Knots and Snot

Willy had a HUGE knot in his mane today!  Sometimes the kids here do a braid and then leave it.  If it's not maintained over the next couple days it turns into a rats nest!  Poor boy!  Steve came to ride with me so we grabbed Riddle as well, luckily his short mane doesn't have any tangle issues.

I spent a long time just working on Willy's mane, pulling out hairs one by one until it was loosened and I could finally brush it out.  I was worried that Steve would be all tacked up on Riddle before I even finished with Willy's mane!  Steve had a few issues with Riddle while grooming and picking his hooves but I was too busy with the knot that I figured Steve would get it all worked out.  Then heard this meow of horror, glanced over to Riddle and saw that the horse was standing calmly on the little gray tabby cats tail!  The poor thing was whacking at his fetlock and biting his leg to be released.  The cat was still a kitten so my thought is he still wasn't very "horse smart" and had decided to lay down a little too close to the horses hoof.  Finally he was released and he darted across the arena.  Steve went over to the kitty's resting spot to make sure his tail was alright, not broken or anything.  Luckily the sandiness of the arena probably had enough give in it that the tail was unharmed, though I'm sure he had some bruises and was sore for a few days after!  Poor little guy!

Steve grabbed the saddle, the older Wintec we'd used before and placed it on Riddle, a little too far back so I showed him the proper place to put the saddle and made an "air gap" into the pommel with the saddle pads.  We tried out too girths, both being too long so Steve went back to the tack room in search of another while I tacked up Willy.

Willy's nose was pretty runny and he coughed a bit, seemed he had a cold so I figured I'd take it easy on him.  I cleaned his eyes and face with a wipe to make him more comfortable.  When Steve came back with more girths it was apparent that we weren't going to have any luck with finding a tack fit.  Then Willy started coughing again, pretty hard and at the same time he farted really loud with each cough.  The sounds of farts and coughed echoed in the arena.  His nose was again covered in snot.  Today was not going to be a riding day.  I took off the saddle and unwrapped his legs, again more coughing and farting.  My poor little horse!  I know when I have a cold I don't want to do anything!

I rubbed him down a little and wiped his nose yet again.  We brought the horses back to their pens and gave them both a few carrots.  I hugged Willy and told him I hoped he'd get better, I'd send an email to Susan.  I'm sure she knew he was sick, a couple other horses seemed to have runny noses too but I figured I'd just send her a quick note.  Next to Willy's pen live the two miniature horses.  Steve wanted to go in and see them so we did.  Like me he loves things in miniature!  There were runny noses galore in the mini pony paddock as well.  Something must have been going around.  We gave the little ones some carrots too and then headed home to our warm house.  No riding today but at least I got to see my buddy.  Hopefully he'll get over his cold fast, it's not fun being sick whether you're a horse or a human!

Itchy is the Word of the Day

I visited Willy on Sunday as usual.  I was a little disappointed that my friend Jessica who was visiting us this weekend had hurt her foot, therefore she could not join me to ride.  We had been excited to have her ride Riddle or some other horse and go riding together.  I think last time we rode together was in early high school!  Alas, she and her husbanded headed to their Air force posted home in Wyoming and then I came out to see Willy.  I was still pretty tired so I figured I wouldn't ride too long. 

View from the indoor riding ring towards the south and Willy's pen

It was nice to get Willy and groom him, the whole barn was vacant and I left the radio off so it was just the sound of wind blowing and the methodical sound of the curry comb that I was listening to.  Willy was particularly dusty today, each curry brought up more dirt on his coat.  I worked extra hard with the flick brush, going over the coat multiple times trying to get the dirt out of his hair.  I undid the braids in his mane, he had what looked like the remnants of a running braid that was beginning to turn into knots.  I got out the comb and tried to comb through some sections but decided that with the breeze going through the ring it was a losing battle.  I finished tacking him up and then led him out to the smaller outdoor ring.

We walked and trotted a little in the ring.  Willy wasn't really wanting to move forward much and I was too tired to keep my leg on him with any force so I led him out of the ring into the area around the arena in hopes that we could walk around the arena with a little more momentum.  It worked.  We mainly walked and trotted and I continued to work on halts with him.  It really is a struggle but as we continued he got quicker and quicker in his stop response.  I then had him canter up the slopes a few time, I think we both enjoyed that!  The canter is certainly my favorite gait but I think it's most peoples.  Of course Willy is not very collected so it's not as smooth and balanced as it could be but I'm not a horse trainer and don't know how to work on him with collection issues.  Most Sundays I just want to hang around a horse and have fun.

Itchy, itchy, itchy!

Ah yes, right there...got it!

After riding for a bit I took him into the indoor ring and rubbed him down, gave him a couple carrots and led him back to his run.  He did his usual scratching motions, twisting around to reach his rear legs like a dog would.  I laughed at him and told him the Native Americans were accurate in calling horses big dogs, since they didn't have a word for horse.  Willy was so cute, in between scratches he came over to sniff at me as I squatted down to get a better vantage point of his antics.

I wandered over to the grooming area near Riddle's stall, said hi to him of course since his little ears pricked up under his ear bonnet.  I also went over to the dark bay/black Arabian of the next door neighbors.  He was beautiful so I talked with him and stroked his soft face.  He seemed to soak in the attention with great splendor.  After some time I had to get back and get my tack sorted, plus I wanted to bring the carrots over to Willy and his two run mates; Two Socks another light bay and Silver (I think) a grey horse.  Willy was very grabby with the carrots, so I ended up putting a bunch in the hay bin and then gave some to Two socks and Silver in peace.  I then hugged on Willy as he went back to his hay, went to gather my tack up and headed home to crash...well shower first then crash.

The Mystery Horse

I love how worries and even tiredness go away when I'm with a horse. A sweet soft muzzle touches my hand and I am transported to a simple world of hay, leather and warmth. Even when the ride is not "perfect" a day with a horse beats any day without one.

Husbands, Horses and Barking Dogs

My husband Steve came with me to go riding today! Steve has only been on a horse when we've gone on one of those western tourist-type trail rides. He plans to take lessons as we get closer to owning a horse, hopefully I can get him more involved sooner than that.... When we got to the stable we went over to get Riddle, the tall former steeplechase horse, whom he was to ride. I thought Riddle was a pretty big horse and he is but more like 16 hands. I'm just used to smaller horses, and I prefer them too! Both Steve and I are short at 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 4 inches. We got Riddle out of his run and Steve followed me to pick up Willy. We then led both horses to the indoor arena to groom and tack them up.

I taught Steve how to curry comb, then stiff brush the dirt off the coat. While he worked on each step I went back to Willy to work on him. Once we got to the hooves I showed Steve how to pick the front and back hoof, Willy did his normal resistance for the hind leg. As I reached Willy's far side I noticed Steve was still trying to get ahold of the first leg. Riddle was definitely testing Steve. So I stroked Riddle and ran my hand down his leg and up his foot went. I think Steve was just feeling a little odd not being as comfortable with horses as I am, though he would not admit that! I picked all of Riddles feet and then we got the saddle; I instructed Steve where the saddle should lay on the horses back. Riddle needed two pads, at least per Susan’s instructions so we followed suit. I looked over to Willy; there he was with his back foot resting, his head lowered and his lower lip drooping....what a cute boy! I went over and finished tacking him up except the bridle. I went over to Riddle to bridle him but had quite a time of it, we was a "head tosser" and being such a big horse that head reached up really high! It was a relief to bridle Willy who was quick and easy.

I then helped Steve up onto Riddle, since he was so tall Steve wanted to use the mounting block. Once he was on I tightened the girth again, I was a little concerned that the extra padding would cause the girth to be a little looser than it would normally. I then hopped up on Willy; asked Steve if he was ready and then we were off down the drive to the road. Riddle plodded along very slowly and meandered over to the grass and grabbed a huge mouthful. Steve was clucking and laughing at the same time trying to get Riddle to move on. Willy and I had moved down the road a ways but I saw that Riddle wasn't going anywhere so we headed back to encourage him to follow us. The same plastic that was on the ground my past couple of rides was, alas, still there.  Willy did his usual skirting around the object while Riddle seemed perfectly fine right until he was on top of the plastic. His neck stretched down and he stared at the plastic. Poor Steve was trying to get him to move on, I clucked at Riddle trying to encourage him. Eventually he moved on.

Later during our ride we encountered a little terrier barking that made Willy start. Riddle just plodded along, he dragged his hind legs; you can see a distinct worn area on the front of his hooves. The four beat sounds were more of a slip-clop, slip-clop sound. I did some trotting up the hills with Willy, he was very spunky today; I guess he was excited to have another horse with him. When we were heading back two labs came running out of a yard towards the horses but neither animals seemed to be bothered by the other. Then Willy and I trotted up another hill and he kept going faster and into a canter. I encouraged him and rode swiftly up the hill with the wind in what little hair I had hanging out of my helmet. I then walked back to Steve and Riddle as they clopped up the hill. We were then accosted by two more labs that wiggled out of their fenced yard, and came running and barking at us. Willy had the chocolate lab at his heels but all he did was move his ears back and forth in their direction, following their movements. Then the dogs ran off to three other dogs that were in their fenced yard and the whole group ran up and down the fence line barking at each other with little regard for the two humans on equines wandering past.

On our way back into the stable yard Riddle walked Steve right into the dangling branches of a tree. I was mean and laughed but at least Steve was laughing too. We untacked the horses; I was so proud of Steve who very easily picked all four of Riddles hooves. When we returned the horses to their runs Steve decided to muck out some of the Riddles stall. The whole run had areas of wet mud and dried manure spread over its entirety. We both wondered how the stall got in this condition, maybe Susan has too many horses and not enough help. I returned Willy to his cleaner run and gave him the remainder of the carrots; he kept searching my hands and “pockets” after all the treats were gone. Then Steve and I went to collect the tack. A neighbor’s Arab came over to see what I was doing, sniffing the polo wraps as I rolled them. He was very pretty and had a more refined head than Willy. We gathered our gear and headed home, Steve was quite sore but happy after having a good horsie time!

"Hey, I was Listening to That!"

As I drove to the stable the clouds clung to the ground, in areas light broke through and in others I could see the feathery textured clouds whirling as if they were the steam above a witches cauldron.  It was very peaceful driving out to the stable.  I had contacted Susan about seeing who Riddle was, a horse that I can lease for the day at times when my husband Steve wants to come riding with me.  You know how that goes, meeting Susan...I gave her a time range but didn't expect much.  She was at the stable when I arrived doing some work with hay...well actually talking to the two guys moving the hay bales.  She said once she was done she'd talk to me about Riddle.

I decided not to wait and went to get Willy started up.  Since it had been raining a little Willy had mud splattered legs and damp ears.  I worked slowly in the indoor ring as I let him dry off a little bit, shining up his coat until it glowed like cherry chocolate.  He sure does shine when he's clean.  I love that about colored horses, they can really show off the light in a nice healthy shimmer.  I do like grey horses but their "white" coats don't quite have that shiny glow that bays, blacks or chestnuts have, although a flea bitten grey can be quite striking or a well groomed almost all white grey horse!  Once I had Willy tacked up I looked outside for Susan, gone, go figure.  Oh well I decided I'd work in the indoor ring for a little while since I didn't want to get too cold and wet in the misty outdoors. 

Willy had issues of starting to walk while I mounted so I tried to work on him with that by getting on and off a few times.  We also continued working on stops or shall I say eventual stops.  Not surprisingly he's always better after I've worked with him for a bit but he's still not responsive like Divine.  Working to get him up to a trot is also a chore anymore, just a squeeze for Divine equates to a squeeze, SQUEEZE, kick, KICK, with Willy but again he got better as the ride went on.  Once I did get Willy trotting we went in circles and I alternated between sitting trot and posting.  I nearly died laughing when "I've had the time of my life" started wafting over the radio station just as I was thinking about Patrick Swayze moves and the sitting trot!  Timing is everything they say!  I wish I could get Willy collected, his trot is still pretty stiff and he stumbles more than other horses but that's age and most likely collection but he does good with what he's got!  I do think as it gets into the fall I'll be looking for another horse to lease, I like the responsiveness of Divine and would like to find a horse younger than Willy to lease.  Though she's frustrated me at times I feel I have learned a lot and have become a better horse person because of her.  Don't get me wrong I love Willy but even in a lease horse you need to have a good match between rider and horse.

Willy's cute hind hooves, see the dot and the darker "stripe" on the hoof below?

Susan finally did come into the indoor ring, the sitting area that is, looking for something.  My guess her cell phone was lost again.  I said hi and asked about Riddle to remind her about our "appointment".  She walked over to the radio and changed the channel then came back over to me.  How rude!  I was listening to that!  It wasn't like I was blaring "Parental Advisory" songs, I was listening to an oldies channel!  What ever happened to this lady saying that I could change the radio to whatever I wanted when I was working in there?  I shrugged it off, figuring I'd turn it back once she left.  She told me Riddle was the big horse over by the smaller riding ring.  I asked if he was that big dark bay....she said no, the brown one....um isn't that what dark bay is, although a more specific and educated label for horse colors?  I had to laugh to myself, every time I deal with this woman she never ceases to amaze me, LOL.  I led Willy out of the ring to follow her and see Riddle.  Yeah he was dark bay, almost black.  Bays are a brown color horse with black points (mane, tail and lower legs).  He had a lot darker brown hence the term dark bay, I'll show a good picture of him sometime.  Obviously if he didn't show brown on his face or body he would be considered black....but horse color comes in grades and variations, sometimes for certain horses it's hard to draw the line between certain colors.  I just know I've never seen a BROWN horse.  Chestnut, bays...yes, brown, NO!

After I got Willy untacked and back in his pen with his hay, I walked into Riddles pen.  He was huge!  My guess he was 16.3 almost 17 hands!  He had his blanket and fly mask on so I couldn't see much of his coloration but he seems to have pretty big pointy hips, Susan said she was still trying to get weight on him.  I hope he will do well for Steve; my hubby will be looking down from the clouds at me and my tiny 15 hand horse! Steve is planning on coming to ride next Sunday, I'll post pictures!

One of the little mini's who Willy used to have as a roomate