Great friends, great food & a great time!

This weekend we met up with some good friends to hit the trails. We had a bit of a rocky start Saturday morning so we didn’t get to the park until around noon. The kids were hungry so we went ahead and started lunch.

Ty and I stayed back the first ride so I took him to the arena to ride Lucy. She was very good with him and he was pretty proud to be riding Lucy all by himself.



Back at camp we learned she likes chips. She was going nuts for the BBQ chips!



The group getting ready to go out on their first ride –



Nate, Josie, Bobbie



Danny



Chase



Brandon

Ty was not happy he wasn’t going with on Lucy.



When they got back I got to hear about their “adventures”. Apparently DH and Bell were the leaders of the pack. I was told a deer jumped one way, Bell jumped another way and DH became a certified “tree hugger”. He was proudly displaying his “war scars” to everyone.



With the crew back and preparing supper I took Ty out on a ride. The trails were lovely but we had one problem – we don’t both fit in my saddle and he let me know it!

Sunday morning camp cook Danny had breakfast going with the dutch ovens.



We had a great breakfast and then headed out on the trails.



Ty is in front of me on the saddle



Now where did he learn to ride like that?



It looked like rain was moving in so we headed back to camp and packed up to head home. The ride home was very quite.

The scores have been posted

And Chase beat me! lol

Our total score was 105 with 1+  The winner scored 114
Chase's total score was 107 with 2+

Mailbox -
Lucy - 10
Me - 10

Sis - 10
Chase - 10

Dismount/Wounded Animal -
Lucy - 9
Me - 7 (yep, I need to work on my dismount per ACTHA rules)

Sis - 9
Chase - 10

Drag -
Lucy - 10
Me - 10

Sis - 8
Chase - 10

L Back -
Lucy - 8
Me - 8 +

Sis - 9
Chase - 9+

Vine Simulator -
Lucy - 10
Me - 10

Sis - 9
Chase - 10

Jump -
Lucy - 6
Me - 7

Sis - 6
Chase - 7+

What’s blue and green?

Our ribbons from this weekend! I decided to take Chase on an ACHTA ride. We were in need of some quality time together and since the first 5 kids to register ride free I decided to sign us up.

Chase & Sis after their win.

Did I hear someone say treats?

I picked the horses up from MIL’s Thursday night. Friday night we were supposed to “practice” but it looked like it was going to down pour so we went out to dinner instead. Saturday we didn’t get out to the barn until later in the afternoon and then I found myself giving Carmella an unplanned workout. Chase took the initiative to catch Sis and jump on bareback.

After I took a short break we saddled both horses and headed out to ride. Lu was super duper lazy. I think I could have taken her in a w/t class an easily won. I grabbed the sled so Chase could try to drag something with Sis. Sis was having NOTHING to do with dragging anything so Lu and I drug the sled around while Chase followed. It didn’t take long before Ty hopped in the sled. Lu and I drug him everywhere. We were trotting and cantering and Ty’s laugh was echoing through the pasture.

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed out to the farm to load up. We got to the ride location around 7:30, unloaded and started to clean up the horses. After a short riders briefing we saddled up and headed to the arena to warm up. Getting Lu out of a snails pace was not an easy task. She has apparently learned how to conserve her energy very well. Chase and I rode out with our group around 9:30.

Getting reedy to head out.

We had 6 people in our group. Chase and I went last so he could watch the others do the obstacles. Chase went before I did and this seemed to work out well. He had Lu on one side so Sis didn’t feel like she was being left and he had the rest of the group on the other side to help encourage her to continue forward if need be.

Obstacle #1 – Mailbox
This was pretty easy. We rode up to the mailbox, took out a stuffed animal and showed it to the judge.

Obstacle #2 – Injured animal
We had to ride into an area (marked w/cones), dismount and walk up to a stuffed animal, place it on our saddle and walk back to the judge. This wouldn’t have been so bad for most of the pleasure riders since our stuffed animal wasn’t very large however they left the larger stuffed animal for the open riders lying on the ground and this freaked out a lot of horses. Sis and Lucy weren’t even fazed.

Obstacle #3 – Drag
Oh I was so worried after our drag attempt from the night before but Chase did great! He did let the rope get behind him a bit and Sis did get a little fidgety at the end but he was past the marker so he was fine.

On the way to our next obstacle

Obstacle #4 – Back up
Instead of doing the full “L” we had to walk into the l part and back straight out. Chase couldn’t have had a more perfect backup. My back up on the other hand…………..well let’s just say it was rider error. I didn’t hit the rails but she did get crooked and when I went to correct her she gave me her opinion about my decision to wear spurs by laying her ears on her neck.

Obstacle #5 – Vine Simulator
They took a vinyl shower curtain (reddish orange in color), cut it in strips and hung it up. Sis looked off but I don’t think she was shying from the curtain as much as I think something in the distance caught her attention. It was only for a brief moment and then she went through.

Lucy paused at the curtain, put her head down as if she was going to duck under it and then went through. I got a chuckle out of that.

Obstacle #6 – Log jump
LMAO I knew how this one was going to go before even attempting it. They brought a large log into the middle of the arena. You trotted to the log, jumped the log and then continued to trot afterwards to the barrel.

Sis trotted to the log but then tried to go around it. Chase backed her up and made her go over it but she was very cautious and went over one leg at a time…………..very…………..slowly. The crowd cheered as he finally made is way over the log.

Lucy trotted to the log and to my surprise she stopped and went over it. She was quicker and more agile about it then I expected too but we were still a long ways from a “jump”.

After lunch they had the awards. Chase got first in his division (Junior) and I got 6th in mine (Pleasure). There were 17 people in my division so I have no complaints. I think we could do better if I actually practiced. I know where my weak spots are.

I couldn’t be happier with Chase. For the first time I can actually say he deserved his blue. He rocked! I think he enjoyed himself too. He’s already asking me when we can go again.

Lucy was ready to go home.

Do you see what I see?

Last night before heading to the arena I got some video of Cat walking. It isn't the best but it will have to do for now. I know what *I* see but would love to hear what others see.





The injury happened approx. a month ago. She was on stall rest at ISU for a week. Then home on stall rest for a week followed by 2 weeks of stall rest with 15 min. of hand walking a day.

Now, for grins, here is my new goose. She came in Wed. night. It appears she has a broken leg that healed poorly. So far she seems to be very happy w/the abundance of food and water.

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.