Naughty, Naughty

After feeding the other morning, I went to visit with Zoe in her stall.  I brushed her a lot (she's shedding) and when I was done she was wanting something more.  She stopped eating and just looked at me (not typical).  So I grabbed her halter and thought I would take her to the round pen and do 5 minutes of work.  Maybe she was bored.  On our way out, Star started to call for her.  She got worried.  As we entered the round pen Tyson called to her and she called back.  Ahhh, maybe she was in heat?  Didn't matter to me, she is usually very good despite her heat cycles.  We started round penning and man did she want to run!  I only asked her to trot and she got to running!  I slowed her down (with my voice commands) but I could see she was aching to go faster so I gave her the command.  I didn't ask for it long because we've been out of work for so long and I didn't want her to get sore.  We did a little more work and then I caught her up again.  She seemed relaxed; licking her lips, head dropped.  She wasn't breathing hard or sweaty, obviously in better shape than what I thought after being out of work for a long winter! 

We walked out of the round pen and then she perked up again.  Star was STILL calling and it was very worrisome to Zoe.  She likes to be talked to so I started to talk to her and decided to go for a walk around the property, checking some fences along the way.  She was interested but very distracted by Star calling to her.  At one point she was so distracted that she bumped into me so I sent her out on a lunge circle (I had a long lead rope) and she shaped up.  So I thought we would call it quits at that point and turn her out.  We headed back through the barn, where Star was still calling, and back out to the turn out.  As I unhooked the lead Zoe spun around and ran past me almost knocking me over!  The barn was completely open, nothing to keep her from running out into the driveway, yard or street!  A slight panic attack occurred on my part, and then I realized that she only ran to be by Star.  So I quickly shut the front barn door so she couldn't run out there and possibly get hurt or hurt someone.  When I went to get her she bolted and ran out the back of the barn.  To the arena.  I took that as a hint that she needed to be worked more...

I got the lunge and lunge whip and headed out the arena, shutting gates behind me.  This naughty mare wasn't going to blow by me anymore - except she did but this time she wasn't going anywhere!  I put the whip down and then she decided to see what I was going to do.  I caught her and could see she was "up".  We got right to work on the lunge line, W/T/C transitions up and down.  Star was still calling.  Zoe was focused on me at this point but was still obviously worried about Star.  We changed directions and did the same W/T/C transition work.  She was offering some great trot work, canter was messy.  She kept cross cantering, where her front would be on the right lead but her back legs would be on the opposite lead.  If I urge her to go faster, she will fix herself.  When we got some good transitions and lead work done, I called it a day.  This time she was breathing heavy and had sweat on her neck, but she was licking her lips and her eye was soft again.  I cooled her down and put her away. 

I figured if Zoe was this naughty that Star might need some time in the round pen or on the lunge too...



Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones."

-Jules Verne

Another Visitor...

My brother-in-law came and picked up his two horses this past Saturday morning.  To say I was excited would've been an understatement.  We just don't have the room.  But...and this is a big BUT...he had to leave another one of his horses behind and guess what?  We are the lucky ones who get to keep him!  I'm being very sarcastic.  To be really honest and fair, I do like my brother-in-law's horses.  They are good boys and are very respectful so they aren't too much trouble.  But they are living in my only horse specific pasture with lean-to.  My horses have a small turnout they can stretch their legs in but I would prefer the pasture because it's bigger and if the weather isn't cooperating then they have a shelter. 

The new horse, Gunner, is a gelding so we took Tyson away from the girls and buddied (is that a word?) the two boys together.  Tyson is definitely the boss and rarely let's Gunner in the lean-to.  Anyways, the other day the boys were running around and I was keeping a very watchful eye on Mr. Tyson to see if he was showing any signs of lameness.  Sure enough, he was short striding his canter.  His trot looked good with little to no head bobbing so that's an improvement but I guess he's still lame.  Shoot!

I don't have any pictures of Gunner because I keep forgetting either my phone or camera when I go outside.  I will try to get one soon! 

The weather is finally starting to shape up and the farm is getting messy.  I have a love/hate relationship with spring...


Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Love is so short, forgetting is so long."

-Pablo Neruda

Little Updates

Since my last post, Melody casted herself one more time (the next day) but hasn't since.  Hopefully that means she figured that out now...Other than that, Melody has been a good girl.  She's so dang cute!  I can't wait until spring when she sheds out and we can see what color she's going to be.  I mean, we know she's a palomino but how dark/light will she be?  I've found that she enjoys ear scratches - she will stop eating for an ear scratch!

The other day I let the horses out and Tyson was feeling great!  He was running, leaping, bucking, kicking and rearing!  He hasn't done that in over a year because he was lame (injuries).  I was thinking that Tyson was going to be lame for the rest of his life so seeing him acting like he was a yearling was very encouraging, to say the least.  He didn't show an ounce of pain while he was playing and wasn't sore when I brought him in or let him out the next day.  Is it possible he's finally healed???  Time will tell!

Zoe has been such a good girl.  I've been having my children lead her in and out of her stall and her ground manners have been impeccable!  Better than Star's, in fact.  Last year at this time she was pulling and pushing when being handled but not now!  She's been lowering her head for my kids to halter her too - just a peach!  I can't wait to start riding again when the weather finally breaks, I have good feeling about her!  The farrier always makes comments about how nice she is too (great legs, feet and attitude).  I know I've said this before but she's a sensitive and tuned in horse, just a great mare and I love her dearly! 

Star has been a good girl too, like always.  Her only fault is when it comes to food.  When she knows there's food in her stall she will try to pull through you to get her food making it difficult for my kids to lead her into her stall.  That angers me to no end so I have to lead her in myself to keep her in line.  She doesn't try to push past me because she knows I don't put up with that but she does with the kids.  Grrr...

Brother-in-law's horses are being good boys too.  They don't have stalls (we only have 4) so they live outside with a large 3 1/2 sided lean-to for shelter.  We keep bedding in there so they can lay down and stay warm.  I don't think they are used to that but they certainly enjoy it!  They are in need of a trim soon so hopefully we can get that scheduled before they leave on March 13.  The vet came out yesterday to do their health papers for traveling.  They have a long ways to go and will be stopping every 6 - 8 hours to stretch and get a little exercise/food/water (if they aren't eating or drinking in the trailer) so that will make the trip a long one.  The trailer they will be in is a Sundowner 3 horse slant gooseneck with living quarters.  Brother-in-law has a beautiful trailer that is well maintained and the horses are accustomed to trailering so hopefully the trip will go smoothly.  The horses haven't been bad while they were here but I will be glad to have 2 less mouths to feed!  Hay prices aren't cheap these days...

Well that about sums it up for now.  This weekend is the Michigan State Horse Expo.  I plan on attending on Saturday.  I haven't been able to get there in several years so I'm really looking forward to it!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Our attitude towards others determines their attitudes towards us."

-Earl Nightingale

Better Picture?

Sisco and Dash

I got a little better picture of my brother-in-law's horses...as you can see, they were on their way to me so they could shove their noses in my face.  They are good boys!

Until next time!




Quote for the day:
"Choose your love, love your choice."

-Thomas S. Monson

Cast

We came out to the barn to do some work when we found Melody cast in her stall.  She was laying on her side right next to her stall wall, unable to get up.  She wasn't moving.

Hubby grabbed a hose (it was the first thing within reach at the moment) and wrapped it around her back feet and rolled her over, then let go of the hose and within a minute, she stood up.  She was calm but you could see a little scared.  Hubby went to put her halter on and she shied away.  He was patient and was able to get the halter on within a minute or two.

She wasn't done eating her hay but I thought it would be a good idea to turn her out anyways.  Usually when I turn her out, she can hardly stand waiting for me to let her go so she can run and play.  This time she just stood there.  I went to get what was left of her hay out of her stall and when I came back she had walked away.  I left her hay and made sure she had water.

I checked back on her a few minutes later and she had made her way over to the hay and was eating again.  She had me a little worried at first, but she was back to herself, thank goodness!

So now we are wondering if she's going to be a chronic caster (is that a real term?) or was this a one time deal?  Anyone out there have any experience with this?  I have to admit...this was our first horse to ever cast itself...  Any input would be appreciated!

Until next time!




Quote for the day:
"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."

-Oscar Wilde

New Arrivals

Last week my brother-in-law called from Arizona (his new home state as of December).  His friend agreed to take two of his horses for a few months until he could come back for the horses (probably in March).  The two horses that his friend ended up with was Sisco, Zoe's sire now a gelding (don't even get me started on that subject), and Dash, Zoe's only foal...a stallion.  Brother-in-law's friend agreed to take them but they would be turned out with his Longhorn cattle.  That was fine because both horses got along and have been exposed to cattle a lot (roping).  After a week of being with the cattle, Dash started beating up the cattle so the friend had to stall the two horses.  Then this past Sunday, the "friend" decided he was going on vacation and called brother-in-law to tell him that no one was going to be around to feed/water his horses so he better get some one to pick them up or come out twice a day to take care of them.  We got a call from brother-in-law on Tuesday night, informing us of the situation.  Seriously, the horses hadn't been fed or watered since Sunday night.  Hubby and I were NOT happy - with anyone in the situation!!  How could people let these horses be without food or water since Sunday night and then call us on Tuesday night (10 pm) to beg for help!!!  Why did all the parties involved wait that long to get this figured out?  This put us in a tight spot.  We don't have enough hay to feed anymore mouths through the rest of the winter nor do we have the room!  But we couldn't knowingly let those horses sit in stalls without food or water! 

Hubby's parents came over and helped us dig out our trailer and then stayed with the kids while we drove 1 hour away to pick up the horses.  Thankfully, the driveway was plowed so we didn't have to park in the road.  We got the horses out of their stalls, expecting to have our hands full but they were very calm, lethargic maybe.  We didn't expect to have any trouble loading them in the trailer because brother-in-law travels with his horses a lot but they apparently didn't like our trailer.  The interior lights weren't working so it was dark and I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.  Eventually we were able to get them both on the trailer, just took some extra encouragement.  We went back to the barn and took the last two bales of hay (brother-in-law supplied the hay so it was his) and were on our way.  I'm glad we went that night not only because those horses were hungry and thirsty but also because we got several inches of snow that night and the roads were all country roads that rarely saw a plow.  That trip would've been so much worse if we would've waiting until the next day.

So the boys are in the front horse pasture now.  They have a nice lean-to but we don't have anymore stalls.  We put fresh water and hay out for them that night and went to bed.  It was now 2am.  We were tired and both had to work in the morning.

The boys have settled in nicely and definitely have perked up.  I tried to take pictures of them but they both kept putting their noses in my face.  This is the best picture I could get of them.  

Let's just say the brother-in-law owes us big time!

Sisco is the bucksin (actually a dunskin) and Dash is the Perlino (white)

Until next time!


Quote for the day:
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

-Ernest Hemmingway

It's been a while...

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I haven't been able to do any riding because with 3 feet of snow and temperatures in the single digits, I can't ride outside or get the trailer out to go anywhere!  So my riding/training with Zoe is at a stand still, unfortunately.

Nothing new to report with Tyson.  He lost a little weight with the frigid temperatures but the weight is already back on.  Ever since his major injury he's been a 'hard keeper' not to mention accident prone.  I think he gets bored so he gets into trouble...he's a character, let me tell ya!!

Star is sweet as always.  She's handling the winter very gracefully and enjoying her warm stall at night.  Have I ever mentioned how she starts her Harley at feeding time?  If not, keep reading...if so you can skip to the next paragraph...  Star makes noise, a nicker maybe, that sounds just like a Harley motorcycle starting up!  She kinda growls or grumbles with an eagerness to it.  Hard to explain but it makes me smile every time she does it!  The only time she does it is at feeding time - so stinkin' cute!

Melody has been the one that gets the most training done lately.  She had her first trim with the farrier so we had worked on picking all of her feet before hand.  She amazed me again with how quickly she caught on!  Hubby helped me with this task because he's so strong!  I didn't want to have her be able to take her foot away from me so Hubby helped out with her back feet.  She fought him BIG time the first time he picked her back foot up.  The second time wasn't near the struggle as the first and the third time she just picked it up and stood relaxed, like she's been doing this for years!  We went to the other side and the struggle for the other hind was 'half-assed' and then she just stood there like she was supposed to.  She picks her front feet up fine - has been since the second day we had her home!  When the farrier came, she did fine with her front feet and only fought her back foot a little, just to see what she could get away with, I think.  She did her other back foot just fine - no fight whatsoever!  We will keep working on leading and her feet but other than that, I don't like to baby the babies.  In my experience, foals who have been babied end up pushy and spoiled.  I want her to be respectful and attentive to my every move, not uninterested.  I know everyone has their own views on this but that's ok.  I just know what has worked for me and what hasn't.  I take her out and work with her on stuff about once a month or so, like yesterday I had to work on walking calmly through gates.  She developed a want to run through gates so that she can get to playing so that was a lesson needed right away.  But her next lesson with something new won't be for a couple weeks since we did the feet thing.  Does that make sense?  I address the issues right away that show themselves but teach her new things every 4 - 6 weeks and refresh the stuff already learned.  I hope that makes sense...

Until next time!


Quote for the day:
"Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get."

-Mark Twain