Time Constraints and Nerves

I’ve had my mare for two months now and have not been on her back since I first gave her a trial and rode her during Laurie’s evaluation.  Yes, I finally have a saddle, purchased a little over two weeks ago and yet I have done no more then set the saddle on her, cinch it up and check its fit.  I will admit I am nervous about riding her for sure.  Before purchasing her I had three falls that scared me to death.  There are a lot of other factors recently that have prevented me from going out to the stable much and of course I haven’t had a good slot of time that has enabled me to ride. 

The week after I purchased the saddle I went out to check on how it fit and realized that I needed a longer girth.  So I spent one evening after work going to Dover to get the right girth.  That was pretty much my whole evening so I was only able to drop off the new girth and pet Dani in the field.  The next day I tried on the girth.  Then I got the bridle and found it way too big with no way to make it smaller.  I had to go home to switch out for my cob sized bridle.  That evening I spent time adjusting and walking Dani around with the saddle on to check the fit. 


The weekend of December 1st I had some obligations with my husband; we looked at a truck (we’ve been in need of a second vehicle since June when Steve’s car died).  Luckily with Steve traveling he never really needed a car but we’ve borrowed my parents extra car for times he was home and I had gotten to the point that I felt we’d over used the privilege.  I wanted to get the spare car back to my parents.  We found a great truck, under the Kelley Blue Book and then the next couple evenings during the following week I worked with the bank to get the loan.  Then I had a weird head thing, my hearing was off and I was a bit dizzy.  No help from the doctors either.  I certainly was not going to ride like that!

This past Saturday we finally purchased the truck and dropped it at the mechanics to get some items taken care of, we also had our Christmas party so between all of that I had no time to even see Dani, let alone ride her.  Lately I’ve just had a ton of errands to run with getting ready for the holidays and getting ready to have house guests again.

Yesterday I had to run a ton of errands and was only able to see Dani to take care of her hooves and put on a warmer blanket due to the snow.  Today I will see her for a decent amount of time but tomorrow, Steve’s work party is going on and then Thursday we have to run the car back up to my parents who live an hour away.  Steve’s parents will be coming in sometime the end of this week but they are not needy so I know I can get away after work and weekend mornings to see Dani.  Steve’s daughter will be in from the 22nd until nearly the end of the year, I won’t have much time while she’s here to spend quality time with Dani since I want to spend quality time with Steve’s daughter!

It’s unending but I guess that’s this time of the year.  I know Dani is doing fine; I am dying to have a consistent schedule to see her, do the Clinton Anderson stuff and actually ride my beautiful Morgan.  I don’t feel that the lack of training or riding the past month is really going to affect her adversely.  Though it is making me wonder if it would be a good idea to do a partial lease on her for someone who could ride her during the week, during the day.  Hmm….not sure how I feel about that thought.

I am so done with leasing....

This last experience has been horrendous and taken every last breath of sanity I have left.  There have been many instances that have occurred that have made me seriously regret my leasing of Millie and this recent one in regards to a miscommunication about turn out and a misrepresentation of turn out in the leasing contract, that I have finally thrown my hands up and said, "Enough!"


1) I have been required by my contract to muck the stall each time I go out which is fine, I always did that with Willy's stall even though it was not required in that contract.  The only time on Wednesday I've been going out is after work and all summer it has been during a thunderstorm with lightning too close for comfort (not something to mess with out here).  Needless to say I have not ridden on MANY of my designated days so in essence have paid $200 a month to muck a stall!


2) Multiple times when I have been out to the stable there has been an accusation by another boarder that I knocked over her equipment or used her materials, neither of these things have I done, in fact I have replaced knocked off items (the most recent one being a screw driver laying on the floor) and been very conscientious about cleaning any tiny amount of manure that looked like it spilled from Millie's pen to Misty's (since Millie's stall is uphill of hers) 
3) I have not been having fun with Millie (can you tell by the amount of posts I've made since the lease started?) any techniques I have learned on Divine have not worked with her and I have not been able to work on any riding objectives I've wanted to.  I don't know if it's her training but I'm so frustrated that I don't want to go out there anymore...I don't even see the point


4) I'm tired of the situation at the facility and worried because of the upkeep at the facility that any injuries incurred to Millie because of the facility issues could be viewed as my liability


a) broken fences in her paddock (I ended up duct taping the ends so it was at least semi safe for the horses and to this day the farm still has not been repaired)
b) barbed wire fencing in the pasture (many areas in back of the pasture I have noted are very dangerous for a horse with loose, loopy wire and bent posts where a horse could easily cut a tendon)
c) the waterer issue, many times I stayed later than intended after my ride to make sure Millie had water in the bucket since the water only trickled out, it took forever.  I also purchased a bucket since the owner did not have one on hand and never asked her to pay me back.
d) The arena fencing was bent inwards for so long causing a hazard to horses and riders alike.  I wonder if a boarder eventually fixed it since Terri, the owner of Millie, has had to fix knocked out walls in her stall in the past since the boarding facility has not held up their end of the bargain


6) I've disliked the nasty attitude of the people that own the facility, even Terri is afraid to ask the people to fix something for fear she'll be kicked out of the facility.  Really?  I would have left ages ago!  How can someone tolerate being made to feel like you are putting them out to take care of the horse you are paying them to take care of?


7) The manure pile is also not being either spread, composted or disposed of properly.  In El Paso County manure cannot be piled up to just sit indefinitely, it has to be composted properly, regular thrown out in the garbage or spread thinly over a field so it dries quickly and reduces chances of fly breeding.  Even Susan's facility had a regular (weekly) trash pick up of the manure pile. I know that there is no facility that can be perfect but I guess what I find deplorable some people find acceptable.  Facilities at least need to be clean and safe.


8) The turn out pastures were for a few hours a day (hardly any time for a horse) and I needed prior approval to release Millie with other horses, from the owner and from the other horses owner.  I received that a couple months ago with Misty, Millie's neighbor.  Apparently something changed and Frieda didn't want Millie out with Misty anymore but this was never conveyed to me.  The contract also did not state I needed to ask the permission each and every time I release Millie on pasture.  Terri stated it had to be every time, I mentioned it didn't state that in the contract so I cannot be held responsible since I DID have prior permission, it had never been revoked.  Uge.  In hindsight I should have required her to write up an agreement on each and every horse Millie could be released with and had her and I and the other horse owner sign it so I had documentation for the permission.  Either that or I just should have left poor Millie in her pen gazing at the other horses in the pasture.


So I'm out $400 for the last two months and I don't care, I'm just glad to be out of the situation.  I could go after Terri for the last two months lease because she did not have a clause about early termination of the lease but I'm tired of dealing with her and hearing about some sort of accusation from the neighboring horses owner on a weekly basis.  I've research contract law and her contract is not as tight as she would try and have someone believe.


I'm just set on paying off debt, saving up money and buying my horse this spring, so I can settle into horse ownership, get training with the horse when I need it and continue lessons with Laurie on my own horse (trailer willing!).  Just wish I had not done this lease at all, $1200 could have been a lot of riding lessons with Laurie or a bill paid off....uge.  We live we learn, eh?


At least I've learned more about what signs I need to look for when I buy a horse, to take my time, since rushing into this lease was a VERY stupid mistake; to really get to know a horse and assess their training level.  A facility that is safe and has an indoor arena is a PRIORITY for a boarding place.  The price is worth it and I'm willing to pay for a nice facility that is up kept and has an indoor arena so I can ride with my limited schedule...and hopefully I can find one fairly close to either work or home!   I need to over analyze any contract I sign (including boarding agreements) and perhaps even have a legal person look over it...have money set aside for a lawyer just in case! 


I'm so tempted to "bring it on" but I'm just not like that.  The situation was getting bad, I wasn't having fun and I was being accused of things that were not true and I feared that I would get held liable for something that I did not do and have to go to court anyways!  I'm just glad to be rid of the situation!  Everyone, be very careful when you lease a horse and when you lease out your horse!  I saw so many loop holes in this contract that this lady could easily have been taken to the cleaners.  After finishing my end of the bargain and paying off the rest of the lease and mucking stall fees she still even had the nerve to say that I took advantage of her (referencing that it costs her $50 extra a month for mucking not $25 but sorry, $25 was in the contract she wrote).  She has $400 and $65 more for mucking I really didn't need to owe since I terminated the lease (contract law states that if there is not a termination clause deeming fines etc. that a contract can be terminated at any time unless otherwise written), with no lessee riding her horse for the next two months and that is taking advantage of her?!!!!???!!!  Hmm... 


Thanks everyone for letting me vent on this blog, I'm so angry at this situation and mostly angry that I was naive about the facility, the horse and the contract (which wasn't well written).  I've learned that legal documents need to be very specific.  In a court of law I don't think she would have much to stand on but again, it's something to remember for the future.  Cover my butt!  I have a nice riding lesson with Laurie to look forward to this Friday and now that Wednesdays are open I can see what would work best for Laurie and I's schedule.  I want to do two lessons for a little while since Laurie is working on my seat and balance with me...it's hard and frustrating and sometime I want to quit but darn it, I can do it!  Cherrio!

Trickles of water...

So days when I go out to see Millie, besides cleaning up the manure and grooming her I also refill her big bucket of water.

Her owner has decided that the automatic waterer is no good, and rightly so.  It's not consistant in refilling and then there is the issue that there is a lot of gunk and who knows what floating in the water.  It's disgusting.  I'll have to go with a flash light some day to get a picture of what I'm talking about but I know I've posted the rust bucket on here so you can guess the condition inside the water bowl!

I dump the big bucket, especially since I don't know how often that is done and it's pretty rancid smelling...I'm glad I dumped it!  Then I begin the refilling process.  The pump in the stall is great but EXTREMELY slow.  It just takes forever to fill a big bucket!  Oh well.

Guess I'll take pictures of Odie a cute weanling/yearling almost.  He is in love with Millie. 

Since I'm lazy I'll just post some more pictures of ponies....we all love pony pictures!

A Day Without Rain

I was pretty excited that today it was not raining and there was no sign of it not the horizon!!! I could actually go and ride on a Wednesday! I haven't done that in a while!!

I went out to the stable to see Millie, my bridle had collected a little bit of dust but that's not saying much, it's uncovered and the "tack room" is the feed area. It's pretty dusty with the hay bales and other supplies so things get dusty fast. My saddle is covered with an old towel since I'm going to wait to buy my real saddle once I have my horse and since it will be a dressage saddle I would need a different styled saddle case/bag or cover. I'm thinking a case will be the most versatile since I can carry it and put it in the trailer with more protection on it. I also plan on getting a synthetic Aussie saddle from Down Under Horse Tack (I'm butchering the name but it's an Aussie tack store in Denver). Then of course bridle bags etc.



Anyways I dust off the bridle and get Millie's halter and hook her up to start grooming her. She is not trained to stand very close to the tie up so I usually have three or four feet of rope. She stands nicely at least. Her owner is freaked out about her pulling back and falling while tied...guess she saw a horse do that once. Oh well, not my horse. Laurie has taught me to tie a horse with only about a foot of rope from the knot to the halter. I didn't tie that close with Willy but I certainly didn't have him as loose as Millie.

The flies were really bothering her today. She was stomping and swishing like crazy and biting at flies on her leg. After grooming I strayed her down with fly spray and she seemed to be much happier.



I rode in the little arena today to work on trots again. Last time I rode I was having issues with her speeding up really fast to where I just felt like I was being bounced around. I couldn't sit it and had issues with posting so fast! I pretty much had the same issues and dealt with Millie being really heaving on the forehand, pulling down on the reins.



I worked with her on the walk, doing half halts to get her to give up the strong pull. I think if I work at this issue at the walk it will get better and then I can move onto the trot. I need to do some groundwork again and try to bit her up some to teach her how to give herself the release rather than feeling like it's a tug of war to get the reins back so I can keep them nice and soft for her. She'll get it eventually. But again, I only ride her until October and then I'll be taking a break from leasing to get ready for my own horse! After the ride I groomed her down, mucked the stall and poured out the old water in the bucket. It reeked!! I then filled it up about half way, it took forever since the water trickles out of the pump and hose but it's a pretty big bucket and the auto waterer still works at least. I'm sure she appreciated new fresh water!!! Towards the end of my work Millie took one last poop so I decided to grab the pitchfork, get that last pile and fling it out to the manure pile. I wanted to leave a perfectly clean stall! LOL. Well Friday I have another Divine lesson coming up so I'm looking forward to that! Till next time!

If lightning was a horse...

...maybe I could then ride during a thunderstorm...but alas I cannot.  Everyday it seems to storm right when I get off work.  The worst weather being up north and near the mountains where the stable Millie is kept at.

I called Terri today and let me know I couldn't make it out and that I would pay the $25 for the next month to have her find someone to muck the stall.  She deducted that from the lease since I was willing to muck when I went out.  I just can't risk going out when there is lightning going all through the sky and landing near the mountains just above the Flying W.  I don't like to risk it when the clouds are nearby, lightning in Colorado is nothing to mess with out here, even on a blue sky day with a nearby dark cloud I've seen bright bolts of lightning appear from nowhere.  Better to be safe.



It still means I've paid a lot of money to not get a lot of riding in.  Most Sundays have been fine since I have all day to make it out there, it's just the darned weekday when I have a window of a few hours at the most.  Uge.  I only have myself to blame.  I settled for a horse lease when the facility lacked an indoor arena, so I'm a victim of nature and her ways.  I sometimes feel like I just washed the money down the drain everytime the rain pours out of the skies.  Terri will try and work with me to let me have some make up days when the weather is better so we'll see what happens.

Trotting Tempos and Fast Halts

Nothing like almost going over your horses head!!  Millie responds very quick to me asking her to halt or slow down.  I don't feel I'm asking for it any different than I have before or when I ride Divine.  I've been working on Millie with smaller circles trying to keep her trot at a steady pace.  The arena is pretty flat so I don't have that issue to work with but she still tends to speed up the trot and it's a choppy short paced quick trot.

I've been bringing her to a halt and she doesn't ease into the halt, she halts on the spot and I get thrown off balance.  I guess that is good practice for my seat but I still don't like the sensation. It's just going to take some time and work but hopefully I can do more trail riding to just enjoy that with Millie for the next three months.  My wednesdays which I was thinking would be good days for just working in the arena have been few and far between due to really heavy storms with lightning.  In Colorado you don't mess with that!

I found that smaller circles helped with her staying at a nicer trot and not trying to speed up as quickly.  Maybe I should work on posting though to that fast trot, it just seems so quick and choppy, not like Divine.  I'm not a good judge as to whether the gaits can be enhanced by collection so that's why I have such difficulty or if it's all me needing to work on better balance so I don't feel so much bounce and inconsistancy.  Maybe it's a combination of an uncollected horse and an unsteady rider?  I have two lessons soon with Laurie, I think Friday evenings will work out the best for both of us for now.  We'll see how things go.  I miss my Arabs and can't wait to go see them again!

Quick Starts Trail Ride

I took Millie out on a trail ride again after a long time of working on her with ground work and riding in the arena.  She's even less trained than Willie, meaning she's not good with leg yielding, and has an even rougher way of going.  I love sitting the trot on Divine, it's heaven...as far as sitting trot goes.  Millie it's rather difficult with, but anyways I'm getting on a tangent.

I figured I needed to go on another trail with Millie to get over that little hump.  Walking up to the gate that leads to the back of the Flying W property and the trails Millie stopped several times and needed some good proding.  I need to bring my crop for incentive I think.  I went up the actual trail, no to the right like I had done before.  Every little thing Millie spooked at, a bird flew overhead, she started.  A butterfly, a stick, the bird songs.  Uge!  I ended up walking her up and down the same little bit of trail to the point of me and hopefully her getting bored.  She eventually calmed down.  I tried myself to remain pretty calm and relaxed but that is certainly an ordeal when the horse you are on stops and starts every few steps!

After the trail ride I gave her a nice grooming and mucked her stall.  I haven't been as into this lease horse.  There just isn't much of a connection.  I don't know if it's her or her breed.  Arabians do have that something special don't they?  My lease ends October 31st and at that point I feel I am done leasing.  I want to get ready for my own horse and then I can just work with my horse and my horses problems and not feel like I have to deal with some body elses issues.  It's hard to not have a consistant approach to the horse.  I doubt the way I ride or work with a horse is like Terri her owner.  That's the same problem I had with Willy.  At least I still get to go out and do things with a horse.  Millie is sweet in her own way and I do get satisfaction when I can release her from her pen into the nice pasture.  We'll see how the next trail ride goes with Millie!  We'll get there, at least to the point where we can have a nice ride without any major scares!

Another rainy day

Seems that the little rain we have received and now the rain that seems be more prolific, always seems to ruin my chances of riding on Wednesdays.  There is no indoor arena at the farm and the rain seems to stay longer at the Flying W on the western side of town.  I don't want to get soaked to the bone or struke by lightning!


I think for my boarding facility that I will board my horse at will have to first, have good care and free access to a pasture to run around in (I don't want my horse in a stall or small pen all of the time).  Second I need to find a place with an indoor arena, so I can ride no matter what.  Third of course would be trail access right near the stable.  Anyhow, I'm just sitting at home sad I can't ride today.  So I'm watching RDTV with some horse TV shows.

So Much for riding

So a few weeks ago I arrived to see Millie and Misty, her chestnut neighbors mom was there.  Apparently the automatic waterer that extends into both "stalls" was not refilling the water and both horses were parched.  The owner had brought water from home, not sure why since I thought the stalls had pumps for water, and filled up the waterer and another bucket for her horse.  Millie had water. 

The waterer

I couldn't ride her since I didn't know how long she'd been without water, she drank a lot while I was there mucking her pen and giving her a quick brush over.  She also played with the water in her lips, kind of biting it!  Perhaps she was just THAT thirsty.  For fear the water would not refill after she drank, I looked in the "tack room" that is in the back of the run in shed.  I didn't see any bucket that I could be sure would be safe to use for drinking water.  The only one that Terri, Millie's owners had was one with sponges and a bottle of shampoo....probably not a good idea to use that one!

The pens, Millie with Misty her neighbor

 

The tack room behind the sheds

Big R was way out east and I didn't know where else was close to get anything that would work so I decided to try out the Walgreens right down the street.  Luckily it's summer so I found an ice tub for drinks.  When I got back to the stable I filled the "bucket" with water using the little pump in the stall, the water trickled out but eventually it filled.  I showed Millie the water and she played in it and then took many big gulps.  Later that evening I found out that the waterer had been fixed and was refilling again.  Millie's owner thanked me for the effort I made to take care of Millie.  What else was I going to do?

Mean clouds that preventing me from riding!!

This past Wednesday I arrived to the stable in a drizzle.  The clouds around were threatening thunder and lightning.  I saw a few flashes in the sky, so decided it was best not to try and ride since this facility lacks an indoor area.  I still needed to muck the stall but didn't want to use the metal wheel barrow in the threatening weather.  I decided to use the blue tub that since the water issue had remained unused in the tack room.  It took just two trips to bring the piles of manure to the manure pile.  Then I loved on Millie for a bit.  I noticed one of the railings had been bent or kicked off it's weld and the edges were really sharp.  I looked in the tack room to see if there was any type of tape or something I could at least wrap the sharp edges in so Millie wouldn't get hurt.  Walgreens to the rescue again!  I ran over to Walgreens to grab some duct tape, then came back to the stable to wrap the sharp pipe.  When I got home I would contact Terri to let her know about it.  Since it was still icky and lightning, I gave Millie a hug and headed home.

The sharp edges!!!  YIKES!

The next day I received an email back from Terri thanking me again for protecting Millie.  She said that earlier that day Millie hadn't finished her food and later that evening had coliced.  She didn't want me to worry since recently she had the farm up the quantity of hay given to her.  I felt so bad for Millie, apparently slight changes in amounts and sometimes even cuts of hay cause her to colic easily.  I don't bring more than one or two baby carrots if I bring any at all after Terri told me about her propensity.  I definitely think this is a good reason why horses should be out in a pasture to graze most of the time so they have constant gut motility and motion from walking around the fields.  Oh well, I hope Millie feels better soon. 

Duct tape to the temporary rescue!

I asked Terri to let me know if she feels like I shouldn't ride on Sunday.  If it's fine for me to I will take it slow with her and be very aware of any change in her behavior.  I had noticed nothing when I was there the other night.  Thinking back there was one weird poop that was more green but not too weird looking and there were a few sprigs of hay left scattered on the shed rows floor.  After this I feel I have a better idea of what to look for, at least it sounds like the farm pays good attention to the horses in their care! 

Always good to have duct tape accessible in your "tack box"

Hopefully I'll ride on Sunday and then I have plans to see Laurie and Divine soon!  More posts to come for sure!

Millie trying to get Misty's attention

A little paint mare

So I have been absent on my blog for way too long.  Bad blogger!!  I don't know why and I'm sure why but I make a pact right now to be better!  I do have to say through most of May I felt really horrible, I had bronchitis and was out of work for a week and the recovery seemed to take forever before my lungs felt normal again.  Needless to say I didn't feel like doing much, including riding!

Muddy Millie

 I've been leasing a cute paint mare for a little over a month now.  Her name is Millie and is a nice bay paint (hahaha, I know I leased Willy and now Millie ;-)  I ride her on Sundays as well as Wednesday for $200 a month.  The only catch was I had to pay for my 6 month lease all up front....anyone ever heard of that?  Or well.  The lease price is average for a two day a week lease.  She's boarded at a pretty rickety place, the Flying W Ranch, I would have never guessed.  It's very bare bones but there is a 3 acre paddock owners can let their horses out on for 2 hours to graze.  The location is fantastically close to my house but again, no free grazing for most of the day.  I think horses should be in a paddock as much as possible!  When I first started riding Millie she wasn't very affectionate with me, she was a bit stand-offish but as we've gotten to know each other and grown more comfortable she's sweetened up; not that she was ever nasty by any means!

Cute foal friend

So since riding her I've had another fall, yipee!  I'm getting good at these!  I've been kicked in the knee (back leg hoof picking and she jerked her hoof) and dealt with a couple rearings (while I've been on the ground thank goodness!).  Now this all may sound terrible but let me explain a little to catch you all up on my horsie adventures.

The hoof picking incident occurred because I found she had a habit of kicking out her legs as I was releasing them from being picked.  I just happened to have my knee in the way...oops!  I've since worked with her and held her leg while rubbing her rump and slowly placing her hoof back to the ground.  That seemed to work for her and now she's just a complete rag doll when it comes to moving her legs!  Yea for me and Millie!

Squeals of delight or annoyance?

The fall, happened when we went on our first "trail ride" into a cow field behind the barn areas, she spooked at her shadow, grass, a rock...something!  I came off and nearly hit a cactus...whew!  I need to stop falling and freaking out about falling so I can relax my seat and stay steady!  This is no fun!  Since the fall I did a lot of ground work with her and it seems like she has become a bit more responsive to me.

The rearing occurred because she started getting really upset when ever I put my hands up towards her face.  The first time she did this was one time I was about to bridle her and she reared and pulled way back on the halter and lead.  Those Aussie tie rings are great for horses that need work with tying, she was able to give herself room and then calm down.  Go Clinton Anderson!  I spent many times out to see her just working her on lunging in the halter and then repeatedly moving my hands in the "offensive manner" until she finally calmed down to where she was before.  Her owner thinks she was smacked in the face one day by the remnants of an electrobraid wire that is looped around the top of her pen.  Who knows I may have poked her wrong one time I was bridling her I'm just glad Millie and I worked it out but I'm very steady and cautious as I bridle her now.  I place my hand with the brow band part on her nose and slowly slide up her face...slightly different technique than I'm used to but it seems to work with her.

The good husband!

The first time I tried lunging her I had the same issues with Willy where it felt like the horse was just swinging their butt out of the way of my stick.  I've since watched and re-watched a Julie Goodnight and Clinton Anderson show on lunging and have a better idea of how to get her started.  I don't think I had enough patience to have her catch on to where she needed to go to "relieve the pressure".  After our first round pen session I found myself stuck in the pen.  The chain link was stuck in the opening that you slide it through to secure the gate.  I worked on it for about 10-15 minutes and finally just pulled out one of the sections, and moved it to create a gap wide enough for a little paint mare and me to get through.  Millie just calmly stood by like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.  Oh the embarrassment!  Luckily no one was there to witness it but Millie and of course I'll tell all of you about my mishaps when I could have never even mentioned it...but to laugh at oneself is fun right?  After the fact of course!

Millie is not really responsive to leg yielding and the first time I tried to canter her she spun in a tight circle instead of continuing in the strait line we were on.  Yeah, that freaked me out.  But for the most part I feel I've worked through some of the biggest difficulties.  I'm hoping to make it out by 10am on Sundays to catch a group that goes for trail rides on Sunday mornings. 

How a horse should always be!

I'll have to go into other details about the waterer issue or the muddy fetlocks or the constant bit chewing but I can only take on so much at a time in life and in my blog!  I've only been out to Laurie's a couple times, seems I always forget I want to ride on Mondays and when I remember it's too late notice to call her.  Other times she's been on vacation or I have, that's been the past couple of weeks!  I miss Quinntessential Arabians with a passion!  Anyways, I promise I will not been gone from this blog for so long again!  Hope you all are having happy rides so far this summer!

Hi Millie!  Um I'm trying to take a picture stop coming at me!

Willy and I's Last Ride Together

My last day with Willy has arrived.  It's a bittersweet day since I know I'll miss Willy but I'm taking on a new adventure with Pstar.  I knew I would most likely only lease Willy for about a year, still he's worked his way into my heart.  As I head out to the stable the weather is pretty icky.  It snowed a little and the air is damp with fog.  I swing by Eggar road to see if I can get a picture of the donkey.  Unfortunately he was not there but I snapped a shot of my favorite property on the road....oh to dream....someday...

I spent a long time grooming Willy today.  I curried him really well and then used my new shedding tool.  It looked like a Wookie was on the ground after I was done!  I untangled his mane and tail and sprayed them with Mane and Tail to help comb out all the strands.  His hair flowed like spun silk!  The little boy with his parents came in with Two Socks.  He seemed to be doing well with Two Socks but they are still going to try out Willy next week.  Once Willy was groomed really nice and tacked up I brought him outside to mount up.

We rode around the outside of the big arena.  Susan had joined the big arena with one of the pens and had a lot of the horses in there so they could have fun romping and playing in a bigger area.  I didn't work on anything today, I just wanted to enjoy the ride.  We walked, trotted and did some fun canters.  Willy was very responsive today, almost like he knew I desired a perfect ride for my last day with him!  The sun peeked in and out of the clouds but it was still chilly so I kept my fleece and gloves on.

After a while I decided to grab my grooming gear and head to the upper riding ring.  I rode Willy to the indoor ring to get my stuff and then walked with him up the other ring.  Once I wrestled closed the gate (the sand was deep and catching the bottom of the gate) I rode Willy in a serpentine in the fresh sand, the path left showed me how accurate our riding was...not too bad!  After riding around the ring for a bit doing turns and serpentines I dismounted and untacked Willy.  I did a quick brush over in preparation to take some pictures of him.  I still only had my point and shoot but I figured it would be nice to get some pictures of him doing his horse thing, tack free. 

Willy followed me about the ring and trotted off when I motioned with my dinky crop, I didn't have the lunge whip with me to better get him moving off but he got the idea.  His coat was a nice warm reddish brown in the sunlight and his mane and tail glistened; at least the few times the sun peeked out!  He's such a beautiful boy!  I gave Willy some apple pieces, we'd run out of carrots at home but Willy didn't seem to mind. 

I was walking to one side of the arena when I noticed Willy sniffing the ground.  Happy at what I hoped was to follow I got ready with the camera.  Willy laid down and started rolling on the sand.  I bet it felt quite good on his back.  He kicked his heels up to the sky and snorted as he tossed about.  He then got up and shook his body with a grunt of pure satisfaction.  Several of the horses in the big ring had done the same thing but while wearing their blankets, I can't help but think it's less satisfying than rolling in the sand completely "naked".  Willy had sand all over his face so I took a brush to his coat one more time and whisked him "clean".  I cleaned his hooves and was quite impressed about how sweet and quiet he was standing with no halter or lead on.

I fed him some more apples and then put his halter on and lead him back to the location of his blanket.  The sun was going behind the clouds again so I figured I'd get his blanket on and turn him loose with the other horses in the big arena.  I went back to the top arena afterwards to gather my tack and gear, lugged it back to the car and then went to say hello to the minis.  They were cute as usual and did their usual nickers as I entered the paddock with apples. 

I walked to the big arena to give Willy a last goodbye hug although it's not really goodbye, just a see ya later.  I know I can come and see him anytime I want, I just won't be riding him regularly.  I've enjoyed being able to take rides in the neighborhood and work on my seat or other techniques in the ring.  I walked up to Willy with a couple more carrots.  Then I hugged him goodbye and kissed his muzzle.  As I walked away I turned back to look at him, his ears were pricked forwards watching me. 

Thank you my friend for a great year of riding fun.  Thank you for helping me build my confidence.  Thank you for your patience and for working hard when I tried something new. Thank you for helping me fly with the wind in my hair and for not running away when I fell off!  Thank you for being such a calm boy when dogs were chasing us on the road.  Thanks for the nuzzles, the licks and the warm horsie embraces.  I will always remember you fondly Willy.

One Hot Commodity!

I groomed Willy in all his fuzziness.  The horses are definitely starting to shed big time!  I wonder if the furminator I have for my BorderAus would work well on a horse?  I worked on Willy's mane and tail, spraying both with the Mane N' Tail to get rid of some major static.  His mane is so thick and shiny, when it's combed out it looks so nice!  Loraine was working the Friesians again so I went over to talk with her and Gracie.  I told her about my lease ending with Willy and gave her my contact information.  I like her so much, it would be great to do some horsie stuff with her sometime!  I also talked with Susan and asked if she had received my lease termination letter with the last payment.  She said yes and was really sweet about thanking me for leasing him and that I was welcome anytime to come visit him.  I'm sure I'll have to do that!  I'll come by sometime to give Willy some carrots, he's a special boy! 

Silkiest mane!

I then took Willy out on Meridian to head over to Eggar road for a nice "trail ride".  Willy shied a little at something just before we got onto Eggar.  He moved over towards the road and starred at what I think was some of the trash in the paddock.  I let him look for a while and reassured him as I pushed him onwards.  The ride was pretty calm, the usual dogs barking and a cute vision of the donkey.  I didn't get a good picture of him but I'll keep trying!  Willy and I enjoy the views though the day is overcast.  It's warm at least and the wind is minimal. trot. Several times Willy tried to trot but I was determined to keep him at a walk, I didn't want another galloping off session out in the open road.  I prevent the trot and keep him calm and low key, for the most part. 

Indoor arena

On our way back to the stable Willy did the standard stop and brace with head low looking at the scary piece of trash on the side of the road that was going to eat him.  What a ridiculous boy!  I told him he was silly but stroked his neck and said he was fine.  He moved on and we walked up the driveway back to the stable.  We rode around the property doing a few canters and trots.  Willy sure likes to canter, he digs his feet into the ground and lurches forwards; he does have a lot of go, especially for a 20 year old.  I bet when he was younger he was even more so...probably would have been too much for me! 

"But I want to TROT! Don't make me stop!"

I took him back to the wash rack to untack and groom him down.  I noticed as I was cleaning his belly that there was a clump of hair caught in between his penis and sheath, ewe!  I grabbed a wet wipe and gently pulled the clump out, ewe was right but I bet he felt much better afterwards!  Yuck!  A lady came over after helping her son mount up on Two Socks.  She stated that they are looking to lease a horse and may look at Willy after doing some test rides on Two Socks.  I told her about Willy, his good points and bad; she'll be test riding him on April 3rd it sounds like.  Apparently everyone at the Youth Ranch is excited that Willy's lease is up come April!  He is one coveted mount and this lady with her son are not the only ones thinking of leasing him.  It made me sad in a way since it really sunk in that my lease time with Willy was ending but at the same time he's a great horse and will be appreciated by all the little kids here. 

I forgot carrots for Willy so the lady gave one of hers to me as I led Willy back to his paddock.  Susan wanted me to blanket him, so I tried to find his blanket amongst the blankets piled in the indoor arena.  I found one that looked like it had his hair on it; it fit so hopefully I was right! Willy's pen was clean aside from a couple piles of fresh poo, maybe Susan has had more help at the place!  I gave Willy a big hug, only one more ride.  It was hard just thinking of that today.  I've enjoyed my time with him and even though I know the time would be finite it's still hard to say goodbye.  At least I can still come by to visit him so it's not good bye forever!  After giving him another hug I went and said hello to the little ponies, stroking their soft fuzzy heads.  Bet they can't wait to shed all that fur!  And with that I headed back home.

Willy's clean pen

Whip it...into shape....shape it up!

Today's post is about two things mainly...whipping my leg (heels down) into shape and whips left on the ground throughout the property.

First off, I arrived as usual and got set up in the indoor arena for tacking Willy up.  There was a whip on the ground and a few piles of horse poop that someone didn't clean up.  Uge.  If the rules are to clean up after your horse in the common areas of the property why do none of the Youth Ranch kids do it? 

Anyways, I tacked up Willy and headed to in the smaller arena to work on the trot and the "angles in my ankles".  As I headed over to the ring there was yet another whip just laying about on the ground.  Granted after my ride I picked up both whips and some extra poops along with those left by the Willy Goat.

In the arena I got Willy into a trot, not quite the BIG trot but that was fine.  I worked on keeping my toes in and heels down.  I glanced at my feet a few times to make sure they were doing what I wanted since I didn't have an instructor on the ground to help me out.  It sure was a work out as I worked hard to stretch down into my heel and also squeezing to keep Willy moving on.  Finally I decided to move on and just play around the property.

I did some more trots, and also a walk serpentine up one side of the big arena.  Then I did a couple canters.  I think Laurie is right it's that big trot that scares me and gets me tense before the canter...and then I guess it takes a lot of will power afterwards to relax again back into the sweet canter stride.  I've worked with Willy a bit to get him to transition to the canter from not such a big, fast trot.  I'm able to stay relaxed better since he's not doing that huge trot and making me tense up.  I love the canter and Willy does have a nice one when he doesn't try to kick into high gear and gallop up the hills!  He seemed very content and responsive after working at the trot in the arena so he was happy to canter in a nice rocking horse sort of way.

The day was getting pretty chilly so I called it quits, untacked Willy and groomed him down.  The goats in their pen were being noisy, clopping up and down a ramp in their area and butting each other on the heads.  It was cute to watch.  I call Willy, Willy Goat since he has very long shaggy hairs under his face for his winter coat. 

I mucked out his pen, said hello to Two Socks and Misty.  Two wheel barrows later the area was nice and clean so I gave carrots to everyone, including the cute little minis.  I feel like today was a pretty successful day.  I worked hard on my heels, not sure how good the end result was but I did my best and that's what counts.  I had two very nice canters that I felt relaxed during, the second having a better transition to the trot on my part.  Very well balanced and smooth.  Until next time...I only have 3 more visits with Willy, it saddens me but we knew at the beginning of the lease that it was not going to end up with me buying Willy.  He was just going to be my lease horse.  Pstar on the other hand could very well end up being my first horse after a period of leasing her...we shall see.  I hugged Willy goodbye and headed home to a nice warm house!

Willy roundpen canters

I rode Willy today.  It was just me heading out...no Steve and no coworker today.  It was a pretty cold day with a gray sky.  I brought my lungeline and a whip with me so I could work Willy in the round pen and see that he could canter in there. 

After tacking up I worked him both directions and got him to canter pretty nicely each way.  Now to just get him to do it with me on him!

A minor tangle in Willy's mane

I mounted up, happy that he didn't try to move out right away.  What a good boy!  Then I walked him, trotted him and eventually got him into the canter.  He wants to trot faster and faster in the round pen instead of breaking into the canter.  Once he did I tried to concentrate on my seat and balancing to the inside of the circle...sort of a revisit with the fall from Divine last week.  I worked him both ways at the trot and canter, he needed a little bit of prompting to stay in gait.

I finally decided to exit the round pen when a paint mare that was in a pen right next to it kept coming over to Willy with her teeth barred and ears back.  Each time around I said NO sternly to her and flicked my whip are her.  Still it's not really a conducive environment to getting work done when another horse is trying to bite mine!

I rode Willy around the property a little, doing a few trot and canter transitions.  Then I called it quits since I was a wuss and pathetic!

The cutest part of a bay horses nose, the inverted triangle!

The pens were very clean today!  I filled up only one wheel barrow with fresh manure!  Two Socks was cute when I entered with the wheel barrow since he wanted his carrot but I wanted to get work done before I gave him, Willy and Misty some carrots.  Misty was laying on the ground all cute and cuddly with her blanket.  And then of course I had to visit the mini's!

Cute Two Socks wanting his carrot

I haven't heard from Laurie in a while since things have been pretty busy for her.  I think if I lease Pstar I will definitely miss Willy and the mini's but I love Pstar so much!  It will be amazing.  Hopefully I can talk with Laurie sometime this week to get details of this down and a contract written up but I know she's closing on the new place this week!  Can't wait to see it!

Misty resting on the ground