Whats up with Elton

Elton John TL who will turn four  in June attended his very first show ever  the weekend of January 7/8. He was quiet and amenable. . He made friends cheerfully with the horse in the stall  next door ( a Grand Prix horse  named Travolta from British Columbia who has London aspirations…. We wish him the best J  ) He never batted an eye about the environment  and went out to do his first test ever of Training level test 3 and achieved a 66%. His second test of the first day I knew would be a stretch for his skills and he showed slight fatigue on the footing  of sand  but accomplished First level test one with no breaks , errors or resistances and received  63%. Certainly workman –like for a horse that had not been to a horse show at all. The ladies at the food vendor tent  loved him. While  out for our early morning stroll, I stopped for a cup of Joe. He was rewarded with a fresh banana free from the food vendor ladies  for being so amenable  and hanging around so quietly while we all enjoyed a morning chat and coffee.

What’s Up with Elton?

Maine experienced a lovely mild fall this year and that allowed lots of riding time. Elton who had become a bit chunky on the lush grass this summer needed to slim down. Diligently I worked on increasing his work time without adding to his ”ride”  time. Elton foaled June 26, 2008 so he was only 3 in June . I am still riding only 20 minutes and not more than 4 days a week.

He balanced out his height over the fall and looks level again but when I sticked him he is at 15 hands. Breeder Deb Tyler says he may grow until he is 7. For the first time, Elton showed some strong independence, and began to be more assertive. This fall he started to throw in an occasional buck at the canter depart and totally surprised me one day while I was lunging him outdoors. Elton who is generally even tempered about everything started cavorting around on the lunge line and passaging with his tail over his back. I was surprised as this is out of character. With patience and lots of transitions he finally began to work in a normal quiet temper. It took a while to figure out that the footing was unusually loose and his bucking and cavorting was precipitated by the footing slipping under him and also flinging up on him. He is not a large horse and his feet are not big. Larger footed horses manage differently in soft footing.  Most of the footing he has been worked on is a little firmer and so this was a change for him. Keeping that in mind when we begin to go showing will be important as it points out that he may need adjustment time on footing changes and might not be ‘quiet” immediately.

Elton’s fall work consists of 6 to 8 minutes of lunging in side reins with lots of trot/canter transitions followed by 20 minutes of riding. His under saddle work is warm-up with  the training level test movements and schooling the first level movements. His “new” under saddle work is shoulder-in at the walk and  developing ½ pass at the walk. On the days that he is not ridden I alternate free lunging in the in-door arena and lunging in large oval loops on side reins. Twice or 3 times a week he does 2-3 minutes of developing piaffe against the wall of the arena in his bridle with an in-hand whip.  In reality he is currently worked in a month 18 days ( one week 5 days , next week 4 days -still not more that 4 days in a week  weight bearing.)

 Through the fall Elton  has begun to slim down and gain muscle. Technically he is considered four  starting January 1 and is eligible for the FEI 4 year old tests in competition.  I have been riding the test for 3 weeks but find the pattern awkward and confusing… it is difficult to judge also as it has transitions in awkward places and I do not think it has good flow for a young horse. An example is a transition out of  lengthening trot to walk  that occurs ON  the end of the diagonal… allowing the horse to think that it is ok to ‘break” on the diagonal.  Elton is a fine example of a well balanced biddable attractive young horse . His training is well ahead of most at his age but I do not think I will put him in this test. Elton’s strengths lie in his training and trainability rather than flamboyant gaits. The FEI  test is designed to single out horses with world-class gaits. Elton  will fare well I think in traditional competition. We will begin to take him to competitions in Florida in January to allow him to see everything and to settle in. The fees for non-competing horses are the same as entering a class so we will enter him into some classes but wait to see how he is to decide if we will actually go in the ring. Elton has been to this point an excellent traveler  and has been reliable in his attitude and behavior. It is my hope that he will settle in with aplomb.

More important than going in the ring will be the complete exposure to the competitions, such as dealing with overnight stabling in an unfamiliar place without his barn buddies, seeing the entire grounds which are much like the HITS on HUDSON grounds in Saugerties NY where our regional finals are held and last but probably the most difficult the warm-up arenas. The warm-up at the large competitions have very large rings and may have as many as 30 to 40 horses at once and all levels working. That can be way more of a problem then going in a dressage arena  all alone with just the  judge and the flower pots. Believe me after a busy warm-up it is a RELIEF to get in the ring by yourself and be able to concentrate!

This week Elton has had a body clip- all but his lower legs and head. He was very polite, no drugs or twitch necessary. I was pleased as he had only been clipped once last year and I had not used the clippers this year in between.  I recommend to all the horses arriving in Florida to have their clip 2 weeks before arrival. If their hair is too short when they arrive the horses invariably break out in hives. The soil of Florida has a high salt content and of course different bacteria from what they are used to at home. It is generally a case of contact dermatitis either from different bacteria or from the salt. Either way, if they have had two weeks to grow out hair  after their clip the horses are generally more comfortable and avoid that irritation.

 He has had his shots spread out over a month and the full spectrum wormer ( must be done two weeks ahead of departure and best  after the ground freezes)  so he is pretty much ready for his trip south. Just the last 2  days we will give him paste  electrolytes to be sure he is well hydrated and withdraw his concentrated feeds 12 hours before.  We will keep up a steady work regime until his departure Dec 19 for Florida.

Maine is a great place to be with a horse in the summer. The days are warm and the nights are cool. Elton blossomed over the summer here. June was filled with 3 or 4 days a week  of training for him. He was three years old  on June 6 and he had been trained continuously 11 months about 3-4 days a week.  His under saddle work has progressed but he is still on only 20 minutes of actual carrying of weight.  He  easily cantered the long side of the in-door and went around the short side in counter canter returning to true canter on the diagonal with ease. His trot work was full of centerlines and three loop serpentines from first level test one.

 Mid- July brought us a change. Mark and I took a much needed two weeks off  to enjoy and help with son Thomas and Britny’s wedding  and then a few days of camping to rest. Our barn manager’s daughter Starr is a mature teen who I engaged to do some things with Elton during this hiatus.  Starr arranged for grazing walks, baths on hot days, long grooming sessions, lunging off his halter and some ‘play” time in the in-door arena. I encouraged Starr to “play” with Elton. Summer brings us youngsters riding camp and mentally handicapped riding programs and consequently we have a great assortment of interesting things daily in the in-door. They range from beach balls, to road cones, tarps, tiny jumps, hoola hoops and assorted toys. I asked Starr to encourage Elton to “play” with her . He especially like to play ”ball” with her with an underinflated soccer ball that he could pick up with his mouth. In addition Starr ‘played ‘ with him  asking him to follow  her around and over all new obstacles and have  some ‘fun”.  It is important that it is not always only work when the young horses are taken to the arena. Those horses that are naturally claustrophobic can become increasingly stressed in the arena if they are always pressed when there.  I checked in occasionally with Starr and she reported that Elton was happy and all was well.

 In August my  work included  a  heavy judging  schedule and lots of clinics organized  all

Elton and Ida

over the country   to get  clients ready for their on-coming national championships. Elton who had been level throughout the spring now appeared to be croup high and having a growing spell.  With other horses in training that  needing my attention I decided to continue to focus on  non-riding work for Elton through August.  In-hand work is normally done in his bridle and I wear gloves, helmet and boots or clogs . ( and with horses not as well trained I wear my eventing vest).  At this point he  is so well mannered that we could occasionally do some of this work in his halter. This is very unusual. We “played” with the beginning of the piaffe. Some days we would step up to the wall ,do two diagonal pairs , have a treat and leave the arena. Some days we would do it several times and play  with the ball or free lunge. There is never any pressure. For quite some time Elton clearly keyed off my feet. If I piaffed with my feet he got the idea .Very light taps of the whip gave him the timing and idea to move from foot to foot.  He is now clearly showing a lifting of his neck and shoulders and a lowering of his croup while showing a diagonal step or two   without stress. 

Elton free- walk

Today,  Labor Day  I have re-commenced  his under saddle work . After a five minutes lunging with short side reins I rode him and  he easily accomplished his trot tour staying steadily in the bridle and had no difficulties with his counter- canters across the short end of the in-door arena. He has admittedly gained a bit of weight from our lush pastures and less work but seems happy  and is clearly re-freshed  for his change of routine. We are looking forward to the falls fresh weather and fine  foliage!