This was a long week: a classroom full of fifth graders eager for summer vacation, nursing a lab puppy to health, and two horses that need to be ridden and turned out daily.  Whew ...

I came home Friday afternoon and saw this on the counter.  Now that's how to end the week!

I really need to get some video or photos of Sydney under saddle.  He is doing so much better these last six weeks or so.  I rode last night and came home with a feeling of contentment and a sense of progress.

It seemed that as soon as I let go of my plan to start showing him this summer, the tension just melted out of both of us.  I also decided not to sell him ... at least not this summer.  That also helped us relax.  If all we can do for the next however long is walk and trot, then that's what we'll do.  I'd rather have a lot of safe and happy walk/trot than a little bit of Oh, crap! cantering.

So what have I been doing?  Lots of walking and trotting while asking, asking, asking for a long and low neck. To the right, the side that bends reasonably well, he can stretch way down, and he does so with very little resistance.  To the left, his stiff side, it's a whole other story.  When we go left, I have to walk a fine line with the outside rein.  If I let him have too much, the circle gets huge and he won't make the left turn.  If I take hold of the outside rein with too much strength, I can feel him get tense.  He doesn't like the feeling of too much contact. So I use a ton of outside leg and a medium amount of rein to ask him to turn.  I also rock the inside rein to get his neck to let loose just a bit.  I squeeze him forward and give him every opportunity to reach and stretch through the bend.  When he does, I soften everything and praise him like he's just won Olympic gold.

It might be a slow pokey way of accomplishing long and low, but it's working.  There's no bolting or rearing, and his ears stay soft and floppy.  We might have to do this all summer.  We might have to do this forever.  I am pretty much okay with that as long as I feel safe and he seems happy.  For now, it's a pleasant way to spend a half an hour. 

I try not to complain too much.  After all, I have a lot of control over my own life and the choices that I make are my own.  With that, holy Toledo, Batman!  How can one person "choose" so many things in one month?

Please raise your hand if you are bored out of your mind with nothing interesting going on in your life. Anyone?  Didn't think so.  That means I am in good company.  Here's a list of the many, many things that are keeping me from relaxing and lounging around.

1. Getting bucked off nearly two weeks ago.  I still hurt which means I can't "sit" for long, or I get even more achey!
2. Two horses.  It doesn't matter how busy I am at home or work, they still need to be ridden and turned out.
3. Tobias.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I have been to the grocery store a lot this week for this little dude.  He is improving daily, for which we are grateful, but that improvement has come with a lot of work.  He's on a special diet of chicken breast and rice (and hotdogs for hiding the antibiotic).  I totally underestimated how much chicken a 30 pound puppy could consume on a daily basis.  And then there's the cooking of the chicken breast and rice.  Yes, I cook it in bulk, but you'd be surprised how much rice he eats!  (And please don't suggest raw chicken.  I despise touching the raw chicken as it is.  No way I am serving it that way!)
4. The vet.  It's a good thing I really like Dr. Thurman and his staff as we've been in there three times over the last twelve days.  It's not that big of a deal, but it's a twenty-five minute drive to the vet center after my twenty-five minute drive home from work to get Tobias.  I come home from work, pick up the puppy, and head back across town.  During rush hour.  We go back next Wednesday and then again two to three weeks later.  I'll be done with work by that time so it won't be two-a-days like it has been.

It's all in the choices we make.  I am glad for these problems and wouldn't trade them for someone else's "easier" life.  Even so, I am looking forward to a little peace and quiet over the three-day weekend.

I really hemmed and hawed about what shows to do in June.  On the one hand, I get nine weeks off this summer which makes showing super easy to do.  On the other hand, it's stinking hot in Bakersfield during those nine weeks which means most of our shows are farther away.  Showing more than once a month is also expensive.  Isn't that always the problem?  There's either time and no money, or money and no time.

My original plan for June, albeit a bit ambitious, was to do a two-day show in lovely Paso Robles followed by a schooling show at Hansen Dam.  I then planned to wrap up the month with a CDS-rated show in Tehachapi, an hour away.  When I started calculating the cost of the Paso Robles show, I just couldn't stomach spending so much money for a triple-rated show.  While I really want to earn my USDF Rider Performance Award at Training Level, I just couldn't justify the expense so soon after the Santa Barbara show.  And then, as luck would have it, the Hansen Dam show date was moved to the same date as the Tehachapi show.  I went from having three shows in June to just one.  Bummer.

I pulled up the CDS show calendar and discovered that Fresno CDS was hosting a two-day show the same weekend as the Paso Robles show.  I decided that I could easily afford one of the two days especially since I wasn't going to be able to do the Hansen Dam show.  As I was completing the entry, I noticed that the stabling fees were only $30 a night.  WHAT?  They were the cheapest stabling fees I've ever seen (not that I've seen that many), but compared to the $160 plus $100 for RV fees that I paid at Santa Barbara, they seemed downright blue-light special!  

I calculated the price of four rides, added in the stabling fees, and placed a call to the show secretary about the fees for camping.  When she told me that I could stay in my living quarters trailer with no additional fee, I told her I was in.  My total bill for a CDS/USDF/USEF two-day show excluding shavings and gas was only $296!  The stalls are actually permanent 12 x 24 covered pens so I don't even need shavings.  

Clovis, where the show will be held, is due north with zero mountains to climb.  It's an easy two and a half hour flat drive, and I've been to this venue three times already so my anxiety level is really low.  In fact, the last time I showed there, I earned a 72.5% at Intro B so I have good feelings associated with the venue.  And one of the best things about this show is that each day has a different judge so I have several chances to earn scores for the USDF Rider Performance Award. 

I sent in my entry the other day.  This will be my fourth triple-rated show of the season with one more to go, Regional Adult Amateur Competition.  Even though I have lots of time off this summer, the rest of the summer shows will be in Tehachapi, CDS-rated, and Hansen Dam, un-rated.  I am hoping those shows will give me lots of opportunities to firm up the Training Level tests so that I can possibly think about First Level for next year.

I can dream, can't I?! 

Well, it seems as this topic was the can of worms I suspected it might be.  And a jumbo can at that!  Thank you to those who commented, and thank you as well to those who read it and commented to yourself or a friend.  Opening a dialog in a sport that isn't known to be filled with the friendliest of people is a good thing (oh, come on, you know it's true - most people think dressage riders are all stuck up snobs!  We're not of course, but the rest of the world doesn't know that.).

I do think my point got lost yesterday - in all likelihood the lost point was due to poor writing.  It could also be that the reader's own biases colored their understanding of what I was trying to say. Either way, a dialog has certainly begun.

My point to yesterday's post was this: Centerline Scores is a wonderful tool.  So is a hammer.  It works great to pound things in and for nail removal, but it's a terrible screwdriver or level.  To remove screws, you should use a phillips or flathead screw driver. A wrench is great for bolts, but it doesn't work very well for pounding in nails - I know as I have tried when a hammer couldn't be located.

In no way did I suggest that Centerline Scores should be the ONLY tool that a rider uses when picking a trainer or ascertaining whether another rider is being truthful.  That would be like trying to build a house with JUST a hammer.  

I think I've been pretty honest about my own trainer.  She is NOT a dressage rider or trainer and she reminds me of that frequently. (funny story - she popped up on Speedy G one time in my dressage saddle and hated where it put her seat and legs!)  I ride with her because she is an excellent trainer of the basics.  She has warned me numerous times that I will need to find a real dressage trainer once she has helped me establish the basics.

I do know that she showed extensively when she was younger and that she coaches her other students at small, local h/j shows.  In no way do I discount her previous years of experience.  When I ask her questions about showing, I trust what she suggests because I know that she has experience in that area, and no, that experience doesn't show up on Centerline Scores.

When I finally do move on to a Dressage trainer, you can bet that I'll be looking her up just to see what kind of show experience he or she has had.  Of course Centerline Scores doesn't date back to the dawn of time - they make that clear on their Frequently Asked Questions page : How far back do you have scores?  Due to limitations on the available USDF show results, our data only goes back to the 1993 Competition Year and results prior to the 2003 Competition Year are very likely to be incomplete. However, from 2003 to present the data should be complete.  This doesn't mean that the most current stuff is of no value.

I also think some people thought I was placing a lot of emphasis on the scores themselves.  That wasn't my intention.  I was more concerned with the quantity of scores.  A person with A LOT of scores has shown a lot. More shows means more experience.  It might be a lot of BAD experience, but it's till experience.  When I ask for help, I would rather ask someone who I know has done it more than twice.  I've done five USDF-rated shows.  I am not a great one to ask about the particulars of a venue.  I can share what my experience was, but you're better off asking someone who has done 20 or 30 USDF shows.

So, that's my point.  Centerline Scores is a great tool for gathering data.  Use it with common sense and combine it with your own prior experience.  It shouldn't be the only tool you use, like the hammer, but it IS a useful tool.  If you don't get much value from it, don't use it.  Frankly, I never use a vise-grip wrench and don't feel as though I'm missing a thing!

If you didn't check out Centerline Scores when I posted about it the other day, you should.  In case you missed it, you can find it here.  When I first started showing dressage, I met a lot of people who were eager to share their show experience with me.  I also met a lot of people who passed themselves off as in the know.  When you yourself are NOT in the know, it is difficult to know whose advice to trust. 

During my years as an endurance rider, I researched people's records quite frequently on AERC's website to see if what they claimed about their riding was truthful or not.  I found this necessary when I was being offered advice or when people asked if they could ride with me.  Most endurance riders that I know who are "serious" about the sport are selective about who they'll ride with.  

As an example: When Mickey Dee was still new to the trail, I looked for people to tag along with to increase his exposure to riding in small groups and with strange horses.  A woman I knew thought it would be great fun to hit the trail together.  It turned out to be a big mistake.  Not only did she spend every single moment of the ride on her cell phone telling the person on the other end how much fun she was having, but she proceeded to gallop off down the trail without advising me of the gate change.  Mickey wasn't ready to gallop down the trail so I had my hands full keeping him at a walk.  Let's just say that I never rode with Chatty Kathy again!

The American Endurance Race Conference maintains a data base of every rider and horse's race statistics. Simply visit their site here, scroll down to AERC Records, choose either Horse History or Rider History, and type in a name.  Here's a snap shot of my race record:

I don't have as many miles as some folks (Trilby Pederson has over 60,000 miles), but I competed for 15 seasons with very few "pulls," and several of those were for Rider Ain't Doin' Right.  Not an official term, but you know what I mean.  If I offer endurance advice, it would be a good idea to check my record first to see if I have actually done the thing I'm describing.

I am sharing all of this because Centerline Scores gives me a way, sort of, to check on people who are offering advice or hanging out a trainer's shingle.  The main limitation to Centerline Scores is that it only tracks results from USDF shows and not CDS-rated or schooling shows.  If you check out the About Us link, you'll read the following: CenterlineScores.com was created as a tool to assist the United States Dressage community. Firstly, it is a tool that can be used to look at your own scores (or your friends’) to understand how you’re doing. Secondly, the site can be used as a tool to verify what other people (riders, trainers, owners, etc.) say about themselves, their horses, their records and their accomplishments.

Love it!  These people get it.  I recently got an earful from a rider so I decided to look her up.  Guess what? She has fewer than 10 posted scores (55% - 65%) and they're all at Training Level.  How sound is her advice?  I over-heard another rider claim that she had shown at third level.  I looked up her record.  Same thing - fewer than 10 posted scores (all below 55%) and no test above First Level.  How trustworthy is she?  Another rider, who is a trainer, has no record at all on Centerline Scores.  I am not sure I want a dressage trainer who has never shown at a USDF show.

I can already see some loaded comments coming my way about this topic.  I can handle it.  And just in case you want to see if I do more than talk the talk, you can see every single one of my test results here.  Centerline Scores added one last statement on their About Us link.  It was this, We’re all about accuracy and transparency.  Exactly!

Tobias - the first round of IV fluids didn't go so well.  I bawled and sobbed and he screamed and howled.  It was the worst thing I've ever had to do to an animal.  Hubby was so supportive during my meltdown.  He just kept reassuring me that I could do it.  Afterwards he kept telling me what a good job I'd done and that it would get easier.  What a great guy.  I called the vet tech later that day and she offered some excellent advice on how to get the fluid to flow more readily.  Every dose since that call has gone very smoothly with no tears or yelping.  He's definitely still sick, but he had several days of looking 100%.  He was rather lethargic on Saturday, but he's only vomited twice (several days apart) and has had no diarrhea, the number one symptom of the Parvovirus.  He's not well yet, but we're encouraged.

I finally rode on Saturday which was the first time since getting dumped last Saturday.  It wasn't fear that kept me out of the saddle, but to admit that I wasn't nervous would be a lie.  I actually didn't ride for many reasons: 1) I was really sore, 2) Tobi was very sick, and 3) I had a work function until 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. And since there was no way to ride that late, I went out for ice cream with Cha Ching's mom on her birthday.

My plan for Saturday was to get on Speedy G, rebuild a little confidence, walk around for 5 - 10 minutes, and then be done.  When I got on, I discovered that riding hurt less than driving my car.  My confidence came flooding back.  Sitting in the car, or in a chair, puts me in a chair position which put a lot of pressure on my seat bone.  OUCH.  When I sat in the saddle, I realized that my legs hung beneath me which put my pelvic bone in a different position which turned out to be almost painless.  Woohoo!  I ended up riding Speedy G at walk, trot, and canter and was pleased with how quickly he got on the bit.  Frankly, I made the ride all business and didn't give him time to screw around.  After 15 minutes, I pat him on the neck with a good boy!, and put him away.

My confidence was good, but I was still nervous about riding Sydney.  While he had been turned out over the last week, it had been eights days since he's been under saddle.  While I wasn't in actual pain while riding Speedy G, I knew that my seat wasn't back to normal.  Even so, I saddled up and hopped on.  Piece of cake. Sydney was relaxed and happy to be working.  We did some walking on the buckle, and then I asked him for a relaxed stretchy trot.  It took a while to get some reach, but we did.  I gave him some good boy pats, and then I put him away.  There didn't seem to be any reason to tempt fate by over-working my own body.  I fed both boys, skipped the stall cleaning, and went home for a well-deserved nap.

My new helmet finally arrived.  After hitting the ground so hard last Saturday, I felt it was safest to just replace the helmet.  For schooling I wear the Ovation Sync, which I love, love, love.  I ordered the Ovation Competitor helmet which fits really well.  Click photos for larger views and captions.

Buck Brannaman - I forgot to tell you that I finished his second book, Believe, last week.  I really enjoyed it and recommend it as much as his first book, The Faraway Horses. 

I've also sent in my next show entry, but that deserves it's own blog post!

I am sore and tired from getting bucked off last weekend.  The school year is winding down which is sucking an excessive amount of mental and emotional energy.  And not that he can help it, but the new puppy is also siphoning off his share of my available resources.  My disappointing scores from the weekend's show are also jerking me around a little and making me feel a bit like a failure.  It's no wonder that my enthusiasm for riding has taken a big hit.

I made it to the barn last Sunday after the show, but I was so sore and battered that all I did was some turn out.  I skipped Monday and Tuesday's visits and only showed up on Wednesday to do more turnout and barn chores.  It was good to see my boys, but I was still so sore that there was no way I could pop up for a ride.  I even cancelled my regular Wednesday lesson.

I am not one to celebrate other's failures, but when I see people that I respect have off days, it makes my own disappointments seem less ... well, disappointing.  So I looked up an acquaintance on Center Line Scores to see how she had performed when doing the Training Level tests. 

Center Line Scores is an unofficial site (not USDF sponsored) that tracks riders' scores from USDF-rated shows, Training Level and above. Here are her scores so that you can see what I mean.  It's interesting to see that she spent a lot of time riding the fourth test at First Level (the old tests).

Here are my own very limited results.  Remember that Center Line Scores only tracks results from USDF shows and from only Training Level and up.  That means my Introductory scores aren't included in the data which leaves only the scores from the Santa Barbara show.  In a few weeks, I hope to see my scores from this past weekend's results there, too.  My median will drop, but that's just an incentive to work harder!

This sounds absolutely horrible, but her scores were very similar to mine, if not lower.  Maybe there's hope for me yet!  Please, please, please don't think that I think I am better than anyone else or that I need to make myself feel better by one-uping someone.  It's not like that at all.  Instead, this comparison shows me that even very accomplished riders started somewhere.  They too deal with disappointing days, but then continue on.

I hope that in a few years my data will look similar to this more advanced rider.  There will be some disappointing scores I am sure, but there will also be some high scores that will make me smile - I hope.

I find it interesting that this test earned me a slightly higher percentage than did Test 1.  By the time I rode in for the test, my seat bone was really screaming at me to GET OFF!  I think Speedy had fully recovered his wits by this time and was more of the horse that I normally ride.  The stretchy trot really got us again, but the rest of the test was on track with what we've been doing so far.  And, this is only the second time I've ridden this test so I can't be too disappointed.  

If you'll remember from my post the other day, the judge blew the whistle right at movement 8 thinking I had gone off course.  She had me repeat movement 7 which didn't help our score any, but the break in concentration caused me to go off course for movement 11.  The judge was kind enough to ignore my error, but I was flustered at my mistake which might have hurt my canter transition at movement 13.  Overall, the scores are in the satisfactory range, and if I can improve the stretchy trot circle, we will definitely be in the 60% range.  Here is the score sheet.

This is not equine related in anyway and it's really long (and kind of sad), so if you read strictly for the dressage or endurance stuff, please feel free to check out something else, like this or this.

My husband and I have been together since I was 19 years old.  I am now 41.  That's a decent amount of years together.  We chose not to have children, much to my parents dismay, so our animals have been our children. For me, the horses, but for both of us, it's been the dogs who have filled our home with a great deal of happiness.

Kirby was 5 weeks old when she joined our little family.  We had just that month purchased our first home.  It was 1996.  She was a little black labrador retriever and we loved her instantly.  One of my favorite memories of Kirby involved the daily ritual of fetching the morning newspaper.  We lived on a quiet cul-de-sac where traffic was non-existent.  Each morning I opened the front door so that she could race out to the driveway to get the paper.  One particular morning, she came back with no paper.  Shocked at her "failure" to deliver, I sent her back out with the standard, get the paper! command.  She was out there for quite a while, but she finally appeared around the corner with the paper in her mouth.  Good girl! I exclaimed as she dropped it at my feet while waiting for her cookie.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that what she had returned was the Wall Street Journal, not our regular local paper.  When our paper wasn't to be found, Kirby had ingeniously decided to head over to the neighbor's house where there was a paper to retrieve.  It certainly wasn't her fault that I hadn't specified which paper she was to bring in! 

Several years later, when Kirby was three, we began to worry that she was lonely during the day while we were at work so we found the next member of our family, another black Labrador puppy.  McGwire was six weeks old when we brought him home.  As much as I loved Kirby, McGwire was just something else.  He was the most loyal dog that I have ever known.  His days revolved around us completely.  He had to be touching one of us at all times.  He was also determinedly protective and would have given his life for one of us.  When I was sick or injured, he couldn't be moved away from me.  I eat breakfast at the counter, and he was always under my feet so that he would know when I was about to get up.

We had both dogs for many years, but unlike people, their lives are much shorter than our own.  At 11 years of age, McGwire became ill and in the summer of 2010 we had him euthanized by Dr. B in our home.  It was a terrible loss as just 6 months before he had comforted me through the loss of Montoya, my Arabian mare. Losing him so soon after was very painful.  We worried that Kirby, now 14 years old, wouldn't be able to handle the loss of a nearly life-long buddy.

Kirby surprised us though and lived another year.  During her final months, she had lost her hearing and sight, but she was happy and well.  In the summer of 2011, Kirby's health finally declined to the point where she too was euthanized by Dr. B. here in in our home.

Click photos for captions and larger view.

We traveled out of the county that summer so getting a new dog was out of the question.  Since I have the summers off, we decided to wait until the summer of 2012 to bring a dog back into our family.  It was a long year without a dog, and we missed our two "children" dearly.  With less than three weeks of school remaining, Hubby and I turned our puppy search into over-drive.  We were delighted to find a puppy, and even happier that his owner was willing to hold him until last Friday.  

We picked him up after work and were able to spend the whole weekend with him showing him the ropes.  Tobias is a black, four and a half month old Labrador Retriever.  Like all lab puppies he is ridiculously cute and friendly and loves to play.  He's already learning to sit and wait at the door instead of barging in, and he's adjusting to wearing a collar.

Unfortunately, not all has gone well with our new little buddy.  On Monday, I took Tobi in to see our new vet, Dr. Thurman.  Our former vet's office staff left something (a lot actually) to be desired so I found a new vet. While there, Tobi received his second round of puppy vaccinations, a dewormer (Nemex) and a flea and tick treatment (Vectra 3D).  A lot of stuff in one day, I know, but it had to be done.

Tobias looked great the next morning and had a good appetite.  By the time I got home from work that afternoon, all was not so well.  Tobi had left the second round of food that we had placed in his crate as we left for the day, and he looked pretty dejected.  Over the course of the evening, his expression worsened as did his overall condition.  He stopped eating and drinking, and vomited in the late evening.  The poor little guy had dry heaves until at least midnight, and looked no better the next morning.

I took Wednesday off to keep an eye on him.  His appetite was gone, and I could only coax him to take one little sip of water.  I even offered chicken broth, but that too was refused.  Dr. Thurman thought it would be a good idea to bring him back that afternoon for fluids and supportive care.

By the time our afternoon appointment rolled around, Tobi couldn't even be coaxed to stand or walk.  He was miserably sick.  Dr. Thurman thought a Parvo test was in order.  My heart sank.  Really, how could that be?  I agreed to the test, of course.  Unfortunately, the results came back positive, but Dr. Thurman wasn't confident that he actually had Parvo.

I may not get this right, but it sounded as though Tobi may have been exposed to Parvo, and the recent vaccination triggered the virus.  Whether it's a mild case, or really still just a reaction to the vaccination is unclear.  It didn't really matter as Dr. Thurman felt the best course of action was to treat Tobi as though it definitely is the Parvo virus.

I'll admit that I was a bit tearful, but I took a deep breath and told him that it was fine.  We would follow whatever protocol he recommended.  Our plan is five days of a serious cocktail: Baytril, Cefazolin Sodium, and Vitamin B12.  Here's what the whole thing looks like.

It's a two person job.  Sean will have to hold Tobi while I insert the needle into the scruff between his shoulder blades.  I'll hold the needle in place while Sean applies pressure to the IV bag which will push the fluid under Tobi's skin more quickly.  It's an "IV" administered sub-cutaneously - not a procedure I'm familiar with.  Dr. Thurman was confident that I could do it, especially since I've given loads of IM injections.

After the first dose of cocktail, given at Thurman Veterinary Center, Tobi was a new dog.  As soon as he got home he drank and drank and then drank the chicken broth that I left for him.  I cooked a small amount of rice and mixed it in with even more chicken broth and he greedily scarfed that down.  I phoned Dr. Thurman's office to report Tobi's turn-around.  Jillian, the receptionist, was delighted to hear he had improved and promised to give Dr. Thurman an update.

This morning, Tobias was his regular self with a voracious appetite and loads of energy.  My gut is telling me it's not Parvo, but we'll wait to hear from the vet.  We might not be completely out of the woods, so please keep your fingers crossed for us.  Parvo is a virus so there is no "cure" other than supportive procedures: fluids, antibiotics for secondary infections, vitamins, etc.  I promised Tobi that I would do my part if he would do his.  This was in the car on the way home from the vet.  He gave me a quizzical look which I hope meant that he was on board with our plan.  By the time you read this, I will hopefully have successfully administered the second cocktail - with Hubby's help, of course.

I do have 10 more days to work so Tobias will have to spend another few days on his own in the back yard.  I feel bad about that, but the yard is shady with lots of stuff for a puppy to investigate.  He'll also have toys to play with and neighbor dogs to woof at.  We are madly in love with him already and are delighted that he has some of the quirks that our first two had.  Every time he does a Kirby thing, we look at each other and smile. Every time he gets a McGwire look in his eyes, my heart melts a bit, and I am reminded of a very dear friend.

Welcome to our home, Tobi!