Ambi-Canter

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am SO fabulous. Me and Cyd have been doing some quiet time to let my poorly over-dramatized leg heal, to give me some time off after our hard training, and Cyd has been doing easy short people running. Now we are both rested and ready to do training for our spring events. First we did trading with Aunty D, who does pony sports massage. She massaged me, and Cyd massaged her. I really needed my massage. Cyd does some with me, but Aunty D knows lots more about my trouble spots. I also had a slightly poorly tummy that morning, Cyd had to go searching for me in my field, and actually walk me to my tying place, and then I didn't want to do lunging. I had lots of gases in my belly, and the lunging and the pony massage made me feel better and got things in my belly moving again. Look how different I look in my before and after picture!

Before my sporty massage - scrunched up, a dip in front of my wither, leaning forward, and a round belly dip, and not my happiest self

After my sporty massage - my neck is more straight, I am longer, my front legs are standing better, my muscles are smooth, and I am happy and relaxed.

I am not very good at hiding my feelings (I don't think maybe this surprises you much), so let Aunty D know whenever she found an ouchy spot, but also let her know when it felt good again. I did lots of breathing, sighing, licking and chewing, and nuzzling cos for feeling better. When Aunty D gives a pony a massage, the pony's person gets a sheet explaining what work got done, and suggestions for them. Here is my sheet. I am symmetrical in my sore spots at least, and now we have some new stretches to do for me as well as the ones we already do.

Cyd knew some of these spots were sore, but not others. My trapezius was crazy tight

Want to get your pony a pony massage? Ask Aunty D at Horses At Liberty!

On Wednesday, Aunty D brought my Ticofriend to my house so we could ride my trails. I loved having a buddy to go with, and did walking really good up the road. I had to be a bit brave when there was a scary digger in the road, but I followed Ticopony and we got by safely. The peoples got on at my mounting tree, and off we went to do my long loopy at a leisurely pace. I was so happy to be doing pony riding, and Cyd said I felt a lot freer and taller like I was holding myself properly after my pony massage. Aunty D said I looked like I was moving really good too. I wanted to do trotting really soon, but the peoples made us wait for our brains (Tico pony rode this trail before too, but at speed, and did tree crashing a bit like me - oopsies). When we finally got to do trotting I wanted to do canter, and I got a bit mad at Ticopony being in my spaces. Who does he think he is going near my butt? Silly dressage pony thinks he's so special. Cyd says I need to suck it up and remember my manners cos for if we kick our friends they won't be my friends anymore, and I got a taptap with her riding crop that she brought especially for that purpose. I sulked a bit and settled for making faces and angry waggling of my ears the rest of our ride.

"I hates him"

Me and Tico were both really good on the whole loopy, both sometimes needing manners reminders, but remembering our proper behavings quickly. Some of my trail is getting a bit overgrowed so we had to push through, and the peoples laughed at us, me cos for picking my way through like a deerpony knowing where the trail is, and Ticopony barging like a buffaloespony just having a blast. I did still crash into a tree branch later on though - oopsies. I also made grumpy faces whenever I wasn't the lead pony. These are MY trails, Ticopony doesn't know the way, I should be in the front always. So I stomped and sulked a bit until it was trottings time again. 

On our way home, we did some trottings, and I broke into a canter. Cyd was going to make me stop and do trottings but guess what? I Was On My Right Lead! This is really really hard for me. During my sporty massage, Aunty D did a lot of work on my right shoulder, it was all locked up tight. Go back to my pictures and look at that shoulder again and see how much better it looks. Anyways, my right hand canter was super hard and a bit wobbly like when I was just learning how to do canter ever, but the people did cheering for me and I had my concentrating face on, and Cyd stayed super balanced to help me. We had to stop cos for the ground getting rocky and neither of us ponies wearing our go-faster booties (Tico has the same kind as me). We trotted a short little bit where it was softer and I tried to canter and did Right Hand Canter again! The ground was too hard for me to do lots of canter so I had to be stopped so I don't get ouchy feeties, but Cyd was so pleased with me! Now we have to carefully build my strength for doing canter on that side but not forget to practice the Left Hand Side too. I'm an ambi-canterer. We had a quiet amble back to my house to take off our saddles and practice our trot outs like for doing enduring. We both need to practice all the time cos for me not wanting to stop cos for being excited to show off, and Ticopony not wanting to go cos for not seeing the point in wasting energies. We both did good trottings out today though. We had a lot of fun on our pony ride, and I didn't do hating on Tico the whole time, sometimes I give him kisses for putting up with my nonsenses. Look how cute we are when I'm being nice:

Lake Sonoma Adventuring

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous, though that was not entirely accurate for my whole entire weekend. As you know, I was supposed to go another 50 miles with Cyd to do more enduring, at somewhere called Lake Sonoma. This didn't happen, but I did do a lot of learning.

It was meant to be really hot at Lake Sonoma, and I've been getting pretty fluffy lately, so before my adventure we had to do a new thing to me. Shaving! Cyd bought me some brand new clippys to shave off my fur so I dry fast and not get too hot. We just did my neck so that I don't get too cold when not doing my enduring. First off, I needed a bath to be sure my fur was really clean. This is only bath number two for me this year, cos for the drought sucking up all our waters. (There's no water in the town where Cyd lives, they don't even do dishes in some restaurants). There's a well at my house, but we try to save all the droplets we can so no baths unless it's important, and only sponging for post-ride sweats. Being shaved warrants a bath, so I got scrubbed down and shampoo'd really fast. I was not impressed. Why do I get washed on the only cold day in ages?

Brrrr. Least I'm clean

 Aunty V and Aunt T came to help hold me in case I didn't like to be shaved, but it turned out to be easier with mostly just Cyd. Either way I like to have a cheer squad. I looked a little bit mouse-chewed, but good enough for not being a show pony.

 Early on Friday, my Ticopony friend came with his people D and L to collect me. We were going to share his pony trailer to travel, then I was going to sleep at a different pony trailer when we got there. We quietly drove, and found a good spot to park. It was time to get out. This is where I failed at being a grown up. I was so eager to get out the pony trailer, I tried to go to fast, and slipped and hurt my leg on the pony trailer. I walked around holding it in the air very dramatically, and Cyd told me I was fine even though some bloods were coming out. Once Tico pony was out and settled and we drinks and snacks, Cyd borrowed something called ice boot for me to wear to make my leg feel better. I was quite convinced it was going to take my leg off, so held it in the sky ready for amputation. Apparently I am a drama queen. 

Shiny and wimpy

When I didn't have my borrowed boot on, I walked just fine, so when it was check in time I went to see the vet like normal. Guess what you guys? This time my pulse was 48! It has always been in the 50s before, so I'm learning to be calmer (my resting pulse when not excited is 36). I did pretty good at my vet-checking, and our trot out was not perfect, but vastly improved. I scored all As even with my owie.

Doing my trot-out

Back to the pony trailer to relax and eat up ready for the next day. I was meant to camp with Aunt-E but their pony trailer did not be helpful so they got delayed. By the time they got here there was no spaces and they had to go to a different camp ground. Cyd was going to put on my saddle and ride me over there, but then she couldn't get her camping truck out. We couldn't have me sleep one place, and Cyd another. Some asking around got me two different places to sleep, thank you lovely endurance peoples! Cyd went to her truck, and saw that there was an empty spot on the trailer next to her truck, and they also said I could sleep there, which was the better place for me to be, so Cyd could hear if I had troubles or was a pest. Thank you M and L for letting me hang out on your trailer, we enjoyed meeting you! 

Me posing at my vet check

I was really good all night until 4:30 in the morning when I finished all of my hay. I decided I should probably let everybody in camp know that I had eaten all my snacks and Cyd jumped out of bed making me shush. I went right back to snacking, and apparently didn't wake anybody up. Cyd curled in bed for a while, then took me for an early morning walkabout. I was quite well behaved, and we were very quiet cos for only seeing one other person awake. Back at the trailer Cyd touched my owie leg and it was swelled, and a little bit warm. Uhoh! No enduring for us. We went to let the fabulous organising people know, and Cyd became a volunteer for the day so as to still be helpful and do learnings. I was very behaved in camp even when all the ponies left me, and then they were coming and going all day. I did resting and snacking and resting and playing in my water bucket and snacking some more. I also borrowed the ice boot again, and still didn't like it.

Ice-booting

Lots of people said how wonderful the pony ride was, so we are going to come back next year to try again! After most people were done with the pony ride, a lot of them left, so Cyd could move her truck. I walked with Aunt-E and Elliepony to their campground about a mile away. I started doing my bad behavings, so Aunt-E worked with me while Cyd took Elliepony to teach us some new tricks for when I behave like a bad pony. I quickly learned and did walking on a loose rope. In camp site number three, I went on something called Hi-Tie, which will be on my pony trailer when I get one. It's like being tied up, but with more space. 

On my hi-tie

My leg was a little bit better after my walking, but still swelled. The nice vet man who I met before at my other enduring rides, Dr D, came to check on me. He put a bandage on my leg, and some medicine in my neck. Because I have never been on a Hi-Tie before, I was left on something called 'blocker tie-ring'. It sets panicking ponies free so they don't get hurt. Troubles is, I totally figured out how to escape in the night time. Cyd had heard me walking about, so she came to check on me and I was tied up so she went back to bed. In the morning though, N my trimmer lady said she had to retrieve me from going out and making friends and sampling left over snacks from other ponies. Thanks for bringing me back! Cyd knows not to do that again.

Me and Tico leaving

The next morning D, L, and Ticopony (who totally did awesome at his first LD enduring ride - congrats Ticopony!!) came to collect me, so I didn't have to walk the mile back to their campground. I came to this enduring ride to practice being polite, and I totally did that, even if we didn't get to pony ride. I am totally fine now, just a bit scabby. Cyd took off my bandage this morning and it looks great. 

Even though things didn't go to plan, we had so much fun this weekend. We got to see lots of friends, do some learning, practice my manners, test Cyd's new camper, and just relax. Success!

Making New Friends

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous! Yesterday, I made six new friends. Two were people, D and L, two ponies Tico and Miss Priss, and two were puppies, Sigh and Tilly. I was really confused as to why Cyd brushed me, then got my saddle and her helmet and put them on... the gate? Where are we going Cyd? While I was getting my go-faster booties, a new pony trailer that I didn't see before pulled up by my house and D came to my field to meet me. They loaded my things up then Cyd came back for me. I was very good and didn't even hesitate getting in the new pony trailer, and made instant friends with Tico pony already waiting inside. We were off on a new adventure!

Making friends

When we got out L and her pony were there too, and all us ponies got our saddles on and the peoples got their helmets. None of us ponies had bits or metal shoes on our feeties. There were a couple of really big trucks that came by, and one of them made me nervous, so much that I stepped on my bootie and pulled the cables right out so it fell off. We have all the pieces to fix it, and Cyd just took my other back bootie off to make me even for the ride. The people hopped on and we walked for a whole two minutes, and realised the way we wanted to go was the same way as the trucks, which everybody agreed didn't sound like very much fun at all, and even a bit dangerous. So we turned around, got in our trailers with our saddles, drove to the parking spot right on the other side of the highway, and off we went again on a different loopy. 

My six new friends

To start with I was not a big fan of the puppies too near me, so I made faces at them. Cyd growled at me for being rude and said I Must! Not! Kick! The! Dogs! I didn't, but we still kept a close eye on them and me, and soon I got over it. The peoples did chatting and Cyd mentioned that I don't usually like to be the leader pony but I was walking out good and kind of in the lead. When we started doing trotting, I didn't want to be in the front. So you know what happened? They made me be the leader! Then when Tico pony tried to come past me cos for being a faster trotter, I was Really Bad and pointed my butt at him with grumpy face on. I did this a couple of times and it got me in Big Troubles and made Cyd embarrassed again, and worried that we might hurt our new friends and then they won't want to be our friends anymore. But they were super nice, and we made a game called Pass The Leader. First Tico went in front, and I had to do trotting past him, then he came by me again, then my turn again. We both did looking at logs so sometimes it didn't go super easily, but I was mostly used to it quite quickly. I got to practice my manners, and trying to do my big trot. Now that I'm good at canter, I don't like to do fast trotting. The other ponies have big fast trots that were not easy for me to keep up, so I tried to do canter, but Cyd said I had to practice my big trot. To show my disapproval I did slow choppy trottings, which meant I fell behind, so wanted to canter to catch up. I was pretty good about not losing my brain though when I got left behind, so it was the start of some good practicing. 

Snack break (don't worry, my reins can't fall lower than that to get stuck!)

There were some really big hills on this pony ride, and we did lots of trottings and some canter up them. It was also humid, so us ponies were soaked in our sweats in just a few miles. After going up one of the big hills, the peoples jumped off and took our pulses - no walking time, no water to drink, and no water to wash our sweats and make us cool. My first pulse wasn't easy to count accurately cos for my loud breathings, but it was in the high 80s. Cyd measured a few more times, and in just under four minutes my pulse was down to 56! I'm getting very fit.

Tough ride!

We had lots of fun on this practicing ride, and guess what? D said I could ride with Tico in their pony trailer to take me to my Lake Sonoma 50 mile enduring ride. They are going too and since me and Tico liked being in the trailer together and I don't have my own pony trailer yet, we are going to share. The peoples are going to make sure we can't see each other at our camp site though, cos for us getting too bonded and not riding together on race day. I am going to camp with Aunt-E and Ellie pony. We're going to have so much fun!

Not even a bit tired!

Thank you for coming to get us D, and thank you L! And extra thanks to both of you for being patient when I was being a bratty baby, we appreciate your help very much!

K.I.S.S.

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous, of course. Today we did a K.I.S.S. ride - Keep It Simple, Stupid. I've been having some zoomy rides lately, so Cyd wanted us to amble to remind me that we can. So this is what I wore on today's pony ride:

Excuse my snacking, nomnom alfalfa

Not pictured is another very important piece of equipment - Cyd's helmet. She struggles with brain power as it is, don't need me knocking extra cells out. Always wear your helmet!

We walked up the street to the mounting tree, then prepared my very complicated tack to be ready for pony riding. Now I'm ready:

Should we be concerned that out of our last four pony rides, this was the only one that did not have tack, but also the only one that we didn't hit a tree? It would appear that Cyd does much better at pony riding when she just lets me get on with it... She is also a dork:

Look at how good I do!

New Go-Faster Booties

Hello everybodies, how are you? I am fabulous, like usuals. Today we did a middle length pony ride to check the appropriate fit and adjustings of my four new booties (one for each hoofy obviously). They are mostly the same as my last booties, the front ones are exactly, the back ones a bit different. My back booties were getting a bit snug, even if I wore them right after getting my feeties trimmed. We got me some slightly wider ones and they fit me much better. Today on my pony ride I did walking, trottings, canter, reversing, a big spook, and even some bucking and a nearly-gallop. No bootie-wiggling occurred. We did collide with a tree a bit though, which makes three times on three rides. Oopsies. Either me or Cyd at least needs to pay more attentions to where we're going. Cyd thinks I must think I'm a smaller horse than I really am, since I often try to squeeze through gaps that we don't quite fit through. This time I didn't bump myself, but I did bump Cyd's leg pretty hard, enough to make some skins fall off and it to start turning blue. I deny this is entirely my fault, step up Cyd, you call yourself a rider? You know why we needed to test the new booties today? Cos for going on Wednesday on a long enduring-training ride with some new friends. If the booties weren't right, we didn't want our new friends to think we were nuisances. Also, in two weeks, I am going to be doing more enduring! Yep, Cyd entered me in Lake Sonoma 50 mile pony ride. I'm such a grown up this year. Wish me luck!

Here's my pictures from today. Of course on a boot testing pony ride Cyd forgot to take pictures of my booties. Big fail!

Pampas grasses

Zooming through the woods

Pony selfie

Taking a break to look at the ocean

I even got a shower cos for it being so hot today