I’ve been a little busy lately with house projects and committee meetings, and not riding a lot since I’m still sans saddle. I’ve been visiting Ace, brushing him, playing on the ground in bits, and riding bareback some. But no serious work. And I spent two days painting and cleaning my house last week … and then my in-laws came to visit.

So I’d spent all of about 5 minutes with Ace over three days.

Sunday night I went out with my mom-in-law and nephew to visit Ace and let my nephew play with him a bit. The horses had been turned out for the night, and were happily munching the lush green grass in their ample pastures. They hadn’t been out of their stalls in 36 hours due to storms, and had been outside for less than an hour that evening.

Ace was in the far back pasture. I got a leadrope and some cookies, and headed out to catch him.

I walked around the corner of the storage shed and stepped into the lane that went back to the pasture. As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw Ace’s head shoot up in the distance and look at me. I yelled a hello to him. He stood there staring at me; I could almost see him squinting to make sure that tiny figure in the distance was in fact his mom.

He nodded his head once. Then he took off marching determinedly through the pasture.

And met me at the gate.

If you would have been there, you would have been impressed. Even from a distance, you could see the moment he recognized that it really was me. And he never took his eyes off me as he ran to meet me.

It was by far the sweetest moment I’ve ever had with a horse. And one that still gets to me just a little. I had a gut feeling the day I met Ace that he was the one for me, and he just continues to prove me right!

1. my saddle doesn’t fit any more
2. he’s allergic to … well … something

I swear, with everything our horses put us through, it’s gotta be like raising kids sometimes.

Saddle Selling and Buying

Ace is a tough on saddle fit, because he’s got such a high, long wither. I was so fortunate that the saddle I had fit him, as a new one wasn’t really in the cards. It was narrow enough to fit his back well and sit up off of his withers just enough. But with a few white hairs starting to show up on the slope of his withers, my lovely saddle isn’t working any more. The second those showed up, I stopped using it. The hairs are the only indication the saddle was an issue, as he’s been behaving and moving just fine, and to eye it up it looked good. Unfortunately, it looks like my weight added to the saddle drove the twist right down onto that bony back.

Fortunately, I do have enough in my new saddle fund that if I can get my current saddle sold, I’ll be able to get a new one. My plan is get a Stubben jumping or all purpose saddle (with a jumping flap). I talked to one of their reps at Equine Affaire and learned that they will come and do a complete saddle fitting for free if I purchase a new saddle through them. So, not only are their saddles good, long-lasting, and in my budget, I’ll be able to ride in various models and get an experts opinion on which style and size will best fit Ace. They’ll even adjust the flocking if needed.

So I’m excited, but super anxious to get this saddle sold. Fortunately, my mom had one I could borrow in the meantime that is a decent fit and definitely sits plenty high off Ace’s back and withers. It’s kind of old and starting to fall apart, but it will work well for the short term.

Treating and Preventing Hives

On Friday, I pulled Ace from his paddock and the poor boy was surrounding by bugs – and covered in bumps. They were small hard knots; a few on his face and spread out across his neck and sides. I’m used to the sensitive Thoroughbred skin, so I figured they were bug bites.

Saturday morning I went out early to put on his fly mask and cover him in fly spray. By Saturday evening, he had a full-fledged case of hives.

Our best guess is that he had a reaction to the bugs (or a slight possibility something he ate in the pasture as they are starting to get some grass turnout), and that the fly spray aggravated it. I doubt it’s a reaction to the fly spray, as it’s an all-natural kind I used all last year without any problems.

Ace got a nice cool bath with a gentle shampoo to wash off his skin and sooth any itch or pain he may have had.

Sunday the hives were down by about half, and this morning while still present they’re down by about half again. Fortunately they didn’t seem to bother him at all, but he looked absolutely terrible. At their worst, his whole body, including his legs were covered. He was his normal happy self throughout – and probably enjoyed the time off over the weekend.

I’ve kept him stalled until the hives are gone, and then he’ll get to go back on turnout with the new fly sheet I’m going to go buy for him tonight.

Feel free to share any thoughts, tips or tricks, on either the saddle fit or hives issue. I’m always interested in hearing your experiences!

Oh, and mom and hubby, I didn’t really mean it about not needing kids. Just wanted a catchy title.

Oh, and anybody want to buy a nice used close contact jumping saddle in excellent condition?

I don’t do anything big for horsey birthdays, but I will of course stop out to clean out his foot (abscess is clear and healing nicely, by the way) and spoil him with a few extra cookies than normal.

I’ll also give him some birthday hugs and rubs and boost his confidence by telling him how wonderful the muscles in his neck and topline are looking. All boys like when you admire their muscles, right? Ace may never be a bodybuilder in the horse world, but he’s really developed some lovely lean, strong muscles lately.

With blowing an abscess and me being gone at Equine Affaire last weekend and to a wedding in Florida this weekend (rough, I know), we’ve been getting in very little riding time lately.

I rode Ace on Tuesday for the first time in nearly two weeks, and was pleasantly surprised with how good he was. Well, not so much that he was good because he’s always well behaved, but that he was still rounding up and offering to carry himself nicely. That was a big deal for two reasons:

1. He had nearly two weeks off, and he starts to lose his hindend strength if he goes more than 2 days without being ridden.

2. I was trying him in a new bit, a simple Myler loose ring jointed snaffle.

Ace is a little weak in his right stifle and he needs consistent work to maintain his strength. While he certainly wasn’t moving his best and his stifle was clicking from time to time on the turns, he was still offering to use his hind end and round up. I’m sure a lot of this is because his overall strength and muscle memory has been developing. Jeremy Steinberg talked a lot about this in his dressage clinics at Equine Affaire last weekend. He said that horses can actually get in shape cardiovascularly very quickly – within a week or two – but that it can take them 6 months or a year to build up muscle. And we are just hitting the 6 month mark since we moved to Shooting Star and started riding more and focusing on conditioning and carriage.

I think the Myler loose ring is going to be a good bit change as well. While Ace listened to the old French link eggbutt pretty well, he was a little reluctant to come on the bit and would frequently grind his jaw side to side.

I took it easy with the new bit on Tuesday, doing lots of transitions and turning to see how he’d respond. I know Ace needs some time to get used to it, but he was already seeking the contact more and jawing less. Might just work out well!

I’m very much looking forward to this weekend in Florida, but boy am I going to be ready for some time at home with my horse!

If that sounds weird that I’m happy my horse blew an abscess, here’s what happened:

Ace has had some heat in his back left foot off and on for the last month. It was never accompanied by any unsoundness, indication of discomfort, swelling, etc. He’s also been tripping over that foot frequently, which tells me he’s landing too much on his toe and avoiding his heel.

Then on Saturday, I got him out of the pasture to discover he had a swollen hot area extending from his hoof to just above the fetlock. And while he wasn’t three-legged lame or anything, he was definitely off on that foot. Cold-hosed, poulticed, wrapped, and went home and worried.

Last night I went out to the barn. Couldn’t tell if the leg was still swollen because he was stocked up from being in his stall, despite the standing wraps. He was, however, moving better. Then I picked up his foot to clean it out and discovered this:

You can see the lovely dark spot on the side of his frog that was without a doubt oozing abscess gunk. I knew it wasn’t a spot of thrush; he’d had his feet trimmed a week ago and they were perfectly clear the day before and it wasn’t black or smelly.

Talked the vet, who was to my great relief supremely unworried. He agreed completely that it was an abscess and said that since it’s already blown I just needed to soak it in Epsom salts for a couple days while it finished draining. He also said I didn’t have to wrap it, but I could if I wanted to – which I did because it made me feel better.

So, I’m perfectly happy that my horse had a little abscess because it means there’s nothing seriously wrong. And for any of you fans of Ace who have been reading for a while, this abscess blew directly over the spot of his frog that had that nasty infection last summer. Makes sense that a little bit was trapped as it healed or that it’s still a weak spot.

I am not, however, at all happy with Ace’s antics while I try to soak his abscessed hoof. He’s perfectly happy to behave and stand in the empty rubber tub. He  is NOT however the least bit compliant about standing in the tub with warm water in it. He jerks his foot up and threatens to kick me when I try to make his stand in it. I was patient and firm, and eventually got him to rest his foot in the tub.

Until he stepped back on the edge of the tub, effectively spilling the water all over the barn aisle and refusing to budge until the tub was completely empty.

At that point, it was morning feed time, which certainly wasn’t going to help my efforts. So I put him in his stall, gave him his breakfast, and finally got a good 10 minute soak.

So, that’s where Ace and are right now. Other than this slight setback, which isn’t such a big deal because I’m leaving for Equine Affaire this week and will be in Florida the following week so I wasn’t planning to ride much anyway, we’ve been doing very well. Hillwork, collection work, pole work, little bits of jumping, trail riding, and generally enjoying each other and the spring weather.

And if you have any tips on making my bad boy (not so winsome at the moment!) stand for his hoof soaking, feel free to share!

The only problem was that it just never felt quite right. I’d look at Ace and think of Ascension, and it just wasn’t him, as much as I liked the idea of it.

So I went back to the drawing board. Because I haven’t done any showing yet, and don’t have plans to do anything recognized just yet, I haven’t registered him anywhere.

But my sisters got me a lovely leather halter for Christmas, and my mom promised me a nameplate for it. And so we’ve been motivated to come up with a classy, catchy, descriptive show name for my boy.

One of the benefits of doing this a year and a half later is that I’ve really had a chance to get to know Ace inside and out, and find something that really fits.

Since moving to Shooting Star, Ace’s winning personality has really come to the forefront. He’s a natural charmer, and has all the workers and other boarders under his hoof. I swear, the boy gets more treats than any other horse in the barn. He’s well-mannered, gentlemanly, and has an attitude that just draws people in.

So I started looking up synonyms for “charming,” where I found the word “winsome.” It’s definition is sweetly or innocently charming, engaging. Yep, hit that nail on the head! That’s Ace all over.

In a little further digging, I discovered that “winsome” comes from the Middle English word “wynsum” which means to strive for joy. That’s an attitude that is important to me, and something that Ace very much helps me do.

Another friend looked up definitions for “ace” and discovered that “aces/aced” means to perform with distinction. Loved that too!

So, along with some input from good friends, I’ve decided to combine the two. Wynsome Ace my boy now is! In Indian lingo, he’s officially Sweetly Charming Strives For Joy and Performs With Distinction.

I love it.

And every time I look at my boy and think Wynsome Ace – it fits.

That’s certainly been the case with Ace’s feet … that have dealt with flare issues, an abscess, bad thrush, and a toe crack all within the last year and a half. With patience and regular trimming, his feet are now in good shape, growing thick healthy frogs, and the crack is staying the same while growing out.

Time has also been on Ace’s side when it came to weight and conditioning. He was underweight when I got him and had zero muscle tone. After a year and a half of good feeding and regular work, he’s starting to look darn good! I knew it was so, but didn’t realize just how much better he looks until I went back to see a picture from the day I bought him. Check out this progression:

August 30, 2008: The Journey Begins

October 2008: After Just One Month

Today: One Year and Four Months Later

Between that and access to a larger arena in which to work, we’re progressing amazingly.

A year ago, I was lucky if Ace went forward when I squeezed my legs. Now, the slightest closing gets a trot and a little outside heel gets the canter – with the correct lead most of the time! We have straightness. Ace bends well (with a little help). He can do the slightest bit of leg yield. He’s starting to get rounder in his carriage and accept contact. He never hits a ground pole when we trot through. He understands my leg aids and needs very little rein for support.

With all of these developments, I’m finally getting to teach him what I’ve wanted to do from Day One: Jumping!

Ace’s learning personality makes it necessary for me to be very careful and recognize his limits. He’s generally a very willing horse, but tends to get grumpy when I teach him something new. Even as he starts to understand what I’m asking for the first time, he makes faces at me, swishes his tail, and gets balky. And if he trips over a pole, he gets mad and stops. At least he used to. I haven’t seen that attitude in months – but I’m also being careful to avoid it!

In an effort to avoid any incidents in which Ace bungles a jump, and then refuses to go again, I’m going super slow. The last thing I want is a horse who has a tendency to run-out or refuse. So we’ve spent months going over ground and elevated trot poles. These days, Ace loves them. He goes at them with ears up and neck stretched and a great lift in his step.

Then we started trotting over tiny crossrails, and then slightly bigger crossrails. Recently, we’ve been trotting over these:

The first few times he’d actually jump, then he started taking a big trot step. Once he got really comfortable, I started asking him to land cantering. Trotting in and cantering out ensures that he actually jumps. And – he evens picks up the correct lead on the landing!

Last night we moved on to our next stage: cantering a ground pole. And Ace went right over like he’d been doing it his whole life. I’ll probably go ahead and raise it very soon … and we’ll officially be cantering over jumps! Then I can start adding height … and then multiple obstacles … and lines … and gymnastics …

I’m working hard to stay out of his way so that he can figure it out without my interference. I want him to be able to think and adjust himself rather than waiting on me to adjust him. It’s super hard to do; I’ve been jumping for 15 years and it’s second nature to adjust his stride and get involved.

Right now the only thing I’m really asking is that he goes over – and he does! We haven’t had a single run-out or refusal. Ace goes right over without hesitating every time. And he is staying nice and straight on approach.

From what I can feel from his back, Ace uses himself nicely and jumps well. He stretches down his head and neck for balance, picks up his knees, doesn’t twist, and has an overall nice jump. And most importantly – he’s enjoying it too!

My bad boy got a bit of a belly ache on Saturday night and really scared his momma!

Ok, he’s not bad. He’s actually pretty wonderful. We’ve had an awesome month filled with lots of riding. We now have a solid canter with snappy transitions and even have our leads mostly worked out. And we’ve been popping over crossrails and little 18″ verticals. And he’s starting to carry himself better; getting on the bit and rounding through his neck and back.

I left the barn at 4:00 Saturday afternoon after a short ride. He was perfectly fine at the time. At 6:45 I got a call that he had a belly ache and I needed to come out right away.

So, what did I do? Naturally, I panicked.

I was on my way to a Christmas concert. I turned around in the first available drive, flew back to my house, changed my clothes, and was on my way to the barn in about no seconds flat. I know enough about colic to know what to look for and what to do about it, but it was my first time having my own horse go there, so it was a bit frightening at first.

Sandee, who was feeding that night and called with the news, knew something was up when Ace wasn’t calling for his food. Her husband had already given him his grain, which he ate, but he wasn’t touching his hay. He was lying down when they got there, which is unusual for him, and was stomping and kicking at his belly. She got him up, gave him some banamine, and walked him in the indoor until I got there.

When I walked into the arena and saw him, though, I immediately felt better. Ace is a horse with a very expressive face, and it was obvious looking at him that he wasn’t particularly distressed. I stood and held him and talked to Sandee to get the full scoop, and after  few minutes he started searching us for treats.

After about 15 minutes of walking around the arena, he started trying to pull me to the round bales that were stacked in one corner.

I put him in his stall and took in a chair and a book to watch for a while. He cleaned up the scraps of hay that were in his stall, pooped, and mugged me for treats.

He got bored with the few scraps of hay he had left, and if a horse could sit in your lap, that’s what he did. He walked over to me, stood directly in front of me as closely as he could get, and hung his head right in front of my chest. He cocked a back leg, and fell asleep.

Silly boy.

I kept an eye on him for about two hours, but it was obvious there wasn’t anything to worry about.

I checked on him again first thing yesterday morning, and he was his old, hungry, happy self.

As happy as I am to get out of a vet bill with this one, I’m even happier that he is OK and got better so fast!

We don’t have a clear idea of what caused his gassy belly. I had ridden him, but I never even get off of him until he’s completely cool and breathing normally. He was  happy and eating hay when I left. Our best guess is that maybe he doesn’t like his water that cold and hasn’t been drinking enough. He had a heated water bucket and tank all  last winter, and I know his former owner had heated troughs too. His paddock trough is heated, and I may go pick up a heated bucket for his stall just to be on the safe side.

P.S. – doesn’t he look handsome in his new blanket?

Ace has had one week and one day in his new home and is doing exceptionally well. We even went on our very first trail ride last Friday!

Moving Day

Moving day dawned cold, windy, rainy, and dropping in temperature. While it was gross for loading up my jump equipment and horse, it fit the mood as we prepared to leave our former home. The new barn owner and I took her trailer to get Ace, and after visiting with my friends for a while, it was time to head out.

We didn’t have far to go, but I wrapped Ace’s legs anyways because as any one who has read for a while knows, he’s a bit accident prone. He walked right onto the trailer and was patient as I shoved him in and closed the divider (he’s so long he barely fit). He behaved himself the whole way. When we arrived, I opened up the trailer door and then the divider, and Ace immediately started to back out … before I could unclip him. To my great happiness, our tie training paid off and as soon as he felt the pressure from the trailer tie he stepped forward again instead of fighting. Once he was unclipped and I got the lead attached, he backed himself right off and took a good look around his new home. We walked around the arena a few times with just a little blowing as he checked out the surroundings. Then I took him to his new stall … he got one of the double stalls that is 10×20 feet! With a flake of hay and lots of room, he settled right in.

Settling In

Ace settled into the new routine very quickly. Because being in a smaller space and with bossy horses, stresses him out, he gets turned out daily with the “babies.” He quickly made himself king of his little 4-horse herd. His new buddies are Mister, a colt foaled last spring; Mo, a very timid 3-year-old; and Tie, who is 2-years-old and the pushiest of the bunch. After receiving two small warning kicks from Ace, Tie quickly relinquished leadership. They all get along well and mostly stay out of each other’s way.

Ace seems quite happy with his new routine of being stalled overnight and out during the day. He’s been very relaxed and cooperative all week. Some of his spooky and other bad behaviors that appeared with the cold fall weather have disappeared.

Working Hard

I immediately took advantage of our new 60×150 foot arena and put Ace to work. We went from only riding once a week to 5 rides in one week! We’ve mostly been doing walk/trot to get him re-conditioned, with a little canter work and some trot poles thrown in. He feels so much better with the extra room. Although, he did have to re-learn not to over-bend and bulge through the turns.

And the best ride so far was going for our first trail on Friday with our friends Pam and her Appy mare Nikki. We went out for a little over an hour and Ace was fantastic! He was pretty relaxed the whole time. Every once in a while he’d go on alert and look around, but mostly he just followed Nikki and seemed to enjoy a nice afternoon out. I think it might just have been the most pleasant trail ride I have ever been on. Pam, Nikki, Ace and I have scheduled a recurring trail date for Friday afternoons.

I might just have my eventing horse after all!

After 3 good rides and an hour on the trails, Ace was worn out! He was happy to stand in the aisle outside his stall and let the cross ties hold his head up for him.

When my mom and I showed up Saturday for yet another the ride, the look on his face very clearly said, “You’re kidding me, right?”

He’s getting Sunday and Monday off, and then we’ll be back to work with these Jane Savoie exercises tomorrow.

It’s a bittersweet time for us. I’m very excited for where we’re going and the new opportunities we’ll have, but I’m also very sad to be leaving where we are.

His current home is with some of my very closest friends, and we’ve had a wonderful experience out there. I couldn’t have afforded to keep him for the last year without their generosity. And I couldn’t have gotten through Ace’s early training without their help. And I also couldn’t have gotten through some of the tough times of the last year without their encouragement and support.

But now we’ve gotten to a  point where we need something a little different to continue progressing in our training and for me to give Ace the time and attention he deserves.

I’ve come to a stand still in Ace’s training at my friends’ because, while it’s very nice, the arena and sole riding area is small. It works well for the more compact smaller horses, and for the kind of work my friends do with their horses. But for my big thoroughbred who is quite long nose to tail, the turns are too tight. After riding outside a bit this summer, it has become painfully obvious that Ace just isn’t comfortable moving in there. He can manage a trot, but it’s not great. And while we do a little bit of canter, the turns are just too tight. By the time we recover from coming out of one turn, we’re headed back to another. Now that he’s got a solid foundation, there just isn’t the space to do much jumping or work a dressage test. And we can’t access any trails to practice getting outside and preparing for cross country or a hunter pace.

For two months I’ve been working at a local boarding stable, bringing in horses and feeding two nights a week. It’s been helpful for my finances, but has severely decreased my time with my horse. With Ace out there, I’ll have access to all their facilities plus I’ll be able to spend more time working with him. The barn has stalls for 24 horses with a large indoor, a small outdoor, nice pasture space, a wash rack, a heated bathroom, and 3-4 hours of trails.

Because I’ve been working there, I’ve gotten to know the barn owner and the other boarders, the horses, the routine, and the level of care provided. And since I feed there two nights a week, my board is reduced and I won’t pay any more out of pocket than I do currently. I also have a buddy at the new barn who has a hunter background and is currently working towards her Centered Riding instructor certification. And she has three jumps she’s offered to share … so between her jumps and my blocks and poles, I can set up a whole course.

It’s an exciting time for me and Ace, even while it’s a bit sad to be moving on. Of course, the two barns are less than 10 miles apart. You can bet though that you’ll still find me out at my friends though … hanging out and playing with their horses from time to time!