Last week I decided to make the move and wean Duke. He's just a little over 4 months old but he's very independent and wasn't spending a large amount of time nursing. The drought has been hard on all of the horses and I didn't want to tax Lucy's body anymore then I needed to.
On Tuesday, MIL came over, loaded Lu up and took her to her house. All of the while Duke was munching on his grain and never even noticed. He's been very good about Lucy being gone and is adjusting well.
Wednesday I went over to MIL's as Black had managed to cut up her leg (we still haven't figure out what happened). Poor Lucy! Her bag was full and streaming onto the ground. It must not have bothered her too much though as all she seemed concerned with was when she was going to get more food.
Duke got fitted with a new DUH halter on Thursday. It is a bit too small so I need to check to make sure they have it tagged correctly. It is supposed to be a weanling. He doesn't have a big head so I can't see him needing a yearling halter already.
Shedding AGAIN!
Sunday the boys and I went to visit Lu at MIL's. She was drying up well so I decided to go ahead and saddle her up. Would you care to join me for a ride?
Yep, I saw Lucy's signature ears. lol I really won't complain though. I can't tell you when I rode her last and I'm guessing minus the bb ride a few weeks ago it was well over a year ago. She was a pretty good girl.
After my ride Ty wanted to ride. He loves Lucy! So much I'm afraid I'm going to lose her to him in a few years.
I about fell down laughing when I heard him say "Lucy! Don't make me use the spanker."
After his ride he "informed" me he needed to wash "his" horse. I'm not sure who had more water on them at the end of the bath - him or Lucy.
MIL and I have been trail riding together as I want to get more miles under Cat's feet before going out in a group again. Saturday we headed up to Rock Creek to ride. It had been 9 years since we rode there last!
The ride we had Friday night was anything but relaxing. Sis was a ball of nerves. Lately she has been spooking at silly things like butterflies and a bunnies (damn those can be scary! They just jump out at you from no where!). MIL and I have discussed Sis's behavior and hopefully MIL will decide to fix it. For now, my only concern is the horse I'm riding.
As MIL and I were going down the trail we were talking about different situations we've encountered on the trail and about how our riding styles have changed. I was telling MIL about the time Chase and I ran into some turkeys up at Brushy. Can I just say I hate turkeys! Deer run from you but turkeys hide and then when they fly off they sound like a jet engine coming up out of the grass!
We were trotting down the trail doing ORS when all of the sudden Cat planted her feet, pricked her ears forward and her head went up. I looked down the trail to see turkeys! Lots of turkeys running down the trail we had to go down. I looked at MIL and she looked at me. I think if I had suggested going back to the trailer and calling it a day she would have been ok with it. I refuse to become a prisoner to fear so instead of heading back I dismounted and made Cat do gw down the trail until I felt we were past the point of the turkeys. I mounted back up and felt Cat let out a huge sigh.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. The trails were either wide and open or a little bit narrow but not horrible. There were two bridges to cross that I don't recall being there the time before. Cat kept the lead the majority of the time. She gets nervous being in the back so I decided to work on one thing at a time. I practiced whacking leaves with my new dressage whip which didn't go over well at the beginning of the ride but by the end both horses were ignoring my antics. I'm starting to get some pretty good aim. ;)
MIL and Sis
On the way back Cat was nice and relaxed so I decided to shot a little video. You might want to turn down the volume as I didn't realize it was that windy.
Not long after I took this video I felt Cat tense up yet again and yet again I saw a turkey running up the trail. I decided again to dismount as I was pretty sure this one was going to fly up and spook her. I put her to work doing the C pattern down the trail while Mrs. Turkey shuffled off somewhere never to be seen again. I remounted and felt Cat let out a huge sigh again and then continued on our way.
At the end of the trail there were some beautiful pines so I decided to get a picture of MIL and Sis.
Since someone *cough John* was complaining last time that I needed to hand the camera over I decided to let MIL try to take a few pictures of Cat and I. The first few I was headless, then there was a finger over the lens, then she finally manged to get one. Cat was having nothing to do with putting her ears forward.
I forgot to empty the nuts out of my pocket I had gathered for my dad's squirrels so I promise the "buldge" isn't all fat.
Maybe that should read Sweatin to the classical, country and whatever other songs are on my blackberry! I was sweating at the end of the ride too but not nearly as bad as Cat.
It is amazing at how quickly 10 minutes seems to go by when you are enjoying music. I'm not sure Cat would agree the time went by as quickly for her.
One Pooped Pony!
I'm in the process of trying out a Cinch Hook. I bought one hoping it would make saddling easier for the kids (this mom is getting tired of saddling all of the ponies). Last night was the first night I used it so the jury is still out. I will admit it felt really weird not lacing my latigo strap back up once I was done with the ride.
Friday night MIL and I headed up to Brushy Creek. I had plans for Sunday but we wanted to get an early start on Saturday so we went up Friday night to spent the night.
Cat and Sis at Camp
The forecasters had predicted rain around noon. Each time they've predicted rain we've gotten barely enough to knock the dust down so MIL and I weren't too concerned. We were riding out in the morning anyways and would be back to camp before noon in case it actually did rain.
About a mile out it started to mist. MIL and I decided to keep going. Pretty soon that mist turned into a light rain. We were really enjoying ourselves so we continued on.
MIL looking a bit wet
The rain wasn't horrible under the cover of the canopy. When we hit the open areas we picked the pace up just a bit to get back under the protection of the canopy.
I had wanted to take Cat on this particular trail because of all of the water crossings. Cat hadn't really crossed large amounts of water so I wasn't sure how she'd do. She was first to go at all of the crossings and didn't hesitate for one minute.
MIL & Sis
We passed one other set of riders on the trail. You could tell they were enjoying themselves. Right after we passed them the rain let go and drenched us. The entire trail became a small running stream and was becoming greasy. Cat slipped going up one hill and I thought she was going to go down to her knees but she regained her balance and continued on without missing a step.
About 1 1/2 miles from camp we met up with the park ranger. He informed us they were closing the trails and asked us a specific trail head to return back to camp (it is rocked so less chance of damage). MIL and I returned to the trailer around 11 and packed to head home.
I sure wish we could have ridden more but I'm glad we got the rain. Cat is doing better on the trails but I still have lots of room for improvement. I have a feeling one of these days she'll be my "'ol reliable"
Last night I pulled Cat out for a ride. As I walked her to the trailer to saddle her up I noticed a tarp on the ground. It must have blown off the hoop coop this past weekend when we had the "storms". It looked like a good object to use to tantalize Cat to so I picked it up and had a bit of fun.
Doesn't she look thrilled?
It kind of caught her by surprise when it started to come off (if you look you can see her cock her ear and kind of "scoot" out from under it) so of course I had to do it again!
Please ignore the poor filmography. It isn't very easy to record w/a cell phone and hold the rope.
She still "looks" at it with her ear when it comes off but all in all I think she did pretty well. After it came off I grabbed the tarp and dragged it back over by the coop with her following behind.
My "fun with the tarp" was followed up by a nice ride.
