Monthly Archives: December 2012

Amazing how often I can manage to get to the barn these days without that pesky little day jobbe stuff going on.  Doesn’t hurt that the horse is now shaven and that reduces the after-ride care by quite a bit.  Plus her skin is looking a lot better.  She’s not as itchy and I try to find a time and place for her to roll after a ride in the winter if she’s not dripping wet.  Incredible what a difference this makes for a working horse.  She’s much more relaxed than she has been.  She also stays warm under her blanket, so no worries there.  A happy Mocha is a hard-working Mocha, and that’s good.

And, as far as working goes…we keep on with the counterbending and the more elaborate two-tracking work.  Slick today, so we didn’t work on counter-canter.  So far the area’s at the fourth highest recorded rainfall for the month, headed for third or even second….it’s amazing the footing in the arena has stayed as nice as it has.  We loped big circles as part of the warmup, but it was too slick in one corner for my liking.  That’s okay.  We have lots of stuff to school at walk and trot.

Then I discovered that one of the other boarders is playing with low-level jumping stuff.  She was going into the arena just as I was leaving…but hmm, maybe we can set up a mutual session working ground poles and crossbars?  Miss Mocha is going to need a break from plain vanilla lateral work soon.  I’ve been contemplating ground pole patterns…but a jump session would also be good.  In any case, a low-level bounce would be good for a mental break.

Hmm.  Maybe if there’s a few more days without rain.

Clipping Mocha was the right thing to do.  I checked underneath her blanket before I pulled it off and she was toasty warm.  Nice loft, and she was relaxed and comfortable.

Under saddle, she showed more energy than is typical for her on a cool day.  She tends to be sluggish in winter; not so today.  But it was a focused energetic, not stupid, and while she grunted the whole time we worked it was also productive (most likely her commentary on the heavy emphasis on alternating bend and counter bend.  She doesn’t necessarily approve of it.  But it makes such a nice difference in how she works.  Even if she doesn’t approve.  I don’t approve of the yoga that loosens up my stiff hips and all, but I do it anyway).

Got a nice counter-canter after one failed attempt.  I just popped her and growled, and backed her a few steps.  She picked it right off, and today I got a nice, more rounded counter canter in BOTH directions, helped in part by the fact that the footing is still odd and encourages her to round up and work, I’m sure.

So nice lap of counter-canter in each direction, balanced and round.  After that, we took advantage of Not Having Rain to hack a little bit outside.  We explored a few feet past one of our usual spots, and Oh, My, Something Eats Horses Here.  So we explored further, then turned, walked, whoaed, lather, rinse, repeat.  Then I turned her back.  This time she approached the Big Scary Whatever Shed with an energetic walk and lowered head, ears forward.  Apparently if we didn’t get chased then it becomes something to be curious about.

Took her back, brushed her up, starting to get a shine going on her freshly clipped coat.  A nice work and better than a lot of other winter works I’ve had on her.  I suspect clipping may be the way we go most winters, if the trend continues next year.  But next year I’ll definitely do something about it sooner.  She’s a lot more relaxed.

One thing I’d figured out in early December was that this year was not going to give me any grace in managing Mocha’s workouts and dealing with sweat.  For whatever reason, the past two years I’ve been able to engage her in intense workouts during the winter without ending up with a dripping wet horse.

Not so this winter.

In past winters I’ve gotten away with a trace clip–essentially, just a trim of her windpipe and chest.  That’s been enough to keep her from sweating up.  This winter I went with a more aggressive trace clip—essentially, the “racing stripe” clip where I shave the windpipe and half her neck, the chest, and then a six inch stripe along her belly and across shoulder and haunch.

That wasn’t even enough, even after I got G’s heavy duty clippers and shaved it back close.  Why?  Darned if I know.  Could be age, could be muscle development, could be weather patterns or haircoat patterns…most horse folks I talk to are remarking on the heavy, thick undercoat they see on their horses.  I saw that thick, felty undercoat as I clipped Mocha today, and I’ve got to say, I’ve not seen that heavy an undercoat in a couple of years.

So today we went with the full body clip.  I didn’t clip her head or three-quarters of her legs.  But her neck, her belly, her haunches and the top third of her legs got clipped.   It took two hours of work.  I stopped after each section to clean the clippers and let them cool while sweeping up hair and brushing Mocha off and feeding her treats.  She needed the break from the clippers as well. It was her first time for a full body clip and while she’s good with clippers, the vibration got to her after a while.  I stopped halfway through and lunged her a little bit to let her get the antsies out.  She reversed quite nicely at the trot on a vocal command alone…first time I’ve tried that without a lunge whip to give her the visual reverse cue.  That tells me we’ve done it enough that she knows what switching hands on the lunge line coupled with the verbal means.

Then once I got done clipping her, we went riding.  The footing in the arena is slick because everything is wet and there’s no way to keep anything dry.  It’s deceptively dry on top with slick underneath.  Winter in the Willamette when it’s raining hard on a daily basis.  Welcome to December schooling.

There’s a reason I keep my Western horse in a snaffle, and December schooling is it.  This is usually the time of year when the footing is either slick (even in the best of indoors) or frozen solid.  December work is walk-trot season, focus on counterbends and lateral work.  Many schooling figures (work around the slick spots in the arena!).  Lots of trot work.

What I find interesting is that, even though my back is totally messed up, I can now sit Mocha’s big extended trot more comfortably than I can post it.

Anyway, we did lots of haunches-in, haunches-out work, two track diagonal, two track on the rail, half pass….counterbend at walk in small circles alternating with regular bend, focusing on changing the bend based on seatbone more than leg or rein (as much an exercise for the rider as for the horse).

And at the end, no steamy, sweaty horse.  I pulled off her saddle, let her go roll, brushed her off and put her back in her stall.  We were both a lot happier about that.  She has a nice heavy blanket and if I have to get a liner to keep her warm, so be it.  Neither one of us was happy about long periods of her standing around with a cooler and all of that song and dance.  I wasn’t liking the way her skin was looking under this hair coat after getting put up after those intense and wet sessions.

She certainly seemed more energetic and eager to work after the clip.  We’ll see what happens in the long run, though.  Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to some respite from an hour or more trying to get a horse dry after a moderately intense work in midwinter.

Just one of those years.