Update on Cat

Saturday before we left for out trail ride I took Cat out to hand walk her.  I could tell she wanted to roll so after our 15 min. walk I turned her loose in the dry lot.  The other horses were in the barn so I wasn’t too worried about her getting too stupid.  I watched her for a while.  She went right to the dirt pile and rolled.

As I was inside the barn cleaning her stall and preparing her feed for the weekend my dad commented “well she looks like she’s feeling pretty good. She’s bucking and farting anyways.”  WHAT!  NO!  She’s NOT supposed to be doing that.  I ran out to get her and noticed a HUGE flock of Canadian Geese in the pasture.  So that’s what got her moving!  We have NEVER in the 20 something years we’ve lived out there had Canadian’s in the pasture.  I quickly put a halter on her and put her back in her stall.

Our focus now had changed as we tried to coax Goosezilla and Peaches to join the flock and leave with them.  They did fly out to the flock and semi greeted them but then flew back to the barn.  Darn!

Yesterday I needed to change her bandage so after removing the old one I gave her an EzAll bath to remove the dirt from her roll the day before.  After she was clean I asked Shari to hand walk her for me.  As soon as she hit the arena down she went.  I ran out to get her up but it was too late so we headed back to get hosed off again.  After she was clean for a second time we headed down the road for our walk to help deter her from rolling again.

I had snapped a few pictures of her leg.  This was to be my last wrap but I’m not sure if I’m doing more harm then good w/my wrapping skills so I consulted a friend.

In this picture you can see the peeling skin and two of the sutures.  It almost looks like parchment paper that has lifted of the skin but is still stuck.

This is the actual wound site.  It isn’t swollen it is just the angle of the photo but you can see all of the “gunk” around the area.

Her leg actually looks pretty good.  Most of the swelling is in the hock area where they did all of the injections for the perfusions. 

I decided instead of wrapping her leg I would just cover the wound to keep the dirt/dust out of it.  She was still wet so I thought I’d pick some of the dead skin off the front of her leg.  BIG MISTAKE!  She’s apparently a lot tenderer there then I had anticipated and as soon as I touched this area she nailed me.  I’ve NEVER had her kick before so I’m sure it was just a reaction to the pain.  Never the less I wasn’t happy about it and I was very lucky.  She nicked my knee and the back of my hand but had I been in a different position it could have been much worse.

I worked with her to make sure I could touch the area w/o her kicking and then put my wrap on.  Tomorrow is her last day of bute so this could get interesting.

Time to hit the trails!

Saturday morning the boys left to spend a week at Great Grandma’s & Grandpa’s so DH and I loaded up the ponies and headed to Brushy Creek. We decided to try to take a new route to the park to shave some time/miles off only to find out my cell phone includes narrow, curvy gravel roads in its “fastest route possible” directions. I'm not sure how much quicker it was but we made it safely, unloaded the horses and set up camp.

Out on the trail, Black seemed pretty happy to be out and about. Her ears were perked forward and she was moving out pretty well. I was a bit worried when we first started because she took the long, steep hill really slow. I mean REALLY slow!



Even with her new shoes she was still a bit “ouchy” on the trails so I let her pick her pace. We headed to the West river trail. These trails were closed for quite some time due to the flooding and you could tell. They were overgrown and there were tons of wild grapes growing in the trees. Bell got her tail caught in one while we were stopped for a break.



The one thing we encounter I had not anticipated was the mosquitoes! They were horrible. They thought Bell and I were tasty but they left Black and DH alone. At times DH would stop Bell as her entire jowl and neck were covered with masses of mosquitoes. The horses were getting tired and the mosquitoes were making it miserable so we headed back to camp.

Back at camp we started up the grill and sat down to relax with a cold one. As we were relaxing a gentleman pulled up to back into the site two sites down from us. He was having a difficult time backing (I think I could have done better) so I told DH to go help him. Right about then he finally got his rig backed into the camp spot.

Once he was backed in he opened the back doors of his truck and unloaded a little boy. He couldn’t have been more then 3 or 4 and he was in his pj’s with his Jack Russell Terrier following right behind him. Brandon and I got a chuckle out of the little boy and his dog. The poor kid’s pj’s were hanging off of his butt so his cartoon character undies were showing. That didn’t stop him though!

The gentleman walked around to the other side and unloaded another young boy. This boy couldn’t have been more then 1 ½ or 2 (he was walking but didn’t seem to talk much). No one else was with him so DH and I speculated someone else would be meeting up with him later. He unloaded his horses (2), unhooked his truck and they headed off.

We enjoyed our dinner, took care of the ponies and then headed off to bed. The next morning we took out time getting around. The gentleman next door came out of his trailer with the two boys to feed the horses and eat their breakfast. He was still alone so our speculations changed to him being a single father. He looked like the rodeo type so it wouldn’t be that uncommon. Either way we both gave him kudos for taking two children anywhere with no help let alone camping with two horses.

Again DH and I got a huge chuckle out of the eldest boy as he couldn’t keep his wranglers up over his butt. His red/blue undies were showing as the back of his pants were down under his butt. He had that JR on a lead and was dragging it everywhere. After our morning entertainment we decided to hit the trails. The weather was lovely and we didn’t want to miss out.

As I led Black from the hitching rail to the trailer I noticed she was pretty sore. I was very disappointed. I decided to try to boot her backs to see if that would help. She moved a bit better but still not great so DH and I agreed if she didn’t do well after we got out on the trail we would turn around and head back.

The first part of the trail didn’t go so well.  She was moving slow and was taking quite a few bad steps.  As we started to head up a hill I stopped Black to tell DH I didn’t think she could go any further. Right about then Black spazzed since Bell was at the top of the hill and she hauled butt up the hill. I decided if she could do that she could walk some more. The more she walked out the better she seemed to move so we continued on our way.



We decided this time we’d go down the East River trail hoping it would be less rocky. It was and it was beautiful. There was a small stream crossing (I love water crossings) so DH and I let the ponies take a short break to play in the water.





The trails on this side were equally as overgrown as the ones on the West side but it was still beautiful riding.



DH grabbed a tree branch to help keep the mosquitoes off of Bell but it ended up turning into a “persuasion” stick.



When the mosquitoes got bad we headed back to camp. A large group was coming up behind us and it was making Black a bit uneasy so she moved into a trot. I didn’t think she’d stay in it because of her feet so I just let her go. To my surprise she went quite a ways before I shut her down. We stopped and let them pass us but then she wanted to keep up with them. She might be old but she's a long ways from dead and I had my hands full!

After 3 stops to adjust boots I was at my wits end. The last stop came after we almost tumbled down a hill. She tripped, the boot came off and the gator ripped but didn’t tear completely off. How she regained her balance I have no idea! I’m just glad she did. She twists her back feet as she walks so no matter what I do I can't keep boots on for too long (hence why I wanted shoes on them). 

Both ponies were exhausted and ready to be back at the trailer.



Once we were back at camp we took the horses down to the wash rack for a nice hose down. We weren’t in any hurry to pack up and leave so DH and I relaxed a bit. The little boy next door & his jeans were making for some good comical relief. I noticed the dad put the youngest one up on his horse and then he mounted up behind the boy. He started to ride off and I was worried he was going to leave the oldest. I was a bit surprised because he had been so good with the boys the entire time I’d seen him with them. Then, I noticed him side pass his horse over to the picnic table so the oldest could get on behind him.

It was quite the site to see 1 adult, two children AND a dog on a small horse.



They really did help make the weekend that much more entertaining.

New Shoes!

FINALLY after many attempts Black has a new pair of shoes. Yes, you read that right – shoes! Barefoot is great and I will continue to keep the rest of my horses bare for as long as I can however looking at what I have to work with I decided shoes were the better option for “us”. If Black was younger I would have probably pursued the barefoot path a little more but like I told Randy, “with my luck by the time we get a good hoof on her she’ll be dead”.

I did opt to stay away from the metal shoes and had Randy put on Ground Control Shoes. They are a lightweight polyurethane shoe with a rolled toe and frog support. He also added pads with a bit of dental impression in them to help give support to her hoof.

We loaded up the trailers (yes trailers) last night and headed to the arena. I took the kids so they could ride Black. Chase and Shari ran her all over the place and she looked as though she was moving very well.

MIL and DH went along as well. I’m not sure why but MIL and DH switched horses mid ride. MIL looked like she was having a pretty tough time w/Bell. I tried to ignore things as much as possible.

When we got home I took Black out to the road – the “real” test. I was a bit discouraged when she started short striding but then she started moving out. I think she anticipated pain but then decided “hey, this doesn’t hurt”. I still think I’ll need to boot her backs on the road but if this works the way I anticipate it to then I will be having Randy shoe her backs next time as well.

I did change Cat's bandage last night and she finally got to be hand-walked. It looked like the bandage had rubbed her leg a bit (I'm no expert at wrapping legs) but the leg looked good for the most part. MIL thought she looked like she was moving well but I still think she's favoring her leg. I guess it is to be expected and hopefully with increased movement she'll do better.

Crack Head!

Yesterday DH and I went up to get Cat from ISU. The vet told me she was doing well and went through a list of things I needed to do with her when I got home. He pulled her out and went to change her bandage/wrap so I could be refreshed on how to do it correctly (I’m happy to say I’m not a pro at wrapping legs). As he pulled the wrap off Cat threatened to kick. Not wanting to interfere I just stood back. She offered a second time and I could feel my blood pressure starting to rise. The vet informed me they had been sedating her to do her leg but he wanted to see how she would do without being sedated. I got up next to her to look at something and she raised her leg again. I immediately whacked her on the butt and got a look from her like “oh shit”. She stood still for the rest of the leg to be bandaged.

On the way out to the trailer she was pushy. I stopped her and made her take one step backwards (I’d just got done paying my vet bill and didn’t figure I needed to take her back in so one step was good enough). The vet chuckled and said “Cat, I think you are in for some tough love”. She loaded into the trailer well but then decided to kick the trailer wall (she’s never done that before). We hit the road trying to miss rush hour traffic.

Loaded and ready to go

Get me outta here!

Once we got home I decided to let her graze for a few minutes before going into her stall. We had picked up a big fan (no, not a big ass fan, just a big fan) and a corner feeder for her hay and DH wanted to try to install them before putting her in. She was snorting at the grass. She was getting upset about things she normally didn’t even notice existed and I was starting to wonder if they had been feeding her crack up at ISU.

Trying to graze.

I’m not sure if her behavior was caused by some of the sedation drugs, being in isolation for a week or what but it was very frustrating for me since I couldn’t put her feet to work. I can’t move her feet without risking injury again and I’m not going to go there. In her stall she was very pushy. I did nail her once and of course it sent her flying backwards. It is a good thing the stall isn’t very big. This morning when I went out to clean her stall and feed her she was pushing the stall door again. I tied her up while I cleaned her stall and she pushed into me and raised her leg. Her belly was immediately greeted with the end of my manure fork. I can tell this is going to be a LONG 4 weeks!

Vistiting Cat

Saturday morning DH, Ty and I headed up to ISU to see Cat. We got there around 8:30 and met the vet. I could tell Cat had been pacing her stall by the big shavings circle she had formed. As soon as I opened her stall door she tried to escape. I had a lot of questions for the vet and he did a good job answering them for me.

I couldn’t figure out why the local vet had fluid come out if it wasn’t the tendon sheath. He said if she didn’t put the needle in right it could have gone directly through the fetlock joint. He showed me where the tendon sheath was compared to her injury and the approximate angle of the hole. He said the hole was about the size of a penny. He said we were pretty lucky about how it went in as it missed a lot of things.

The entire time we were talking Cat was trying to weasel her way out of the stall. She seemed to be doing a good job of putting weight on her leg. He had it wrapped pretty high and said it was due to the swelling going up. Once we left the stall she went over to the corner where the feed was I had taken up to her and she was trying to figure out how to get it. I’d say she’s feeling better.

I was surprised to hear she was only on 2 grams of bute. They will be weaning her down before she comes home. Once at home, the first week to two weeks is complete stall rest. After that I can hand walk her 10 min. 2 x a day and then I can move to light riding. Ummm, I don’t see that happening.

I got the impression he felt she was going to make a full recovery.

Update on Cat –

The vet called last night and said Cat came out of surgery and was doing well. He said the tendon sheath was not involved. He said they were all very surprised. Of course I'm confused as to what the vet here saw when she tapped it but what's new? Instead she has a fetlock joint injury. He said the joint looked good minus the irritation. Our prognosis is the same had it been a tendon sheath issue.

He said they will do another regional limb perfusion today & the next 72 hrs. are critical. He said splint bone was ok, they were able to check it internally while she was down so they didn’t need to take x-rays. He said a bunch of other stuff too but between his accent (a Canadian that just moved here from Texas), the cell phone reception and everything else I didn't catch all of it. I’m going to try to go up and visit on Saturday but told him he didn’t need to call as long as all was going well.

I’ve had quite a few people ask me if I know how this happened. While I can’t be 100% sure I do have my own theory.

Wed. since it was so hot DH went out to top off water tanks mid day. He let Bell in the front pasture w/the others (she'd been in w/Sis but MIL took Sis home Tues. night) and then opened up the dry lot gate so they could get into the 3 sided and out of the sun.

Our 3 sided has 2 gates - one small 3 ft walkthrough gate and one bigger 12 ft? one to get the tractor in (see picture below). The only time *I* open the big gate is if I'm in there w/the bobcat or if I've opened it up to the "herd" so no one gets trapped.



DH didn't open the large gate and I think Bell got Cat trapped in there and then went to town on her (hence why Bell was in the back pasture and not with Cat in the first place). I noticed last night my hay feeder was partially pulled out of the wall and one bar was dented with little white hairs on it (would explain the scrapes on her side/back). I'm guessing she either got her leg on the concrete wall or Bell got it with her hoof.

But of course this is only a theory. DH is bound and determined to find a place in the pasture where there is a pile of blood to prove Bell didn't do it. I’m not blaming him but I think he feels bad. I noticed last night both of Bell's back legs were swollen (the left worse then the right) and she had a few minor scrapes on her legs. I've seen her try to kick Cat in the pasture and she double barrel kicks. I wonder if she missed and got the wall, serves her right. I was nice and gave her some bute since DH was at work but that's about as much as I'm gonna do.

And you wonder

And you wonder why in 2 years I only have 30 rides on Cat?

Last night turned into a horrible night! I went out to ride Cat to find her back leg cut & bleeding. It looked pretty superficial. No big deal. I'll just cold hose it and see what if that helps.

I cold hosed it but noticed she didn't want to bare weight on it so I decided to call a vet. Vet finally calls back and says "no big deal, call tomorrow to schedule an appointment & we'll stitch it then".

I had a pretty uneasy feeling in about things so I consulted a friend who suggested taking her to another vet. I called another vet & decided to haul her over to the clinic vs. having her out for a farm call. I could barely get her in the trailer.

Disclaimer: I may not have all the facts right - I was a bit overwhelmed.

The vet looked at her and finally decided to tap her. The fluid immediately came out of the cut and I knew by the look the vet gave me it wasn't a good thing. Cat has a cut tendon sheath so she referred me to ISU.

When we finally got up to ISU I learned the quote was twice as much as what my vet thought it would be (of course, why wouldn't it be). It wasn't an easy decision but we (DH & I) decided to move ahead. I sure hope that was a good idea.

They did a bunch of stuff last night to stabilize her. She was in so much pain I think they could have done all of the work without a sedative.

They put a tourniquet on her leg and then injected her leg/veins with antibiotics and cleaned the wound. The game plan for today is to put her on the table, scope the leg to find out the extent of the damage and debride the wound. Possibly a few x-rays to make sure she didn’t do any damage to her splint bone.

I have absolutely NO clue how she did this. We have gone through the pasture and picked up everything except for the tree limbs that are in a pile and I’m 99.9999% sure she didn’t do it on the tree limbs. She has other cuts/scrapes that make it look like she got caught up in something but again – I’m not sure what.

I told DH I honestly think it would have been easier on me to find her dead in the pasture vs. putting a price limit on her life. Anyone need a kidney?

Sweat

When riding a horse sweat is a wonderful thing. It somehow seems to be connected to their brains. The more they sweat, the more they seem to start using their brains.

The weather here has been so miserable the horses are sweating without a rider and for some reason this type of sweat doesn’t seem to engage their brains – if anything, it seems to make them use their brains less.

I took these around 9:00 last night. Cat was just miserable.


The heat doesn’t seem to be affecting the flies at all.  I couldn't get a shot of her where she wasn't stomping flies.



Our heat index today is supposed to reach 116*. I think I’ll pass on riding for now.

On a side note – since it was too hot to ride I went to see the documentary Buck with a few friends.  If you haven’t seen it I recommend going.

Saddle Woes

No riding updates for me because there hasn’t been any riding. My saddle doesn’t fit Cat and it is causing her bad dry spots. I’ve tried a few different things to make it fit better but nothing seems to be working. I’m hoping this weekend I can try MIL’s CA saddle to see how it fits on her. My saddle has regular QH bars and the CA has full QH bars.

I LOVE my saddle but I have no desire to get rid of Cat or Lu anytime soon so I’m going to have to find a new one. I hate saddle shopping just about as much as I hate regular shopping. I’m not comfortable buying saddles online. I prefer to sit in one before buying so my options are a bit limited.

Project Horses

To make it easier for me to find things when I want to in re: to my own horses, I'm moving the information/posts about Carmella to a new blog:  http://tuffenuffquarterhorses-projecthorses.blogspot.com/

You guys are welcome to follow/comment but don't feel like you have to.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

It was hot this weekend! Saturday DH decided to plow up part of the pasture to make a makeshift “arena” for me to work the horses in. The footing was so hard the horses would slip and slide and I wasn’t too keen on starting a horse on bad footing. After plowing up a large section we went over it with the disc. There are still quite a few chunks of hard dirt but it was a starting point.

The overcast look is from all the humidity.

I did a little bit of LFR w/Carmella in the newly plowed dirt. She was able to move 100x better and was a little more receptive. She still wants to anticipate me vs. coming off the feel of the halter. So far she is doing very well with the desensitizing so I will be stepping it up a notch later this week with plastic bags, etc. I also started on the flexing w/the halter. I got my exercise! Once she figured it out though she was pretty soft and responsive. She was hot and tired so I tied her up.

I like a sweaty pony!

Sunday DH headed out to the farm early to re-disc the arena (I’m going to call it that for a lack of better wording). Then we headed over to MIL’s to get her round pen. DH wasn’t too happy w/me when we learned it wouldn’t all fit in MIL’s trailer so we looked for a second option. We were going to borrow a trailer from a friend but after thinking about it decided we were going to have to make two trips anyways so we would just go back home and get our big trailer. Instead I trimmed Lu’s feet and Abby’s feet and then went for a short bb halter ride on Lu. I miss my pony! She might have to come home.

I was out in the hot sun too long and got a bit overheated so we decided dh would get the rest of the RP today. Back at the farm we unloaded what panels we did get loaded and made a small (very small) pen. I rested up a bit and then took Carmella out to work her. She did very well on her inside turns. There were a few times she turn into me and then instead of changing directions she went the original direction. I chalked that up to the pen size and backed off a bit. Turning to go clockwise she does better vs. turning to go counterclockwise. Her turn is tighter but there is a bit of an attitude.

Her ears are forward but she's too tired to open her eyes.

DH got the rest of the round pen for me today and got it set up. I plan to work her again tonight and then give her a few days off before trying to saddle her. Its supposed to be in the 90’s this week and I don’t need to get overheated again nor do I need to get any of the horses too hot either.

Post Workout

I'm posting from my phone so I'm not sure how this will turnout.

I was surprised with how much Carmella remembered from having her last year. I took her to the timber to work on LFR after having footing issues in the pasture. That was when I was reminded what a b*tch she is.
Anytime she is asked to give more then she wants her reaction is to pin her ears & rear. My reaction is to whack! HARD! After working her into a sweat I backed her (tap the air & wwww) all the way back to the barn.

At the barn she was happy to be desensitized & then given a bath. She was also a lot more receptive to standing still.

Meet Carmella

She's not the prettiest thing (I'm not a big perlino fan) but as some say - you don't ride pretty.
This was pre-workout. She would not stand still. She was stomping flies and pacing.

Pull Up!!!!!

After a lot of thinking, I made the decision to put shoes on Black. Randy agreed to put Ground Control shoes on her Wednesday when he came out. I was very excited to see how she was going to do once she had them on.

To my disappointment he called me and told me they weren’t going to work. He put one shoe on, walked her off and said she was lame. He thinks there might be permanent damage in the left front foot (the one that had the tipped coffin bone) and the shoe put too much pressure on her sole. We discussed glue on boots, equicast, etc but I opted to leave her bare and boot when needed like I have been.

Last night MIL had drill and I had to fill in for a member that is gone this week. I didn’t warm Black up because she doesn’t have too much energy to spare. During our short warm up she felt a little off. The whistle blew and we were off. She felt ok, a little slower then last week but not bad.

Part of the pattern starts out as one large circle. When the whistle blows ½ of the group does a rollback (well that’s what it is supposed to be) and starts a new circle going in the opposite direction around the original circle. MIL and Sis turn back but the position I was in (right behind MIL) doesn’t. When the whistle blew I saw Sis turn but MIL didn’t. She hit the ground hard! Sis had anticipated the turn. MIL landed on her tailbone and the ground was hard. She climbed back in the saddle (she probably shouldn’t have) and we stated over.

We weren’t 3 minutes into the run and I had to pull Black up. Randy had trimmed her shorter since he anticipated shoes and it was too short. Even thought she was booted it was too much for her & I wasn’t going to risk hurting her to run the pattern. Amazingly they were able to finish with a ‘ghost’ rider.

The second run (which MIL again shouldn’t have done) I borrowed a horse from another member. It was interesting. Her saddle was way too small for me and it was a slick seat. I HATE slick seats. Jazz was a little out of gas and not too thrilled to be carrying my fat arse but we made it through just fine.

On the way home we picked up Carmella. She jumped right in the trailer. I joked and took the credit for being such a wonderful trainer. At home she got her first lesson. Well not really her first – I have worked with her before. It didn’t take her long to realize she wasn’t in Kansas anymore. It was late and MIL was sore so I put Carmella up and headed home. The real work will start this weekend.

Woo Hoo!

I finally have 30 rides on Cat!  It has only taken me a year an a half but I can officially say she has had 30 rides.  Now onto our new goal - 60 rides!  Then I can "officially" do a clinic on her.

Last night I took her with me to drill.  It was pretty muggy out and she was sweating before I even unloaded her from the trailer.  I opted not to do any groundwork with her this time.  She was moving out quickly but wasn't uncontrollable.  I *tried* to work on the bending again.  She does ok to the left - not so well to the right.  She likes to snatch her head back as soon as I release.

I also worked on our "Whoa" off of voice commands.  An empty arena would have helped but I have to use what I have.  There was once she got testy with me but after meeting Mr. Popper she settled right down.  I know she's going to be a stopper once she figures out my cues.

Black got to run the performance twice.  I had to ask her to slow down a few times.  I think she's enjoying being out again.  She was scheduled to get shoes this morning but it didn't happen.  Randy put on one Ground Control shoe and said it put too much pressure on her sole.  I don't want to do glue on boots so we left her bare for now.

Black and I have drill again tomorrow night.  I don't think I'll be taking Cat with me this time.  I'm supposed to be picking up a filly to put 30 - 60 days on (calendar days, not all training days).  She belongs to a friend who knows how slow I work.  It will be interesting.

She's still got it!

Tuesday night I was asked to fill in on the drill team so I pulled Black out pasture, booted her up & away we went.

To my surprise she was very energetic when we arrived. Heck for the most part her ears even stayed forward the majority of the time. There were a "few" times she pinned them but it was a lot less then it normally is.

When it was our turn we ran the pattern. She kept up great & almost had energy to spare.

Almost.....

Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids!

No, it isn't a rabbit and no, it isn't a kid!

Saturday after the rain went away the CIDH hosted a horse and pony ride after the parade in Redfield.  One of the team members purchased this bear and it spooked Sis.  It wasn't a bad spook but enough that MIL took care of the problem!  I'm not sure what it is but that horse turns her into a kid!

Rain, rain, go away!

The rain here has been nonstop lately. Originally the bwp (bad weather peeps) forecasted a beautiful weekend. I knew they lied when I woke up Saturday morning to thunder and lightening. It dried out around 10 but still looked gloomy. Throughout the day the sun would peek out here and there as if to taunt me but it never stayed long. Later that night after threats all day of more rain but no rain I decided to hit the road (ride 29).

Before hitting the road I thought I’d try some bending with Cat in the drive. Have I mentioned how much I hate this exercise? I apparently need to revisit some videos.

There is something on the neighbor’s property that freaks Cat out every time we go on a road ride (cause you know we’ve been on so many). I worked her in circles and finally got her past it. Right off the bat I started off doing ORS at the trot. I honestly think Cat counts because when I do my ORS I will trot 6 – 8 strides and then sit, sit, sit before doing a ORS. It doesn’t take very many repetitions before she’s starting to suck back on stride 8. When she does that then I ask her to keep moving and do a ORS when she’s not sucking back. I don’t think she has the “sit” part down yet.

On down the road I decided to switch from ORS to working on “whoa”. I think a fence line would work much better because Cat wasn’t “gettin it” and I know she’s not that dumb. We made it all the way to rollercoaster road without any issues. Most of the horses get a bit nervous on this road due to the trees lining the road and the cattle. This time it was the laughter of children that got Cat’s attention.

The neighbors must have been throwing a party. Cat could hear the commotion but she couldn’t see it and that made her nervous. What a perfect opportunity to do some bending! Once we made it to the bottom of the hill I kicked Cat into “high gear” and loped her to the top of the hill. Normally I let her stop on the top of the first hill but she was still pretty fast so this time I pushed her up to the top of the second hill. She was happy to stop when I sat an asked. I reached down to grab my phone to find out what time it was and………………..yep…………………I lost my phone………………..again!

I decided to forge on anyways so with a squeeze Cat and I were off again. The rest of the ride we worked on ORS from the trot and a little bit of cantering. She was nervous passing the big barking dog but not as bad as last time. The horses in the field running got her attention but she quickly lowered her head. It is amazing what a 7 mile ride will do! It was 8:45 when I returned to the farm. I quickly tied her up & jumped on the 4 wheeler to go find my phone. Of course it was on vibrate so I had to actually look for it. This is the one time when I think one of those ugly pink cases would come in handy!

I finally found it about 20 feet from where I realized I’d lost it (bangs head). Now if the weather will clear up a bit maybe I can finally get that 30th ride in on her!

Duck, duck, duck oh and another duck!

The boys and I have been incubating duck eggs for the last two months.  Now it normally only takes 4 weeks to hatch duck eggs but our first batch didn't go so well.  Somehow (*cough* Ty) my thermostat got turned up to 104* and fried my eggs.

The second batch went into a new incubator into my closet so the little hands couldn't turn it up/down.  This is what the boys and I got to hatch out.

We got four little adorable ducklings!  My hatch rate wasn't very good but I think I know why.  We have a few more hatches to go and momma duck has her own eggs under her so we'll see what happens.  These cute little fellows go to their new home tomorrow.

Changing colors

Last night I decided to join MIL at drill practice.  When we got there I quickly saddled up and headed to the arena to do some groundwork.  Cat decided she was going to kick up her heels and protest a little bit so we shifted gears from LFR Stage I to LFR Stage II quickly!  I think she got the point rather quickly that it wasn't a good idea.

I hopped on and away we went.  I didn't work a whole lot on ORS.  Instead I just walked her around a little bit and then did some trotting.  I've decided she knows she needs to stay in a trot so now it's time to start learning how to follow the fence.  I could see Anna getting the flag out so I asked her if she would please just walk around and let me follow her.  Cat was curious but cautious at the same time.  I told Anna to go ahead and do what she needed to do.  She took off loping and Cat didn't seem to be too worried about the flag. 

It was warm and Cat got pretty hot and sweaty.  I love the color she turns when she is hot.  I wish she was that color all year round.  The team met in at the side of the arena for a quick meeting so Cat and I loped around.  She's starting to suck back at the arena gate but she didn't break gait.  A few times I loped her down the fence line, sat, said WHOA and then tipped her nose into the fence.  I really think she's going to be a stopper.  She was doing a good job of getting her butt into the ground.

I helped the team out by pretending to be the flag person.  It was good for her and she did a good job of playing follow the leader.  After that I gave the poor girl break.  A couple of the guys were joking with me about how much her color had changed.

After practice was over I jumped back on.  One of the girls is going to be carrying the American flag at a rodeo next month and was having issues getting her horse to stop so she asked me for some advice.  I showed her (and a large group watching - you know how much I enjoy that) how *I* would do it.  Cat was pretty responsive and got her butt in the ground so I was pretty happy with her.

After that the arena cleared some so Cat and I worked on the clover leaf pattern.  I really need to work on the bending exercise.  She does the pattern but she's stiff in her rib cage so she pulls on my hands a bit.  Not much but enough that I don't like it and don't want it to continue.  She couldn't wait for me to say "whoa" in the center of the leaf.  I did the pattern once each direction and then once going in the opposite direction of which ever direction she wanted to go. After that I worked on a bit of backing up CC style, let her rest and then dismounted.  She was one tired little girl.

Another Ride!

Sunday DH, a friend and I headed back to the trail.  Cat was just as good as she was the day before, if not just a tad bit better.  We passed a few groups of horses and while she looked at them, she's learning not to talk to them.

It was another hot day so we split our ride in half and gave the horses a break part of the way through. 

Waiting

Cat is learning quickly to conserve her energy when we stop for a break.  She took a small drink of water and then took a small "cat nap".

After the trail ride we headed back to MIL's.  We gave the horses a small break before loading them back into the trailer to head home.  Cat and Black came right up to me but Bell wasn't having anything to do with being caught so I let DH deal with her.  Since I had two ponies and only two hands (had to shut/lock the gate) I gave Cat to Ty to hold.  I had no idea what I was about to start!

He lead her all over the yard.  Everywhere Ty went, Cat followed.  He drug the lead rope, she'd step on it and then just stand patiently, waiting.  It was too cute.  It was nice to see the "kid horse" in her come out just like it did in her mom and like it does in her sister.

Ty and Cat (see the other horses in the background running from DH)

I finally got him to stand still long enough to take a picture.

After DH finally got Bell caught we loaded up.  Ty wanted to load Cat so I helped him.  When we returned to the farm he informed me he was going to lead "Kit Cat" down to the pasture.  I don't really know if I like where this could be heading. lol

Finally!

I finally got to take Cat on a trail ride! Sat. the boys headed up to the farm so I decided to go watch MIL’s first drill performance. I had planned on staying the night at her place that night so I could ride on Sunday and then bring the horses home. On the ride over we decided if she got done early enough we’d go on a ride – and we did!

We ended up getting to Elk Rock around 4:00. I did some LFR with Cat while MIL saddled Sis and then we were off. As we rode through the trees I started to grab some branches overhead. When they moved Cat shot forward like a bolt! She’s not used to having things move overhead. Since this made her nervous I did what any normal person would do………….I continued to grab branches until she quit freaking out. It really didn’t take very long.

She wanted to be close to MIL and Sis so I did lots of circles with her until she learned to just hang back. MIL and I played leap frog and changed places frequently on the trails. Cat was somewhat nervous about being in front but she soon started to gain a bit of confidence. The deer were out in full force so I was able to experience a few “spooks”. I must say – if that is how Cat is going to spook them I’m good to go. After a while when Sis would spook Cat would just look at her like she was an idiot. I took that as an opportunity to give MIL a little bit of flack.

When we hit the point MIL and I stepped off to give the horses a bit of a rest. Both were tired.

She is not looking for food.

I think she's begging MIL to take her home.

This is the "I'm gonna die" look.

I finally got one photo with her head up.  She was watching the boats on the lake as they went by.

Back on the trail.

I was VERY pleased with Cat!  She did a great job on her first trail ride.

Animal Count

We've acquired a few more animals since my last post so I thought I'd do a quick update.

Dad now has two fawns.  They are so little and so cute but I'm so glad I'm not the one taking care of them!

We now have two Canadian Geese, Goosezilla and Peaches.  I took some pictures last night but haven't downloaded them yet.  We also have to two domestic geese Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving & Christmas on the Left - Peaches on the Right

For ducks we have one American Black Duck and three Wood Duck ducklings.

Wood Duck Ducklings

Monday when we returned home we heard a noise and thought one of the wood ducks had escaped (they are good at that if you don't have the right pens).  Chase followed the noise and ran across a little chicken.  We walked it down to the neighbors to see if it belonged to them only to find out it was a guinea keet.  She grabbed 4 more that were newly hatched and gave them to the boys so now we have 5 guinea keets as well.

Guinea Keets

We still have our two Indian Runner ducks (one black one fawn/white), 4 pekins, 8 Silver Laced Wyandotte chickens and 1 Red Bantam Cochin Rooster.

Right now I'm experimenting w/hatching duck eggs in the incubator at home.  My first hatch didn't go well due to spikes in temperatures in the incubator so I'm hoping this next one goes better.

Memorial Weekend

Friday night Chase, MIL and I loaded up and headed to Elk Rock State Park for the weekend.  The weather Friday wasn't the best but we had high hopes for the weekend.  It was pretty late by the time we got there so we set up camp and went to bed.

Saturday morning while cooking breakfast we were greeted with rain and forced to move things inside of the trailer.  I was glad we ended up bringing along the portable DVD player and MIL's laptop!  The weather just couldn't make up it's mind.  The sun would come out and then it would sprinkler.  We finally decided to buck it up and go for a ride.  I decided before hitting the trail I'd better hit the arena with Cat just to make sure she was going to listen.  As we approached the arena I noticed a small "bridge" and decided to ask her to go across it.  She was hesitant and then decided it would be easier to jump it.  I worked on sending her over it several times.  When she finally walked across it semi relaxed I stopped and headed into the arena.

She is really starting to anticipate my turns during LFR stage II so I've been trying to work on that.  She was being good and listening to me so I decided to end our gw session (the huffing and puffing from her helped make the decision as well).  As I left the arena a group of riders rode up and said "oh no, we missed it!"  I replied "huh?  missed what?".  They knew I had been to a CA clinic so they wanted to see my gw.  I chuckled and said maybe next time.

Mounted up we headed down the all purpose trail.  It really was just a gravel road w/trees on both sides but it worked.  Cat did really well!  I was on a loose rein the majority of the ride.  We rode down by the lake where we saw two bald eagles sitting on the bank.  I'll bet they were less then a football field away.  Chase thought that was pretty cool!  I asked Cat to go into the lake and w/o hesitation she walked in.

Later that day a few of us decided to go for another ride.  MIL stayed at camp with Cat as I was riding Sis w/a friends daughter on behind me.  During the ride another friend's horse tried to kick Sis and afterwards Sis became very prancy and jiggy.  Since I had a child on behind me I couldn't really do much for corrections.  I had planned on taking her out when I got back to fix the problem until we returned..............that is when the plans changed.

When we got back to camp I found MIL holding Cat.  Apparently she went into one of her major meltdowns when we left and started rearing on the hitching rail.  She somehow managed to get her leg over the lead rope and got hung up.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around how she did this.  We always hook the tie rings to the wire above the hitching rail so they horses are tied up and have no extra rope to get caught on.  I have to stand on a mounting block and reach to get the tie ring hooked!

MIL was too afraid to tie her back up and was worried her leg would swell so she held onto her the entire time we were out.  When I returned to camp I gave MIL Sis and told her to take care of her while I took care of Cat!  Black and Bell were tied up across camp at a friends hitching rail, Lucy was at the arena and Sis was gone.  The only horse left at the hitching rail was a friend's horse Star. 

I tied Cat to the trailer and she immediately started to rear so we backed over to Star and did some LFR then backed back over to the trailer for the opportunity to tie quietly.  Th is took a few good repetitions for it to sink in and by this time I could see eyes watching me from behind trailers probably wondering what in the world I was doing.  Finally she took a deep breath, exhaled and dropped her head.  I don't have opportunities to mimic this at home so although I would love for her to be prefect, I'm glad I was able to work on the issue.

Sunday a huge storm came through so we decided to pack up and head for MIL's.  When we unloaded the horses Abby was so excited to see them she RAN figure 8's around them trying to get them to run and play with her.  She was hauling some serious arse!  She would buck and then jump straight up in the air.  It was nice to see her feeling so well.  Monday it was wash ponies day!  Lucy's mane was full of ticks so I gave her a flea/tick shampoo and then pulled them out.  Yuck!  Cat got clipped completely!  I need to work on that more but neither one of us were seriously injured during the process so all was good.

The weather here is supposed to be hot all week so we left all of the horses except Sis at MIL's for the week to eat down her pasture and give ours a break.

Wet Saddle Pads

It was beautiful out last night.  A little warmer and more humid then it has been but it was still very nice weather so I headed out to the barn to play with Cat.  Once saddled we did some groundwork.  She has a very good departure on her LFR.  She's already picked up when I'm preparing to do a change of direction during LFR stage II so I spent some extra time just moving the stick to my hand and then moving it back without changing her direction.  She wastes no energy running to me when I yield her hindquarters.  I'm waiting for the day when she knocks me over because she runs up and puts her forehead on my chest as if she's saying in a wheezing voice "please let me stay here, I promise I will be good".

After doing some LFR stage I & II I worked on my desensitizing.  I think this was the first time she didn't flinch when I slapped the ground with the stick/string.  She was tired and just wanted to stand still.  She didn't care what I did as long as I didn't ask her to move.  Next we worked on some YFQ and YHQ and then I backed her up to the yard and worked on sending her into and out of the ditch.  I even managed to back her up out of the ditch (the same ditch MIL said was too steep to back Sis out of).  She was so hot and tired! 

I decided since she was already hot and tired this would be a perfect opportunity to ride out (off property) alone.  We headed down the road and about half way between the farm and the neighbors she spooked when some birds flew out of the ditch grass.  It was a nice jump to the side and stand still spook.  I prefer those over the jump to the side, buck and then bolt spooks.  Getting back in gear we headed towards the farmers path.  The cattle across the street caught her eye but she continued to move on willingly.

With the rain there was a pretty good sized puddle in the middle of the path.  I asked her to go through it and without much hesitation she did.  I love how willing she is.  Moving on down the "trail" we crossed a few more small water run offs.  Around the bend Cat and I noticed 3 raccoons scatter into the trees.  She really didn't care about them but the deer on the hill caught her attention.  She caught theirs too but instead of running away they started to come towards us.  I'll admit - that made me a little uneasy.  I had visions of Cat spooking and me hitting the ground.  Luckily for me as we continued to approach them they finally turned and ran.

We headed down the hill, over the creek and up to the top of the hill to be greeted by a few more deer.  To my surprise the farmers hadn't planted the back field so I took the opportunity at hand and worked on my ORS and passenger lesson.  The magnet to the field entrance was pretty strong so it wasn't as easy as I had anticipated but I managed to make some progress with her.  I was wishing I had John's I-pod loaded w/"Jessie's music" while I was cantering.  Cat was just hoping I'd let her stop.  I finally let her stop and air up facing away from the house/trail before heading back.

On the way back we visited the big scary tarp.  She could have cared less and has already learned if she touches it I will leave her alone.  A tree stump caught her attention before turning the bend so we touched it too.  Once we hit the dirt path I bumped her back up to do some more ORS at the trot.  I can feel her starting to think about stopping from my seat, she just isn't there yet.  The ride home was pretty uneventful.  We visited the cows and then rode down past the drive to visit with the neighbor (Cat doesn't like her dogs).  It was 9:30 before I got her back into the barn to unsaddle her and she was exhausted!  I'll admit, I'm a bit sore today too!

I was very pleased with how well she did on her solo ride.  Not a single nicker and just one small mild spook.  I think she's going to be a very level headed, willing to please horse.

Ride #24