Wallpaper

I've had various wallpaper at work.  Some gorgeous, nameless Arabian of one sort or another.  I figured why not give little Pstar a chance to be on my screen.  Laurie has great shots of her when she did photo shoots of all the horses.  This is my wallpaper right now.  Copyright of Quintessential Arabians.

My lesson this next Saturday will be with Pstar.  I'll be lunging her and learning some groundwork.  This should be fun!

Snowy Ride

Riding in the winter can be a challenge for most riders.  Only those insane enough about horses will face a cold, snowy day.  It helps remarkably to have a indoor arena at my disposal, otherwise on days like this I doubt I'd get riding in at all.  There are some things though about riding on a cold wintry day that warms the heart.

• Snowflakes in pony's dark, fuzzy coat

• The tabby cat sleeping on the seat of an old western saddle
• Horse breath in your pockets searching for carrots

• The warmth of a horses back as you ride without a saddle
• My warm, fleece lined winter jodphurs
• The silence of the barn yard
• The protection and subtle warmth of the arena while you and your horse are bundled up in jackets, looking into the cold outdoors

• The black dog curled up in a pile of hay, so content and deep in sleep he doesn't bother to look up as you trudge by carrying your armful of tack

It was just me and Willy today, I didn't see anyone else aside from the horses, dogs and cats.  We stayed in the indoor arena, which I am so glad to have access to this during the winter.  Any place I decide to board will have to have one of these!  I'd pay extra just for that luxury!  I rode Willy at the trot mainly and worked on my leg position like in my lesson on Friday.  Then after about an hour of riding I took off the saddle and rode him around bareback at the walk.  On days like these I wish I had a bit warmer, the cold bit in my hand is freezing and then also is cold against my stomach as I warm it up within my jacket.  I know Willy appreciates not having a cold bit in his mouth, I would just love to have something that did it quick and easy!

I thought about Pstar today though.  I really can't afford her.  On paper I can but my budget would be so tight that if something happened, a car issue, a doctor issue...I would be living so tight and never able to make headway on getting my debt down or taking care of other obligations.  I owe it to myself, Steve and my future horse, whether it will be Pstar or someone else to be in a better financial position when I take on horse ownership.  In 7 months I will have $300 more a month after paying off one bill, in about 6 or 7 more another bill paid off will give me yet another $200.  This is on top of the money I have each month that makes it so "I could afford a horse right now" and pay $250 board and a payment on the horse.  If I bought her now my financial cushion would be a rock...a year from now, it will be a pillow top mattress with a heavy down comforter on top!  I will be sitting in a much better place to keep a horse and build my savings....and yes even have a life outside my horse. 

I owe it to Pstar to not be hasty in buying her but by getting set up right so I can indeed offer her a forever home.  Again she may not even be the horse for me but if she turns out to be I don't want to have remorse in anyway when I do claim her as mine.  Hopefully I can get to know her better in the next year so my worries about whether we'd be a good match or not can be calmed.  She is for sale and I know Laurie needs to get some of the sale horses moving so she can get another lesson horse.  If she is sold to someone else, it wasn't meant to be between us, if she isn't sold by the time I can buy her then perhaps she is my dream horse.  Only time will tell.  I'm glad I have Steve to talk to me sensibly, he understands the emotional side of me and that the feelings I have around Pstar can get me thinking with my heart more than my head.  I need to get the stuff my head is concerned about squared away and then I can think all heart and choose my riding partner for life!  Oh the heartache!

Misty, one of Willy's new paddock mates.  He's not nice to her though!

Heartache

I finally made it out to Lauries today, holidays and really bad weather have kept me away.  How I've missed the lovely Arabians!  I had a little Christmas gift for Laurie so I came totting that and forgot carrots!  Eksodus and Pstar were in the first two stalls.  So I greeted them with a pat, Eksodus being his little saucy self!  Laurie came in and we hugged, catching up on our holidays.  Then she had a gift for me...a beautiful ornament her mother made and an awesome teeshirt with Gadiel pictures on the front and back!  I have a pony shirt to wear with my pony PJ bottoms!  I gave Laurie her gift, the size and shape of the horriblly wrapped present sort of gave it away, I'd gotten her a new riding whip/bat.  I'd been at Big R a couple weeks ago and saw it.  I thought it was perfect since she wanted one a little longer than the one she currently had.

After our gift exchange I got Divine from the arena and began getting her groomed.  She was so fuzzy she looked nearly pure white instead of the flea bitten grey/white color she is in the summer.  I rode on the lungeline today and Laurie had me working on my leg position.  It still comes forward a bit when I post so we worked on that with posting trot, sitting and two point.  Towards the end, I guess after I'd warmed up a bit my legs relaxed into the correct position.

Laurie and I talked a lot about horses, as usual.  I asked about Ekstasha and she said she wasn't sure if one of her younger students was interested in her.  Ekstasha is Eksodus's mom whom someone else owns but is giving up their horse because of a move...honestly that's the excuse, I think they just don't have the interest anymore.  Then Laurie mentioned that she had told the family that Pstar would be a nice match maybe for their daughter.  My heart fluttered a little.  I talked to her more about horses and buying a horse not under saddle, how to judge the fit of the horse. 

Apparently a statement I'd made on my blog about Pstar not being a good fit for an endurance or trail horse was a misunderstanding.  Laurie doesn't know how she'd be.  Pstar isn't herd bound as they say, she just likes to be around other horses but Laurie said that if she's alone with no other horses she may be the kind of horse, since she's so human oriented, that would be fine with her human as the boss mare.  I'm not saying this really eloquently.  It sounds like Pstar could get accustomed to be "alone" on a trail with just me and be perfectly fine.

After the lesson and I'd gotten Divine in the cross ties, untacked and partially groomed Laurie tested out some treat samples.  Divine ate them readily but did a funny smacking motion with her mouth, the treat pieces must have stuck to her roof and teeth in her mouth, it was so cute!  Pstar didn't seem to like them, I gave her one twice and each time she just turned it around in her mouth and then dropped it out.  Eksodus did the same.  Later while talking with Laurie I was petting and snugging with Pstar, her lips toyed with the zipper on my jacket.  Horse lips are so funny!  It was so nice with her in the stall, when she's in the run in shed it's harder to get to her, since because of the design of the door there is also a little electric fence strip.  She's gotten pretty fuzzy too and has that extra poofy hair under her jawline like Divine does.

After saying goodbye to Laurie and the horses I headed home.  My mind wandered to conversations we'd just had about horses and finding that connection with a horse.  Nearly home I started to tear up with the thought that Pstar could be purchased by someone else and I would never see her again.  When I walked into my house the tears started running.  Later when Steve came home I talked with him a seriously about Pstar and he seemed a little hesitant but said he wouldn't stand in my way.  I just don't have the money for her right now, I want to pay off some debt but I do have a small raise coming.  I pondered options that might sound reasonable to Laurie, part ownership or leasing etc.  Steve and I will go over the budget and figure out what we are willing to do.  My debt will still get paid off, just a little more slowly if I have a horse to pay for too.  I haven't felt a connection like this since BC, my favorite lesson horse when I was younger.  Of course I don't want to get ahead of myself, Laurie has said that I'd have to work with Pstar and see if she works well with me and I want to get some idea of how Pstar might act in a new situation or place so I can assess if she'd be a good trail horse.  I know training and positive reinforcement is good and then repetition as I grow in a relationship with her and bring her to new places she'll gain the confidence that it's okay. 

Am I being crazy?  I pay all my bills monthly and on time, I'm not hurting in that sense.  I just want the bills gone, so I wanted to increase the payments on them to get in a better place.  I just don't want to lose Pstar if she's the mare for me...I've felt something in my heart about her for a long time and the scare that someone could sweep in and take her away forever is just heartbreaking to me.  Lots to ponder, some soul searching to do and the practical financial plans to construct....

Thaw, mud and poop

The snow is thawing and melting around town.  I expected lots of mud at the stable and indeed that's what I found.  I loaded up several wheel barrows of manure from Willy's pen.  There are two other horses in there with him so I don't feel like I should muck the whole thing as part of my lease when I'm only leasing the one horse...honestly I was never told by Susan that I am required to muck his stall, only to clean up after him in the arenas and wash rack area, I've just done it to be nice and help out a little.  There is a lot of gray area when it comes to the mucking.  Some of the lessers have mucked at times and other times they haven't.  It's really bad when it seems like there hasn't been any mucking in a couple of days...I don't think that a lesser should be required to do all of that when Susan and her "gang" have slacked off in the chores.  Granted if it was my own horse no question, I would leave a dry stall!  Most stables I have looked at online have the full care option for boarding and since I live in town it only makes sense to fork over the money but I would expect the stall to be kept much better than these stalls are and I would still do some mucking to keep it in tip top shape.  These stalls often don't seem to be mucked regularly and multiple loads of manure is a decent contribution to something I'm not required to do in my lease.  I'm going on a  rant but I just don't like this gray area.  I feel I pay good money for the priveledge of leasing Willy but he's also not my horse.  I'll do some mucking when the area is pretty bad but I feel that Susan should be able to either hire someone to clean stalls with all the horses she leases out for riding and I feel she has the responsibility to muck the stalls daily.  Okay I'm done.



So it was pretty muddy today and after mucking some of the worse areas of the pen I got Willy out and tacked him up.  I worked in the big arena.  Willy seemed a bit lazy today, it was hard to get him to keep trotting or cantering.  I worked on his off side with circling since he's a little stiffer that way.  It's hard doing the circles on the slopy arena since Willy plunks along going downhill and has a nicer more lifted walk or trot going uphill.  I worked on his head carriage more often today and he seemed to comply quite well, lowering his head.

After riding a bit I dismounted and grabbed a wheel barrow to get the two piles Willy left.  I also picked up about 8 other piles that had been left from who knows when.  One pile would have been the 9th but it was frozen to the ground!  I definitely do my share and more of cleaning up this farm.  It seems like a lot of the kids from Saturday or whenever don't care and then Susan doesn't do any maintenance herself.  Oh ranting about poop what fun!

Fuzzy mini horse legs!



I untacked Willy, returned him to his cleaner pen and then said hello to the little horses with carrots.  Willy got his share as well.  Hopefully next Sunday will be less muddy and all the horse stalls will have been cleaned out a little better.  My standards are a little higher I guess but I'm torn when it's not my horse and I'm paying money to lease them.  Cleaning up after Willy is one thing, mucking his stall that he shares with two other horses that looks like it hasn't been mucked in several days is another!  Okay, I'm done complaining!

Frozen but indoors to ride....

I'm a crazy person and decided to get an extra day of riding in on Willy since I wasn't having my lesson on New Years Eve.  It was freezing, I think the thermometer on the bank said 9 degrees F!!!  I decided to just ride Willy inside and just stay mainly at a walk so I didn't have to worry about a sweaty horse in freezing weather.



I was trying out my new winter jodphurs.  They are fleece lined and very soft.  I love them!  Only issue I noticed was when I mounted, I couldn't quite flex my knee the way I normally do so it was harder to get my foot into the stirrup.  I walked Willy around the ring a little bit but then decided that bareback riding might be warmer for my bottom.  It was.  Willy didn't seem to mind the nice lazy day.

I like the little indoor ring here.  It's not much wider than your average round pen and it's double the length.  Susan has a storage area and sitting area in part of the ring so it's not a full rectangle to ride in.  I want to get one of these when we have property.  This isn't a big building and there is nothing really fancy about it.  It's just one of those steel garage type buildings but there is room enough to do a little riding when the weather outside is ucky.

Arabian Legends

I don't plan on breeding any of my future horses, I'll leave that to the experts.  If I'm really interested in something, like Arabian horses, I like to know all about the subject.  I just recieved this book called Arabian Legends.  It has histories and information about some of the top legendary sires and a few mares.  Aladdin, Khemosabi, Bask, Bay el Bey, Padron and Muscat to name a few!  It's great to learn about the horses and then when I see a horse online I can view the pedigree and know a little bit more about them!  How cool is that!  No matter the breeding though, I want to find a horse I bond with and is right for what I want to do.  He can be from Billy Bob's backyard breeding or a top bred horse with a loaded pedigree....as long as he's healthy!



Poop and Mud

I arrived around 11am to see Willy.  One of the dogs came running up the driveway to greet me.  I don't know any of the dog or cats names, they are all just kitty and puppy to me.  I opened up my car to get my tack out, in popped the little tabby cat (the one whose tail had been stepped on by Riddle).  After I got my gear out I asked the kitty to get out of the car but he didn't want to.  So I put down the saddle and reached in to get him.  He cuddled up against my neck, dug his claws into my fleece and gave me a give kitty hug complete with purrs.  Right then Lorraine got out of her car, laughing at me and cat.  We exchanged niceties about Christmas but then she went on her way to quickly take care of her Friesians and then get back to family.

Willy had mud on his face and forelock when I went to get him.  It took me a bit to get him cleaned up but having baby wipes with me are always handy!  Willy seemed more cuddly today, he nuzzled me a couple times but I'm sure it was his way of looking for carrots...quickest way to a mans heart, no matter the species!  I brought Willy into the big arena.  He tried to walk off as I put my foot in the stirrup so I moved him around in a tight circle.  Willy sighed and grunted a bit.  Then I stopped him, got him set up for the mount and went up.  He still took a couple steps but stopped when I told him whoa...he's slowly getting better. 

I worked on the usual serpentines at the walk.  Did a figure eight at the posting trot and also tried some canters in each direction.  The left lead seemed better than the right.  He wanted to rush during the right canter lead.  Again when we cantered I concentrated on relaxing and moving with the saddle...it was awesome and he was a good boy for the most part.  Canter is my favorite gait!  I worked on some sitting trot and asking for Willy to lower his head.  He did it a little bit, not as much as when we are just walking but I was content anyways.

I dismounted and then took Willy outside of the ring.  I was just going to ride around the outside of the ring for a bit since I was done with circles, figure eights and serpentines for today.  Plus I knew the girl who rode Ladybug, a beautiful liver chestnut mare would be ready soon and she does jumping in the arena.

I worked on Willy trotting around the ring and keeping his pace down to a nice trot instead of the quickened fast pace trot that is jarring to ride.  We also cantered up the hills on each side of the ring.  I had a great ride with him. 

When I was done I untacked Willy at the wash racks that were full of manure.  I grabbed a pitch fork and wheel barrow to clean that up.  I'll have to send a message to Susan since she had talked to all the riders to make sure we were cleaning up after our horses.  The big arena was a mess and the wash racks were disgusting with manure.  I was the first one of the leasers that I know of on Sunday so I know it wasn't any of us!  I brought Willy to his stall and then started working on mucking.  He and Two Socks were joined with Misty in their small paddock.  It didn't look like anything had been mucked on Christmas day.  The girl and her father who leased Misty on Sundays arrived so her dad joined me in finishing up the stall.  Three wheel barrow loads later we were done and the ground could be seen again.  I came back with carrots for Willy and Two Socks.  I said my goodbyes and then of course paid my dues of carrots to the cute miniature horses.  Perhaps when my schedule gets changed in April I can come ride Willy a couple times during the week, I'll have to talk to Susan about that option.  Until next Sunday!

All I want for Christmas is an Arabian horse (aka pony!)

My all time favorite horse color is Chestnut with a decent amount of chrome.  A stripe or blaze on the nose is perfect and a few socks are great.  Below are internet pics of chestnust Arabians, some were on Dreamhorse.com at one time or another.  I'm silly and browse that site regularly, dreaming away about the day I can finally call up the owners and say "Hey I'm interested and would like to come out and meet your horse".  Of course I'm even more excited about saying "I'll take him/her!"

Illusions Farm sabino Arabian gelding for sale.  How flashy is he!!

 Such soft eyes.  I can stare into a horses eyes all day.  Chestnuts are neat in that some have a flaxen mane.  Some are red as fire.  Yet some can be dark and almost like a chocolate (liver chestnut).  All are beautiful!

 I would call him Wind Fire or Al Hawa Laheeb in Arabic! 

But of course I can't choose a horse by the color.  I love blacks, and bays too.  Greys are pretty but the work to keep them looking clean is so hard!  At least with darker horses if you don't get all the dirt it sort of blends in with the coat!  I dream of the day when I can find a horse that will place their muzzle in my hands and say take me home, I'll be your friend for life.

 A part bred Arab I would have no problems considering would be a palomino.  I still want a purebred but if the palomino wins over my heart I won't look back!

 A black....yes we all have that dream.  The Black Stallion!  But I'll take a mare or gelding.

If only greys stayed this dark grey!  Love the dapples!

But most grey out to this....you need lots of bleach for this horse!  I know there are tons of products out there to help keep the horse looking presentable, I won't pass up an awesome horse just because they're grey.  Just letting you know!  A good horse is never a bad color!

And no matter what amazing color they are or what fine pedigree they may have (this mare from Illusion Farms is a grand daughter of Khemosabi++++) they are still a horse that needs love and attention and will be my partner on the trails.  I can't wait to snuggle up against the neck of my very own pony!  Hope Santa is reading this!  Happy Holidays everyone!

After the fall....

This weekend was icky for weather.  Friday was cold and I didn't ride....I know, I'm a wus!  I have winter riding pants and boots on my Christmas list though!  I want to get all the gear I need to ride no matter the weather.  Then Saturday it was icky but the day got warmer and sunny around the time I would have been out riding...darn it, I should have gone!

Sunday, today, was beautiful.  I went to see Willy.  We approached me and nuzzled my hand as I came up to him.  What a sweet boy!  He didn't mean to take off on my last week now did he!  I brought him out to tack him up, first removing his blanket.  The blanket he wears is not thick, it actually reminds me of a shell people wear while skiing.  He was a little sweaty underneath and I question the need for the blanket except maybe at night or during a really cold day, he has a nice fluffy winter coat.  I need to learn more about when to blanket and when not to.  The area I was tacking him was again left a mess, piles of manure that I cleaned up before I even got to grooming Willy. 

I've been wondering if I need a wider bit for Willy...what do you think?

Then I got him groomed up and tacked and headed to the arena.  There was a grey mare in there since he owners were here mucking her stall.  It was pretty busy at the stable today, several mothers with their daughters doing horsie stuff.  What fun!  I mounted up outside the arena, my first attempt Willy moved around in a circle so I got down and continued moving him around in a tight circle.  Then I made him stand and mounted up, once on he moved off without me asking so I stopped him and stood for a bit.  I need to get a game plan for this, I'll have to ask Laurie what is the best way to handle his moving on while I try to mount.  Most times I've been fine and able to stay balanced but what  nuisance, some day I could get hurt by it.

I rode Willy around the outside of the ring and then noticed a little girl on a grey loping up to us, she asked if she could join us.  What could I say?  We rode around the arena, walks, trots and a little bit of cantering.  She went on about how she used to ride Willy but then didn't want to anymore, she likes Misty and rides her.  She loved to canter and asked if I wanted to race, um...no I don't think that is such a good idea I said.  Eventually her mom got her and I guess took her back to her sister to have her help take up their mare. 

I went into the arena and did some walk, trot and canter transistions with Willy.  I got a few nice canters where the gait was nice and smooth and I was relaxed and following Willy's back with ease.  It felt great!  I still worked on getting his head down at the walk.  It didn't work so well at the trot, I'll have to do some more lunging to work on that. 



After the riding was done and I'd put Willy back I went to go pick up some of his piles that he'd created.  While backing out the wheel barrow I got tangled in another and completely fell over, flailing about.  The mothers all got up and asked if I was okay.  I said I was, bright red, and that I was more embarrassed than anything else.  Oh my gosh!  I am such a clutz!  Later I fed Willy, Two Socks and the two Mini's some carrots and said my goodbyes.  Nice day all in all!

A flying horse and a flying rider

Well I fell today.  4th time falling from a horse.  Falls are inevitable for every rider. 

Anyways, the day was quiet when I arrived.  I got Willy in his cute blanket and brought him into the indoor arena.  I groomed him up and got his tack on.  I rode him around the yard a little bit and then headed to the drive to set out on a "trail ride" in the neighborhood.  Willy felt pretty spunky and broke into a trot without me asking as we turned onto Eggar Road.  I brought him back to a walk and then later asked him to trot.  He trotted a bit with me working hard trying to keep him at a nice pace.  He always starts out nice and those goes really fast into a short choppy trot that is torture to sit and difficult to post.  I brought him down to a nicer trot and then to a walk.  I decided not to do much else but walk until we came down the second culdesac.  Then I asked him for a trot and then a canter.  We cantered up the hill but Willy didn't respond when I asked for a slower pace, he was galloping.  I could see the shadow of us on the ground, Willy's nose was to the wind and his legs were picking up more and more speed.  I finally slowed him back to a walk.



We walked some more and I decided to ask for the canter again and work harder at keeping the pace nice...big mistake.  Willy took off again, I tried to sit deep, lost my stirrups and kept asking him to stop, verbally and non verbally.  He wanted to run and didn't pay any attention to the bug on his back.  Why I didn't think to pull him to the side with one rein, the one rein stop I don't know.  Finally I leaned forward in an effort to grab his neck...I'm assuming, I have no idea what was going on in my mind.  Off I went plummeting in front of him and rolling on the gravel road about 6 feet ahead.  I barely came to a stop when I jumped back up and towards him to grab ahold of the reins.  He was at a dead stop and looking at me like "Why are you on the ground?".  I stood for a few minutes with him catching my breathe and assessing my injuries.  I knew I'd feel it later since there was still too much adrenaline in my body to sense much pain.  My left knee area hurt and my right ankle but nothing was broken.  I mounted up and walked...rather "jigged" Willy back to the stable.  He sure was feeling his oats today!

I rode him around the yard for a bit once I got back.  I asked for stops, trots, stops etc.  I figure I need to get back to basics with Willy and figure out why he ran off like that.  Why didn't he listen to my whoas and the reins?  I'll do some groundwork and basic ring stuff for a while to gain some understanding and respect where he is concerned.



Willy has had a few issues that need to be fixed, not sure what I can do with riding him only once a week.  He is very hard to stop, even at a walk.  When I get ready to mount, by putting my foot in the stirrup he immediately starts walking forward in a circle with me at the pivot point.  He'll walk on without a cue from me and he doesn't collect.  Keeping him at a nice trot pace is hard, he always wants to go really fast and do short choppy steps.  I have a lot to work on him so I think I'll be staying in the arenas for a while with an occasional walk only trail ride.  If he was my horse he would have been at my trainers long ago so Laurie could help us work this out.  Willy is a good horse and very sweet, I have no idea where his spunky attitude came from today.  As always I want this experience to help me grow as a rider, and I want to learn to ride the canter and gallop better!  My rear hurts!  LOL