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Navigator's Progress

47K views 794 replies 16 participants last post by  NavigatorsMom 
#1 ·
I thought keeping a journal of what I work on with Nav would be a good way to track our progress and keep in mind that even if we have bad rides, we also have a lot of good going for us. So here we go!

Started our work today by lunging in sidereins. This is something I used to do more frequently last fall/winter, but stopped in the summer. I felt it really helped Navigator figure out how to carry himself so decided to start it up again as a supplement to our riding.

He did very well, reaching forward and pushing from behind. We didn't do too much because I didn't want to tire him out when I was going to ride. During the ride he was very attentive (aside from a small buck when he got excited about seeing the barn cat - he loves cats, silly horse!) and pretty soft, though he did get heavy at times. The main thing I'm working on with him is getting him to carry more weight on his hind end and not lean and pull into the bit.

We did some trot poles and he finally figured out how to place his feet, which was a nice small accomplishment. Afterward I had two very clear moments of trot during which he was definitely lifting his back and had his weight shifted back, and so we ended on that note. I was so happy with him though! It's always hard since we don't take lessons or have a trainer, so I have to do a lot of self-teaching and self-evaluation (when I can get someone to come out and record me). Things are a little slow going but at least they are going forward!

I think for next ride I will again do a bit with the sidereins, and then work on our turns on the haunches to shift his weight back.

Horse Liver Working animal Terrestrial animal Snout
 
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#205 ·
Had a couple days off due to bad weather and having to spend time on my project, but was able to go out today.

I didn't have a ton of time so just did a short ride. Nav did very well though. We spent a lot of time at the walk, as usual, because it is the easiest for me to control and make sure that he's not getting sloppy. Then we went into trot and he gave me a nice and fairly relaxed trot, didn't get hollow and unbalanced, though he could have been more forward and lifted. But I was just glad that he didn't start off by just rushing around with his head in the air!

After some trot we did canter work. I specifically planned to work on this, since it had been giving us trouble. I think we only did about five to seven minutes of on and off canter work, but it was enough for one ride. Nav gave me a decent transition into canter at first, I had him go a couple strides and then brought him back to trot. But now his trot was rushy and hollow and fast. He wanted to keep cantering. So that was frustrating. I didn't want to ask him to canter from a bad trot like that, so we had to do a lot of small circles and other figures to get him focused back on me before trying another canter. But coming off of the second canter he did the same thing! So frustrating. Once again, we did some figures and even a down transition to walk to get him focused on me and on going slower. We did a couple more canters after that, just a few strides and with a lot of trot in between so that he would stop rushing. Our final canter he was super calm and came down to a nice, not too pully and not fast trot, so I gave him big praise and ended our canter work there.

I think it really will just be a little by little thing. Would probably be good to get a video one of the next times I work on it, so I have something to compare to in a month or so.

Here's a little clip of the trail we took yesterday at the end of our ride, just down a bike path near the barn. :)
 
#206 ·
Not a big update. I went out two days ago and took a super easy ride with Nav. We walked the entire ride, which is uncommon for us.

Took a nice trail up the bike path to get to the barn, did a little bit of ring work at the walk in the arena, and then took a trail in the woods behind the barn. Nav was nice and calm and we had a good, easy ride. :) It was nice to take a break and not focus too much on anything in particular.



 
#209 ·
@tinyliny it really was so relaxing, I can see why you'd want to do it every day! I'm planning to work it into my routine more frequently, it was just such a nice ride.
@PoptartShop thanks, it is a nice little trail! One of the last ones around the barn that hasn't been paved over into a bike path or a road shoulder!

Today I went out with a plan to do a lot of canter work. Just transitions from trot to a few strides of nice canter, back to trot and then trotting until he relaxes down to calm and organized trot, and then canter again. However, once I got Nav tacked up I realized I wouldn't even be doing any riding!


Unrelated but he's so brown right now. Need to figure out how to try and keep him black, I wish he didn't fade out so much.

Nav is the current boss in his pasture of five geldings, but the other younger one likes to challenge him. The dominance is actually very fluid with those boys and the "boss" changes frequently. Anyway, apparently they got into it last night or earlier this morning, and Nav had a cut right near his elbow (I feel so stupid, but I can't remember if there's an equine specific term for that area?). It wasn't deep but it was warm and there was swelling. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't catch it until after I tacked up, and when Nav was tender on that leg I trotted him out and sure enough he was limping. :(



Here are a couple pictures, the swelling was visible once I realized something was off. The cut is on his front right. Also, didn't realize Nav was "dangling" until after the pictures were taken so sorry for that (I know horse people don't really care but I try to keep my pictures "decent"..).



Called up the BO/my mentor/my horse mom (she really is all of those things to me) and she recommended cleaning it off with some peroxide, and then cleaning it with warm water and soap for the next few days. Keeping an eye on it that the swelling goes down.

So, I didn't ride today, but hopefully will be able to in the next day or two.
 
#212 ·
Thanks @PoptartShop and @Hoofpic ! It's just funny, he's such a sweet and friendly horse and doesn't seem like the boss type at all! He even lets the others share hay with him sometimes, so I don't know what the deal really is.

I went out yesterday during a small window to work on his back hooves and clean his cut. His hooves seem to be growing very quickly lately, and I touched up the fronts even though they had a full trim less than two weeks ago. I don't want them getting overgrown and possibly thrushy though, especially since spring is getting here and we'll probably have a lot of wet weather.
 
#214 ·
The yellow was watery weepy stuff. I cleaned it off and just left it open to dry on it's own. When I went out yesterday the swelling had gone down almost entirely, and he didn't seem sore or tender. It is definitely scabbing over and there didn't seem to be any heat. I had hoped to go out today and check but a long visit to the DMV has put me way behind schedule, so hopefully I can get there before dark.
 
#217 ·
So I did go out and check him last night, and the cut has pretty much entirely scabbed over, and no swelling.

Today I went out to ride. It ended up being pretty short. After our walk warm up I started trotting him, and something just felt a little off. I will attach a video, but I hadn't planned on filming, so instead of having a tripod to hold my camera, I just propped my phone up precariously on the side of a fence. It's not great, but it gives an idea. I'm not sure if he's really off or not, but he does look a little weird to me. Undersaddle he felt not so bendy, and going to the left he tried to pick up a canter a couple of times when I encouraged him to do a forward trot. Other opinions would be helpful.



Anyway, I did do a little canter work with him too, and he did pretty well considering. But I didn't want to push him when I wasn't sure how he was feeling so we took it easy.

A bit frustrated by this. Hopefully it's nothing.
 
#220 ·
So I did go out and check him last night, and the cut has pretty much entirely scabbed over, and no swelling.

Today I went out to ride. It ended up being pretty short. After our walk warm up I started trotting him, and something just felt a little off. I will attach a video, but I hadn't planned on filming, so instead of having a tripod to hold my camera, I just propped my phone up precariously on the side of a fence. It's not great, but it gives an idea. I'm not sure if he's really off or not, but he does look a little weird to me. Undersaddle he felt not so bendy, and going to the left he tried to pick up a canter a couple of times when I encouraged him to do a forward trot. Other opinions would be helpful.

Trot 3/3 - YouTube

Anyway, I did do a little canter work with him too, and he did pretty well considering. But I didn't want to push him when I wasn't sure how he was feeling so we took it easy.

A bit frustrated by this. Hopefully it's nothing.
Is that your outdoor arena or just an open field? Looks very nice and spacious. :grin:
 
#221 ·
I feel useless, I'm so bad at seeing offness. Like I knew I could feel something but even with your input and trying to watch the hind end I'm not sure if I can see it. :( Not that this video is great to see much but I feel like you guys are probably right. Blah.
@Hoofpic that's one of the empty pastures that we can ride in. It's a pretty decent size and I use it when I don't feel like taking Nav to the barn arena to ride.
 
#224 ·
I feel useless, I'm so bad at seeing offness. Like I knew I could feel something but even with your input and trying to watch the hind end I'm not sure if I can see it. :( Not that this video is great to see much but I feel like you guys are probably right. Blah.

@Hoofpic that's one of the empty pastures that we can ride in. It's a pretty decent size and I use it when I don't feel like taking Nav to the barn arena to ride.
Oh okay, makes sense, you are so lucky to have such nice weather over there.
 
#222 ·
Went out this morning for a short and easy ride. I didn't really feel offness during our ride, Nav was just not really listening to me and has lost some of the good bend that we had been getting lately. However, when I took him back to his pasture, I trotted him out on the pavement just to do a check, and he did give me a little head bobbing. Still couldn't tell if it was in the back or front. I really do feel like I'll never be able to figure it out.

Other than that the ride was uneventful. I'm in a bit of a weird mindset right now. Lately it seems like I have low motivation to get to the barn, and every ride is just more of the same. Trying to get Nav to move correctly, knowing that he'll spend most of the ride poking his head up, looking around and not bending. And then even when he chills out and starts to stretch down, all it takes is one movement off to the side and he's focused on that instead. I am just not having as much fun as I used to. And I remember last year around this time I was getting ready for his first dressage show at training level, and right now I can't imagine showing him with all the bad bending, and his completely sucky and rushy canter.

I want to change this mindset, and get back to enjoying going to ride, but I don't know what to do. I'm tired of ending every ride in a bad mood though.
 
#223 ·
I know it's kinda cliched to say this, but when spring really comes will feel better

In the meantime, could trailer out for a trail ride with someone? Or do something really odd like sign up for a cow cutting clinic? My friend did a kind of horses on cows clinic with this guy named 'Wayne Robinson'. She had no intention of ever working with cows,but learning how to work them with ones horse can build a good bond
 
#225 ·
He does seem a bit stiff in the hind, that could be causing his balance to be off/weird bending. :( Maybe give him a day or two off and then see how he is? Or try different things with him, to keep things fun?
I know what you mean though. I have my days too where it just feels blah.
Try some fun Liberty training stuff too? Just hangout with him, grab the lead and just walk around?
 
#226 ·
Rewatching the video I feel like I can kind of see something off with the back right? Like he's putting it down and taking it up more quickly than the back left. Just by a hair though. I can't tell for sure. :(

I think when I go out tonight to give him his supplement I might lunge him a bit, so I can watch him in person and see if I can see anything. An off right hind could explain a bad left canter I suppose.

I'm thinking of taking it easy with our riding, and working on other things like groundwork, and doing more easy trail days. Just for a bit to see how that is. As long as he's sound I am planning to take him to a kind of season opener fun day with the local dressage club at the end of March, so that gives us something different to look forward to.

Just to add something cute and happy, here's a picture of Nav from the other day when I went out to find him. Apparently he felt like accessorizing that day! :)
 
#227 ·
seeing offness is really hard, except in the most obvious cases. it's deceptive to think that because a leg moves faster than the others that the horse is trying to get weight off it as fast as possible, becuase it's the NOT lame leg, the paired leg, that moves faster through its stride so that the horse can get the good leg back onto the ground as soon as possible, thus making the weight bearing phase of the 'bad' leg as short as possible.

so, when you are watching a video and you seem to see one leg moving faster than the other through the air, it's the OTHER leg that is the lame one.

in Nav's case, it's really hard to tell. I do see the right hand kind of 'hitching ' a tiny bit, but I also see him moving in front , especially front left, with a slighty 'tenderfooted' way of going. and , with right rear/front left paired at the trot, you can consider both a possiblity. the head bobbin way telling which leg is the 'bad' one is hard for me, unless it's very obvious.

I used to ride the big half draft Irish Sport horse who moved a lot like Nav. in the summer, he'd always get tenderfooted , and all we could figure is that the increased sugar in the grass was making him very mildly laminitic. but, he walked out like a dream, just had the mildest barely perceptable offness at the trot, on a circle.
 
#229 ·
Thank you, @tinyliny that explanation helps a lot! And I wonder if Nav has a similar mild laminitic problem like the horse you used to ride. I wouldn't be extremely surprised, as he is very cresty... but I have never had it confirmed by a vet. Once spring grass starts coming in he's going to be moved to a "weight watchers" field, with a couple other horses who never seem to lose weight, so hopefully that will help.

Today I tried doing a short lunging session. It was super windy out though so not ideal conditions - the wind was messing with the line quite a bit and Nav was frustrated with it. He did decently in spite of that. I couldn't see anything off this time. No head bobbing at all, and he stretched down and was very forward. He still bends poorly while lunging, and when I try to encourage him to get his hindquarters out onto the circle he just started cantering. Since it wasn't ideal circumstances I didn't worry too much about it, just wanted to get some work in with him.

So I'm not sure if he is truly lame, just has a slight offness, or something else. I'll plan on keeping track of it though, so I can see if there's any sort of pattern to what sets him off as a little lame. Today was better in terms of my mindset and feeling at the end. Doing something different did seem to help.

You can see how windy it was - usually he has mane that falls on this side of his neck that won't even stay on the other side if I comb it, but today it was all on that side!


And of course picky Nav was also happy because I was finally able to track down some more of the hoof supplement that he likes - I bought a big container of a different kind from the co-op last week and he refused to eat it after one bite! Thankfully they let me return it, but they didn't carry the one he likes anymore. Actually no where in town does, so I had to resort to buying it online. Just glad to find it, I feel like it did do some good to his hooves while he was on it.
 
#230 ·
this is really off topic, but my cat is 'off'. he's got an on again off again limp . I know which leg, and I've palpated it many times without any obvious yelping. all I can really do is wait until it gets bad enough that one can see what is causeing it. for one thing, he'd never even walk at the vets, he's terrified.

it's just a 'wait until it becomes clearer' sort of thing.

Nav is super cute and you ride him really nicely. I like to see a rider that moves well enough with the hrose to NOT be an impediment to them. is that sad? I mean that the best compliment I can pay is that someone is NOT an impediment to the horse? but, really, most of us are. I know I am, much of the time.
 
#232 ·
Thank you tinyliny, a compliment from you is very special :) I want to do the best I can with him, so I'm glad to know what I'm doing is not obviously hindering at least.

My plan for today is to go out and do an easy ride, in the big field. I do want to do some trot and canter work, and just sort of see what happens. I don't want to actively fight him on anything, because that just leads to frustration. But just sort of go with it. I might take my tripod out and film a bit of it to see how we go.

I also had this idea, but not sure if it's good or not, but to get a canter going, and then keep going until after Nav is ready to stop. Just push him a bit past what's easy and not let him decide when we stop or start, because he's been in a habit of not coming down when I ask him. So the hope is that when I do ask him to come down, he will easily since he's ready to stop too. But it would be because I ask him to. Does it make sense? I know that things like this aren't always a good idea because he's just going to get stronger and eventually be able to keep cantering for longer, but I don't think this is an exercise I'd do with him frequently enough for that.

Anyway, fingers crossed for a nice ride.
 
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