News

The vet called Friday afternoon with the news.  Her white blood cell count was good but her red blood cell count was low signaling that she is anemic.  The vet said that he wasn't too worried about it.  He would come back in a month or so and take another blood sample to make sure the red blood cell count didn't drop anymore.  In the meantime, we were to "worm her real good" to make sure it wasn't because of worms.  I have the horses on a regular worming schedule but I re-wormed them all again on Saturday, just to be on the safe side.

Star has been feeling great since we started her on the Bute pills.  We were worried she wouldn't eat her grain with the bitter tasting Bute pills in it, but she cleans up her grain dish - every last bit!  The swelling is still there but has gone down and she's been trotting around in her turn out.  I have her with Melody in her turnout and I think I'm gonna leave it that way this winter.  We seem to have peace within each grouping, so why mess with it?

Gunner's swelling has gone down a little.  The vet said he should be back to normal within a week so I'm keeping an eye on it to make sure it does.

I've been doing more groundwork exercises with Melody whenever I lead her in or out of the turnout.  She's been introduced to the tarp.  I first had her walk on it - no big deal.  She sniffed it a little and then walked on and stood with no problem.  The next time she walked right onto it, no questions asked.  The next time, instead of walking on it, I rubbed her with it.  She was alert at first and then got bored.  I repeated all the tarp stuff with her for about a week and then moved onto laying it across her, over her head, neck, back and butt.  She did some dancing but nothing major.  Those lessons were repeated over the following week until she was bored with that too.  It doesn't take much for her to be ok with what we work on.  She's very trusting and has a good head on her.  She came in from turnout the other day with a mystery cut on her face.  I have NO IDEA where that could've come from.  It's healed up nicely now, though.  Being a light colored palomino Melody is absolutely filthy, and you can see every spec of dirt on her!  I can't stand it!!  Zoe is a buckskin and her cream color gets really light in the winter too but she keeps herself clean, but not Melody!  I think she finds the smelliest, muddiest spots in her turnout and rolls, and naps there!!  I'm looking forward to the warmer weather already so I can get her clean again!  Yuck!  I should try to snap a picture just so you can see how nasty her creamy coat is!  Oh well, nothing I can do about it.  We brush her the best we can but it doesn't get the deep down stuff...

With all that's been going on, not much progress with Zoe lately.  She's been itching for work so I did lunge her the other day.  She was happy about that!  We are going back to working on leadership exercises to help build a better working relationship before the riding happens again.  Not that it's a bad relationship but more that we haven't been working together for a while now and I want to start off with a trusting relationship.  Make sense?

Well, that's all for now!




Quote for the day:
"He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything."

-Thomas Carlyle

Sore Gunner

Gunner got the day off on Thursday because the farrier came out.  So Friday we decided to get a ride in during the afternoon because we didn't want to try to ride while people would be starting to shoot off fireworks.

Going back, Wednesday we tried Gunner in the hackmore and he did AWESOME!  So quiet and relaxed!  I have a phone call in for brother-in-law about Gunner's teeth, though.  I would like to know when the last time he had them done just so I can or cannot rule out his teeth as the culprit with the bit.  Don't get me wrong, I will still be scheduling an appointment for his teeth and we will probably continue to ride in the hackmore but I would like to keep him on a better schedule.

Anyways, middle daughter was grooming Gunner before the ride and when she ran the brush over his back he dropped his back out under the pressure.  He's been doing something similar to this ever since we turned him out with Zoe but this time he seemed more tense.  My gut says that Zoe got a hold of him...  Anyways, we decided to try him out and all was going well until middle daughter asked him to canter.  He jumped up in the front end more exaggerated than usual but picked up the correct lead and went around the pen once before she asked him to trot.

She changed directions and when she asked for the canter he gave out a small buck.  Middle daughter stayed in the saddle and didn't really know what happened.  I told her riding was done and to cool him down.  I'm guessing he was too sore.  Poor guy!

Since the ride was cut short, we decided to pamper the little guy and gave him a good shampoo bath.  He has one white sock on his back foot and when we were done it was glowing!  He looked like a million bucks!  Middle daughter took him out to the yard to let him eat while he dried off and he behaved so nicely for her.  What a great little horse he's turned out to be!  I'm hoping that we will be able to keep him for her to ride for 4H...

Anyways, he's gonna get some time off for his back to heal.  If I don't see much progress in a week or so, I'll have to call the chiro and see about getting his back adjusted.  I've never used an equine chiro before...it will be a learning experience for both of us!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion."

-Arnold H. Glasow

Saddle Time

With the weather cooperating, we've had a lot of time for riding.  And when I say we, I mean middle daughter and I.  What horse is middle daughter riding?  Betcha couldn't guess...ok maybe you can.  Gunner!  My brother-in-law's horse that he left here is turning out to be a great kids horse!  Who knew?!  He's been so relaxed and listens so good for middle daughter.  I'm thrilled!!

I've been having mostly good rides on Zoe.  She's in heat right now so she's VERY distracted.  When she tunes into me rather than the boys in the pasture across the driveway, she does great but when she's wanting to talk to them, she's awful.  She just needs more time in the saddle! 

Last night I took her out for a ride and she was raring to go!!  Go talk to the boys that is!  I tied her to the patience tree while I got all of her tack out and when I returned she was all sweaty...from standing there...it as only 75 degrees and she was in the shade...and there was a nice breeze!  Talk about being juiced!!!  I decided it would be a good idea to do some lunging before getting on and I'm glad I did because she was itching to run and buck.  Once I sent her out, she got frisky!  I let her get it out of her system before asking her to focus and start warming up/working.  It really didn't take too long before she was paying attention again and once she was relaxed we switched directions.  It took even less time going the other direction.

I mounted and immediately she wanted to trot.  But I slowed her down and kept her at a walk (a very fast walk, but a walk nonetheless).  Every little thing was a distraction on this particular night - every. single. thing.  We had to do lots of figure eights and weaving to keep focused.  I guess you could say we worked on steering almost the entire ride!

We had a small group of bikers (on their bicycles, not motorcycles!) stop and watch me ride.  A little background...I ride in our large front yard and we live on a rural road with lots of hills - people love to ride their bikes on our road.  Of course Zoe thought that every time we went by she had to stop and look at them. Ugh.  That got old!  Finally they realized they were being a distraction so they slowly walked their bikes past.  Zoe kept a close eye on them the entire time.  Once they were out of site, we did some nice circles in both directions and I thought we should call it quits.  So we started the cool down walk but she thought that meant we were going to visit the boys.  We had a short discussion about how she needed to still listen to me even though we were cooling down (and on a loose rein).  She decided to listen to me.  Good girl.

I sprayed her down and turned her loose.  She ran and played with Star and Melody for a little bit and then settled down to eating.

Tonight there will be no riding - we are off to the fair for some elephant ears and fresh squeezed lemonade!  Should be fun (and never cheap)!!

I will have an update on Star after the weekend - until next time!!!




Quote for the day:
"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way."

-Booker T. Washington

Hello!

Just a quick picture of Zoe and me!  We are doing great and loving the beautiful weather we are finally getting!  It was official bath day for ALL horses last weekend and they all were very well behaved.  Melody didn't have any freak outs and enjoyed the scrubbing - she's so dang cute!

I have more updates but have to get outside and get some riding done before our friends come over...they brought our bull, Bo, home from Oklahoma...

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."

-Helen Keller

First Bath

We've been having some beautiful weather here but I have a strict "no bathing until it reaches 70 degrees" policy.  Some do it when it's cooler than that but I don't have heated water so it has to be warm enough to dry them with the horses getting chilled.  So this past weekend we finally had our chance!  It was a beautiful 75 and sunny so little Miss Melody got to learn how to take a bath like a good girl.

Hubby helped me with the bath.  I held her and he sprayed her.  He started at her front feet and slowly worked his way up her legs.  She stood there, didn't move.  He moved up to her shoulder and onto her neck.  Again she just stood there.  Her eyes were started to get a little big but she didn't budge.  When hubby moved the water to her back she dropped her back so low that I thought she would scoot forward but she didn't.  She only took a small step to the side.  I was expecting a huge fight from her but at that point she wasn't too worried.  Licking her lips and chewing the whole time!

Hubby moved on to spraying her butt and that's when she started dancing.  She wasn't pushy towards me at all - only danced from side to side.  So I would lead her forward and bring her back to the hose.  (On a side note, we don't have a wash stall.  We just bring the hose outside of the barn and spray where ever it's convenient.  Someday I will have a proper wash stall but it's not high on the priority list right now.)  Then it was time for the other side.  I might as well say "see above" for how it went.  I was beginning to think that this was all it was going to be - which wasn't bad at all!  We raised a colt several years ago that tried to kill hubby during his first bath so I always have that in the back of my mind during the "first bath" experience.  I will never forget that colt!  Anyways, just as we were about to call it quits, Melody wasn't amused anymore and decided it was time to leave.  She reared up and started falling backwards, twisting the lead rope around her neck in the process somehow.  Hubby jumped in helped me get her lead rope from around her neck.  At that point he took her and lead her around to get her nerves settled.  This time we switched roles and I was the sprayer.  We started over at her front feet and moved the same was as before, but this time with breaks when she was being a good girl.  We were able to get her sprayed down all over without another freak out so we called it a day with that.  We didn't really "wash" her but got done what we had set out to do, and that was get her used to being sprayed.  We will try again next time we have a 70+ day.

Overall, I think she did amazing!  Her intelligence and trust in us is very evident when we try new things.  She's gonna be a great little mare!

Until next time!


Quote for the day:
"Question everything.  Learn something.  Answer nothing."

-Euripides

Boot Camp Update #4

I think we are coming down to the end of Zoe's training.  Last night I visited her at the trainer's and had a great time with her!

I got her from her pen outside and got her all tacked up.  I've noticed that she's a lot more "looky" now than she was at home.  My guess is that she's alert now and paying attention to what I might ask her.  Make sense?

Anyways, I lunged her with the trainer's instruction.  Zoe has been cross-firing when asked to canter on the lunge line so she told me what she does to correct that.  I had to do it a couple times but got the hang of it eventually.  I've lunged plenty of horses before but have never been "taught", I guess you could say.  It was a good refresher and she had some pointers for me too.  Once I had Zoe going nice and soft we called it quits.  I think I lunged her for about 15 - 20 minutes.  On a side note, this mare is FIT.  She has excellent muscling through her back and haunches and is collected more consistently now.

I rode her at a walk/trot/canter for another 20 minutes, worked on some backing, turning, collection, and downward transitions (not much critiquing just being able to go from canter to trot, and trot to walk without stopping completely).  I noticed that this time riding I didn't have to use as much leg to keep her moving.  She also was learning that every time I move in the saddle, it doesn't mean stop.  The first time I rode her, any time I wiggled, she would slam on her breaks.  That was annoying.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE her breaks but she needs to learn when I'm actually asking her to stop.  But like I said, last night she maybe only slammed on her breaks twice but quickly stepped back up into the trot like I had wanted.  Turning is another issue we need improvement on so we did a lot of figure eights and changing directions.  It's coming.

I hose her off before putting her away.  It's been so nice and warm here that I was able to get away with it.  After this weekend it's supposed to cool off again so no more hosing her down.  I think I will have to invest in a cooler.

I left that lesson feeling energized and excited.  I did everything by myself and got a lesson from the trainer.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get another date for this week to work so I will have to wait another week before my Zoe's next lesson ride.  Only a couple more weeks and Zoe can return home! :)

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself."

-John Fowles

Boot Camp

Saturday morning I woke up early.  I didn't want to oversleep and I was way too excited to sleep anyway!  My plan was to feed and then give her a bath.  I threw some hay and filled the water and then went inside for my coffee.  I went back out after about 45 minutes thinking she would be done.  Apparently she doesn't eat her breakfast very fast because she had a lot left to eat!  So I changed my plans.  I decided to just do a really good grooming and trim up her bridle path.  That would save me a TON of time!

So with all of this extra time now, I got the truck hooked up to the trailer, made sure the current Coggins was in the truck and went inside to start getting my family ready.  My youngest son is very hard to wake up in the morning, we call him the bear, so it takes some time to get him up and ready to go.  He growled and moaned until I threatened to throw water in his face (works every time!).  Ok, so let me tell you that by this time it was 8:30 am and I put all the kids to bed the night before at 9 pm.  Plenty of sleep.  Hubby said he wanted to leave at 9:30 am to give us enough time (we had to be there at 10 am) so these kids needed to get breakfast and dressed.  On a school day it we give them an hour or so to get ready so I figured we had better plan on the same time frame.

At 9:00 am I got Zoe from her breakfast.  She was still eating.  Seriously.  Still eating.  I tied her to the trailer and did a thorough grooming.  She was as shiny as a horse without a bath can get.  Her mane was nice (except for the spot where she rubbed her mane out and is starting to come back in so it stands straight up!) and her tail was gorgeous.  I trimmed up her bridle path but left her whiskers and her fuzzy ears alone.  No point in taking the fuzz off with all of the flies - we're not going to a show so I never trim up those areas.  I sprayed her good with fly spray and cleaned her feet.  Then it was time to go!  Hubby was impatiently waiting for me to load Zoe.  While I was grooming, he had loaded the kiddos in the truck so he was ready.

I led Zoe into the trailer but she only put her front feet in and stopped.  WTH?  She always loads so I didn't know what was different this time.  Oh wait!  The smell is probably different than the last time.  We own a stock/horse combo gooseneck trailer and a neighbor (our feed guy) borrowed the trailer to haul some steers.  When we got it back, it was disgusting.  We cleaned it the best we could but I'm sure that's what she was smelling and wasn't so sure about.  I just gave her a little time and coaxed her a little and she jumped the rest of the way in.  I shut the door, climbed into the truck and we were off!

The drive was uneventful and we got the the trainer's barn in plenty of time.  Zoe was calling excessively when we arrived.  There is a beautiful, palomino stud there and he wasn't even interested in her, although a big bay gelding was VERY interested.  He answered her every call.  It didn't take long and the trainer was out at the trailer.  We talked some business talk about what she was going to do, what I expected, money, etc.  Then it was time to unload.  Zoe was a hot mess in that trailer.  She had pooped and it was on the runny side so her backside was messy and of course she stomped in it so now her feet were messy and she was all sweaty.  I guess all that grooming and extra TLC that morning was for nothing.  Dang mare.  Zoe unloaded fine but was very alert.  She was good but had to be reminded a couple times that she can't push me around just to see what was around her.

We put her in her turnout behind the barn.  She was being penned next to two geldings on one side and a big gelding on the other.  She immediately set out to sniff the perimeter - not caring about the horses in the pen next to her.  At this point the stud actually acknowledged that she was there only by looking her direction.  He never called to her the entire time we were there - amazing!

We did some more small talk and it was time to go.  As a side note, I really like her.  I think she has the right methods for training.  She's not a bully but has expectations of the horse.  She expects them to behave and lets them know when they aren't (Zoe needs to be reminded of that).  She knows what she wants and how to ask the horse for it, which is also very important.  She said she will work with Zoe everyday and if she misses a day during the week she will make up for it on the weekend.  She was going to let Zoe settle in for a couple days and start working on Monday.  We've been having extreme heat (in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity) this week so I wonder what all she did.  She was going to start on ground work and see what holes are there.  She will move on to saddle work once she feels Zoe is ready for it.  The pace is going to be set by Zoe so if Zoe decides she wants to learn it could go very quickly.  If she decides to be difficult, it will take longer.  That's another reason I like her.  So I've been dying to text her to see how things are going but it's only been a few days so I don't want to seem over anxious...ya know?  I will wait until next week...I guess.

Sorry about not taking any pictures.  I was way too nervous excited to even think about taking pictures!  Maybe when I go for a visit I will remember to take pictures!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Smile, it's free therapy."

-Douglas Horton

Another Successful Lesson

Another lesson yesterday for middle daughter.  It was in the 90's so their lesson consisted of walking.  While walking, they worked on steering and posture.  Middle daughter did very well and it was a fun night for everyone there!  After the lesson was over, she had to spray Sara down in the wash stall.  This was a first for her and she really liked it!  I got to meet the owner of Romeo, an arab/appaloosa cross.  His name is so fitting because he likes to give kisses!  Every time I put my hand out to pet him, he would lick my hand...every.single.time.  He had so much personality - I just love him!

I dropped Zoe off at the trainer's on Saturday...but that's another post for later...

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out."

-Elizabeth Bowen

Riding Time

A week or so ago middle daughter had a friend over who is in love with horses.  We've had her over before.  This time instead of only brushing and leading the horses, we did some riding.  Her mom said she was counting down the hours until she got to come over!  I had to work that day so they had to wait until I was home before being able to ride.  I'm sure it was torture for them!

Immediately after I got home, I got Star out for the girls.  I had put a good ride in on her the weekend before and she behaved PERFECTLY - like winter never happened!  That mare continues to impress me.  In years before I always had to put in a week or two of riding daily to get back what we lost over winter but this year she was awesome!

She stood like a rock while the girls fussed over every inch of her body, brushing her several times.  I saddled her up and the pony rides began.  Middle daughter's friend was scared to ride by herself and I wasn't sure if she knew how so I was happy to lead her around.  Then middle daughter wanted to join.  She knows how to ride so she did the driving and her friend was happy to sit behind her.

They each took turns riding by themselves but middle daughter rode by herself and did some canter work.  That girl can ride - so much more talent than I ever had at that age (she's 7).

Star did really well for the girls but I noticed she was slightly off again at the trot.  It's the phantom limp...no idea what causes it or how to treat it.  She doesn't seem bothered by it, I've had the farrier check her out and he said to keep riding unless she shows me that she is upset.  I always take it easy with her when I notice she's off, maybe I baby her and she's figured out how to get out of more work...who knows.

Because of all the riding the girls did and the fact that Star is out of shape and in her elderly years, we cold hosed Star's legs and did a quick rinse of the rest of her body.  It was a hot and sticky night so I'm sure it felt good!

All in all, it was a wonderful horsey night with the girls!  I'm so proud of my daughter and my horse - love them so much!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be."

-Socrates

Bath Time!

We finally had some decent weather and the time to give the horses a bath!  I wish I had a camera to take some before and after pictures cuz those girls were nasty!!!  You can really see the difference on Zoe because of her lighter color and Star's coat just glowed!  I had wanted to give their tails a make over too but I was running out of steam so only their manes got the attention.

On a whole, the first bath of the year went good.  Zoe dealt with the water being sprayed on her until I got to her back.  After that getting her to stand still so I could get her but and belly was virtually impossible to do by myself.  Hubby saw my struggle and came to my rescue.  He was able to hold her while I finished spraying.  Then middle daughter and I got to scrubbing!  Zoe got a little anxious at first because Star was running around in the field - not waiting patiently for her turn.  But Zoe relaxed eventually and really enjoyed the scrubbing.  All the winter fur was very itchy, I'm sure!  We got a good portion of winter hair off but she still has more to go!  After the final rinse, hubby took her to the yard and held her while she ate.  Can't turn her out while she's still wet because all that hard work of washing would've gone to waste - turning her into a big mud ball. 

So while Zoe was drying, we got Star out.  She just wanted a bath so she could eat while we washed.  That would've been fine but she kept walking while we were trying to scrub and that gets annoying.  So we had to move out to the driveway so she had to just stand there.  Star had more winter hair left than Zoe did so we got TONS of hair out (and dirt!).  Oldest son was there to help with the scrubbing this time so I was able to just hold her while the kiddos did the work. :)  After the final rinse, middle daughter took Star to eat some grass while she dried. 

I gave Zoe and quick brush down and turned her out.  First thing she did was roll.  Dang horse.  So I went back out with a brush and tried to get the dirt off right away.  I got one side done before she just wanted to play.  Oh well.  Hubby came with some hay and she got to eating.

I took over with Star and just relaxed in the sunshine while Star ate.  What a beautiful day!  Once Star was dry, I brushed her quick and turned her out with Zoe.  Usually Star will roll ASAP but she didn't want to miss out on the hay so she ate instead of rolled....I may be on to something here...

After bath time was all done, hubby and I decided we need a wash stall so I can do the horse bathing by myself if need be.  So I guess we just added another project to our already too long list of projects!  I'm sure that by the end of summer, Zoe will do MUCH better.  We do a lot of baths throughout the summer so she will come to enjoy them on those hot days.  She showed a lot of curiosity with the water and almost tried to take a drink.  I remember Grace (APHA mare that we had to put down a year or so ago) used to enjoy drinking directly from the hose.  I miss that mare and her puppy dog attitude.  Some day maybe I will write a post about her.  Still hard to talk about her without tears.

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Peace begins with a smile."

-Mother Teresa

Fuzzy Wuzzy

It's finally shedding season at our barn!  The horses are itchy all over and would rather have scratches than their dinner - or at least Zoe did.  She finished up her grain and I was taking the grain dish out when I gave her a quick scratch.  She picked her head up out of her hay and just stood there.  So I continued to scratch and pull hair out (I didn't have a brush with me).  She didn't move a muscle!  I bet I scratched her neck and chest for a solid 5 minutes before I stopped and let her eat.  I was COVERED in blond hair.  Yuck. 

I picked up some Cowboy Magic for the girls.  I will be ready for their first bath at the first opportunity, just waiting on the weather to warm up.  They are so yucky and gross from the winter and mud!  Last year Zoe rubbed part of her mane off so I am going to work on getting that grown in so her main will be nice and even.  She has a really thick black mane and it's gorgeous!  Her tail is really long and has waves in it too.  I can't wait to get the detangler in and get to work on that tail!

When I went in Star's stall to get her grain dish, she tolerated me while I scratched her.  She'd much rather eat at that point.  She's very food oriented.  For example, when I first started working with Star she could only be caught if I chased her into her stall or had a grain bucket with me.  It was a long summer but at the end, she was coming to me to get caught.  Just had to have treats in my pockets every time I visited her.

I was told when I bought Zoe back that she can be hard to catch at times (which was not the way she was when I sold her) but since she's been home, she waits for me at the gate and dives right into her halter.  I wonder if she remembers me from when she was a young filly?  She still has all of her scratchy spots that she did when she was a baby and follows me around like she did before I sold her.  She's definitely more reactive than she was before but I'm guessing that's because of her lack of training/handling since I sold her.  I'm just so happy I have her back.  This is her forever home and she doesn't have to worry about the expectations of anyone else but mine - and I'm pretty easy to get along with.  I digress....

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

-Lusious Annaeus Seneca

Clean Up

We finally had a nice weekend and what did I do?  Cleaned up my girls as best I could.  They were NASTY!

Star and Zoe need a bath in the worst way but it's still too cold for that.  We only hit 50 degrees on Saturday with sun but it was pretty windy.  Both girls were very well behaved for their thorough grooming.  They stood very still and stayed relaxed.  Star even stayed clean for a whole day!  Amazing, I know! 

Zoe had been getting pushy on the ground while leading her so we worked on that for a bit as well.  It didn't take long and she was back to listening to me.  We made several passes by her stall, stopping, backing, turning before she came back to me.  I think she was listening to the grain calling in her stall for a while there.

In hindsight, I wish I would've at least round penned the mares but I was exhausted at the end of the day.  So much work to do plus my children require my time too...can't give it all to the pretty ponies!

It's back to the 40's for us in Michigan now so baths won't be anytime soon.  We gave Zoe a bath last year and she did ok.  Being with us, she will be more than fine with baths soon.  When it gets hot, we like to hose the horses down to give them some relief.  Star has learned that baths are fun and thoroughly enjoys them - especially the part when she rolls in the nearest dirt patch afterwards!

Until next time!



Quote for the Day:
"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!"

-Audrey Hepburn