Sometimes bad days turn good... really good.

  Days like this I just am not in the mood to ride. Rainy, windy, cold, blue; gloomy. Everything about today just set the mood for a bad day. Since it was raining, I had my horse cooped up in his stall all day. Just thinking about how I was going to have to wrestle with my huge, energetic, fresh warmblood gave me a headache. I just wanted to skip today and go right into tomorrow... I came to the barn feeling very sour. Udex was pacing around in his stall and whinnying every two minutes. I rolled my eyes and took a while setting up my tack box and getting my saddle and bridle out. "Oh great.. He's so energetic and nervous today! It's going to be a hard struggle to pick his hooves, yet alone put the bit in his mouth when the only thing he wants to do is run!"
  I was right. It was a struggle to get him to stand still long enough for me to pick his hooves. After getting that task over with I very unhappily took him to the arena to free run a bit of the crazies out. After a few minutes of running he walked over to me, chomping on nothing, (sign of submission) and nuzzled me. He was still full of energy, but he let me tack him up a lot easier then he would have without letting that negative energy out.
  I did notice he had a fantastic trot today. In the beginning he had a very nice long and low neck! I trotted him with no hands for a bit... Good for my balance, and good for him to really stretch down low. Anyways, after he was warmed up to some extent, my trainer arrived and we began our lesson. [At this point I was still a bit gloomy. The wind rattling the roof, Udex whinnying out to his friends every few seconds.] We started out the lesson with einfache schlange linien [simple snake lines] and lots and lots and lots of circles. Udex was going great with little head throwing and very eager to listen to my leg. We did lots of circles on a loose rein! He was being such a good boy. My bad mood was slowly getting lighter and lighter. When it came time to canter I was in a pretty happy mood considering how outstanding my horse was preforming!!! The canter was amazing. No head throwing, total response to my leg, and a nice steady pace!!!!

Udex sometimes curls behind the bit.
Thankfully now he doesn't tuck his head in
as far as he once did.

   Sadly, some days Udex still curls up behind the bit out of his past trauma from rollkur. It breaks my trainer and I's heart to see that even when I give him a very loose rein, he still is tucked in behind the bit. He is so mentally afraid. It is very sad to see him curled behind it. Usually towards the end of our lesson I give him a very long rein with hardly any connection and just ride him with my body and legs. We try to get him to come up on the bit, not behind it. Usually the long rein makes him feel secure enough to go on the bit. It's very difficult to help his behind the bit problem, but it's getting better. Today in our lesson, towards the end he started to go ON the vertical, instead of behind it. To see Udex not behind the bit is enough to make me tear up. Two years ago this was a high trained dressage horse, riding everyday in hyperflexion. Today, he is my best friend riding on the bit.
   Over all, today I was expecting a bad day. To my surprise it turned out to be one of our best rides yet!!! I am so, so, so pleased with Udex's recovery! Although some days It isn't easy and I want to give up, I don't. I keep on working with him. Sometimes I see an instant difference, sometimes it takes a little longer. This has been one very hard and challenging journey, both mentally and physically.. but I know what I'm doing for my horse is the right thing to do. I hate knowing he was trained with rollkur his entire life... At the same time I am thankful for it. I know that he was put in my path (and I in his!) so I can do him justice and share his story. If at least one person hears his story and changes their mind about rollkur... then I feel that I have done my job. Rollkur needs to end. It doesn't do anyone any good. Please, put an end to rollkur.

Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy horsey.

  Some days when I let Udex spend the night in the paddock, he becomes unbelievably sleepy. No; seriously... like dangerous tired. If I have him tied up and he is in a "sleepy" mood he will fall over. Usually I am able to scream or make a loud noise when his knees start to buckle in and prevent him from the actual falling.
   Anyways, yesterday before my lesson he kept on "buckling up" (as I like to call it.) This happened so many times. I knew that today was going to be one of those days where Udex was as stubborn as ever. Joyyy.
   So obviously our lesson was kind of blah. Lots of head throwing (Udex does this when he is tired!) Our leg yields, renvers, traverse, etc. was all done with a lot of head throwing and unwillingness. Poor Udex was just too sleepy!!!!
  No problem though! Not every day can he be perfect!!! I mean at least I actually got coffee this time, it was just a little cold! [see here for more information on that metaphor.] Anyways, even my trainer was fine with Udex. For being as sleepy as he was he was great!! When Udex get's sleepy he doesn't get impossible to make go. No, not at all. He has so much go, even when he is tired. When he gets tired he starts to throw his head, refuse the basic aids, and test you to all extremes. Leave it to my horse to become even more hot headed when he's tired!!
   So I'm off now to go make him his mushy feed of beet pulp, performance mix, power pellets, and corn oil! He is spending the night inside again so he gets a very well deserved sleep!!!

Lessons with Udex are always fun.

   Today Udex was, well; Udex. He stayed last night and all day in the stall, since it has been rainy and stormy. He was very calm while I was grooming him! Then it came time to tack up! I put on his saddle and leg wraps on him without a fuss. I did sense a bit of negative energy though. Of course, he proved me right when it came time ti putting on the bridle. I un-clipped the lead rope from his halter, put the reins over his neck, and slid the halter on his neck when he decided that he wanted to try and walk outside with his pony pals. I tried and tried and tried to get him still enough to the point of putting on the bridle. Of course, no luck there. Fortunately for me the arena was free, so I took him there (with a bit of struggle) so I could have more control over him and if he did manage to escape from me he could only run within the arena, and not out to the road.
   He was being a monster. I let him free run after putting on the bridle. After a few minutes of free running he walked up to me -displaying signs of submission- and then I started to ride. We were awfully warm today so we decided to turn on the sprinklers from the ceiling on! Udex has free ran in them before, but never rode with me. It was really fun. He was a bit nervous when the first few went off; darting to the side and passaging around. Eventually he calmed down and we were happily trotting with the mist coming down. It was so refreshing! After the sprinklers went off he went back to thinking and became extremely hot again. Every stride was basically piaffe and passage steps, just waiting to dart into canter. I decided to be nice and canter out the crazies with him. I took him a few rounds and let him run his heart out, while I was in a two point.
   After the cantering sessions were over my trainer arrived and we began the lesson. I feel like today I found a missing piece with Udex. Our canter was really great; something that the missing piece completed. I feel that our canter circles were even better. Udex was very willing and straight-forward today. I am also proud to say that I can sit his extremely bumpy sitting trot without flying all over the place! Of course, it is not perfect yet, but its very close!
   He was a really good boy today, and I have reason to be proud! Never a dull moment with my horsey! <3

Happy birthday!!!

June 5th was Udex's birthday!!! I think he had a great day, and was definitely spoiled!! He got to go outside in the paddock "nakey!" Since he is allergic to bees, I keep a sheet and fly mask on him 24/7 (except for riding) so he has maximum protection! He is not too fond of wearing a sheet, and when I turn him out "naked" he is extremely happy and always gallops away to his palls faster then usual. Towards the evening though he was being spoiled and the little flies were irritating him pretty bad, so then the blankey came back on him, but for most of the day he was totally naked!
     Also, besides being naked, he got two presents! The first, a nice new pair of blue polo wraps to match his other blue tack! Electric blue really compliments his pretty color!! Now, the best gift of all??? A new rabbit fur brush for his face!! Udex is sooo picky about having his face brushed, (from bad past experiences and enlarged jugular veins from rollkur.) Anyways, he really enjoys having his face brushed with a softer brush! It makes me happy to see him so relaxed instead of jerking his head up to resist being brushed. I think he really enjoyed those gifts, possibly even more then I did!!!
    I have a few more gifts coming for him in a few days! I have a nice new, light, electric blue lunge whip! (Well I guess thats more so a gift for me!) The icing on the cake; a beautiful new electric blue crystal brow band!! I can't wait to put that on him, with the matching polos and saddle pad! Ahh, I can already see the beauty to that! I'm so excited! I think he will just love the attention that gift gives him!!!

   Okay, enough about gifts, and more about Udex!! So for his birthday I took him in and groomed him, loved on him, played a game with carrots, and gave him his birthday cake!! I made the most beautiful, tasty, amazing horsey cakes, EVER!! I am so proud of myself!! They were so good he licked the last remaining bits of them off the ground, which is very unlike Udex! He got six little cakies! The recipe for them was super simple too!! The perfect thing to "wow" everyone at the barn and make your horse go wild!! If your horse has a birthday, I definitely recommend those tasty little cakes!
     So now Udex is 14!!! I can't help but think about how fourteen years ago someone had this little foal, and looked at him thinking that he could be the next dressage champion. Breaks my heart about how bad rollkur messed him up, and how he got in such bad condition. (More about that later! I think my next article will be about his rollkur story.)
     Lessons are going great with Udex!! It is still a long road to recovery, but he remains so strong and always is trying his best! What a trooper!! Today we practiced leg yields and haunches and shoulder in's! He did really good, like always! He is such an intelligent horse and you really have to ride him well. You can't just ride him with your legs, or just your reins, or a little bit of both. You really have to sit on him nine hundred and fifty percent perfect before he begins to work. It is the most magical feeling to sit upon such a well trained horses back!!! Once again, the fact they had to use rollkur and ruin him really makes me angry. Anyways, my trainer and I have been working wonders with him. I am so proud of my trainer, Udex, and I! All three of us are a team. We all give our best every time. We are all doing this for the same reason... To help Udex become a horse again. All three of us have a special connection, and everything just works. I think if I didn't have the trainer I have now, that Udex and I would not be improving as much as we are now. The world needs more good people with big hearts out there!

     So, I will post soon about my horses rollkur recovery story!!! My goal is to get a website against rollkur out there, and hope to put an end to this horse abuse! It won't be easy but I know there are other riders like me out there who hate rollkur too! My goal will be to share Udex's story, in hopes that people can open their eyes up to what rollkur does to these horses. -More on that tomorrow.-

picture of Udex when I first got him curling up behind the bit out of fear