Empire
Bay
Standardbred Gelding
15.3
hands high
Birthday
– April 6, 2007
Puckish
and playful.
Empire finally got to move to California with Katana, Keno, and Malachy.
A digital home for the horses and people of Avalon. For more information, please e-mail atahorse@gmail.com
Hello Everyone from California!
ReplyDeleteHopefully these links work. I took a couple videos of Empire trotting in the round pen the other day.
Here is track right: https://youtu.be/hhpp9MaWab8
Here is track left: https://youtu.be/pe2d3zT2z-Q
Oh! He flipped his head sideways! Was that right after he got there? He still has his name tag in his mane! So, looked like magic, did you swing your arm or anything or just say, please?
ReplyDeleteAh, I think I saw your stick in the end of the left video! Not magic, too bad!
DeleteI do have my driving whip, but most of the time I just ask please and he does it. But sometimes he forgets to pay attention.
DeleteHere are videos of our first attempt at cantering in the round pen.
ReplyDeleteWe went left first, and right second.
Track Left: https://youtu.be/XtYpczyyag4
Track right: https://youtu.be/M9wtoRrX69k
I watched all 4 of the videos. First, what a beautiful facility! Are you happy with where you ended up? He is progressing so fast, too. I have to laugh at Empire's upside down head. At least he's the same horse he was in Vermont! He's so goofy!
ReplyDeleteAfter the first canter video, he looked so pleased with himself even before you praised him. What a great personality he has. What is up with the hind end coming out of the canter track right? Looked strange.
Standies are reprimanded for cantering, as it can disqualify you from the race. So he's not super comfortable with the idea still, and it's also very similar to the pace in a lot of ways, so when he comes down from the canter, he comes into the pace, which I'll have to fix later. He's also lacking a lot of muscle, so he can't hold himself in the canter.
DeleteSo I rode both Saturday and Sunday, and both rides didn't go well for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteSaturday
Empire wasn't all that interested in trotting or paying attention to me. I had thought that with all the good trotting work he had done in the round pen, combined with climbing up and down the mountain that is his pasture, that he'd have built up some muscle. Not as much as I thought.
I also didn't think about the fact that I rode him in a ring he had never seen before. Both issues were my fault.
Sunday
His trot was about the same, but what I really wanted was for him to look where he was going and bend, not have his head locked up and to the outside.
When I asked for bend, I got an annoyed horse who tried to just go fast. I increased my contact to slow the forward, and exaggerated the movements in hope of communicating that I didn't want forward, I wanted his head. This in turn made him do circles, falling in through his whole body. I tried again, applying more inside leg to keep him from falling in. He got confused, and I got annoyed. Not at him, but that there was a communication issue somewhere. Mind you, we were trying to do this at the walk.
So then I simply asked, at the halt, for his head. We got circles/spins/turn on the forehand with a locked head and neck. Finding no success, I dismounted, and asked him to turn his head and neck from the ground. This also didn't work, and he simply locked up. I am trying to find a chiropractor for him, but I didn't expect him to be that out in his neck. A carrot disproved his inability to turn his head and neck -- he can reach his stifles left and right just fine with no popping or crunching.
After some brain storming, I decided to check to make sure that I was asking for the bend correctly. While I've been riding for many years, I haven't ridden since October, and may have forgotten a step. A few articles from Chronicle of the Horse and Practical Horseman later, I determined that I was indeed asking correctly. However, I didn't consider that he didn't understand/respect my leg. So instead of starting with bending, I anticipated that we start with moving off my leg first, at that point in my research.
Then I fell down the figurative rabbit hole of Chronicle of the Horse, and I decided that before I do any of the afore mentioned plans, I need to map out what I need to teach him and in what order. While he's not necessarily a green horse in the sense of he's young, he is still a green horse when it comes to riding. Planning his training with this in mind, I decided that we're going all the way back to the beginning, and I'm going to teach him as if he were a foal, minus the halter breaking... we got that part down.
First he needs to master in hand work -- this doesn't just mean fitting and show patterns, but also moving off of pressure. This will help give the basis for moving off my leg. He needs to learn basic cues before we do anything for real from on top.
This doesn't mean I'll stop riding, as we both need the miles. It just means we trot without any other expectations. He needs to build muscle, and carrying my out of shape and overweight butt around will certainly help the both of us.
I'll post our complete, but flexible, training plan once I work out the details.
I've also considered riding in the round pen, to help with his focus, control his speed, and encourage him to carry himself a little more.
He also go his hooves done today, so hopefully that will help our situation as well.
At our clinic this weekend, Jody (Kiefer) the clinician showed us in-hand work she is doing with her young-ish horse. She can do haunches in, from the ground, just holding his head basically. Ground work is so amazing when done well. I'm sure she will give us some resources to check out to learn about doing some of that. I'll share them with you when I get it.
DeleteDidn't know where else to post this, so I just put it here. Not related to Empire.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are looking to make eating habit improvements, perhaps cut back on eating excessive amounts, lose weight, and for those interested in the caloric information, Malachy introduced me to an app on my phone (also available in web format) called My Fitness Pal. It's been super helpful for me to keep track of what I'm eating, how much I'm eating, and how effective my exercises have been for burning calories. I've already lost 2 pounds with it, and I started about a month ago. It calculates what your daily caloric intake should be based on your weight, height, gender, age, and your weight goal. From there you can input what you eat, and how much you exercise. (Also note, just because you burned 500 calories raking the ring, doesn't mean you should eat 500 more calories than usual. You also shouldn't count regular activities, like walking to each class, unless your classes are half a mile apart... that's cheating). The app comes with a scanner, so if the food you ate wasn't logged, then you can scan the bar-code and add it in. They have tons of exercises and foods already in the data base, but some things they aren't super familiar with -- mainly riding and barn stuff. For that, there are a few links below that can help you out. You might have to do a little math to base it off your current weight and time spent doing it, but that's good for you too :P They also have interesting articles on exercises, recipes, and other stuff you might find interesting. You can even invite others via email to encourage each other, and perhaps inspire a little healthy competitiveness in reaching goals (you bean poles don't count :P). (PS, you can also use this to help you gain weight too, if that's something you need). You should also ask a parental unit for advice on what is healthy for you. Feel free to join me in a quest for getting healthier, and back into shape!
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/calories-burned/horseback-riding-general-81
https://www.nutracheck.co.uk/calories_burned/leisure/horse_riding
http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Horseback_riding_trotting.html
So the vet came out Monday to sign the paperwork for SRF. When watching him go in the round pen, she swears he's lame in his left hind. While he is funny since the farrier did a terrible job trimming him, she watched the videos I have linked above, and says she sees the lameness there too. I don't see it, and I don't feel it. Does any one else notice any lameness in his left hind?
ReplyDeleteHey! Send the video to LAMA and get their opinion? I don't see it, but I've been staring at old men for quite a while. Certainly not something that would cause a concern for SRF... Keep us updated!
DeleteSo I've been working on a few things over the past couple of weeks. One is to find a new farrier. The last one I had come out I feel did a terrible job, and now Empire's hooves are falling apart. I should have taken pictures of what they looked like right after they got trimmed on 05/15/2017. I'm hoping that the links below will work so you can see what they have progressed to.
ReplyDelete06/03/2017: https://goo.gl/photos/EW1VEyn6XaKud2pB7
After this I found out that the farrier made some recommendations to everyone else in the barn, but not to me even though I asked if there was anything important I should know. One of those recommendations was to put a hoof moisturizer on, since the weather was getting drier. After asking for Scott's preference and doing some research of my own, I picked up two products to try out. The first was Scott's recommended Sole Pack Hoof Dressing, which I put on the left hooves. The other was Farnam's Rain Maker Hoof Ointment, which I put on the right hooves. I wanted to see if one would work better than the other.
Here's what they look like about a week later: 06/10/2017
https://goo.gl/photos/wrYbg3Ky3UThU4Zx6
I have http://www.farrierstevewiberg.com/ coming tomorrow (I double checked since it's father's day...) to see if he can remedy the situation. His website makes it appear that he's more capable than the other person whom all I have to work with is what I currently have.
The other thing I've been working on is getting together a list of things that I need to teach Empire. I'm still sorting out what to teach him in what order, but at least having a list of maneuvers and goals is a place to start. I separated them out into three categories. Again, this is not an all inclusive list -- a beginning. I also am holding off on starting this until Empire is no longer lame. I'm sure you can see from the videos in the link above that he's not even coming close to tracking up, and is very short in stride and unhappy.
Riding - things we can work on now (after sound)
Trotting
Walking on contact
Bending
Circles
Poles
Steering
Balance
Half-halts
Backing
In Hand - Things we need to work on now.
Trotting
Turn on the haunches
Backing
Halting
Side passing
Turn on the forehand
Half passing
Bending
Walking at my shoulder
Some of the above things might seem a little far fetched, like half and side passing, but it's really more about the suppleness, packaging, and responsiveness than the actual maneuver.
Advanced Riding - things to take on after we can walk and trot in an organized, balanced, and respectful manner.
Cantering
Drop stirrups
Half passing
Side passing
Jumping
Simple changes
Flying changes
Cross country jumps
Extended trotting
So I had been taking it easy on riding, since he was very tender. He's now grown out long enough where he's not showing any signs of being lame or off. I also happened to have this entire week off, so I've ridden every day except the 4th, but that was only because they blocked off the roads for their stupid parade that I use to get to the barn..... don't they know I have a horse to ride?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, rides have been hit or miss -- sometimes really great, and other times we reverse and suddenly everything is terrible. So I got curious, cause that's what I do, and decided to try a mullen mouth on him to see what would happen. Now, most of the time, harness racers go in a mullen mouth snaffle. Sometimes they don't.
So I had a hypothesis that perhaps Empire raced in a jointed bit. Standies are very smart, in that if you try to ride in the same bit they raced in, it's never going to go well. So I picked up a kimberwick, since it was the only mullen mouth I could find at the local tack store. I put the curb chain on the loosest link, since I didn't want any curb action. Very mild port - more like extra room for his tongue. I didn't really want to spend $36, but if it worked, I was going to return it and get a cheaper one elsewhere. If it didn't work, then I was going to return it and just use the bit I have (D-ring, double broken). There had also been a lot of talk on Chronicle of the Horse that other people who have Standies said theirs go great in mullen mouth/happy mouth bits.
I put the bit on my bridle, put the bridle on him, he chewed twice, and then stood there like he always does. Nothing suspecting at all. Boring really. And then I got on, and we walked up to the ring, and it was nice. And then we tried to trot.......
And that is the point where I disproved my hypothesis that perhaps he raced in something other than a mullen mouth. That is probably the fastest trot I have every ridden. I also discovered that he has a beautiful, rocking horse canter (4 strides). We reversed, because maybe it was just track left that was a problem -- we know race horses/cars don't ever go right. Equally fast trot, but no canter in that direction.
We promptly walked (not really, cause now we're in race mode) and called it a day. After half a lap of walk/flatwalk/pace/shuffle I dismounted (on purpose) and we hand walked.
So I've learned a few things. 1) Empire does NOT go in a mullen mouth -- EVER!. 2) I stayed on some how: thankfully old habits die hard. 3) Empire can actually canter.
Fun! Good to survive learning things! I'll bet he just leaned on that mullen mouth and was able to really pull. Did he feel heavy in your hands, or were you busy just trying to stay alive so you didn't notice little things like front end lightness?
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't heavy in the slightest actually. Just super fast with his head bent up to the outside, leaning way in the the shoulder, and clippin' a good speed. Nose poked out, back hollowed, and I felt him get really flat. And he definitely stopped better. But over all it was terrible.
ReplyDeleteI had a new farrier come out Friday morning (07/14/2017). She was pretty good. She's certainly not Scott, but she'll do. He's got regular shoes on his fronts until I find out what weight Scott had on him. He's moving better now too, although he's been tripping behind lately -- mostly when he gets out of hand track left. For some reason circles scare him.
Empire had an appointment with the chiropractor Monday, 8/14/2017. Her name is Tracy Rainwaters, DM, and she seems well qualified. We spent about 20 minutes working on him, discussing her findings, as well as my goals for Empire and tiger claw stretches and belly lifts.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to attach the sessions report so that you guys can see what areas he has affected. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx1drik1c_Kpd2YxMVhsaEFVdHByZFA2cU1kbE5aUUlVblN3
Many of the issues in his neck seem to be old - these aren't something that came up since I've had him, but rather they happened while he was racing. These issues were "dormant" because he hadn't done a lot before, but now that we've been working on learning to bend, and doing more trotting, they're now flaring up.
The issues in his back, hips, and tail are more recent. I'm wondering if he did the majority of the damage on the trailer, when he did this to his tail: https://goo.gl/photos/PVdDgGJpYZ15sPd56 As you can see from the report, his back, loin, hips, and croup are out to the left. When we were riding, track right was mediocre, but track left was a night mare. When trying to trot left, he would bolt with his head locked up to the outside, hollow his back, drop his inside shoulder and hip, and move into a shuffle/pace/canter sort of thing. This seemed very odd to me, since he had never done that before. But it was consistent over 2 or 3 rides. Of course as soon as he started to worry and panic like that we ended our ride, as I didn't want him to become afraid of whatever was bothering him or cause him any pain. So, once we had the appointment, we skipped riding and did more stretching in the round pen. I pulled a few of the stretches from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6rfJYVQ64
I discussed these with Tracy, and she said they were all good stretches, and then helped me with the belly lifts and tiger claws. The way I was used to doing them is the way Tristan responds to them, which isn't exactly how they're supposed to be done. It explained why Empire wasn't responding to them at all. My belly lift was too far back, and my tiger claws were too far down. The good news is Empire enjoyed his scritches. Now that I have the correct locations, he'll do some more work.
I also need to book a follow up session in about 3-4 weeks, so that we can continue to remedy the situation.
I'll update you guys next time she comes.
Very nice to hear that things are changing. Notice I didn't say getting better, that terminology puts too much pressure on a situation you can't control... Change though, at least you're not complaining about the same problem without trying something different!
ReplyDeleteWhat are your short, medium, and long-term goals for yourself and Empire? That would be good to keep in mind for this journey. I know you want to event him, even if just grass-hoppers (18") eventually, but maybe that has changed? With your goals, what are your plans to achieve those goals? Working with horses, we have to have flexible goals, we can say, "to further my advancement towards a training level (grasshopper eventing) test, we need to stretch forward at trot on the circle, I'm going to work on stretching forward at trot on the rail for 5 steps today", but then if he tips his head up and sideways, you need to deal with that before you go on to a stretchy circle! They always shoot our plans full of holes. However, don't lose hope or refuse to plan because he's got a shotgun to make holes with! Aim for a reasonable goal, because if you never ask for it, you'll never know if you can get it!
So, our original first goal was to establish a 2 beat, diagonal trot in both left and right directions. However, we have now set that goal aside, and we'll come back to it after we complete our current goal, which is to get Empire healthy again. We're doing stretches, he's getting chiro, and we're going to continue to work at a walk for a while, until he's comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI also just purchased a lift pad, as I think my saddle is too low behind. It looks fine from the ground, but when I sit on it, my leg shoots out in front of me - it might need re-flocking.
So, we're going to check saddle fit, round pen to loosen up first, stretch, then we'll ride at the walk for a bit. I did just get my order of https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HIXIVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 side reins, so that I can encourage him to flex at the pole, and keep him from tipping his head left and right - I don't want him to undo any of the progress we potentially made with chiro.
Once my classes get underway and I see what my work load is like, I'd like to start getting to the barn at least once during the week days.
So, the way I see it, there are 4 periods of goals. First period is to get healthy, get riding, and to be able to maintain that course. Second period is where we learn to trot on a circle, bend, and perhaps some basic lateral work. Third period is where we learn to canter, canter on a circle, maintain our balance, and be graceful. Fourth period is where we learn to do simple and flying changes, jump, and eventing. There's a lot of little steps in between, but those are the major points.
Sorry this is a little late. I free lunged Empire on 08/19/2017 and he seemed to be in good spirits. It was only the round pen, so he couldn't quite get his spunk on, but he certainly amused himself with his snorting and tail waving. He didn't do much of the head tipping, but I also had the side reins on. He looked so much better, and moved much more freely, coming through from behind and tracking up. He was also having fun with his power trot game on. I opted not to ride.
ReplyDeleteSunday, 08/20/2017, he seemed more mellow. After tacking up we went to the round pen to stretch first, and then went up to the ring to ride. We didn't ride for long, but we did get a nice, relaxed trot, in both directions. Drastic improvements. I also had purchased a lift pad, and it made a huge difference, getting my leg back underneath me rather than trying to post in a lazy-boy recliner with a borderline 2 point position so I could get my butt out of the saddle. He seemed very please with himself, and after a few laps around the ring in both directions, we called it a day. I would consider it a very successful ride.