Impending Snow....

I went to visit Dani on Thursday.  I didn't groom her or anything, I just hung out with her as she ate.  I played with her mane and ran my hands down her legs.  That was the extent of my being a horse mom.

 

The outdoor arena is saturated with water and half melted snow and we are expecting a blizzard this weekend too so it will only get worse.  Hopefully soon with the daylight savings time change the arena will eventually be available for use in the evenings again.  I'm so excited!!!

 

When I can to visit Dani she was eating hay with Rock.  Someone had done rocks scant mane up in little "nubbins".  He looked so cute! 

 

Anyhow there is nothing better than the sound of content horses munching on hay and snorting.  I love it!  I rest my head on Dani's back as she ate and scratched her chest.  I love her.

 

Today I went out to get in a short ride before the blizzard descended.  I knew I wouldn't see Dani on Saturday because either I would be in Denver for the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo or I would be stuck in my house because the roads were bad and I wouldn't be traveling.  We'll have to see.  It's 11:30pm as I write this and nothing has started just yet but I'm farther south than the main area of impact.

 

Anyhow, I rode Dani again at the walk in the indoor.  She was good for mounting but walked off once I was aboard.  Still work to do but I have to remember that Willy would walk off right as I was trying to mount so she's at least not doing that.  We did some work on stops and spiraling.  Nothing is perfect yet but we'll keep working at it.  I really want to get some more lessons with Laurie but I have $200 I want to pay off for a Bill Me Later thing on PayPal and then build up a little more savings before I can justify buying the lessons.  This is of course after having to replace shocks on my car in addition to the usual monthly cost of keeping Dani happy! Spring shots are coming up so I need to think of those as well!  I plan on totaling my yearly expenses come the one year anniversary of horse ownership just for others to understand real expenses.

 

 

Dani was doing really well with halts at the end of the ride, I barely had to use the reins.  I was so proud.  A couple times during the ride she was distracted.  The mare that bosses her around, Jonie I think, left the arena, and Dani neighed a few times in distress.  I'm still working on being her main "lead mare".  I directed her into a tighter spiral and then worked on disengaging her hindquarters.  Another thing that occurred was the Bobcat outside was making some noises outside the "garage style" door to the arena and I noticed Dani sort of spooked at the sounds.  I made her circle near the area that was scary. 

 

On a side note I just have to say, the two other riders that were in the arena with me were both riding bareback....walk, trot and canter and I was thoroughly impressed!!  Perhaps someday I'll be there, perhaps not but wow!  I wish that I had stayed riding very regularly all through my college years, it's hard starting up again that's for sure.  My biggest advice to young riders, STAY WITH IT!!!  Even if you just lease a horse and ride once a week, keep going and keeping with the riding.  Being away, you lose that secure feeling in yourself and have to back track and that can take a long time!  I unfortunately had other priorities in college and I really regret that.

 

 

Anyways, back to the precious present, all in all Dani and I had a good ride, still at the walk but I want to feel really confident with her before moving on.  I feel I'm still getting used to her and still getting her used to the cues I use so taking it slow is fine.  Anyhow, she was really cute while grooming her, turning her head to look at me in that Dani way.  It's a curious look and I can't understand what she is thinking.  Perhaps I take too long to groom her?  LOL.  I bundled her up in her layered blanket and even put her hood on since the wind and wet snow could be chilling.  When it's snowy out, the stalled horses are usually outside in their runs and caked with snow.  Their necks all the way to their ears are crusted with frozen snow and ice.  It's interesting because they can easily hang out in the stall but choose to be in the open cold air.  I think worrying about our equine babies is a human thing, they seem to relish the cold and outdoors. 

 

 

So, hopefully I can go to the expo tomorrow but I'm not going to risk dealing with all the crazy drivers on the road if I don't have to.  Bummer though if I have to stay home; but I have plenty of things I can to get done and there are other horse events coming this summer.

 

 Stay warm and have happy rides, hopefully where ever my riders reside, they have nice weather and can get some horse time this weekend!

Fuzzy wuzzy was a horse

Willy is getting his winter coat in, and fast!  I often wonder if it occurs faster in an older horse.  So of the other horses at the farm are not at the level Willy is, he's looking more like a miniature mammoth than a horse!  Hahaha, not really!

When I got him from his paddock today he was covered in hay dust.  His head, face and half of his mane was flecked with bits of hay pieces.  He was a real mess!  I prettied him up, got him tacked up and decided to do some work in the smalled arena, the one that doesn't slope.  I mounted from the ground since I want to practice that more.  Lately I've used the mounting block, just cause.  I've been trying hard to mount with my foot pointed towards the horses head, parallel to their body, that way I don't poke them in the elbow with my toe as I mount up.  I've discovered that's what I've been doing so I'm trying to work on correcting that error.  It's almost like starting all over again learning how to mount but you don't get extra points for mounting with elegance at least!

Looking downhill at the larger/sloped arena

I worked a little on posting trot since I'd been working on that with Laurie on Friday.  I tried to feel where my feet were and occasionally glanced down to indeed see that I would point my toes down.  I worked hard keep my toes in and up.  At one point my right foot ached on the outer edge, not sure if it was from the work or the way the boot was hitting me.  It was odd.

Willy has been more reluctant to move forwards in the arena the last few times.  It takes a lot to ask him to trot and when he starts the trot it's with a slight toss of his head and a begrudging grunt.  He doesn't seem to be in pain or have a limp.  Is this an older horse thing?  We went around the ring in both directions and I feel that my posting and leg position eventually got to the place I wanted.  I then swung open the gate and rode around the outside of the bigger arena, trotting a few times and practicing a few halts.

Then I took Willy out to the Eggar road for a "trail" ride.  I wanted to see the mountains on this glorious day.  The sky was a cobalt blue and the clouds were pure white and wispy.  As we reached the crest of the road where we could see a nice view of the front range I sighed in contentment.  Oh to be fall and riding a horse, it can't get more perfect than this!  The clouds by the mountains were casting a shadow creating a dark purple/blue hue to enrich the hills.  It was breath taking.  On our way back to the stable we passed the field with the horses and donkey.  The donkey always seems to greet us as we pass and this time we got a close up look at the mare and her foal.  I need to bring a camera out next time!

Fuzzy and Sweaty Girth area

Once back at the stable I pulled off Willy's saddle and hopped up on bareback to walk around the stable yard while he cooled down and his girth area dried off.  Then I groomed him and led him back to his hay in his run.  I ran around to a couple different places in the yard where he had pood, he had to go a lot today!  I gave Willy a big hug rubbing his fuzzy coat.  Till next Sunday my silly Willy!

Bare Essentials

There are so many ways to ride a horse: English, English country pleasure, hunt seat, dressage, English side saddle, western, western pleasure, roping, western sidesaddle and then you can get into the country specific ways to ride a horse such as a Peruvian Paso or the Arabian horse. Most times riding a horse involves a saddle of some sort. The saddle provides, theoretically, comfort for the human rider and comfort for the vehicular equine; though there are arguments against this in regards to both species.

I remember only two times riding a horse bareback. Once was a when I was around 12 during a Breyer horse show at the 4-H grounds in Loudon County Virginia. The horses stabled there were used for therapedic riding; which I had often helped along side my mother during the summer months. My favorite horse was a Meiko, a bay gelding that was very gentle and sweet. I simply adored him but of course never got to ride him. A group of girls were out in the paddock during the lunch break and a couple of girls were mounting up on the horses bareback. Peer pressure or just pure desire to be on the back of my handsome steed led me to hop up on Meeko and ride him around the paddock; though the ride lasted under a minute. He trotted a bit and then I dismounted at the first call of alarm from other kids that the adults had caught us in the act…uh-oh. I don’t regret it; even though we were not allowed to go ride the horses, for our safety I’m sure, it was still a thrill to ride my love!


The other time was right after a lesson on BC, my favorite chestnut Thoroughbred lesson horse from my later riding years as a kid (I think mainly late middle school early high). When BC was all groomed down my instructor let me hop up and ride him as she led him to the pasture. BC was 16 hands, maybe a bit shorter; not a really tall height for a Thoroughbred so it was easy to get boosted up onto his red back. The ride was short and sweet and slippery if I recall.

This past Sunday I decided to try Willy out bareback. I was pretty tired from spending a week for business in Atlanta, GA and I had not seen Willy for 14 days so I wanted to have a nice relaxing ride with him and not work too hard. I missed not seeing him the last Sunday so it was good to see his sweet little face again. I groomed him up in the indoor ring and bridled him. He sort of looked at me like I was forgetting something as I led him off to the mounting block. I stepped up on the block and swung my leg over his back and kind of scrambled around to get in the right position, yeah this was easier when I was a kid! Then I walked him around the ring doing circles and figure eights while concentrating on the movement of my seat. I could definitely feel his backbone along with his muscles as he swayed front to back and side to side. Honestly, I don’t think bareback is the most comfortable way to ride. I see a lot of people using a bareback pad or a blanket to sit on but then to me, that’s not bareback so why bother; just put on a saddle. We lazily walked about the ring for a bit before I dismounted and fetched the saddle to get some serious work done.

Sleepy Willy



My main goal was to keep him trotting continuously in the ring. He doesn’t have a problem on the “trail” but going in circles he trots for a bit and then wants to quit. I get a pretty big work out trying to squeeze him back into the trot so I brought my old faithful crop with me to use as a reminder. Just having a crop in the hand often times is enough with most horses but the occasional tap after Willy ignored my legs also did the trick. I was tired and I’m sure Willy wanted back to his hay so I groomed him down and brought him back to his pen. Until next week my little bay friend!