Pushing limits and when to stop

So this week has been crappy.  -20 to -27 plus windchill which usually makes it around -35 to -40 Celsius.  I don't go to the barn when its that cold!  Heck the ponies didn't even get out of the barn for 2 days.  Keeping them in the barn kept them out of the cold, and kept most of the water lines, and buckets from freezing solid.

On Friday we had a blizzard with an additional 20 cm of snow and -15 temps.  Today it warmed up to plus 1 (yippie!) because it is going to rain tomorrow (crappy!).... My dad and brother got up on the roof of our house and shoveled it off today.  A lot of the larger farms with indoors were doing the same today.  Any large indoor arena is at risk of collapse with the amount of snow that we've had, add the water weight from the rain we get tomorrow,,, and things could go bad very quickly.  Although I sometimes wish C & D's indoor was bigger, the small narrow shape means that the steep roof can hold a lot of weight.

So today I spent all of the morning at the barn and did too much.  I'm now sitting at home, on painkillers resting my bad ankle/foot.  I helped muck some stalls, broke the ice out of 14 water buckets and two stock tanks, swept, and helped move round bales around.  And then after all of that I went for a ride on Chilly.  We still only do 5 minute rides, shes so good to put up with me after only being ridden once a week.  I really shouldn't have ridden, but sometimes I cant say no to myself.

We also had a look into Chilly's mouth on the recommendation of our equine dentist.  Chilly had her wolf teeth out almost a full year ago, so we knew it wasn't that.  Turns out she's loosing her 'baby' teeth and popping caps.  So, we've backed off on the bit issue and will continue to ride her in the side pull for another month.  If we're still having issues the dentist might have to come out, but she said as long as we can see obvious signs of her growing and loosing teeth, not to be too concerned. 

Oscar's mom went back to school today so I'll start riding him again this week (depending on the weather). 

I'm on the fence on if I want to keep working Chilly, or to see if me and M can switch for a couple of weeks and have her ride Chilly and me ride Hottie for a bit.  She's lighter if less experienced, and can push her more than I can.  Meanwhile I could get Hottie a bit more broke for her.... something to think about for sure...

Clinics and learning

So I went to that clinic on the weekend.  I did only go for one day, and I learned from watching the clinic with my former (and first) coach, but it really disappointed me.  A lot of the riders were suppose to be riding at a very high level, but I watched him fix proper bend though the horses body though a serpentine.  A girl in a double bridle couldn't get a canter to walk transition.  He was also very judgmental of anyone not doing dressage.  He wondered what western people did once they got their horse broke, " I mean you ride them when they are two then they are trained by the time they are three, then what?".  I didn't feel like telling him that we still do a lot of the stuff they do, just with a loose rein!

They did A LOT of pushing the horses hips out, which is different from us western people who push the hips in.  And despite how 'intimidating' we are to our western horses he admitted to putting horses in their stalls or arena loose bitted up in side reins for them to "figure it out" when he cant get them to do it under saddle.  How can you complain about some trainers when you do the same on your own.  I don't know.  Using side reins, or tying your reins to a saddle (in my case often with more slack then I use with side reins) is ok when used properly and for short periods of time.  However I still think that it helps build resistance when used too often or for two long.

In my pony news, Oscars mom had a great vacation and got to ride every day.  Chilly is doing well, and doing awesome with the driving.  I rode Oscar on Tuesday and Thursday and on Thursday I even got to ride Hottie.  Hottie is a 16.2 hh 4 year old that they have been really taking their time with.  My friend Melissa rides her most of the time and shes really really quiet, but very green.  It was fun to get on a new horse though and figure her out.  And my no stirrup work is paying off and I fell more secure on Oscar and on Hottie as well.