Sweet As Sugar

Despite my life feeling entirely upside down, I have actually been back to working regularly with Queen Kai.  I was having some doubts and wondered if she and I were meshing, as her attitude was growing yet again, and she seemed to become overly sensitive in the process, which had me scratching my head....

As well, I have been dealing with trying to put weight on her, and I'm trying to find that happy balance of adding more calories without necessarily adding more energy..  For the time being, I simply upped her pelleted feed from half a scoop of Masterfeeds Podium, to a full scoop.  I also decided to try adding Aloe Vera to her ration after hearing from a lot of  people, especially OTTB owners, how they had such fantastic success for sensitive tummies!  I was in the city for work earlier this week, so I decided to stop at Wal Mart and pick some up as I had heard it was the cheapest place to get it. So I bought 2 large jugs and I was on my way. Ironically, that night I saw a fresh thread on Horse Grooming Supplies regarding Aloe Vera Juice, and many presented facts that were contradictory to everything I had heard previously.  I made the decision to give it a try regardless, because i'm frugal AF and didn't want to pour it down the drain without giving it a shot.... much to my surprise, I really feel as though it's making a difference.  She's far less sensitive to the touch in her stomach/flank area, and has been sweet as sugar to work with this past week!

Earlier this week I did some brief lunge sessions, but due to her lack of weight and muscle,  I chose to back off for a few days, and do some fun ground work instead.  Much to my surprise, she was fantastic on Tarp work, despite never having introduced it to her before.  She took one sniff, and happily plodded over on the end of the Lead Rope from both directions at a walk.  I wrapped up the session on a fantastic note, and turned her and her paddock-friend loose before picking up the tarp.  Her friend was absolutely terrified of this blue, eerily still horse-eating object, and Kai was quick to show her it was ok by stepping on it.  Eventually, the two lost interest and as such, I pulled the tarp out.  If there is anything I've learned with horses - Thoroughbreds especially - they will find something to hurt themselves on, and I had visions of one of them getting tangled in it, or worse...

Just the cutest.... 

I had a chiropractor out back in January as her SI Joint was clearly out of alignment.  The Chiropractor said she would come back in about a week to check all her adjustments stayed put - which I found a little surprising considering her SI was clearly still out of balance - and naturally, she never came back or made any effort to check her at any point afterward.. I was going to reach out to her recently, but she's incredibly busy and has some unfortunate things on her plate, and as a result I decided to contact another Chiropractor I have used in the past and hope that I have more success.  She's coming on Friday, so as a result I will continue to just lunge Kai in a Surcingle and work on her acceptance of the bit from the ground.  I feel as though she needs to build her topline and soften her back some, and her SI isn't helping... So until the next Chiropractic appointment, I will be just sticking to ground work and lunging for now.

Kai and I are entered into a show at the end of the month for Dressage In Hand, so I am really trying to build some muscle and add some weight to her before then. Truthfully, because I run the show and my VP will be soaking up the sun in Cuba, and I may end up scratching at the last minute.  That being said, even though I'm an incredibly competitive person, if Kai and I do walk through those gates into the arena, I will walk through with zero expectation.... at least, i'll try to!

I'm borrowing my friends Surcingle, which she sent along with side reins. I have used them the last 2 days, but tomorrow I am going to switch back to my Neck Stretcher/Bungee as I prefer it's action and I think Kai will as well.  I try to be relatively positive, and as I annoyingly watched my side reins bounce about as Kai trotted around the circle, I thought to myself 'well at least she should be tolerable of my sh!tty hands while I get my sea-legs back after not riding since October' haha.

 

Her Canter is slowly improving

In other news, last weekend Hubby and I took Nikki down south and dropped her off at the breeders - she should be being covered by Cherokee Country in the coming days!

Anyway, this post feels lame and poorly written, but that's all for now!