Well, all in all we are back to 100% outside of the size of fences we are jumping.

Frankie has decided that he forgot how to jump fences and would much prefer to rocket ship over them. To make things even more interesting, for me, if I put the pelham on him he gets all up and down – even with the curb chain OFF – then crawls to the fence only to launch 150,000 mph over the fence. However, if I put the regular D ring in his mouth my arms get ripped off and we are still going about 100,000 mph over the fence!

Now we are only jumping little fences, no bigger than 3’3″ and probably closer to 2’9″-3′. I actually jumped him every day last week. These fences were 2’6″ at the biggest. Frankie doesn’t have much respect for these fences so they do not back him off at all. However, I still expect him to be relaxed and calm. No need to shoot over a little fence. It is really just a elevated canter stride for him.

So I bit the bullet and bought a Myler D ring with lifters. Since I was really looking for a bit in between a pelham and a D ring, that seemed like the logical choice.

Sure enough, Mr. Frank was able to pull (because he likes that) but still be respectful and NOT pull my arms off. We were both happy and were able to quietly canter around a little course.

The weather was terrible this week so I have not jumped him since last Saturday. He has been a rock-star though. Just a solid worker. We are both enjoying ourselves even if it is flat-work.

Now I have been riding without spurs just because I had been getting lazy and not effectively using my leg and automatically going to the spur. Common for anyone riding with spurs everyday. The horse gets dull but you know what…so does the rider!

Frankie has been good with it, but I might start riding with spurs again just so I can get a little better forward canter and trot. He isn’t being lazy and is doing inter-gait transitions well, I just need a little extra for an extended trot or a really big canter. Jumping I will probably keep the spurs off until we are jumping bigger.

Frankie’s health has been on the rocks. Bouts of diarrhea continue to hit him and I’m getting very frustrated. I need to seriously evaluate things and figure out how I can fix this problem. He has NEVER had this issue until about a year ago. I worry that he is on the verge of a big colic and I don’t want that to happen.

He has always been a strangely sensitive horse, but this is not normal for him, it has become “normal” over the past 8-10 months and I for one don’t like it and I’m sure he doesn’t like it either.

I will update soon…hopefully with some pictures!