I'll Take a Chance, Please!!

Dani  has been alone on our property since she arrived at the end of September.  Luckily the one pasture is near other horses but when I moved her to another pasture she got so upset and worked up a sweat pacing and neighing of the horses that were too far away.  We needed to do something to find her a buddy.  I contacted several people locally that had a horse for sale and even thought about a free lease on this older unrideable companion horse.  Nothing really appealed to me since I wanted a permanent friend and also a useful horse for Steve and I.  We have just under 4 acres so we'd be limited to how many horses we can keep here.

I went onto a local, well two hours west of us, horse rescue.  They had several horses in the rescue and then many others that individual owners listed to rehome.  One in particular stood out to me.  His name was Chance.  He was a handsome little Arabian, 17 years old and well trained.  He was ridden on trails a lot and sounded like a great minded horse.

His owner had a smaller property with a little donkey and a younger horse, she needed to rehome Chance since she was planning on doing more intense riding with her young horse and also the two horses didn't quite get along as well as she'd hoped so Chance was in a neighboring paddock.  I drove 2 hours to the Winston-Salem area to meet him.  The whole time I was nervous....what if he's too much, what if he's spooky....what if he's like Arabians I test rode before?  But then the thought kept coming back.  What if he turns out to be amazing like Willy?

When I met Chance there was something so soft in his eye, something soft but also intelligent.  His owner cared for him so much and told me all about rides she has done with him and how he's reacted to many new situations.  She studies Parelli and he was very responsive to her.  We trailered over to a friends home where there was a small arena.  She worked him on the ground and he was certainly feeling his beans but a good thing was there was not the redheaded mare attitude I'm often confronted with when my horse is fresh.

She rode him and then it was my turn.  I worked him on a ground for a few minutes and found him very willing and supple in his movements.  Not so much the ton of bricks I have to move when working Dani sometimes, LOL.  I was unsure and definitely nervous to mount up but I took it slow and rode him at the walk doing serpentines and many turns.  He seemed to sense the nervousness but he just hesitantly moved onward.  As we both grew more comfortable we got in sync and he moved off better with my cues.  I was pleased he wasn't going to react and run off with me, he was just calming awaiting leadership and not running off in terror.  That is a good thing in a horse for someone with fear issues.  I know being a leader is the most important thing but it's good to have a horse that is secure in themselves when their human has a little bit of nerves from time to time.

I slept on it and then emailed the lady that we would love to give Chance a home.  We agreed on the following Saturday as a good day for her to bring him over.  We worked out a contract and the day of signed and paid the rescue agency for his adoption.  All was very smooth.  Even the horses meeting was smooth.  I kept Chance in the small stable yard while Dani was in the pasture.  The two could meet over the fence at first.  Dani did her usual sniffing of nostrils and then her mare squeal.  Then, the two just chilled together.  We opened the gate about half an hour later and there was another couple squeals but then the two went on to grazing.  As they moved around the pasture Dani pinned her ears to move her little gelding around the fence line and then the two would settle into a new location for grazing.  

With only a couple days of having the two together they seem inseparable.  If I move one out of the field first and into a stall for feeding there is a little upset until they can see each other again, if Steve is hear we try to move them together.  I want to get into a routine where I can just open a gate at feeding time and the two will go into "their" stall for their grain/supplement.  Chance seemed unsure at first but he is now starting to understand it's okay to go into the stall since that is where his food will be and that he's not going to stay in there forever.  Chance has a senior feed he is on so he receives more at each feeding.  I want to keep them apart so he gets all his food and Dani doesn't try to steal it.  We'll see how this works and if we need to try another system for feeding we can do that.

I'm so happy though, Dani seems very content to have a pasture mate and now we can put the horses in the other pastures without any upset.  She doesn't need to see the horses across the way since she has her very own that she can boss around.  It will be awesome getting to know Chance and seeing his personality and learning how to work with him.  I'm also excited that Steve will have a pony of his own to ride!

Elbow pull

Dani is a great little mare to ride.  She’s responsive and pretty calm most of the time.  She doesn't throw her head way up in the air like Willy did but she’s still not as relaxed in her going as I’d like her to be.  I’m not overly worried about headset since I’m not a big dressage rider but I've learned a lot of those principles behind dressage and many boil down to a horse utilizing their body properly.  If they hold themselves in a certain way, which as a results means a lower head set, they are less apt to get injured when carrying a rider.  The “frame” is not just for looks but mechanically lifts the back thereby enabling a horse to better carry the weight. 

This is important for a trail and pleasure horse too.  As I haven’t been concerned with her mode of moving thus far I decided to work solely on her from the ground to start.  Julie Goodnight has what is called an elbow pull.  When trainers “bit up” there horses for lunging work they often utilize a side rein to teach a horse self carriage and to lower its head.  This works where a horse then learns that if they give to the bit they find release aka, the correct frame.  I like the elbow pull, similar to a chambon rein where there is pressure at the poll and via the bit. 

The elbow pull puts alternating pressure on the bit as the horses legs move the strap.  Below Julie explains it best.

From Julie Goodnight:

"The beauty of this device is threefold. One, it is self-correcting meaning that the instant the horse gives the right way he gets slack. Two, the elbow-pull creates a rhythmic alternating pull, rather than a static pull on both reins (like side reins) and it is far more effective to use one rein at a time rather than two (a horse stiffens his neck and leans into it when you pull on both reins at the same time). And third, once the horse has learned to respond correctly and carry himself in a collected frame with no contact on his mouth, you can mimic this action on the reins when you are on his back."

"As you walk, you'll feel your hips moving in a side to side action which causes your leg to close alternately and rhythmically (R-L-R-L) on the horse's sides. When you want the horse to collect, you'll first feel the rhythm in your seat and legs and then increase the rhythm in a driving fashion, then add small squeezes with your fingers, alternating R-L-R-L, using the same side hand as leg. Your seat and legs will keep the horse moving forward at the same time your hands are applying resistance to his front end with alternating pressure and causing him to shorten his frame. It is critical that the horse finds a small amount of slack when he makes the slightest effort to collect and it is also critical that you time your hands with your seat and legs. When done properly, the horse will hold himself in this frame. Remember; don't ask him to hold it too long. You'll want to release the horse before he becomes uncomfortable and resistant and gradually increase the time you ask him to hold the frame."

So I've done several sessions with Dani, the picture and video are from the first session.  She certainly had her head high up at times but she learned quickly where the release was.  Obviously the next step is to ride and apply the “half halt” with her gait rhythm.  I’m still not perfect at this myself but it will be easier to work with her on it with her knowing what the proper response is and knows what’s expected when I administer the cue.  Doing the groundwork first will also allow Dani to work on her muscle development for this carriage without having the added weight of me up there.

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!

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

Autism and Horses

My coworker came out on Sunday to bring his grandson Brandon out for a ride on Willy. Brandon is 6 years old and autistic. He loves horses and other animals. Rich has told me about him going out to another friends stable to have him ponied around on her old gelding but it’s been cold lately and they haven’t gone out, so I invited him out to see Willy since there is an indoor arena.

The day was really windy so I was glad that I had access to the indoor arena. I got Willy groomed up but kept going outside to check if Rich was out there wandering around lost…so it took me longer to get Willy cleaned up. Rich showed up as I was picking Willy’s hooves. I gave him a brush to see if Brandon wanted to learn how to brush a horse. As Brandon loved on Willy I worked on the other side wrapping his legs in the polo’s. Then I put the saddle on. I had Rich go sign the release Susan had left out for him to review for Brandon and also to look amongst the helmets for one that fit Brandon well. Then up went Brandon!

We led Willy around the indoor arena, Brandon sat like a little pro! My stirrups were as short as they could go but I wanted to figure out how to make them shorter even since Brandon kept trying to put his feet in the stirrups…he knew what they were for! The gal that leases Ladybug came over and showed me an old trick, wrapping the stirrup leathers around the iron. It's been so long since I worked around kids and horses …it's also been a while since I was a kid and needed to get my stirrups that short! It’s a good trick and I cannot believe I’d forgotten it! Once that was done I think Brandon was much happier.

Towards the end of the ride Brandon was getting a little antsy so I asked Rich if he thought we could try a little trot. He said sure. It was a mistake though. Brandon didn’t have much to grab onto in the English saddle so he jammed his little fingers. I felt horrible! So did Rich but we didn’t know.  I really enjoyed being with Brandon...it took me back to the days in middle school and high school went I worked with my mother at the therapeutic riding program in Leesburg, VA.  Next time I’ll borrow a western saddle so he had the horn. I’ll just need to learn how to cinch it up!

After the ride Rich took Brandon to visit the little ponies and I rode Willy around the property. He was acting pretty spunky and when asked to canter he took off along the side of the arena almost at a gallop. This irritates me because he just ignores my commands to slow down. I worked him in small circles and doing neck flexes and releases to get him mind back on me. We then did some trotting around the arena and he seemed to calm down a bit. It just seems that horses get frisky when it’s windy!

Rich headed back home with Brandon. I continued riding inside. Willy didn’t want to canter in the indoor arena so I got down and free lunged him. He cantered, it didn’t seem like the area was too small for him. Maybe I should work on that with him! I was pretty much done with the day, the wind and chill just didn’t make me happy so I called it a day. It was fun to have Rich’s grandson come out and get some joy riding a horse around. Hopefully we can do it again sometime! Only issue is I think I’ve decided I’ll be ending my lease with Willy by April and starting to lease Pstar!!! Since she’s young and untrained I wouldn’t want to lead Brandon around on her for quite some time. Not sure how she’d react. Well, leasing Pstar is another blog entry all together!

Much to write about

I have much to write about.  I've seen Willy and had a friends grandson ride him which was a lot of fun.  I've also had a lesson with Divine where Laurie had me canter on the lunge and I fell....oh my gosh the embarrassment!  Then I had a lesson with Pstar where Laurie put a saddle on her and then we did some lunge work.  I was so impressed with how relaxed Pstar was with the saddle....more and more I'm feeling like she's my horse but I can't do anything about claiming her as mine!  Uge!  I will write more soon.  It's late and I should get to bed soon!

Willy with Brandon on board and Rich leading

Pstar walking with the saddle on towards the arena where she did AWESOME!

Steve and the poop

Steve came with me today, not to ride but to hang out and do some mucking of stalls.  He watched me tack up Willy, commenting on how fuzzy Willy was.  He has that goat hair under his chin and Steve thought it was cute.  We called him the Willy Goat.  Once I was done with tacking up I mounted Willy and Steve went to work cleaning the wash rack area that had three piles of manure on it, not Willy's.  Then Steve worked on Riddles stall and another stall too.  Another older man was there and mucking the mini's stall and Willy's.  He apparently was a trainer that was working on some of the horses at the ranch.  Steve and the older guy were talking while doing one of the runs and mentioned how much hay was wasted here.  It seems that big bales of hay are just placed on the ground in the pens and most of the hay ends up wet in urine and poop.  Also the twine for the bales has always been left on and it littered the whole property.  Not a safe environment for the horses!

I rode Willy around the big arena, not working on anything in particular just getting nice trots out of Willy and concentrating on my lower leg position.  I did a few canters that were nice and smooth but then did one where Willy started to take off at a gallop.  I slowed him down and pulled him to the side then had him flex his neck on each side towards my foot.  I didn't let up until Willy "gave" to me.  Then I worked him at a walk and trot.  Then I cantered him again, he listened much better and didn't try to take off

Later I tried to just do some simple trot circles, unless I'm in the indoor arena or the smaller arena it's very hard to find flat even ground.  I was having a time of Willy not listening to me, trying to stop trotting as we went around the circle.  Eventually I got him to go around the circle a couple times without a fuss so I stopped at that.

Good enough.  He's not Divine and certainly has a lot of holes in his training, if he was my horse he would have been at the trainers long ago as I've said before.  But for having a good time riding a horse on Sundays he fits the bill quite well. 

After the ride Steve helped me groom him.  He started one side with the curry brush and I finished with the stiff brush.  Then Steve picked his hooves.  I'm so proud of the hubby taking the time to learn about this horse stuff.  It will most likely be a while before we get him his horse, well cross my fingers maybe sooner so he can come ride with me but at least he's learning to be around horses.  He'll be around mine a lot and he needs to feel comfortable with that.

We put Willy back in his run and gave him and Two Socks some carrots.  Misty was already taken out to get ridden by her leasor.  Then we went and said hello to the little mini's.  Gee Gee is the bigger and darker one and Lacey is the smaller one that has more brown on her.  Steve thinks they are so cute!  We gave them some carrots and then called it a day.  A nice warm house awaited us!

Back to the Trail

Today I decided I would see how responsive Willy was being and if it turned out well I would take him for a short "trail ride" in our favorite little neighborhood.  When I arrived Lorraine was cleaning out the paddock of her beautiful Friesians Willow and Gracie.  She said hello as I was grooming Willy in the wash rack area. 

His mane wasn't covered in hay today so the grooming was a quick chore at least!  While I was grooming him the cute little tabby cat came over to say hello.  He wove in an out of the horse's legs making sure to rub up against each one.  As I wrapped Willy's legs in the polo wrap the cat wiggled in between my legs, nudging my bottom.  A little friendly isn't he?!  I shoed him away from my deriair and then he proceeded to nuzzle the wraps as I was trying to get them around Willy's legs.  I had to laugh as I pushed him out of the way and secured the last Velcro strap.  Then I put on Willy's saddle and bridle, walked him a bit and tightened the girth a couple times.

I led Willy over to a fence so I could have him stand facing it while I mounted in hopes that would prevent his walking while I was mounting.  I often wonder if his former owner as an endurance horse trained him to keep moving while they mounted to save time during the race?  I don't care about that amount of time, any horse of mine will be trained to stand steady, even while I'm wiggly and getting comfortable in the seat.  Only when I ask them to move on will I allow them to.  I mounted up on Willy, instead of moving forwards he swung to the left a bit.  I said whoa many times as he tried to take a few steps while I got situated.  Then I had him stand for a few moments before asking him distinctly to move forwards.

I rode around the big ring, did a little bit of trotting and then headed out to the road.  Willy was a little hesitant to go down the driveway and tried to turn around a few times.  It was weird!  Once we got on the road he was fine, I just started talking to him about random things, perhaps by talking I calmed myself a little and hence calmed him.  He took a look at some fabric on the ground that made him nervous but he eventually realized it wasn't going to eat him so he moved on.

We stayed at a walk and just calmly walked past horses and cows in paddocks.  A chocolate lab came running out of yard and then under a fence and right at Willy.  I kept talking to him but he didn't seem fazed at all.  The dog was running behind him and barking up a storm but Willy just plodded on, his ears pricked forwards and occasionally looking at the dog directly.  I want my future horse to be this good around strange crazy dogs!  That's something that will have to be worked on of course by taking a horse to a location where there are lots of dogs on the trails and desensitizing them to it.  Santa Fe trail would be a great location since there are bikers, walker/joggers and dogs all the time on that trail.  Willy and I moved up to Eggar Court and passed the group of boxers on the corner...they didn't bark but up at the top of the culdesac the black dog was making a ruckus and upsetting me more than Willy. 

When we headed back to the stable I was hoping to get a picture of the cute donkey but he was too far out in the field.  His little horse friends weren't in the field, just cows and llamas.  I continued to just chatter to Willy about the scenery etc.  I'd read in a magazine that this one woman started doing that with her young horse as she rode and it really helped her out.  Might be a good idea to remember especially if I end up buying a younger horse.

After getting back to the stable I untacked Willy and groomed him down.  The weather had started getting more chilly as the day had progressed so I was ready to get back home to a warm shower.  The same little tabby cat was back hanging out with Willy and I.  He found a nice resting spot on my saddle!  I returned Willy to his paddock with Two Socks and Misty, fetched a wheel barrow and proceeded to muck the area.  It was definitely nicer than it had been.  No one had arrived yet to muck any of the paddocks so I figured I'd get it done.  The inside of the shelter needs some fill since there is a big dip in the middle that is pooled with mud, urine and rotting old hay.  I could have dug a hole 2 feet deep but just cleaned up the manure.  If it was my facility I would do a lot of things differently since there's a big problem if urine just stays in puddles all the time.  The drainage needs to be corrected.  Oh well, two wheel barrows later and I came back with carrots for Willy and the crew...to include the minis.  Then I headed home.  I love my Sunday rides!

Cleaner stalls and runs!

Susan had a bunch of workers out today cleaning the stalls.  Willy's paddock that he shares with Misty and Two Socks was much nicer looking!  No much to report with Willy today just a nice day to ride around the yard.  I worked on his trot gait and tried to get a better canter transition...he always speeds up really fast into a bumpy trot before kicking into the canter gear.  Not fun!

I took some pictures of his hooves, freshly trimmed too!  I've definitely noticed a difference in horse hoof shape.  The front feet are usually wider than the rear feet because most of a horses weight falls on the front feet.

So here's Willies front feet:

And here are his back feet.  The back feet are lighter in color since the horn is lighter due to the white socks on his back legs.

  Some horses have little dots of black or irregularly patterned socks that end up making the hoof have a stripe....love that! Willy has it a little bit and so does Pstar.

See the tiny dot on Willy's back leg?  It makes the horn below darker

Pstar's hoof stripes are more defined and her's are on the front legs

Whether the different colors are well defined or not it's easier to see when the hooves are cleaned up and polished.  I've never done much about any dirt on to outside of Willy's hoofs, just taken care of the important frog, which is the triangular shaped cushy area in the middle of the hoof.  You have to make sure to pick the hooves and get any rocks, sticks etc out of the hoof before you work a horse since you can cause lameness or other injuries if a foreign object gets up into their hoof.  Also it's important to keep the manure and mud out from the frog on a regular basis to prevent a fungus called thrush from taking hold.  The hoof is an amazing part of the horse anatomy but there is a lot to learn about from laminitis, where the laminae inside the hoof swells and can cause the hoof wall to slough off, to hoof cracks that can spread up or down the hoof.

Inner workings of the hoof with the "toe bones" coming into the hoof, live tissue like blood vessels and laminae that can cause issues if they become injured on infected. 

With a good diet, exercise, a clean living environment, regular hoof trimming and picking of the feet most horses don't have an issue with any of the above hoof ailments but they are always something to be on the look out for.  Checking the feet daily is an excellent preventative routine to get into with your horses. 

Easy Boot Glove

Maybe I'll have to do a post sometime about hoof care as I learn about it.  I just know the basics of picking the feet, getting them trimmed by a farrier every 6-8 weeks and for a lot of endurance horses they are moving away from traditional nail on shoes to the hoof boots that protect hoofs from the extra wear that they can incur during a 25-100 mile endurance ride in the mountains.  Arabs tend to have really good feet and don't need to have those traditional steel shoes but as I said earlier the endurance riders seem to be leaning more and more towards the hoof boot

Above is a happy rider and her horse in easy boot gloves, all four hooves.  I guess they do put the boots on all fours instead of just the front hooves.  I have so much to learn!  I'm excited though, I've contact Kenlyn Arabians in Fort Collins about their Urban Challenge, which is a 15, 25, or 50 mile endurance ride they host each spring and fall.  I want to assist in some way and learn a little about the sport....plus take pictures if I have the time!  I'll be able to see all the interesting types of tack they use for endurance and how the owners care for their athletes...that's a whole new post in itself!  I know I can always start off with a fleece covered dressage saddle and those comfy stirrups to start but if I really want to get into it I'll need to get the really comfy tack!  Anyhow that's my post on feet and boots for now.  It can get boring posting about walk/trot transistions with Willy!