Well, my boy Ace is officially [slightly] lame for the very first time since I bought him three months ago.

I was in the midst of Thanksgiving preparations last night and I just had to sneak out to see Ace for 15 minutes since I hadn’t had much time for him over the last week with being out of town with a family emergency and all. I tossed a halter on and took him into the arena just to play for a few minutes. I noticed right away that he wasn’t moving normally on his back left leg, and was propping it up take the weight off more often than not. It wasn’t anything that obvious, but I was glad to discover that I do know Ace well enough to notice immediately when he’s not quite right. Moving to the left there was just a little hitch in his step. To the right, it was very obvious that he was short stepping.

He was in his normal good mood though, angling constantly for the treats he knew were in my pocket. He didn’t have any swelling, heat, bumps, scrapes, or other visible problems. I’m guessing he just tweaked something moving around his slippery turnout, since we had some rain yesterday that temporarily thawed the ground a little bit.

We kept him stalled overnight (which we were anyways since he doesn’t have the sense to get out of the cold snow depsite the fact that he’s shivering when we bring him in to eat). He got about four hours loose in the arena this morning. Dave watched him move for me and thinks he’s looking a little bit better. At any rate, he’s definitely not worse.

I’m heading to Oglebay, WV for the next 24 hours for Thanksgiving. It’s a two-hour drive and we need to get there before the sun goes down because it is impossible to find the right cabin in the dark. It’s slowing down at work, so I’m hoping I can sneak out a few minutes early to go check on my boy personally before I head out of town.

Makes me glad though, that our Thanksgiving plans got cut short last minute, because I can be home to keep an eye on him for the rest of the holiday weekend.

All in all, I’m thankful to have a great horse who I love and who loves me. I’m thankful that it was a full three months before he showed the slightest signs of discomfort. And I’m thankful that I’ve learned him well enough to notice it right away. And most importantly, I’m thankful for everything that Ace and I are learning  together. I’m incredibly grateful, too, to Dave and Tracie for making it possible for me to afford to keep a horse. Wouldn’t have and couldn’t do it without them! Oh, and my mom who taught me almost everything I know and goes to the tack shop at home for me and buys me horsey stuff for Christmas and listens to me talk for hours on end about my horse–and likes it.

That’s all my horsey-related thanks. What are yours?

Overall, I think my boy Ace is very happy in his “new” home at Dave and Tracie’s. There’s not a whole ton of land for the horses to live on, so we are incredibly efficient with what we have. There is a medium sized indoor Cover-All arena (which is amazing!) with four stalls in one end and nice sand footing. There are three pastures. There is also a small, two stall barn which was the original barn.

Dave and Tracie’s four horses live in the arena; they go in their stalls for a few hours morning and evening to eat, but otherwise are loose in the arena. When Ace came, he was in isolation in the small barn. And then Dave added some fencing and built him his own little turnout area between the driveway and the arena. The horses spend their day staring at each other through the arena windows and over the fence.

Then, the weather started to get bad. So, Dave changed the fence line so that Ace now has access to his stall and his turnout. That way, he has the option of getting in out of the weather. Not that he does. He always stands in the rain or snow if he has the option. So, he definitely like his new digs out at Dave and Tracie’s. Check it out ….

Front of Ace’s stall in the small barn. Has room for him, hay storage, and bedding. It’s Ace an my own little piece of horsey heaven.

He is surrounded by hay, which is probably a little bit tortuous to my big piggy.

We have a corner with saddle racks and hooks for our tack, a few cupboards and a plastic container for storage. It’s very cozy.

There’s a narrow run outside Ace’s stall between the small barn and the arena that gives him access to the rest of the turnout.

He has a heated water bucket in his stall, and a heated water trough in the turnout. However, he’ll stand and lick the ice on the trough before he’ll go drink the water in his stall. At the barn end of the turnout the turnout faces east, where Ace has a nice view of the house, woods and sunrises.

The far end of the turnout faces west, with great sunsets, and a big cornfield. You can see the long driveway along the side; Ace likes to chase the cars as they go up and down.

From the corner, you can see a nice view of the Cover All. It stays cooler in summer, warmer in winter, and lets in a ton of natural light. We LOVE it. It tends to be a little noisy if it’s windy or precipitating, but Ace handles the creaking and flapping very well.

The is the short side of the turnout. Ace likes to stand down here because the arena blocks the wind. This is also where he comes to poop. He eats in his stall or at the far end by the water trough. He will leave his food, walk down around the corner, do his business, and go back. He never goes by his food. Smart boy! He also has a good view of the neighbor ponies and the woods out back.

Anything to eat in my stall? (and a different view of the neighbor ponies).

My boy definitely seems happy here. He likes his people, he likes his stall and turnout, he has great views, and he has some horsey companionship.

Eventually, we need to get the boys acclimated to each other so that Ace can have some arena time with them when the weather is really bad. For now, he seems perfectly happy with the situation. And that’s all I need to keep me happy!

A little over a week ago we couldn’t trot more than 2-3 laps of the (small) arena without having a stalling and balking episode. Last night, I cantered on Ace for the very first time.

I didn’t really mean to do it. I didn’t intend to try for weeks yet. But my horse was in a great mood. He was more responsive than ever. We did a ton of trot work without stopping even once (he threatened a few times, but moved forward happily as soon as I reminded him he needed to keep going). So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask and see if he’d be at all willing to give it to me.

So, I asked in the turn to help him get his lead and bend, and he picked it up fairly easily and gave me a good four strides. I didn’t push it or ask him to keep going; just getting a little bit was good enough. We managed to pick up a few strides of canter three times in a row. After our little cantering episode, his trot was even more energetic, which felt great.

On top of that, I traded horses with Dave who I knew had been wanting to take Ace for a spin. And Dave got him to do some sideways!

Oh, and I learned a week ago that I needed to step back and not ask for too much all at once: forward, straightness, bend, etc. I’ve spent our last four rides asking for not much other than forward. And I realized last night that suddenly, we were going straight down the long sides and not overbending on the turns like he used to. We fixed some problem areas without even trying! How cool is that?

My horse is improving in leaps and bounds. I’m improving in leaps and bounds, which probably has something to do with it. He’s teaching me how to teach him. And we’re working really well together. And he loves me. I couldn’t be happier.

Stay tuned for a picture post of Ace’s new digs. Dave rewired the fence line so that Ace could have access to his stall from his turnout. Now that the weather is getting bad, we wanted him to have the option of going inside if he wanted.

Of course, Ace still stands out in the rain unless we lock him in. No big shocker there, though.

I was thinking the other day that I need to come up with a show name for Ace. His registered name is Ace Brown, which is thoroughly boring and completely forgettable. And since I can put whatever name I want on our show forms and USEF membership application, I need to change it!

I’m looking for something short, creative and classic that has a double meaning or something that makes you think twice about it. One, two words at the most.

And I could really use your help! Any ideas for us?

Finally, for your viewing pleasure (and for mine, except for blinking eyes, the heels that aren’t down, and the poor hand position) … Ace under saddle!

Ben (my hubby!) and Dave took lots of pictures for me, but unfortunately they didn’t come out all that well. It’s soooo hard to get a horse moving at just the right moment. Plus, I think the flash was reflecting off the dust in the arena, and so most of the pictures have these weird, hazy bubbles all over them. Strangest thing. I digress.

I’m very proud of my boy after last night; he did exceptionally well when it counted … with my mom here to check him out! It was the first time she’d seen me ride him. And she got up and tried him out too. It was the first time he’d had someone other than me on him. It was fun to see him go under saddle.

I started out with a little groundwork to try to get him focused, but there were 7 people in the arena, barrels and cones set up, and two other horses out getting ridden. It was a little crazy and he was really distracted. I got a few good tries, gave up, put his bridle on, and went for a ride. Surpisingly, he was much more focused under saddle. He had great forward, he didn’t stall out on me (did it to mom only once), and went forward every time I asked. And it was the best ride we’d had yet! Amazing difference from just a week ago.

Mom did lots of trot work with Ace, which is good because he really needs the exercise. He had his trademark shell-shocked look afterwards. He got a good workout and had two people ride him. Quite a night!

Later we were standing around talking a bit and it was getting cold, so I decided to pull off his saddle and hop on bareback. Didn’t bother Ace one bit. I walked around for a little while and even asked for a little trot (which was very brave on my part, seeing as he’s a slightly boney, pretty bouncy thoroughbred). Very fun! I liked being that close and connected to him. May have to do a little more of that when it gets really cold. It’s good for both of us!

I’m a firm believer that the greatest riding instructor you’ll ever have is your horse. Things Ace has taught me over the last week:

• he doesn’t like to feel pressured
• he doesn’t like it when my upper body gets too forward. He stops if I get in front of the vertical.
• I can’t ask him too many different things at once yet. One step, one aid at a time.
• he is very forward without any convincing when it’s cold out
• an active seat drives him forward more effectively than nagging legs
• he likes to walk on the rail and hug the corners
• encouragement rather than pushing him forward is more effective

I had a lot to think about for our weekend rides after the lessons I was learning about Ace’s personality last week. And it paid off! We had two very good, albeit not perfect, rides. Ace was more responsive to my legs and moved forward more energetically. While I still have an issue with him deciding to break gait, he would move forward again  when asked instead of planting himself or going backwards. And that is definitely a step in the right direction. He continues to move his hindquarters very easily for me.

I still need to work on getting him to move his shoulders, but at this point keeping our forward movement is more important.

I spent some time letting Ace go whereever he wanted as long as he kept walking. And wouldn’t yah know it, but the silly horse just stayed right on the rail. He walked the same direction, right by the wall, hugging the corner, for at least 10 minutes. Guess I don’t need to worry about him getting bored just going in circles.

I was also excited to discover him acting very thoroughbred-y on Sunday. He was very attuned to his environment and was much more energetic and tightly strung than normal. And it was kind of fun. That kind of behavior doesn’t bother me in the least; we did some groundwork to calm him down and get him focused and otherwise we had a nice, energetic ride.

Tomorrow my mom and sister are coming to visit for a specifically horse night. Mom and I will probably both get on Ace while Shawna plods around bareback on Marahute. I’m looking forward to making mom play photographer so I can finally get some pictures of me actually riding Ace!

This has been an interesting week for Ace and me. After two months, I think the honeymoon is finally over.

I still love him to death, and he’s still a great horse. But I am starting to see some recurring issues, which really just means that I am getting to know my horse better and he’s slowly teaching me how to work with him. GreyHorseMatters left this comment yesterday on working with the horse I have:

I can see Ace is teaching you too, how he wants to be trained. It’s good that you’re a good horsewoman and can recognize the signals he’s giving you. You are smart enough to know you have to take it slowly day by day and work with the horse that comes out on that particular day. Good for you, I see you and Ace are going to be an unbeatable team sooner than later. Keep up the great work, sounds like you really have it under control with your ability to be flexible in your training plans.

She left that just after I was starting to realize I needed to adjust my thinking and my communication with Ace. After last night, it’s even more clear that Ace is teaching me how to train him … but also how and why. I also greatly appreciate her encouragement because it gives me hope. With Ace’s training pretty much completely on my shoulders, I’m honestly a little bit scared! What if he has some issue that we will never work through? What if I screw something up and then can’t fix it? What if we never get over it? These are the thoughts that keep running through my head. Ace is mine now, and no matter what comes up we have to work through it because I made a commitment to be his person and take care of him. I can’t just trade him in if it doesn’t seem to be working out. At the same time, I remind myself that training takes time. And these aren’t such serious issues that we will never be able to work through them. Just because we can’t step into a show ring tomorrow doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to in 1, 3, 5 years. And I have to remind myself just how much Ace has learned in just 2 months, which ultimately isn’t all that long.

So, back to the getting to know each other part. Ace is very smart and very willing, and wants to please me. He’s always looking at me for direction. Always has his ears up. Never explodes. A lot of the time he does exactly what I ask with very little prompting. But some of the time, there’s a switch in his brain that turns to off and it’s like he completely forgets what my signals mean.

The other night, after moving forward lightly off my leg and seat at both the walk and trot, he suddenly stopped dead in the end of the arena. I couldn’t get him to go forward. He wasn’t scared, he wasn’t upset, he just wouldn’t go. At my slightest cue, no matter what it was, he’d back up. I could get him to disengaged his hindquarters both ways. He’d flex laterally. But he just wouldn’t go forward. I tried being more forceful. I tried letting him relax for a minute or two and gently asking again. Wouldn’t budge, unless it was backwards. I ended up getting off and driving him from the ground. When that was successful, I got back and we were fine.

Last night we started with some ground work to work on the Driving Game and the Circling Game. I didn’t ask for any backwards whatsoever; only forwards or moving his shoulders. Driving was no problem. He’d threaten to slow or stop, and I’d gently wave the carrotstick at him and he’d keep going.

Then I went to circle him around me. We’d start by facing each other, and I’d raise my arm parallel to the ground and point in the direction I wanted him to circle. He’d prick his ears, blink, lean, and head off in that direction. I can usually get this 2-3 times in either direction, without using the stick to remind him.

Then suddenly, he’ll decide to stop circling before I’ve asked him to stop. And he looks at me. And the second I begin to raise my arm, he puts his head up and goes backwards. And no matter how calm I stay, or how I ask, all I get is backwards. I pushed it for a little while, while he just got worse and worse. We even almost had a little explosion (almost, but not quite).

Then I took a step back and just started rubbing him all over the with the stick; doing some desensitizing with the rope. After a minute or two, I stepped back a few feet, lifted my arm and pointed the left, and off he went like nothing had happened.

While we didn’t necessarily have a breakthrough in Ace’s behavior, I feel like I had a breakthrough in understanding his personality. And here’s what I think I discovered last night:

1. There’s a switch in Ace’s brain. When it’s up, he remembers what my cues mean. When it’s down, he forgets. He’ll be fine the first few times I ask, and then suddenly it’s like that switch goes off and he’s completely confused. He gets anxious when he’s unsure and when he’s unsure he goes backwards.
2. I wonder if he thinks he’s doing something wrong when I ask him to do the same thing more than a time or two. It’s like because I keep asking, he thinks maybe he didn’t do it right the first time. This applies to me reminding him that I haven’t asked him to stop trotting yet. Or that raising my arm and pointing still means go that way.
3. And maybe most important: Ace doesn’t like to feel pressured. He’s not the kind of horse you can just “get after” when you are having a battle of wills. I think the more I ask, the more he shuts down. On the ground, I figured out this means rubbing and loving on him and doing some Friendly Game. He relaxes, and then does what I ask. In the saddle, I need to figure out what exactly take the pressure off and flips the switch back to the on position. I’m fairly certain this means that I can’t push him through issues, but that I need to take a step back, encourage him, and then ask again.

I’m not feeling the overall excitement this week about “Ace is so smart, so friendly, has such a great trot, etc” that I have for the past few months. While I may be feeling a little apprehensive, I’m also feeling like our relationship is deepening and that I’m really starting to dig deep and learn more about him. I’m starting to understand how his brain works, and now I just need to figure out how to work with that.

I’m feeling hopeful.