Super B - Super Mare Extraordinaire

I really need to stick her.  I thought she was 16.1-2 but I think she may be taller.  I can't see over her back.  Klein is 17 hands exactly, and I can't see over her back either.  I'm 5'7" for reference.

Super B continues to floor me almost on a daily basis.  I'm not even sure what else to say about her...just look at her.

#topshelf

#stunner

I have had her on the lunge line a couple times recently to let her stretch and she has just been on a completely different level with her balance and way of going.  I knew she was fancy but she showed off some passage for funsies the other day and some unreal canter.  She's going to take a little bit of time to get some strength built back up but when she does...look out.

For my fellow Pulp Fiction fans, I always tell her she's a race car in the red, and that it's f'n dangerous to have race car in the red.  She is pretty intense right from the start for anything.  So my biggest obstacle with her is to help her realize that we don't have be in the red all the time.  She's not neurotic or anything, and it's not that she's out of control.  She's not dangerous either, so my Pulp Fiction reference isn't completely accurate but I love that movie and it's what popped in my head for the times she has gotten all wound up about something.  I mean, I did get right on her after not riding her for three months.  I guess you could say she is very serious about work, and I appreciate that immensely about her.

She will stop on a dime for you though and stand silently, ground tied, waiting for her next instruction.  She can take it from 100 to 0 in a split second, which is pretty impressive.

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A post shared by Stacey C (@jumpingpercheron) on Jan 9, 2019 at 10:41am PST

Watch both videos.

It is a little hard to explain.  I think she's so used to being required to explode that it has been a little challenging for her to just slow her thought process down sometimes and realize that it's not always required anymore.  Thankfully, she does listen extremely well to half halts, so if I give her a half halt through my body she immediately responds and brings it down a notch.

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A post shared by Stacey C (@jumpingpercheron) on Jan 10, 2019 at 5:27pm PST

She was just adjusted by the chiropractor and she feels amazing.  We have some work to do with her left hip that will improve with just that, work.  It was just a bit stiff and her pelvis was about bit out of line but she adjusted no problem and now that we're back in regular work, once she gains some strength and muscle that hip will be great.  The video above was prior to the chiro adjustment.

Though she has been off the track for a year now she hasn't been restarted under saddle for that entire year.  This is another place where seven years of training in a particular way will have to be somewhat undone, as in a different type of strength/balance.  A matter of months won't undo that.  Now that we are over the abscess and out of the rain forest, oh and she doesn't go feral anymore (that was a few weeks of down time too), this year should be pretty exciting and full of some serious progress.

Being adjusted.  I really like our new chiropractor too!  We had a great one in NJ and what a relief to find a great one in Las Vegas too.  He was GREAT with her and actually used to be an exercise rider so he is extremely familiar with OTTBs.

Today I sat with her for a minute before I got on and just held her head in my arms and told her how much I love and trust her.  She closes her eyes when I pet her face/ears.  The tough mare defense goes away in those times, she loves our little quiet times. 

Tough mare defense deactivated.

Update on the Mochaloosa

First, yes, she's not an App, she's a POA, but I still call her my little Mochaloosa.  Same same, only in a smaller package.  Mochs has been going well lately.  So well that I cantered her for the first time under saddle last week for the first time since this whole thing started.  She felt great, she got both leads and the head toss she used to have in the upward transition was non-existent.  I was really happy to see that we didn't have to iron that out again.

 

 

In case you are wondering, that is just a stretchy standing wrap around her hindquarters.  It is tied to her girth, it is not connected to her mouth in any way.

Here is some video of her on the lunge line recently:

A post shared by Stacey C (@jumpingpercheron) on May 20, 2017 at 12:12pm PDT

While she continues to feel and move great, she is still having random off steps here and there when she isn't in her boots.  I have my farrier in mind if I decided to try some shoes.  Our vet said she is so low grade and intermittently lame that regular shoes may just do the trick.  If not, corrective shoes will.  I do think the second injection of Osphos has helped her again too.

These off steps will be once or twice every couple weeks and it will always be when she's out in the pasture.  She has yet to be off in her Renegade boots.  So, for now, while I continue to bring her fitness level back and get some muscle going on, I think we're fine.  If I want to aim her at any shows, front shoes is most likely where we will be headed.  Only time will tell and we'll just keep doing what we're doing now and see how it goes!

It's Hot.

 Love.

It's coming up on seven months that Wes has been home, but it is STILL sinking in that he IS home, forever.  I think he might still be in a little bit of shock too.  Every time I am near his head he turns toward me and kind of nuzzles me.  I know he is still telling me how happy he is to be home.

 Mochi doing a fly by.

 I really have only been riding Klein right now.  It has been so hot this month I have really had to be specific with riding as far as when I am going to ride.  In the mornings, sure it's cooler but this is South Georgia people.  It will be 6:30am and 75 degrees but...89% humidity.  That's a heat stress index of 164 already, meaning pony natural cooling systems are already at a disadvantage.  When I ride in the mornings, by the time I get done with Klein it's already so hot there is just no sense in making a horse work for any amount.  Then in the evenings it takes so long to cool off that you pretty much have to wait until the last hour of sunlight to get a ride in so that it will be half way decent.  I'm not complaining though.  I'd rather deal with this for a month and a half than live somewhere that it snows.

It's been so hot that I haven't even hauled anywhere in a while because I think it's just mean to haul them in this kind of heat and humidity.  The only exception would be some kind of medical emergency where I had no choice.  This weather is why I went on what turned out to be a three month search when I was shopping for my trailer.  I ended up finding my trailer in Connecticut and having it shipped down here to me.  Sad I couldn't find what I wanted when we live so close to Ocala, huh?  Anyway, I would accept nothing less than the trailer I bought because of all the air flow options it has.  Even with that, hauling right now would just be blasting them in the face with hot air.  It would be like being in a convection oven.

 This is an embarrassing picture because of how dirty my trailer was, but this picture WAS taken while waiting in line at the truck wash.  I posted this because you can see how the dutch doors on the back latch open, as well as the door over the side ramp.  So, you can see how much air flow my trailer has.

See, I swear I washed it!!!!

No matter how early I would get up there is just no way to avoid the heat hauling home.  I'm not doing that to them.  I see people hauling horses during the day right now and I just hope that they are only hauling locally across town, if not, they are aholes.

Another reason I am so strict with watching the temperature and their workouts is because I treat them like I treat myself.  Would I want to go do a WOD at Crossfit in those temps?  No.  There's no AC at Crossfit...on purpose, because Crossfit isn't for babies, but that's a completely different topic.  I go early in the morning to avoid the summer heat and it's STILL like working out in a sauna most times and the sun isn't even up yet.  I mean seriously, would you want to go run during the hottest parts of the day?  No.  Then WHY would you make your horse do it?  They are not pieces of equipment, they are your partners.

On mornings that are already high in the humidity Klein and I work on lateral movement or just walk trot or her halts or something else at low speed/intensity.  We don't work above short trots.  Sweat doesn't evaporate in humidity, so basically they are being insulated by it, so you really have to be careful.

 Stretching during our warm up.

 On the lunge line one morning.

 We did have one little break in the weather this week.  One evening it was noticeably cooler and MUCH more dry out and there was a beautiful breeze.  So we took advantage of that and got some jump schooling in.

 Waiting for me to raise the jumps that evening, trying to get as much work in before our light disappeared.

Klein was galloping around the pasture when I got there that evening so I knew she was approving of the break in the weather.  She did not have walk in her vocabulary that evening.  It was pretty funny actually.  You can't blame the girl for enjoying nice weather.  3'3" might as well have been cross rails for her that evening.  3'3" isn't a big task for her in the first place, but she was just being such a handful she was getting a bit sloppy (as she does with cross rails, or anything under 3' because she acts like it's offensive to her).  She wasn't touching anything, I could just feel her jump a little flat at times.  Usually she is pretty point and shoot, but that evening I had to really ride every stride to every fence to keep her organized.

This morning I wanted to get her out for a legit conditioning ride because we had a much cooler morning at 65 degrees this morning.  The humidity was still up but the heat stress index was low because of the temp being significantly lower than usual.  We had to take advantage of this rare August morning.  I also had to get out there extra early today because we were going ring shopping in Tallahassee!

 Klein baby waiting for me at the gate this morning when I got to the barn.

 Sunrise with my Klein baby.

 Cooling out on our walk home.

 We put in a good workout this morning before the heat started.

 Happy yawns after our ride.  This girl is always happiest after a workout. 

 *le sigh*  I never, EVER get tired of taking pictures of my princess.

My Beauty Queen.

Happy Thoughts

 The Princess warming up for a workout on the lunge line.

Through the absolute devastation of losing Ceylon of course the ponies have helped take the pain away during the time I spend with them.  I have just been trying to focus on some things I want to get accomplished with Klein soon to distract me.  Also, recently I tried Mare Magic with Mochi.

I have never used Mare Magic with any horse.  A friend had some and was telling me the effect it had on a horse she knew and her own mare and I thought why have I not tried this with Moch?  I had always thought Mare Magic was just for straight up bratty, moody mares or mares that when in season were totally unmanageable.  I have never owned a horse that fits into those categories so I never felt I had a need to use Mare Magic.  Well, it was worth a try and...I really think it might have done something for her.  Though the double rein pelham route is still working she still has anxiety.  It just seems like she doesn't have much of an attention span, pony ADHD??  After giving her Mare Magic we had the best rising trot work we have ever had (small victories, people).  She had a noticeable attention span for the first time.  This is definitely worth giving a try for a while.

Adorable Mochi is adorable, pony ADHD or not.

Mochs always makes me smile with how much she loves her dad too.  The Other Half is clearly her favorite person.  He whistles to her and she immediately starts heading in and nickers to him the entire way.  I need to get a video of it.  It's also pretty funny because the Other Half is 6'3" and Mochi is 14hh.  She has such a little personality. 

Out on Mochi.  Here you can see the slim profile of my HPG kit bag.  My Glock 23 is in there, that's a midsize .40 caliber 13+1 hand gun and no bulky feeling or look at all.  I'm telling you this kit bag is one of the best things I have ever bought for riding.

 

 Out on a hack.

 Don't even want to know what is lurking in that pond. 

 Klein and Addy.  Klein actually likes Addy.  It's rare she finds other horses, mares or geldings, that she really LIKES.  She is very independent.  But, she has liked Addy since the day she met her.  When all the other mares were chasing sweet Addy off Klein let her eat and drink next to her the first day they were out together.

 Klein making funny faces while eating breakfast.  This girl...her expressions always make me smile. 

 The Handsome.

Wes always makes me smile every time I see him.  It makes my heart happy that he is home with me and enjoying the retirement life he so well deserves.  He is becoming quite the independent guy and often is out grazing on his own.  Do you guys realize he has been home officially for six months already?  It was six months on the 5th!

 These two.  Jet is Wes' little buddy.  They INSIST on sharing a stall in the morning for breakfast. 

Klein and Addy galloping through the pecan orchard Sunday morning.

I haven't posted a helmet cam on this new blog yet.  I dusted the GoPro off for our ride this past Sunday morning.  We went out early to beat the ridiculous South Georgia heat.  Don't take that as a complaint.  I'd rather live here any day than somewhere that it snows.  

Internet Fame

It's pretty funny that this just happened after I posted about my tattoo on here.  Remember I said how I've seen it circulate around the internet?  Well, it happened again last week.  Someone sent me a link to a post on Horse Nation titled "The Best (and Worst) of Horse Tattoos".  Guess what tattoo was first on The Best list?  You can see for yourself here:

http://www.horsenation.com/2014/01/27/the-best-and-worst-of-horse-tattoos/

Yeah, hi.  It's mine.  Which is a huge compliment of course.  I'm definitely not complaining about it being on there.  It just makes me laugh how much I have seen my tattoo posted around the equestrian internet world.  I mean, we all know Klein is awesome, of course a tattoo of her should be among the BEST.

It doesn't stop there.  Later on THE SAME DAY Horse City posted it on their Facebook.  That post started blowing up.  It has over 2,000 likes and over 260 shares.  I was even getting tagged in the comments of posts that people made on their friends' pages like "CHECK THIS OUT."  They tagged me saying "Look, your tattoo is famous" or "I actually know her" and would tag me.  Craziness.  I posted the background story about Klein and I on Horse Nation and Horse City's post.  Horse City edited their post for me to include that it was my tattoo.  I would have watermarked every picture I have ever posted of that tattoo if I thought for a second it would go viral in the horse world the way it has.  Also, they are using the pic from when I first got it.  I saw a comment saying it looks fake, because it was so new in that picture.  I think it was the second day I had it that I took that picture.  I definitely look different now than I did then too.  CrossFit has changed me.  I'm leaner.  I have zero definition in the picture that is being circulated.  Then look at this picture that I took almost three weeks ago:

 

 Yes, I know, this pic is facing the opposite from the other one.  I took it a different way than I did the first one in a mirror.  I can take a pic with it facing the same direction in the original if anyone has any questions.

The comments also are entertaining.  There way one saying that my tattoo is disgusting and that having a tattoo doesn't make me a horsewoman.  Which, by the way no where in the post was it insinuated that having a tattoo of a horse makes you a horsewoman.  I replied that it was mentioned nowhere and that what makes me a horsewoman is the story Klein and I have together.  There was also another one saying "That is not commitment,  commitment is riding the horse."  Again, laughable.  Like these people know me or the accomplishments that Klein and I have achieved.  You want to talk about commitment?  How about shipping Klein to AND from Hawaii with me?  Or shipping her to New Mexico with me, OR shipping her to Georgia with me?  Or how about starting her myself and having no help getting her to the point she is at?  These people don't know me, and they damn sure don't know the team that Klein and I are together.  I replied again with a brief version of how I bought her when she was two, have traveled her half way around the world with me various times (sparing no expense for her), and included one of my favorite pictures of Klein and I competing.  This picture:

I'm not a bragger, but, when it comes to commitment to your horse?  My picture should be in the dictionary under the definition.  Oh, here's another commitment example for you, how about how I've waited for Wes for over eight years and am keeping my promise that I would be back for him?  Any questions about what commitment to your horse(s) is?

In other news...Klein mare has also been working on the lunge line. 

Warming up and being a little spicy.

 Sometimes, there are things that only horses can see.

And in addition to other news, I will have a VERY exciting post tomorrow concerning Wes!!!!!!!!!!!!  BRING WES HOME!!!  The GoFundMe (http://www.gofundme.com/5iqll4) page is still open for donations.  Feel free to continue to share it and spread the word.  Thank you again for everything you guys have already done for us!