein more easily when requested to do so, but it will take a while to develop those muscles to the point that it becomes habit. Coming along. Then we did a jump school because the footing was perfect, which is nearly unheard of in January! He was extremely happy to be jumping again and got a little naughty in his exuberance. Threw his head a couple of times when I asked him to listen to me and got pretty strong now and then. I growled at him and he got over it and jumped well for being rusty and was exceedingly happy with himself, as was I with him. He is coming right along. Tomorrow off as he will probably be sore because we haven't used those jumping muscles in a few months.

1/25/06 We warmed up in the outdoor where he was exceedingly attentive. Then we went out on a trail ride where he had a meltdown and spin concerning a bush. Yes, a bush. He is a funny horse in that, if you have your leg on, he will go forward even if concerned, but if you don't, at least in this point in his life, he will spin. He is starting to figure out that spinning doesn't get him far, because he always has to turn right around and face it, so his response is diminishing, which is great. Then we went past the Scary Collapsed Grain Bin, the Terrifying old water tank and under the Scary Windmill. He gets better all the time. It is a matter of getting his confidence and relaxation up, and we do that by seeing new things all the time and learning how to figure them out. Good boy, proud of himself.

1/23/06 Off on another trail school. He is getting better about shying in place or continuing to go forward when new things happen. He continues to want to be very tight in the base of his neck most of the time, especially in new situations. At a walk and a trot he is soft or at least negotiably soft most of the time. In a canter he is still quite tight, though, so being soft is the exception. But he continues to do well with keeping focused on his rider. We went about two miles over hill and dale, inclucing over a land bridge and a different culvert. Today we went on the trail right next to the Scary Windmill and even though it was spinning and squeaking, he managed to pass by it without coming mentally loose. All this is practice for learning how to learn about new things, so that when we school XC, he is used to seeing new things and will know how to process them. He gets better each time out.

1/20/06 Trail ride in beautiful softly falling snow. On the way out of the pasture, he shied at the gate. Yes, pretty silly, but I was happy that his shy was only a stop and half turn rather than a full turn and attempt to leave the zip code. He also is started to respond to leg aids even when alarmed, which is fabulous. I don't mind a horse shying at something, but I do mind it if they shy and won't listen to any reason from their rider. He is clearly starting to allow input, which is great. Once out on the trail, he was quite aware of his surroundings, but managed a walk and nice trot past a new area of the woods, without too much angst. We went out in the "coyote field" and had a nice hand gallop around it which he enjoyed immensely. When I could get him to go to the right rein, I enjoyed it too. He has a lovely ground-covering hand gallop. On the way home we walked underneath the Very Scary Windmill, which was screeching admirably. He was uptight, but managed to keep it together and pass by it without a major spook. Much praise and walk on a loose rein home. Very encouraging day.

1/17/06 Fabulous 50 degrees and Savant was minding his Ps and Qs in warmup, so out we went for a ride in the Great Open. We confronted the terrifying windmill and he only turned away twice, a dramatic improvement since last outing. Also, he never really freaked, just sort of levitated. He listened to my input. Good change. Then out to the 80 acre field for a nice hand gallop. He enjoyed this immensely and was quite good. We had some very nice trot work too. Walk home on a long rein. Breathing calmly. Good.

1/16/05 Windy, overcast and damp. Just the kind of day that horses love to be silly in. Savant, though, is not a traditional horse, and was a complete star today. He was polite and was an 8 on the "Stay Mentally with Camie" (SMC) scale. It was delightful! He even stretched to the right rein at some points, which is a big deal. He did have one minor kicking out moment when I asked him to stretch a little more, but he got over it. We introduced spiral in and spiral out at a trot today and he really tried hard to come through. The small circle that results from the spiral in can really be a challenge until they develop the musculature to carry themselves. I didn't ask him to do it long, but to try hard while he was in it, and he did. Much praise. Quite proud of himself. Very very good boy.

1/12/06 Yay. Big improvement today. We did a lot of FORWARD work right off the bat. He had been playing in the pasture with Ed for the last half hour, so I didn't worry much about a traditional warm up and just trotted off after mounting up. He had to stay mentally engaged and he had an improved day on the "Stay mentally with Camie" front. Had some very nice trot and canter work. He is getting better about going to the right rein, but it requires constant riding and reminding for him to stretch to it. It will get better as he gets stronger in it. Much praise throughout. He may be figuring out that being with me is the good place to be. That would be a treat for both of us. Great day.

1/11/06 It ws the best of times, it was the worst of times. He was really full of it at first, not wanting to work in the far side of the arena, shying at nothing and basically giving me resistance in any available direction. I'd had about enough of working harder than him so I just put him to work physically to switch roles. Lots of trot and canter, which I think was a relief to him. He really only shies in walk so far. Give him some work to do and he is fine. He had some very nice trot work and I got him to go to the right rein by just sending him from left leg to right rein and doing a lot of change of bend. All in all a good day, but he made me work for it! Note to self: Savant is a high fun factor horse. Must keep him challenged.

1/10/06 Worked in the arena on bending and staying in the moment. He is getting better about looking to his rider for direction, and is reacting to outside stimuli less. This is a big paradigm shift and a very important one because you don't want the horse staring at the jump judges when you want him to look at the jump coming up. His focus has to stay with his rider. He seems to like staying mentally with me, but just isn't in the habit. Much praise when he stayed with me when the cat jumped off the fence just to his left. He shied within his body, but did not move away from it or over-react. That is huge and the whole point of the exercise. Wonderful. A lot of bending work. He is starting to relax in his neck which is fabulous. In canter work right is much easier than left. Coming along and his attitude is as good as I've seen it. In fact, I have been playing a game with him. When he comes in for feeding, he was always pinning his ears even on the way in. Every day (twice a day) I would pet him on the way in and just make a big fuss and kiss him and probably just annoy the living heck out of him. This has been going on for about 2 months and always the pinned ears-no discernable change. Today, though, TODAY he let his ears come forward halfway through his walk in to his stall and looked for me to kiss him. Yes!

1/8/06 We worked in the arena. The neighbor, about 1/3 of a mile away across completely flat land was using a bucket truck to work on a pole, which was a very distracting thing to Savant, providing and excellent opprotunity for him to work on his focusing skills. We did a lot of work on walk and trot and some transition work with a lot of bending. He did very well and was reasonably relaxed at the end, despite the strange goings-on to the west. Good day.

1/5/06 Cold damp wind, but 30 degrees. What better day to go out alone for the first time? No other big brave horses showing him the way. Off goes brave Savant. We got across the first field without too much comment, just a few tight neck moments. At the other side of it is a windmill that really makes a lot of rattly racket in just the right wind, which would be today. He was really having a hard time getting his mind around it and at one point spun and bolted a few strides. I growled at him and got him stopped and settled and then let him look at the windmill a bit. That was even worse. Too much time to think, which resulted in another spin and mini bolt. Obviously, he isn't going to run across squeaky windmills out on the XC course, but this is about how he reacts to new things, not windmills necessarily. We did get past it, but with some trepidation. I praised him alot because it is most important that he kept his head about him and carried on. It is ok if he was a little worried and jigged. Then off we went on a hack around a 40 acre field. Great footing and I let him burn off some energy in trot and canter. We are working on the locked neck deal and downward transitions using his hindquarters rather than lugging for all it is worth, and having some success. On the way home we passed the windmill again and he did spin and bolt twice again, but (and I know this sounds a bit pollyannaish) they were less dramatic. Within a few minutes he was walking entirely around the base of the windmill mostly relaxed. He just needs to see a lot of new things to learn how to learn about new things. He'll get it. Come spring he'll be seeing new things as a lifestyle so he better get his chops up. :-) Oh yeah, he somehow lost his rf shoe overnight. The farrier was out anyway today so it was replaced today. The horse has good timing! :-)

1/4/06 Between mud, cold rain and a cold, Savant has had a few days off. But today the sun (what is that?) came out, the mud dried up a bit and my cold is diminished, so we were back at it. We went on a trail ride with Jay on Claude and Courtney (working student) on Betty. Everything to Savant is part of the big big world and he has a tendency to lose the moment and go elsewhere mentally. He wants to lock the base of his neck and drop his back, which is his MO generally, and I knew it would retrograde a bit out of the pasture, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. I let him follow behind the other horses at first to help with his confidence and that was good. Past the scary grain bin, with Savant giving it the stinky eye, but he went by. When he is flustered, he wants to grab the left rein. I had a flashback to a lesson I had with Brad Cutshall (wiz kid dressage dude) and that I have also read about in a W. Zettl book, that if they are heavy on one rein, it means that they are too light in the other. Sounds obvious, but natural tendency of riders is to pull on the heavy rein to get them "off it". What needs to happen is to send them "to" the rein they are light on. Light bulb for Savant, though it took reminding about every 5 seconds. He will get better at it. Much praise. At one point during the ride, a pair of pheasants flushed right under his front feet and he did a very nice unrequested 130 degree turn on the haunches that would have done a reining horse proud. I lost my left stirrup, but managed to stay with it and move on without missing much of a beat. Jay said, "Good ride, cowboy!' so it must have been fairly impressive to inspire the usually understated Jay to comment. :-) Savant settled right back down. He needs more rides like this, just to get out and experience the big world and to learn to look to his rider rather than fend mentally for himself. He was very proud of himself at the end. Good boy.

12/30/05 Rode in the pasture. He is getting more comfortable in being between his riders leg and hand, but will occasionally leave out the front or back door. He warmed up in walk nicely, which is a difficult thing for him sometimes. His trot work was very good. He kicked out when I asked for the canter transition, but was perfect the second time. His canter work was good, but he likes to just live on that left rein sometimes. It is coming unstuck, which is good. Good day.

12/29/05 Warmed up with some walk work on the way out to the far side of the pasture and then some trot work. He was almost entirely unlocked at the beginning of the ride and only intermittently locked his neck again throughout the workout. Good good. We did some canter work, including transitions within the gait. They were crude but effective. He is figuring out that he will get to canter/hand gallop, so need need to push on his rider. Coming along well. He did kick out in response to the canter depart aid again, but I suppose that inclination will extinct slowly.

12/28/05 Note to Savant: If you rear and then buck in quick succession, it is really easy for your rider to sit because the rider basically doesn't move while you do all the work. He was a bit of a pill to start out with today, doing the above, jumping into the bridle (read: locking his neck and pushing) and kicking out in response to canter depart aids. I took a page from my high school basketball coach's book and figured a few wind sprints would change his mind. We cantered around our 9 acre pasture twice in each direction. I had a merry time of it and so did he. The work after that was much improved, looser in the neck and even occasionally more through in the back. I've been around this block before with Elliott -- these big European horses seem to just need to have a lot of energy output. Fun factor is very high on these guys, and if they don't get some fun, they use all that athletic ability for evil. After the canter sets, he really did some nice work. Cookies...

12/27/05 Several days off due to holiday engagements, but back in the saddle today. Pea soup fog, couldn't see the barn from the far side of the pasture. He was full of it, as I figured he would be, so after some walk work, we went right into canter to burn off the extra fuel lying about. (Set planned burns to avoid the forest fire as it were...) He was quite heavy in the bridle, but light on his feet and only mildly bolted once. Loves to drop his back and raise his neck. After a nice canter in both directions we did some trot work which went well. We focused on transitions within the gait and staying connected but light in the bridle during the transitions, which is pretty tough for him. Did fine.

12/22/05 What?! 50 degrees?! I rode in a sweatshirt today. Good deal. We warmed up with a walk out to the far side of the pasture and we had a few discussions about being even between the reins and moving forward. Then we did some trot work, working in the corner where "The Troll that Only Savant Perceives" (TOSP) lives. I have been ignoring the TOSP as we've had bigger fish to fry, so we've just not been riding there. But today I decided to help him face his demons. Favorite party trick when the TOSP shows itself (which of course is unpredictable to his rider) is to drop his back and tighten the base of his neck and mentally leave. So we trotted 20 m circles in that corner until the dropping back/raising neck response improved. Circle by circle. By the end he was focusing on me with a relaxed neck and back at least not down. Then on to canter work elsewhere. He squealed and kicked out the first time I moved my outside leg back to give the canter depart aid. The squeal was followed by a kick out by him and a boot to the ribs from me. Brought him back down to a walk, re-requested the canter and fine. He did the kick out thing at the next canter depart request too, but got over himself, due to the boot. I could just about hear the PA system: "This is a test of the "Big Sassy" rider mettle check system. Had I not been just toying with you, you would be on the ground right now and I would be cantering away. This concludes our BS for the day." Despite (ok, and because) or his few moments, we had a good day. Made some nice progress.

12/20/05 Rode in the pasture in the relative warmth of 22 degrees. We worked a lot in trot and canter asking him to relax his lower neck and come through the top and he had some good moments. He had a moderate tiz when I asked him to halt and be immobile for a few moments. Decided to spin 90 degrees and bolt. Really bummed him out when I got him to stop, go back and repeat the halt part of that little episode. Much praise when he did. Good progress.

12/19/05 19 degrees and sunny with no wind, so not bad. We went out in the pasture and worked on the same items we have been addressing of late. We are making progress and enjoying the process. There are some really awful on his forehad moments and some very woohoo moments of fabulousness. Next goal is to have the latter be more common than the former.

12/15/05 Rode on the far side of the pasture, working on dressage, specifically coming through in his back and letting go in his jaw. He was quite the pill -- managed to buck twice and stop and suggest all sorts of devious acts, but eventually acquiesce to a boot forward. Once he got warmed up through that though, he did quite well and we had some nice work in all gaits.

12/14/05 Worked in the arena on dressage. Really asked him to come through his back and over his neck and he had some very good moments. Yay!

12/12/05 Rode in the pasture on a mild winter day. Actually got hot in my winter jacket. We did a lot of trotting, some shoulder in and leg yield, asking him to come through his back yet stay soft and connected in his neck and jaw. He would get it for a few strides and then feel the power in his body and lose his balance. This happened over and over again and I suspect it will repeat a lot in the next few weeks until he gets used to managing it. He did very well and we had fun.

12/11/05 Another relatively mild day, but drizzly/light snow. Went for a trail ride with Jay on his draft cross Claude, who is recovering from unsoundness. He is up to 40 minutes of walk and trot so Savant and I went along. Savant and I hadn't been off the property, though we'd spent a lot of time in the 10 acre pasture. Savant was into tightening his neck and looking about and we had a few conversations about where his attention should be. He is quite happy to suck behind his rider's leg, and even once when presented with the prospect of a bridge, opted to back up a few steps and spin left. He got over it and went over the bridge just fine. It was a mind expanding day for him as pheasants popped out of everywhere and Mimi, the neighbor's very large, but very harmless St. Bernard, woofed by our sides for a while. He needs a lot more mileage like this, but this was a good start.

12/10/05 Yeah, warm weather! Up to 39 with much melting going on! The breeze was up so it wasn't as balmy as you might think, but it beat 10 degrees by a lot. We worked in the arena and he made me work pretty hard to get him to come through his back, through his neck and stretch forward to the bit, but we got there. We had some nice walk and canter work and some shining moments in trot, follow by the fog of disconnection. He has a lovely trot, but I think sometimes that it is so big that he has trouble balancing in it. When it is right, though, it is brilliant. We had fun. Much praise, happy horse.

12/7/07 It has been very cold the last few days so he has had off. He got his shoes reset with drilltek added for traction today. When it gets above 15 (heat wave!) we'll be back at it.

12/2/05 Brrrr! 16 degrees, but no wind, so not bad. Sun would have been nice, but no luck. We worked in the dressage arena, he with the euphoric idiocy of his kind in the cold. God bless him. He was happy to go... But he also did very well in his work. I switched him to a french link snaffle today and he seemed to stretch to it a little better and be a little softer. We shall see, though as I usually try a bit for a week before making judgements. I'm looking forward to him getting borium shoes next Wednesday.

12/1/05 4 inches of new snow last night. We rode in the arena at a walk and trot. That suits us fine at the moment because we are working on him coming through his back, but we won't be cantering anyway until we get borium put on his shoes. I have an appointment with the farrier next Wednesday for that so we are on track. He is figuring out how to come through his back, but to let go in his neck AND come throgh in his back at the same time is a paradigm shift for him. This is important ground work, but if you were standing by the rail watching you would swear nothing is happening unless you sat there for 25 minutes and really watched the details. He doesn't seem to resent the work at all and is doing well.

11/28/05 Rode in the morning in the relatively mild temps, but the east wind forewarned a change afoot. We worked in the arena and did a lot of walk work, encouraging him to stretch through his neck, rather than lock the base of his neck and pose. We did a lot of figures and leg yielding and he did some very nice work and enjoyed himself. We broke it up with trot and canter work, but did a lot more walking than anything to help him relaxe and be able to figure out what I was trying to get across. He did very well.

11/25/05 Went out and did some dressage, focusing on him stretching forward from the base of his neck and coming through from behind. That will probably be the theme for the winter! He is figuring it out, but it isn't the natural solution for him. Much praise when he does right. He had some very nice canter work. At the end we popped a rolltop to the skinny to the logpile, which he thought was excellent.

11/23/05 We warmed up in the pasture with some flatwork. In the canter we worked on him staying even between the reins rather than wobbling from outside to inside reing depending on the relative location of the barn. Nice work in the end. We closed with a short jump school over the rolltops and the log to logpile. Very good.

11/21/05 We did some work on dresage in the arena. Lots of work on getting him to come through his body at a walk. I changed it up with a lot of transitions and changes in topic (leg yield, shoulder in) and kept it fresh with much praise since I understand he dislikes dressage. His attitude was very good and he stayed focused. Much work, too, on getting him to come through in his neck in canter with some counterbending and much allowing with inside rein in correct-bend canter. Very good. On the right track.

11/17/05 Nasty cold outbreak the last few days. Finally up to 20 degrees for a high today and the wind came down, so back in the saddle. We did a walk trail ride. Sounds easy, but it can be a real challenge. He was fine 80% of the time, but sometimes he would want to push back and only walk as fast as he wants to walk. The speed of the walk isn't really my concern, it is the tendency to block energy. We want him to get well over this habit because no one wants to put a leg on in front of a jump and have the horse either resist it or push back. So the working through it in a walk is a low impact way to get through it. If we spend time on this now, it will save us frustration later. I'm also thinking that he needs borium on his shoes next shoeing...

11/11/05 Another fabulous day. Schooling in a T-shirt in November. Savant was fabulous. If the above picture doesn't speak a thousand words, how about some video eye candy! Triple. Rolltops. Skinny log and log pile. Rock on Savant, ya big good boy. Weekend off.

11/10/05 Ok, so I was wrong, it was another fabulous day weatherwise. Out riding in November in my shirtsleeves again. Wow! We warmed up on the far side of the pasture. He is getting lighter to the aids all the time and the stretching is coming. This is just a wonderful thing. He really is a pleasant guy to work with. Then we did some jumping. I raised the verticals to 3'3" which is the max at training level eventing. He touched the first rail with his hind hooves and never touched one again. Very smart. He jumps that height effortlessly. Nice loft! I kept the triple at 2'6" just to keep his confidence growing. No need to make it tall and difficult. He's doing great with that. Then we did the skinny to the log pile which went great and then a course of all of those fences including taking the roll top at an angle which he was happy to do. The roll top is 3'3" half round, so 6'6" on the base. It is nothing to him. His confidence is ever-expanding. Much praise. After a cool down, I treated an area of scratches that is developing on his left front. Or it could be a bell boot rub? At any rate, I trimmed the hair around it and put on nolvasan and my patented baby diaper/vetwrap combo. I expect it to be much better when I change it tomorrow. I forgot to mention earlier that he was wormed with ivermectin on Sunday on the usual 8 week barn schedule.

11/8/05 Probably the last of the fabulous weather days. Warmed up in the far side of the pasture. We did a lot of work on getting him to stretch down through his neck and back, with some success, even at a canter. Very important and very good. Then we did some jumping. He pulled the rail with his back feet over the first vertical, but then never touched a rail the rest of the day. We did the skinny log to the log pile, the log pile to the downhill skinny for a first today, the rolltops and the triple. I am focusing a lot more on jumping now since the footing is good, but soon the ground will be harder and we will do more flatwork that is required for better jumping and especially over the questions we will be facing when XC schooling starts in KC in March. Good day. Lots of fun. When we were warming down, walking on the buckle behind the barn, he took a pretty quick shy at a bird that came out from behind a tree. I stayed easily on, but got a very nice neck-cracking that would do my chiropractor proud. I hereby rescind my earlier comment about ocean liners. :-)

11/7/05 Beautiful day. Warmed up in the far side of the pasture, working on him being lighter to leg aids, which is coming along. He's a very good sport, and his tiny ear to body ratio just makes me giggle when I ride him. Anyway, we did some jumping of the stadium jumps and the triple, then did the skinny log which he has a good handle on now, to the log pile which he did great. Then we jumped the log pile away from the barn and swung around to the 3'3" half round rolltop. Sailed it perfectly the first time. We jumped it again just for fun and he loved it. Good day.

11/3/05 XC school at Walnut Creek. This is a local course with a lot of jumps at different levels. It has lots of hills and paths in the woods, a dressage arena and some stadium jumps. He loaded on the trailer beautifully, got a little impatient while I stopped for diesel, but I gave him some cookies and he got over his anxiety quickly. He unloaded with aplomb, looked around and stood tied to the trailer next to the mare I had hauled for a friend and was a perfect gentleman. Tacked up, got on and warmed up with no problem. Jumped a cross rail stadium jump to warm up and he was fine. Then over a solid skinny stadium jump (sort of a stadium ramp if you will). He refused it the first time, mostly because it was a paradigm shift for him. Went fine the second time and thereafter. Then we jumped a blue carpeted rolltop after some very dubious investigation of it by him. Once he figured it out, he jumped it very well several times. Then we went out on the hunter pace course (there is a pace there Sunday that I can't make due to other obligations, so the owner who is a friend of mine let me school it today). He had a complete blast. We had another friend give us leads over fences, which really helps their courage while they are learning. By the end of the day he was joyfully jumping some novice (2'11") sized solid objects with out a lead. He did great and really got into the spirit of the thing. Big fat bunch of fun. Loaded great for the way home, unloaded calmly.

11/1/05 Warmed up in the far side of the pasture. He was full of himself today, managed to buck. Again, wind seriously taken out of his sails when I laughed. It takes him half and hour to buck. I could write a book up there in the time he is telling me he is going to buck, bucking and recovering from the buck. I worry more about those quick, snaky 14h1" QHs than ocean liners like Savant. We jumped the verticals and the triple and all went well, though he did pull one of the vertical rails once. We also jumped the skinny log today, though he ran out right the first time and ran out left the second time (Very interesting, most horses aren't that handy in both directions...) The third time he jumped it great. This process is to be expected as the face of the skinny log is 6' wide with no wings. It is a fairly difficult question for horses. He did great. I tried to have my working student videotape today, but we had an issue with the tape. Hopefully some time soon.

10/31/05 When I brought him in, he had a scrape and small swelling on his chest and left forearm. The mare exerting her authority no doubt. The scrapes are superficial and on nice soft parts of his body, and he is fine. He trotted out sound. I groomed him and tacked up and gave him a bunch of "aww, poor pony" cookies and he was recovered. We did a warm up in the far side of the pasture where he worked very well. We did more lateral work to help him continue his quest to become lighter to the aids. We did a limited amount of jumping because I didn't want to work him too hard, but I wanted the muscles to move a bit which helps them avoid cramping when they have a slight injury. He jumped the 2'9" verticals like a champ and the triple like a pro, both directions. Over the log pile on the way back to the barn. Very good!

10/28/05 We warmed up on the far side of the pasture with some walk and trot, leg yield and spiral in and out on the circle. Inside leg to outside rein connection is coming along. Canter work was very nice. I moved the two lone verticals to 2'9", which he did not even acknowledge when we warmed up over them. No problemo. Then we went through the triple and he mentioned that he has never seen barrels before (this despite the fact that he lives in the pasture with them and he has jumped them now for 2 days). These things happen and I didn't worry too much about it. He did go through, but even at 17h2" (we measured him, forgot to mention) he fit in 2 strides where one stride should fit nicely. He's a veritable accordian! On second presentation he cantered right through perfectly. We jumped the log pile on the way back to the barn. Piece of cake.

10/27/05 After a warm up in the arena where we focused on developing a steadier inside leg to outside rein connection, we went out in the pasture and jumped the single verticals (yawn) and the triple at 2'6" (more interesting, but yawn, sayeth he). So I changed the thrid element of the triple to a small square oxer to see what he would do with it. Jumped it great as a third element, but when we turned around and jumped the triple the other way, he overjumped the oxer and therefore pulled the rail on the second element. The second time through he didn't pull the rail which tells me that he is smart and careful. Cool. He is getting a little more relaxed and therefore straighter. Yay. At the end of the session we jumped the smaller logpile in the fenceline, first XC jump. Oooooh. I asked him to trot it, but he ever so politely asked to canter it so I let him. It went great. Lots of fun.

10/26/05 After a warm up, I sent him to the first of the 2'6" verticals. We came at it on a curve like always, but he was distracted by the dog chasing a bird in the fenced in yard adjacent to the pasture. I kept telling him the jump was coming but he couldn't focus on it because "Did you see what that dog is doing?" Yes, dear, here comes the jump. "But the dog." Yes, uh huh, the jump. "Dog, dog, dog." Focused on the jump one stride out, couldn't figure it out, stopped like a cow pony, butt down slo mo skid. Nice reining stop dear, now jump it. This is why I keep the jumps low and collapsable until they get more experience. He popped over it from a standstill. Much praise. Came around again at a canter and jumped it perfectly, dog or not. Then we jumped the pair of verticals on an unrelated distance. Went well. Then I put him through the simple triple I had set up. 3 poles on the ground, 24', 2 plastic barrels lying down, 24', 3 poles on the ground. He went through it at a trot just fine, but gave the barrels a look and mighty round jump the first time. Back through the other way, even better. Cantered it like an old hand. So I put the 1st and last jumps up to 2'6" and trotted in. Landed cantering over the first, jumped the second, landed cantering, jumped the third and out. No problem. Went one more time at a trot then cantered through well in both directions. Some right drift, but that will come. He had a blast. Much praise. Really thinks he is all that. Mucho bien.

10/25/05 Warmed up in the pasture with some trot work. We are getting better inside leg to outside rein connection and some better flexion. Canter work was very good. Then we worked on jumping. He is quite good to the cross rails now, even a bit nonchalant, so I moved the second one up to 2'6". Seems like a big change, but not for a talent like him. He did touch it with his front hooves the first time, but didn't knock it off. I think he was just surprised by it. He jumped it well the second time. Found the button for walkk/canter depart tonight. Lovely! New halter fits great.

10/21/05 I tacked up and reminded him about stretching down. I mounted up behind the barn and went immediately out to the pasture. He got about a quarter of the way across the pasture and decided that was far enough and stopped. I gave him more leg. He said no and crawled behind my leg. I tapped him with a crop and he kicked. Tap, kick, tap, kick, tap. We discussed the wisdom of him going forward for a while and then we went. We got to the other side of the pasture and did some 20 m circles to warm up. The circles were round, but he was on his inside shoulder on the side away from the barn and outside shoulder on the side nearer the barn. That will come and I didn't make a big deal about it. Then he decided that there was a monster in the corner of the pasture and did a shy mini-bolt. It happened in such slo mo, because he is so big, that I had to laugh. Laughing at his antics really took the wind out of his sails so he didn't do that again. After the warm up we went over to a pair of cross rails which we schooled in trot and canter. Jump straight and quiet, canter off, halt straight, neck down, praise. He did very well and received much praise. He has a wobble now and again and he wanted to rush a few times, but when I asked him to stay in the rhythm of his canter, he figured it out. We will stay with the small jumps until he has this concept really down. He is well on his way. At the end, we jumped the jump going away from the barn, went 100 yards and stopped. I let him walk off on a long rein and we turned back to the barn. He actually altered his course so that he could walk over the cross rail on the way back. What a stitch!

10/20/05 He is getting along really well in the herd situation. He just sort of moseys around with them. He is trying to seduce Betty but she isn't buying Belgian Boy's wares. I trimmed his mane and groomed him and had another discussion about stretching forward and down with his neck. He is learning that that is how to get cookies. He's very smart and quite sweet. Then I got on and we worked in the arena. I carried a whip this time and it was amazing how much lighter to the aids he was. After a warm up, I took him out to the pasture to see what he would think about doing some trotting and cantering in the relative open of a 10 acre pasture. He thought it was pretty cool, especially when I let him canter on a bit. Woohoo. At one point I used the whip to touch his hindquarters when he was dogging along in the trot and he replied by kicking at it, for which he got a swat, which he kicked at, for which he got a swat which he kicked at, for which he got a swat. I suggested he get over himself and he did. His canter is lovely. That is the biggest stride I have ever ridden! He came back politely when asked from the forward canter. Then we trotted a crosspole and the second time I asked him to trot it, he saw his distance and put in a canter stride to it. So then we cantered it a few times. Clearly you are correct, he likes jumping. He has some basic skill issues about the approach, though, which I will talk more about as we address them in the coming days. Not a big deal, just green to jumping issues, as we all expected. He had a blast today and so did I.

10/19/05 I turned him out with Betty, Eddie and Johnnie in the arena and it went well. No squealing, even! So after a few minutes, I turned them out in the pasture where the 4 of them grazed peacefully all afternoon. I introduced him into the feeding routine where they come into the stalls to eat (I gave him a small amount of Ultium) and that went fine. Gets the day off since he spent most of it learning about the herd. Doing fine. Out overnight.

10/18/05 We introduced him to Eddie and it was so anticlimactic as to be a bore. Like that. They chummed around the arena and paddock for a while. Then we turned them out in the pasture together and they did fine, like old pals. Eddie did an interesting thing but Savant was fine. After a while I brought him in, brushed him, tacked up and got on. I used my saddle, a Kieffer, which fits him well. I got on and he was totally nonchalent. In fact, I had to boot him into a decent walk. He's a little dead to the aids, but probably from having some time off from riding. We walked, trotted and cantered and leg yielded. He is recalcitrant to the outside rein, but I get the feeling that there is simply "rust in the lines". I kept it simple tonight and it went fine.

10/17/05 Savant arrived in the morning and settled in quite nicely in a large paddock. He ate and drank and did a little exploring and ate some cookies. In the evening, I put his leadrope on and led him into the barn and he was fine, other than tripping with his back legs over the doorjam. I brushed him and cleaned his feet. When I picked up his hind legs, he sort of "shivered" when I did it, but behaved fine. He also dragged his hind legs over the door jam going into the arena. I lunged him just to get to know him and see how he reacted to voice commands and he was quite good, if a little sluggish, but cooperative and fun to watch move. Wow. After simple work in both directions, which went well, we let him loose in the arena to meet the other horses over the fence. A serious lack of fireworks ensued. Very quiet, no squealing, no big reaction. Great. On a lifestyle note, his halter strikes us as a little tight and the flies seem to really bother his eyes, so we will be using a supermask. I'd like permission to trim and then thin his very long mane. :-) He was put in three continguous stalls for the night and will spend the day out in the paddock tomorrow again. He's quite the cookie monster and very sweet!

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