One a day, plus iron

Except this year spring also meant abscess, so... no DLB for me. Other people will be play dressage clinic, but I will not. *sigh*

I signed up early and got my paperwork and my check in and everything but Birb had other ideas, so...

( click to read more? )

We have Fall DLB tomorrow AM. I feel like it's been a shit summer with the endless ninety degree temps and no rain for, like, July. I didn't get as much done with the Birb as I'd hoped to this year.

Flying changes? Lolnope.

Walk-canter-walk? Hah. Not in these parts... pardner.

( So it's a shitshow of failure? )

Because we're having a heat wave (90F+) this week, of course it's the first DLB outings of the season. I'm scheduled for 8 and 7 AM rides on Thursday and Friday, so maybe that will help us beat the worst of the heat.

Birb's fitness is not quite what I'd like it to be but once the hay got tall, we were limited to road work and weekly outings to N's new dressage ring (It's a rectangle. Feels weird to call it a ring. Dressage Court? Work Area?) so... meh. He's not a potato but he's also not at Peak Fighting Condition. It will be what it will be, I suppose. I could have done more and I'm certainly feeling my pre-regret, here.

First outings of the year are for DLB to assess where we are and what we've got to work with, so I'm prepping for slight disappointment on the "horse does not have an endless fountain of abs" front. On the plus side we've made some strides at steady gaits and moar forward in ring environments, so it's maybe not going to be an entire shitshow? I can hope, anyway.

Also, as I've discussed previously, DLB is a little confused about what I want out of dressage because I don't really love showing.

We are continuing our work on canter departures (from walk) and on canter-to-not-walk failures that are... getting less flail-y? I mean, they're still not canter-to-walk but they're getting nicer at canter-to-smallish-trot. I guess that's progress. Canter is also becoming more shape-able.

We shall see how the DLB goes, I guess.

My horse has not been doing a whole lot lately because (a) craptacular air quality (b) brutal humidity and heat (c) pouring rain. So he's not as fit as I would like. And DLB clinic (Friday and Saturday) were in item (b) conditions so we didn't hammer much very hard. Lots of work in walk and trot, but on the plus side, very interesting work in walk and trot, so yay?

( Some day I will discuss clinic efforts without a brief compliment towards how Truckie ran, but that day is not today. )

Where November Part 1 was warm enough to ride in a polo shirt, November Part 2 had me breaking out the wool sweater I made, my recently made mitts, the fuzzy-on-the-inside breeches, etc. I didn't have all my winter stuff (neck/face warmer, layered underarmor, etc. Also note to self, need to come up with helmet addition for warmer face-ears.) on but I had a lot of it.

It was pretty darned cold. I gave up on No-Heat November today, too, because it was a high of 40F. I cannot do no heat in those daytime temperatures. Got a fire going right now.

Anyway. ( Read more about dressage clinic? )

So DLB came back again for Sunday the 31st and August the 1th (this is pronounced Oneth). I don't exactly have a tow rig right now because Agricultural Drone Spraying is happening but horse friend N. who DOES NOT live "on the way" or in any way convenient to carpooling with me and Bird offered to give us a ride to DLB anyway which was SUPER thoughtful and kind.

( How'd that go? )

So because my horse is a snowflake and he mostly works on grass (and is barefoot) and the ring at Lesson Barn is stone dust that regrettably compacts to cement when it rains and my horse does not care for that, I booted his fronts for DLB round 3 in the hopes that this would improve his feelings about working in the ring.

( How'd that go? )

There was honestly no fighting. It rained. My ride time got postponed an hour due to rain. The clinician was half an hour late due to a malfunctioning GPS. At the re-appointed time, the rain helpfully held off for an hour of riding. All things considered, it could have been worse.

( Do you want to hear about my feelings? )

This will be her final visit for the fall. I've thrown four hundred dollars at DLB this year and I am not sure I've gotten $400 worth of clue out of it. I take notes of the things and honestly I don't think I have twice as much shit from the two-day clinics as I get from the one-day clinics.

( I do go on... )

We have a dressage clinic coming up at the end of August, so like two weeks away. It's per the usual, with DLB who has seen us plenty of times before. Unlike our previous effort, horse has been more or less sound and in regular work. He's getting fitter, or at least I like to think he's getting fitter.

( More about the horse behind the cut. I am all about truth in advertising. )