Just a tease...

OPEN WIDE!!  Lots to blog about coming real soon!!

 

The Saddle Fund

The vet bills have definitely put a damper on my saddle fund.  The saddle I had for Willy and Millie, my former lease horses, is too narrow for Dani.  Below is the diagram I made of Dani's back to assist in finding a saddle that fits her since I can't exactly bring her to the tack shop with me.  The top is her withers, second is about 8 inches down her back and the third is another 8 inches.

 

 

 

The first saddle I want is the Wintec Wide Dressage 500.  Simple, easy to care for and comfy.  Hopefully it will be comfy for Dani as well!

 

 

 

I also need to find a good slip free dressage girth.  Since Dani is very much a little barrel in her mid section having something that will not slip and also will not cause girth gals is vital!

 

 

Then there is also the need for someplace to put those dangly things of mine, you know, my feet!  I prefer the regular stirrup leathers, Wintec makes these.  A lot of people like less material under their leg but I prefer the double straps of a regular stirrup leather, though of course since it's Wintec it's synthetic!  Then of course I need Fillis stirrups, though I may end up getting the safety stirrups though I have never gotten my foot stuck in one I think with my recent falls it's a safety measure I will consider.

 

 

 

 

So....low on funds I've started cleaning out our basement.  My hubby and I have had stuff that needed to be sold or gotten rid of for a while.  I've just procrastinated to get it on Craigslist or ebay.  Well, my procrastination had a reason!!!  We've sold quite a few things, Miche purse stuff, an ice maker, ski racks and a McDonalds french fries radio!  All this stuff is adding up!  I'm still thinking I could earn some money by standing on a street corner with a sign.  Of course it has to be quirkie, I notice soooo many people end up stranded somewhere and need money.  But then again I see those same people in the same place for several weeks in a row...maybe this isn't such a lucrative idea???

 

 

 

What do you think?  Would this work? 

 

 

 

 Hmmm......I think I'll just stick to traditional means of earning and saving moola!

Steve, Dani and Rambo

We had some pretty cold weather this weekend for this time of year; along with wind and some precipitation so we felt it good to blanket Dani, at least in just the outer part of the blanket that has 100 fill. 

 

 

I've been checking her daily to see that her leg is doing well having the big huge field to play in, so far so good....knock on wood!  We were running some errands so Steve and I swung by to check on Dani and make sure the blanket wasn't rubbing her since she would need to wear it one more night.

 

I had Steve put on the blanket, it'd been a while since he put a blanket on a horse so I reminded him of the order for putting on and taking off said blanket.  To put on one should always start with the front clips.  If the horse spooks they have less a chance of getting tangled with these being the only straps secured.

Then I had Steve do the "surcingles" that go below her belly.  I do the middle strap and then have the outside straps crossed over each other.  So the front outside strap would go under her belly and secure to the rear outside clip.  The rear outside strap would go under her belly and secure to the front outside clip.

 

 This is just how I've learned to blanket a horse, I'm sure the belly straps can be done differently and there is no issue.  The main thing is that you want to make sure the blanket is snug but not restricting.  This blanket doesn't have back leg straps so we don't have to worry about those.  We just make sure her tail is over the "butt loop". 

 

What I like about the Rambo is the butt strap has a plastic sheath over it so you just have to wipe clean any manure that collects.  Very nice!!  Fancy butt strap or not, ponies always look sooo cute in their blankets!!

 

 

Serene Sunday

 

Happy Serene Sunday!  Just bare with me and my weirdness...

(You have to turn the volume way up)

 

 

 

 

Filmed completely in slow motion, it gets really exciting at 2:15 minutes!!  Enjoy!!

The Scary Indoor Arena

Now that the time change has occurred, it's almost dark when I arrive at the barn right after work.  The last few weeks I've been spoiled by having Dani in a stall since she is recovering from her leg injury.  Tomorrow she'll be back in the field full time and I'm afraid of how it will be to try and "catch" a horse in the dark!!!!

 

The sky was amazing the other day, when I arrived the clouds glowed a luminescent aura that detailed the rays of light as the sun sank below the mountains.  I love Colorado!  The pine trees and house silhouetted against the sunset as I drove up the Whispering Winds driveway.  The view was gorgeous and calmed my senses after a long day of work.  It was a great transition from work to a great joy in my life.  I wish I could earn my salary grooming and working with my horse or honestly all the horses at the barn!  I love walking into the barn with the scent of horses and fresh hay.

 

 

I had to groom Dani in her stall since a lot of students were untacking and grooming their horses in the two wash racks and in other stalls.  Dani has been great about the wash rack.  I honestly expected a little regression from time to time but once she excepted that the wash rack was harmless she just excepted it!!  She certainly fidgets more in the stall, I think she's agitated having herself tied up to a solid wall and not being able to see about.  She tosses her head and plays with the lead rope, I'll post a video of that in another blog post.  There's not much I know to do in order to calm her, I just get my job done and make sure she respects my space while I groom her.  It can get annoying but she only seems to do this when tied in the stall.

 

 

 

Today I just wanted to work with her in the indoor arena.  She's still very unsure of this "chasm of equine demise".  We walked around the arena, it was empty today so I was able to let her stand and sniff; pretty much do whatever felt fine with her.  I let her see her shadow (aka the black horse shaped blob of death) and then let her sniff the corner areas that are home to various jump pieces and obstacles.

 

I made sure that after she'd sniffed them, that each jump stand moved and made noise so she realized a little bit of movement still held no threat.

 

 

While we were walking around the arena I'm guessing Dani was rather close to the wooden boards that border the ring and her hooves kicked up some of the substrate making an "ominous sound" thus causing her to nearly trample me as I calmly walked beside her.  As you can guess I spent the next period of time walking her around the entire arena, kicking up the substrate against the walls, banging the lead rope against the board and basically making as much noise as I could as we made our way around the ring.  Eventually Dani showed no reaction to anything I was doing.

 

Granted my little mare will need more an more exposure to the scary stuff of the ring from the windows pointed east where horses can easily view the lights of cars driving by in the distance to the mirrors on the walls that show some strange horse looking at them!

 

 

A couple of days later I brought her in a again with about 5-6 horses in the arena at one time.  Some horses were taking their riders through a lesson and others were just doing their own thing.  At any rate the ring was pretty busy and was good exposure for Dani.  She watched the other horses moving around, I kicked up dirt at the walls and moved the corner obstacles as she sniffed them.  I wouldn't say she was "calm" but I don't feel she was on the verge of shying away from any of these "threats".  I was actually pretty happy with her behavior and the improvement in her response to the indoor arena.  I think she learns fast, definitely a good thing but I know I have to be careful she doesn't learn something I don't want her to! 

 

 

We'll continue the exposure to the indoor arena, and in about a week should be able to start some full on groundwork since her leg should be 100%.  She'll eventually realize that the indoor is no big deal and get on with the lessons I'll be teaching her.

One Month Anniversary!!

Today, Dani has owned me for 1 full month!

 

 

It has certainly been an interesting month!  I love you Dani Girl!

Poll: How often do you see your horse?

For those of you that board your horse or used to board your horse.  I'm curious....take the survey below please!

 

 

How often do you go see/ride/work with your horse?

• Daily
• 5-6 times a week
• 3-4 times a week
• 1-2 times a week

Freeblogpolls

More polls: Memira

 

 

 

I often think about other things I do need to get done and find I feel guilty when I don't try to see my mare every day.  This feeling of guilt occurs especially since I've waited soooo long to have a horse!  What are you thoughts?

Results: http://www.freeblogpolls.com/polls/1252770-how-often-do-you-go-seeridework-with-your-horse

Off With That Bandage!!!

This Saturday Dani got her bandage taken off.  The doc had said to keep it on for several days until it got so dirty I couldn't stand it!  Well it was put on Monday and we took it off Saturday so I feel that was a good run.  The last one was only on Friday to Monday.

Steve gave me a spare pair of medical scissors to keep in the barn, I'm beginning to gather medical equipment to keep in my supplies. There will be a post on that when I get that all assembled and have a little bit of knowledge on first aid for horses.  I will also review the book I'm purchasing too since there is one that looks like a great reference.  Stay tuned!

Anyways Steve went about taking the bandage off, Dani pulled her leg up a couple times disliking having her leg played with.  She wasn't really kicking perse but was getting agitated.  We calmed her down and then I think she realized that the icky thing was coming off so she behaved.  I'm guessing that's why the vet sedated her a bit for fear of being kicked.  I wasn't there so who knows what Dani had been doing the two times he came out.

Our friends Clark, and not shown here Becca, are visiting from Florida.  Clark came to see the pony.  Dani wasn't sure what to make of this big tall guy.  He was standing near her head, petting her and talking to her about weird things....Clark is a very sarcastic kind of guy so he's pretty funny most times.  He got scared though when she licked at his stomach!  I laughed so hard!!!  Little horse scares big tall man!  He's not much of a horse person....

Dani wanted to eat and sniff at her bandage when Steve balled it all up to throw out.  Her leg was very sweaty and the tape left some residue on her leg as well.  It will eventually wear out, I won't mess with it for now.  All I did was hose down her leg since I knew that would feel nice to her.  We also washed each hoof; mud was still caked on the wall so Steve used the dandy brush to whisk the mud off as I hosed down each foot.  This dandy brush was one I had just purchased a week ago and Dani made it very clear she didn't like it.  The bristles were a bit too hard, so I got another before coming today and she was much happier with that brush.  My new old one now will become the mud and poop brush to rid caked on mud from the pony and blanket.

Her blanket already looks well loved with dirt and poop on it.  She's obviously rolled while wearing the blanket!  We took Dani out for a walk on the path after a quick grooming.  Steve was having more difficulty leading her since he's not sure what to do to prevent her from crowding him.  Below Dani is beginning to use Steve as a face scratching post!  He'll just have to come out and work with her more.  We trotted Dani a couple times and she seemed to be going fine with her leg, Clark said she looked a little "ginger" on that leg but I didn't see anything majorly off or any head bobbing as she moved.  She still needs 2 weeks of little work.  That's fine since I don't have a saddle yet and I can wait a little more to start the Clinton Anderson ground work.

When we brought her back to the barn I held her while Steve picked her hooves, the driveway has a lot of little rocks so we wanted to make sure that Dani didn't have any stuck in her hooves.  Some of the boarders, who work to reduce board fees, were there doing the evening chores so horses were being brought in for feedings.  We put Dani in her stall and then gave her the last of her antibiotics with some feed.  I still need to discuss with the vet about the grain they offer here or a supplement I should provide.  She's normally only on hay but I want to make sure she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs. 

Anyways, Dani is almost free and clear of this little injury.  I'm just hoping we don't have another for at least a few months, if ever!  Ha ha ha!  That's really wishful thinking when it comes to horses!!  I really need to build my savings back up, that is vitally important when you own a horse.  Sure I have insurance but I pay vet bills all upfront and then wait for reimbursement and I'm reimbursed at only 80%.  It's still a good deal but I would rather have taken that money out of my bank then put it on the credit card.  This is just lessons learned from me to you; have a robust savings account as soon as you can when you have a horse!!!  That certainly was my intent but vet bills happen faster than you can say pony! 

Well happy horsing around! 

Serene Sunday

I could watch horses munch on hay all day!

 

Feeling Antsy Are We????

I was so happy to go see Dani yesterday.  It was hard being away when she was injured but the boarding facility was awesome and my vet was as well.  They took care of her and kept me updated via emails and texts.  Now I just have to submit the invoices to the insurance company for reimbursement for some of the fees.  It's still a big expense but after the $325 deductible I only cover 20% of the charges.  Still it would have felt better had my savings already been rebuilt after her purchase before this little incident.  Oh well!  With horses expect the unexpected.  You can never have enough money stowed aside in a rainy day or injured pony fund!!

I groomed Dani when I got to the facility, she hadn't been groomed since last I saw her and to me appeared fuzzier. She seemed happy to see me and I was very happy to see her. I walked her up and down the driveway a couple times, she was antsy from being in the stall and called out to her little friends a few times. I couldn't blame her but I still asked her not to drag me around!

All the horses around Dani's pasture seemed antsy and full of energy as well.  I'm not sure if they were excited since they hadn't seen her in a while or if the nice 60-70 degree weather just got them all riled up.  You can see from the videos that horseplay is a normal pasture pass time!

I didn't have long to spend with her since I was off that day for the purpose of getting my dogs from my parents and getting my house sorted since we have guests coming in this weekend.  Liz said I could use the end paddock for Dani so she can get out of the stall.  The end paddock is mostly dirt but borders the middle pasture and the north pasture.  The first thing my nicely groomed mare did was roll but I was expecting that since she doesn't have the room to do that in her stall.

Look at that face, all happy and dirty with hay caught in her forelock!!  Hopefully in a week she'll be back out in the big pasture with her friends, and cross my fingers, won't get injured again any time soon!  It will be two weeks before I can do any work with her per the vets instructions.  Since I just spent the money I would have used for her new saddle on her injury that's not too much of an issue but I'm anxious to begin the Clinton Anderson Fundamentals Groundwork. 

 For now I'll just have to work on lead line walking and teach my hubby the same since he's said she really invades his space.  We can do some things until she's fully healed at least!  I will eventually ride my mare I hope!  LOL.