5 Favorites of 2024

 

First up are these scissors from The Hairy Pony.  Heavyweight, sharp, with beautiful craftsmanship, they remind me of my grandmother’s sewing scissors(she was a professional tailor for 40 years).  They cut through Cruise’s enormous tail easily with one cut and give the perfect level bang.  Bliss.

Next up is Effol SuperStar Shine.  It’s just the best for tails, manes, and to wipe down a clean coat and give it that extra sparkle.  It lasts for multiple days in Cruise’s tail for an easy brush through with no tangles or pulled out hairs.  Just the best thing out there.

Next we have Smartpaks.  Convenient, changeable on a monthly basis, and the same price I was paying from the feed store with less hassle and also recyclable.  My husband had to convince me to run the numbers because I am a tightwad, and I’m glad I did.

Effax Leather Combi is the best day to day tack cleaner I have found.  Pleasant scent, removes all grunge, and leaves a soft shiny surface.  I especially like that it foams out of the bottle and a little goes a long way.

And last but not least, we have SmartItch-Ease by SmartPak.  Cruise has always been a super itchy horse, with lots of skin bumps, flaky places, and huge over reactions to bug bites.  The bugs also love him,  SmartPak was running a half off the first month sale and I tried this stuff and OMG.  Within 3 days of starting it no bumps, minimal itching, and no cloud of bugs.  It’s almost unbelievable but the change has been dramatic.  He is so much more comfortable even with some humidity and the current mid eighties temperatures.  Amazing product.

So what are your 5 favorites for 2024?  I’d love to hear…

Warwick Schiller has Mary Wanless as a Podcast Guest

 

Warwick Schiller had Mary Wanless on his podcast recently.  It is a fascinating interview, less about specific training methods and more about all the rabbit holes each of them went down on the way to finding their current methodologies.  Whatever you think of Mary’s techniques she is such an interesting person.  Listen HERE.

What Winning Looks Like

 

As we’ve been puttering around this spring, I’ve been thinking a lot about what winning, as it pertains to horses, would look like for me.  I’m a firm believer that if you have a clear vision of what you want you are a lot more likely to achieve it.  So, as I’ve been pondering this the thing that comes up most often for me is having a horse I can tack up, hop on, and ride around on a loose rein at the walk, trot, and canter.  An absence of tension, a partnership based in connection.  It’s not that I don’t want to pursue dressage AFTER I have this connection in place but I feel like we need to work on the foundation more.  

We’ve been rebuilding our foundation the past few weeks mostly using the Warwick Schiller videos available on YouTube.  Working on having Cruise be present for ground work and under saddle.  Adding some tools like flexion at a standstill until he’s present, adding in moving off the inside leg while maintaining the flexion and then bending to a stop when my leg comes off, and bending to a stop from the walk, trot and canter.  The tools are helpful, especially when paying attention to his ears,but the key is having him present and having him co-regulate with me.  And of course my being present, which is a blog post all of its own.  Lots and lots of box breathing going on.

I’m happy to say he is going fantastically three weeks in.  Relaxed, through his back, listening, not spooking, and now having the ability to more easily come into his Sympathetic(fight or flight) nervous system and then switch back to the Para Sympathetic(rest and digest).  Everything is a work in progress but we have half-halts.  And better straightness to the right.  And forward.  And best of all a happier horse.  Hopefully, online horse shows and hauling out for lessons will come this summer but if not I’d be pretty happy doing just what we’re doing for the foreseeable future.  And doesn’t he look fabulous?  I’ve added SmartItch-Ease to his SmartPak and all his skin funk is gone, his coat is blooming, and the bugs are leaking him alone.  Kind of expensive but totally worth it!

A Warwick Schiller Playlist and an Update

 

I’ve been deep diving on Warwick Schiller in the past few weeks.  First it started with figuring out how to build a better half-halt response, which has been mega successful, and now I’m looking more at having Cruise more present in his body.  THIS PLAYLIST has been particularly helpful, especially “Observing the Ears”.  We’ve been playing with these concepts of connection and having the horse be present instead of looking for gremlins everywhere, and I’ve got to tell you it’s like witchcraft.  Basically, it’s guided meditation for horses and the rein or lead rope is the anchor.  I finally feel like I have Cruise focused mostly on me and have techniques to get him back when he strays.  Granted, it’s only at home and early days, but like with the half-halt, real progress has been made and I feel good about the path we are on.

As I’ve been implementing these changes of the horse being present and connected, I’ve also delved into Warwick Schiller’s earlier work which mostly focuses on training techniques without as much of the connection stuff, and I have to tell you, it’s pure gold.  I’m shocked by how balanced, through, and physically developed his horses are, and how they really embody classical dressage.  Soft, light, and engaged-what’s not to like?  I like his principles of training and especially like his basic checklist that is the basis of every movement.  It’s really not how”Dressage” horses are started but I’m finding his system very helpful and Cruise is straighter and more balanced than ever before.

In further updates, Cruise was tested yesterday for possibly being a crypt orchid.  It’s a fairly complicated blood test involving three blood draws and the injection of some hormones.  Because a I don’t know Cruise’s gelding history, I got a fabulous horse at a rock bottom price, and he’s exhibited some stud like behaviors on trips off property, I felt like I wanted to test to be absolutely sure.  I’m expecting the test to come back negative, but would I be shocked if it’s positive?  Not at all.  Will post when I get results.

Oh and I forgot, the trespasser was caught on video trying to access the barn again in the middle of the night and ran when the alarm went off.  I’m feeling pretty good about the security camera coverage we’ve got but it’s still a bit unnerving.  The good news is that I’ve turned out to be pretty good shot with a rifle and I feel a lot more secure with the cameras, alarms at night, and a loaded gun.