Sig's doing fantastic. COVID kicked off and since then he and the farm have been a great source of normalcy and I've been extremely thankful to have that one consistent factor in my life. This summer was very crazy and unhappy professionally - I was the only officer in the detachment, working the commander roles as well as several other jobs in addition to my normal job titles. I didn't get out and about with Sig very much as a result, and this whole year since arriving to KY has just been one professional frustration after another.
But this fall I've decided to have work life balance, to take morning lessons during the week and work virtually twice a week to accommodate that. I'm protecting my downtime and weekends. And more importantly, lately Sig and I have had a lot more consistency in training and have been having some adventures of our own.
For the two people who actually read this blog, check out his Instagram for more regular updates:
https://www.instagram.com/sibelius_mb/
Quick summary of what's been happening lately:
1. He's getting a custom saddle, I ordered a new Palm Beach from Voltaire and turned in the BlueWing. It wasn't the best fit and I never loved it, I'm hoping this will be the end of the saddle journey with something custom built for the two of us. For now he's living in Soon's CWD, which if shimmed, he seems perfectly happy in.
2. He was started on a hind gut ulcer supplement as he had some pretty remarkable inconsistency with his attitude and behavior. So much so that over the summer we were honestly wondering if he was going to work out long term...for about a month or so I was going back and forth on selling him and hopefully finding him a better fit elsewhere. He was oddly spooky and much more reactive from the spring into the summer, but about two months ago he went on the supplement and the turnaround has really been remarkable. He's way, way less reactive. Our cool, sweet, sleepy Sig is back both on the ground and undersaddle. As a result he's way more consistent in our jump lessons and my Snuggles is back. 😊💙 Suffice it to say that thoughts of selling him are off the table and I'm back looking forward to a very, very fun (and hopefully long) future with this amazing boy. He's just so fun with everything.
3. We're exploring more rollback turns and bending lines over fences, he's getting pretty handy!
4. Still no flying changes. I schooled simples one day and he gave me one clean (perfect!!) flying change on purpose, but so far just the one. I've shelved the flying changes schooling and have gone back to more canter loops, counter canter work, and simple changes for now. Might revisit later this fall or wait until the spring.
5. Signed up for an Anne Kursinski clinic! It's next month down the road at a friend's farm. Very excited and feeling good about it! Fingers crossed this time I finally get to ride with her. We went on a field trip yesterday to Cloud Nine Farm where the clinic is being held, and got to ride with Stevie. It was a great experience, everyone was super friendly and welcoming, and it Sig was foot perfect the entire day. He seriously acted like a seasoned pro, no fuss at all and I was so proud on how he handled himself and how he improved throughout the lesson. Videos on the IG embeds below.
6. We did a groundwork clinic at the end of July (early Aug?) and he conquered his complete fear of the giant ball! We revisit this every now and then and he's been so super. After allowing him the option to be brave and go forward on his own, he's definitely gained a lot of confidence with "scary" objects and it helped his mentality a lot. Extra bonus: found out yesterday he even self-loads in the trailer! 😏
He's looking absolutely fantastic right now, topline looks amazing and he's matured so, so nicely. Though at the moment he's definitely getting fuzzier than I remember him getting this time last year, so...I guess that mean's he'll be getting his super sexy trace clip a little earlier than usual? We'll see!
Grateful to have discovered your blog! quite by accident, I stumbled upon your story about traveling to England! And posted a long comment and looking forward to following your adventures with Sig!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Vicky Baze