Calvin Update 7.26.15

The good news is Calvin was 100% sound when I jogged him the other day! I text the pictures of his foot injury to my trimmer and she asked "is that from him hitting himself or an abscess?" An abscess?! I might have freaked out a bit, abscesses take forever to heal and are so much work. Typically horses get abscesses from bruising,  it takes a days/week to show up and is typically caused by stone bruising (e.g. riding on too-rough terrain without hoof boots/shoes) that erupts later. Horse that have abscesses are usually dead lame, meaning they limp very severely. Luckily it wasn't an abscess and he's just clumsy.

He was sound after a few days, but I still gave him a week off of riding. Yesterday we did some arena work in the blazing sun. He was very distracted, trying to whinny at his buddies and not pay attention to me. However, I just did my best to keep his mind busy. For Calvin, this means asking him to move forward. He's a pretty lazy horse, so the answer to most of his distraction is asking him to go a bit faster, it get's him focusing back on his legs and makes the workout more strenuous. This tires him out pretty quickly since he's a bit out of shape (and slightly chubby), so it's win-win. By the end he was going long-and-low, stretching, and paying attention. 

 I'm trying really hard to only use my hands to keep his head and neck centered and using my legs to indicate which direction I want him to go. The goal of classical dressage is to have all movement, whether faster or slower, steering, etc., be based on legs and seat. While the hands just keep the horse centered and straight, or slightly bent if doing lateral work. The true test of this of course is to ride bridleless, that way you can only use legs to steer. However, we're not quite there yet ;) This is not seen often in modern dressage, where the riders are hanging off their horses mouths to make sure they don't run off. While this may win competition, this isn't what I consider good dressage. We don't mind taking things slower to make sure he's a happy horse that doesn't get burnt out on riding.

Speaking of taking things slow, here's a short video of Calvin and a sprinkler, he really enjoys water:

Calvin & the Sprinkler 

Ouch

Sometimes horses are dumb. Yesterday was one of those days for Calvin.

I was casually fly spraying the herd (quick back story: flies are terrible where I'm located which makes for some miserable horses). Flies typically leave Calvin's legs alone, but I noticed there were a few more than usual around his hoof. Upon closer inspection, I found this: 

Oh great, a hoof injury. I touched it and it was tender to the touch. Luckily it was a pretty clean scrape, no blood and will hopefully heal quickly. I jogged him in the soft arena dirt to check for lameness and there it was, a very slight hitch to his jog. So no riding for at least a week when I'll recheck it again.

Upper R of heel, slight rip

Not sure how it happened, my best guess is him stepping on himself while playing or being silly.  

He was sound enough to walk though, so I hand walked him around the property. We stopped for snacks along the way :)

Dead grass is better than no grass

The Road Less Traveled

Calvin and I had quite the adventure on yesterday's trail excursion. We hadn't been on trail in a few weeks and we were ready to go. Calvin is much better about heading out alone, there's a saying around the mustang community that says "the only way to get a mustang down the trail by themselves is either pushing or pulling." Well, that was pretty true with Calvin as he never willingly wanted to leave his buddies, but there was only minimal pushing this time (those plastic bags are monsters!).

Gotta toughen up these pretty hooves again! I can't get over how great they're starting to look.

"No thanks Mom, I'll just hang here with my new blonde girlfriend"

We took a new route today, one that loops to the back of the property that we hadn't been to in a while, they've been doing construction back there so it's been off-limits, but it was closed on Sunday. Once we reached the construction area, there were hoofprints so I figured we were clear to walk back there, no "keep out" signs or anything. Calvin did really well, I would have gotten pictures but I was wearing gloves (sun protection, yo!) and it doesn't work with my phone (#firstworldproblems). Anyway, it had a nice view of the mountains and we were above the trees for part of it. Calvin only briefly lost his mind when he saw construction fencing blowing in the wind.

Not on our trail (way too much grass), but a great example of what the horse-eating black fence looked like

So after a great trail ride we head back to the barn only to find they've blocked off the back entrance. Well, I sure as hell wasn't riding another 3 miles to the front entrance  in 12pm, 95º blazing sun. The back entrance barricade was a steep dirt pile. I decided to dismount because this dirt pile was concerning to Calvin. So I jumped down and hiked up this thing with Calvin in tow. The dirt was loose so we had a minor avalanche effect that made Calvin slightly worried, but he realized he wasn't falling pretty quickly and stood his ground despite the dirt sliding around him, good boy! Happy to be on the other side, I realized the back entrance to the property was fenced off :( Whoever put up the fence probably assumed no one in their right mind would go through the dense underbrush on either side and assumed this was sufficient to block horse and rider. But I don't have just any horse, I have a serious off-roading mustang! So we climb through some intense brush that ranged from knee height to up past my head. And keep in mind these are tumbleweed consistency plants that are overly dry and evil. However, my happy mustang had no problem stepping through the dense shrub that was touching his legs, belly, and his sides. Good horse.

Alright so we made it past the dirt barricade and the fence and shrub that underestimated my determination to get home. All clear right? We can head back? No. There's yet ANOTHER fence, this time creating a complete barrier with thick tree branches on either side. After climbing under the tree and realizing there's no way that I could fit a horse through there, it was either turn around and give up, or step over the 2.5' fence. Perhaps you can guess which I decided? If not, you underestimated my determination again because I said "Calvin you're stepping over this because I'll be damned if I just went through all this work to turn around." He didn't argue, but instead not-so-gracefully stepped on the fence and took it down. Oops. Luckily it broke cleanly and Calvin nonchalantly kept walking as if breaking a fence is nothing new (yeah it's definitely not anything new). Now I don't recommend breaking down fences to go somewhere off-limits, but if you find you're accidentally off-limits and just want to get home, sometimes you just do what you have to do. 

Horse-1, Safety Fence-0 (Again not my picture, just a representation of "safety fence")

I was really proud that Calvin trusted me enough to follow me over all sorts of terrain and obstacles. This proves to me that if there's ever any type of emergency that requires leaving the groomed path and going over/through truly wild terrain, Calvin will willingly do so. I believe this level-headedness that Calvin exhibited in new and difficult circumstances is what makes a truly spectacular trail horse.

Post-workout reward: a bunch of carrots and the usual buffet of hay with good company

Sun Protection for Riding

Did I mention it's hot? And I know most of you locals are thinking "It's only going to get worse," and you'd be right! However, that doesn't change the fact that I'm mourning the springtime cooler temps, what I wouldn't give for a few 50ºF days. Meanwhile, we're an 11 on the UV index scale:

Extreme! I know many people in Europe and the rest of the US are experiencing high temps now too. But stay inside from 10-4? Pfft, those are some unrealistic standards.

As far as sun protection goes, I'm one of those people that uses sunscreen *all the time.* Anytime I know sun is going to hit my skin, whether that's in the winter or summer, I put on sunscreen. Luckily my mom was always shoving sunscreen on me and I was able to ward off serious burns in my childhood (thanks mom!). Once upon a time I tried to tan, I'd go hang out at the beach or pool soaking up the rays. However, I never tanned very easily and had to use sunscreen or else I'd burn. Then by the time I was finally tan (September) it would be winter and all that work vanished. Thankfully my stupid younger-self never did use tanning beds, something about paying money for something you can get for free I just couldn't do, and now I'm so glad I didn't. 

I don't have any desire to look like most horse trainers who spend hours in the sun without sunscreen. These people get a deep tan in their 20s that later turns into leather skin past 30.

Guess which twin spent more time indoors vs. outside? These twins aren't trainers, but sun exposure is sun exposure. 

Elaine gets it

My current sunscreen was out, so I decided to research on sunscreens. I'd heard some speculation and wanted to clear things up, specifically "anything over 30 SPF is negligible." Well, I found myself on a research journey that was very complex. I'll spare you most of the details, but I'll give you the gist: 

• SPF is only one portion of sun protection and only protects against UVBs, hence it's important to get UVA/UVB protection (you probably already knew this) 
• UVAs are the pigment darkening and tanning rays that penetrate the deepest into the skin
• US sunscreen that also has UVA protection is labeled as "broad spectrum." 
• There's not any specified amount of UVA protection required for the broad spectrum label

However, Japan takes skincare seriously, so they developed a UVA rating called "PA" (protection grade of UVA) that at this time has four levels PA+ (2-4 PPD), PA++ (4-8 PPD), PA+++ (8-16 PPD), and PA++++ (16+). As someone who has no desire to be tan anymore, nor have tan lines that are awkward (thanks horseback riding & cycling haha), this was a welcome surprise. No sunscreen protects against 100% of UVA and UVB rays, but I believe it's close to 98% at this time with 50+ SPF and PA++++

Japanese sunscreen available on Amazon, these are 50+SPF and PA++++! The Biore "Perfect milk" is waterproof/sweatproof so good for riding. I use the Aqua Rich for everyday use such as driving to the office, or anytime I'm outside but not active. 

2015 years! Also, because you may be put-off by the ingredients you may or may not be able to read, there is a fabulous young lady that translated all of them for us, visit her page here for more info.

The only problem is the sunscreen is very small (40ml). My research said this is because the Japanese prefer to carry it with them and also because they wear more protective clothing instead of relying on sunscreen. 

My hand as reference for small sunscreen: note I do not have small hands lol

I spot tested these bad boys just to make sure my skin didn't react negatively to unique ingredients. Once I waited 24 hours, I was in the clear and wow, are these sunscreens amazing. AMAZING. Seriously it is light years away from US sunscreen in terms of comfort, I've always hate putting on sunscreen because it's so gross and greasy. Not this sunscreen though, once you get past the weird texture (it really is like milk), it soaks into your skin and I honestly can't tell it's even there. Highly recommend!

I've also been eyeing Smartpak's website for lightweight, long-sleeved, UV protective shirts too so that I can also use less sunscreen. It says they're good for humidity, which we don't experience much of here, but they're also good for high temps which would be ideal. 

The two I'm seriously considering: Under Armour UPF 50+ and Tailored Sportsman UPF 50+, they come in such fun colors!

Also seriously considering looking like a dork serious endurance competitor and attaching a huge visor (also UPF 50+) to my helmet:

Featured: "Da Brim" visor. For men and women, we don't discriminate around here. 

This is the price we pay for not having a true winter around these parts I suppose. Excuse me while I go slather on more sunscreen and hide in the shade...

Update 7.1.15

I've been so busy lately with finals and work, but now I may have a bit more time to update and ride. Now that it's summer, it's starting to get HOT. My Calvin training schedule has been light due to both of these factors. When I'm out at the barn I'll typically either turn him out to run, or lunge him in side reins. I'm often too tired and hot by the end of all my barn chores to actually ride. Although lately I've had some time to bareback him around the property in a halter and leadrope, for the most part he's too hot and tired to put up a fight that I can't control with just a halter. He doesn't seem to mind the lighter schedule either.

Exactly!

It's funny to see Calvin as the lead horse in the pasture, he herds everyone around. He'll even pin his ears and shoo the new male away. It's so strange to see him acting tough now, guess he's growing up and learning when to stick up for himself. The new mare in the pasture loves Calvin, she nickers to him whenever he leaves or comes back, it's pretty cute. It's good to know that since I can't make it every day to ride, he has plenty of company to keep him busy and happy. I'm also very happy with his new barefoot trimmer, he moves better than before and his hooves look great. Other than that, nothing new going on. Hopefully this summer we'll have the chance to trailer somewhere and go on trails, give him a vacation from his "intense" dressage training ;)