A year of first

This has been a year of first, not only for Cat and I, but also for Shari.  This year I decided to let both of them attend their first parade.

Early this week we did a little preparation homework to make sure we were all ready.  I purchased this "curtain" and the wind was so kind as to help animate it for us.

I'm hoping I can make a PVC curtain holder so I can move this to where we can ride underneath it, but for now this will do.

Cat quickly learned this scary object was a source of rest and seemed to be magically drawn to it.  :)

We borrowed my mom's flag from the front porch to see how the horses would react.  I wasn't too worried about Sis and Abby as both of them have carried flags in the past.  I was a little taken back when Cat was the least worried about the flag.

She was to the point she really didn't care what I did to her as long as she got to rest next to the pretty blue stuff.

If you notice, her eyes are closed and she is pretty relaxed (if not sleeping).

Do you like her new forelock?

Time for the parade!

Shari and Janet patiently waiting for the parade to start.

Cat checking out her surroundings

Someone wasn't supposed to be that far ahead!

Oh yeah, I have candy to throw!

My pretty girl.

Janet and Sis

Shari and Abby

All-in-all the horses were great!  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  Stay tuned for our next adventure................

Where is the time going?

Last night I offered to let my niece come out to ride. She hadn't been out to the farm in a while and she's a pretty die hard horse girl. I waited until after she was out of school before texting her (yes, she's 10 & has a phone) because I knew she'd get distracted if she knew she was going to get to ride. Next time I think I'll wait until I'm ready to pick her up before asking her if she wants to go. I think she texted me every 5 min. from 3:30 - 5:30 she was so excited.

I put Carmella in the RP while I saddled up the horses. She was having a bit of a fit about something. I don't know if it was the corn moving or what but she was full of it. It is times like this I wish the kids could saddle for themselves as I missed a perfect opportunity to work her.

Saddled and ready to go the kids headed out to the pasture while I headed up to the house to start supper. It didn't take long before we heard the giggles and saw heads flying across the pasture. My dad asked me "are they supposed to be going that fast?" "Nope but you aren't going to stop them."

While they rode I took Abby to the RP to get some video of her movement for some friends.







I wish she moved like this all of the time but unfortunately she doesn't.

The sun is going down by 8:00 so it feels like I'm just getting started and then have to quit. I'm ready for the fall temperatures but I'm not ready for the fall hours.

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.

Time out!

Little miss kit Cat is in a time out right now. The older she gets the more she reminds me of her mother. This isn't a bad thing but somedays it makes me want to kill her.

Lately she's decided it is optional to stay behind my electric fence. I'm not sure if it has a short in it or if she just doesn't mind the zap but last night she went through it 3 times!!! I had her in the back pasture w/Lu and Bell and she decided the front pasture with Abby, Black and Nikki looked like a better option. After the 3rd time I said enough was enough and put her in my round pen by herself w/some hay and a bucket of water. She's going to stay there until I have the fence zapping w/enough voltage to really shock her when she tries to walk through it again.



Abby seems to be healing well. She's going to go spend some time at MIL's. MIL is worried though since Sis despises Abby for some reason. I told her she has two pastures - put one in one and the other one in the other one. Here is an updated photo from last night (cell phone + dark stall = poor quality). You can see it is healing pretty well. She still has a small hitch in her giddy up but she does seem to be improving.

Giggles, puddles, and mud bugs

Yesterday at MIL's we saddled up Sis and Black and let Chase and Shari, my niece (8), ride. I made sure both of them weren't going to get killed and then turned them loose. When these two get together their giggles are infectious. MIL and I sat on her back porch watching these two trot and giggle and then canter and giggle and all the while the horses were being good as gold. I swear they know when they have precious cargo on board.

My niece reminds me of myself when I was little. My parents were non-horse people and I would do anything my uncle told me to do just to get a chance to brush that old nasty mule. His name was Jack and it was quite fitting for an a.s.s. - I mean mule.

Shari will do anything in the barn just to be near the horses. My sister and her husband are non-horsey people so I love it when she gets a chance to ride. Usually we have to drag her off as she never gets tired. Yesterday her ride was cut short by the rain. We let them ride in the sprinkles for a bit but we were lucky to get them in the barn before it completely let loose.

When she came inside she was still all horse and drew this picture.



When I asked her if she had a good time she replied "yes, until the STUPID rain came down." lol

While Shari and Chase were riding Ty decided to go play in the water puddles. You can only be a kid onces so mom said "go for it buddy!". I thought DH was going to stroke when he saw Ty jumping up and down in the water puddles. He had water EVERYWHERE but he also had the biggest smile. Molly was enjoying running in the puddle with Ty too so both of them got baths before we went home. Molly was one tired pup after a fun day of play.



Abby is back home. We brought her back Sat. She seems to be happy to be back home. I have her out during the day and in at night. Talked to the vet a bit about her shoulder. I can x-ray to see if she does have a fracture but when I asked him what the treatment for that was he basically said "time off". Well I can do that w/o paying for x-rays.

My horses are a muddy mess! When I went out yesterday Cat decided to roll 3 times to make sure she was covered good for me.

Here she is sniffing a pile of pekin feathers. Lucy didn't want them in the pasture with her. Luckily the pekin made it to the other side of the fence with just a few missing feathers.





This is not Abby! Oh what a mess! Yes, I know her feet are long, she gets trimmed Monday.



If you look closely in this picture you can see where Cat has the "split" in her chest from her injury last summer. I call her three boobs. :D

Abby Update

Saturday we took Abby back to the vet for a recheck. Good news is he doesn’t think it is infected and he still feels it is healing well (even though he can still stick his entire pinky finger inside of her).



He was a bit concerned about her shoulder but said she couldn’t have picked a better place for an impact like that. He said w/deep muscle/bone bruising it can take up to 3 weeks to heal. She is on stall rest and bute and she does not like it!

She’s not eating her grain. I’m not sure if it is from the stress from being stalled, away from her buddies, in a new barn, having bute in her food or a mixture of all of the above. Mona only has a few boarders so Abby has the entire west side of the barn to herself.

Back to the vet

Abby will be returning to the vet again on Saturday. Sometime earlier this week she managed to pull her wound open and pop her staples. I'm not sure if she got to messing around or if the wound swelled. Then with the cold weather the exposed tissue froze. MIL called me last night to let me know that Abby wouldn't leave her stall & is limping again on her front left leg. MIL took out her drain tube last night and she said it wreaked of infection.

I told Chase it looked like it could be a long recovery and he might be riding Black this summer. He looked kind of down so I asked him what was wrong. He replied "I thought I could ride Lucy". I started laughing and told him fat chance! I'm hoping there is no major damage to her leg and that she just bumped it and is sore again. Will post more after her appt.

Abby Update

Abby went back to the vet yesterday for her recheck. Jason (the vet) was amazed at how well she looked (he looked a bit surprised) and was very pleased with her progress. She has quit limping on her left front leg and seems to be moving very well.

He is keeping the drain tube and staples in for now and I will be removing them next week after Wednesday. I didn't take any new pictures because it really doesn't "look" that different. It does however "feel" different. You can really feel the insides of her healing up. There is one pocket left to close but the rest feel like they've healed together very well.

Jason thinks she might have a small scar and possibly a lump from some scar tissue but I'm very optomistic that it is going to heal and not be noticable.

I decided to take her back to MIL's instead of taking her to Mona's. She seems to have healed this well being out with Black so I wanted her to be able to be out on pasture as well as be in a stall. I think the movement is good for them. She seemed very happy to be back "home" last night.

On a side note - I have been very impressed w/Jason and have not been overly impressed w/my current vet. My current vet is supposed to be one of the best in the state, however I feel his ego knows that and he tends to be a bit arrogant on my checkbook. I've decided to try this vet clinic out for all future needs. Hopefully we are just talking coggins, health certificates and a few shots and nothing else like what we have now. They do have an equine vet that I have worked with in the past (she left and just now came back since they changed ownership) and liked. I might though use Jason when I can. I not only liked his personality and his enthusiasm to do a great job, but he was also very easy on the eyes. :D

After the ride

When we got home from the ride Abby and Cat where standing in the pasture. Abby was in the round pen and Cat was by the big bale. I thought it was odd that Abby didn’t run to the trailer but at the time thought nothing of it. As Chase was trying to get a picture of Lucy and I with our ribbon, DH yelled at me that Abby had stepped on something and to get down to the barn. When I approached the barn I noticed she was holding up her left front leg. As I walked around to her side, this is what I found.



I thought it looked like Cat had maybe kicked her so we put all of the horses in the barn so we could inspect it better. As we started looking closer we notice the hole went deep and deeper. As I ran out of the barn to grab my phone to call the vet I noticed my fence between my dry lot and my front pasture was on the ground. The wood post that held it up had been snapped off at the ground.



When I called my vet I got a message that he was gone and so was the other vet in his office so we panicked to find a vet close by to look at her. We finally found a cow vet about 15 miles away so we loaded her up and headed out.

When we arrived the vet cleaned it up as good as possible. He said it was very contaminated w/hair. I’ll bet he spent a good 30 – 45 min. just cleaning it. He said she went through both the first and second layer of muscle and almost completely through the third. Had she gone through the third she would have collapsed her lung. He said it is still possible she has a small pinhole in her lung but she was breathing fine so he wasn’t worried about it.

Before closing it up -



I thought he did an exceptional job of closing her up.





We took her to MILs because I have no way to keep her separated from our horses right now. I went and checked on her yesterday and she seemed to be doing better. We turned her out for a bit with Black and she seemed to be very happy. She is still very sore on her left leg so I’m worried about it.

Here is what I think happened. We have a gate w/a sure-latch gate latch on it. It was partially opened to the front pasture. I think she was in the front pasture and tried to run through the opening (Cat chasing her???) and got the gate pin in her side. As she continued forward the gate would have come with her digging and ripping deeper into her side. Her left shoulder would have hit the gate post causing it to break.

You can see from this video that she really doesn’t want to put any weight on her leg.



We have to take her back on Friday to have her rechecked and possibly for the staples to come out. After that she is going to a friend’s heated barn closer by so I can keep an eye on her.

Beautiful weekend to ride

Friday night the boys and I headed over to MIL’s with the ponies. I took Cat over to stay at MIL’s so I could a) get some horses off of my pasture and b) focus more on Lu. Bell will be joining Cat and Black as soon as DH leaves to go harvest.

Black was very happy to have company again. She’s moving very well. Her abscess ended up being a sub solar abscess so her entire sole is lifting off. Hopefully it stays dry so she doesn’t get gunk underneath it.

Saturday was beautiful. We got the ponies out to ride (Chase on Abby, MIL on Sis, Ty on Black and I was going to ride Cat). When I unwrapped Cat’s leg it was pretty nasty looking. The wrap kept the fluid from moving down like it was supposed to but it also re-opened her cannon bone injury that had been healing well so I opted not to ride her.

The boys rode for a good while. I had to teach Ty how to spank Black because she was being super lazy (not a bad thing). He enjoyed that a little too much so I had to get after him a bit (not that he whacked hard). MIL worked on the clover leaf pattern w/Sis and Chase messed around.

I made Ty get off and got out the big ball. Black immediately got nervous (hence why I took Ty off). Very few things freak that old mare out but the big ball is one of them. Abby wasn’t quite sure about it so I rolled it away while Chase and MIL followed. The wind was blowing quite a bit so it wasn’t helping much. After a while I got on Sis and got her to move it around some then let Chase have a go. I gave him a crop and Abby got a little frisky so he got off and had grandma get on.

The next day I went out to work Abby. I worked on the clover leaf pattern but decided we really need to go back and work on our gas pedal. She’s all over the place because she is so lazy! I made her move her feet and soon enough she did go better. Then I put Chase on her in my saddle. That kid has some long legs but he wasn’t quite able to reach my stirrups so I took him to the RP (with Sis loose in there) and let him just ride while I moved Abby (and Sis). It was very good for him and he’s got a pretty good balance when he doesn’t have to worry about other things.

It didn’t take him long to get tired so I hopped back on. The ball was in the RP so I decided to play with it some. MIL hopped on Sis bareback and bridleless and rode her around with. Anytime Abby wouldn’t kick the ball I’d make her move her feet. It didn’t take that fat pony long to figure out the ball was the place to be. At one time Abby was flying around the RP and Sis decided to join. I thought MIL was going to come off but she didn’t. We were laughing so hard – man I love my horses!

I’m going to go fill in for MIL at drill tonight and I plan on going early so I can play with Lucy with the ball (using Sis for drill) and work on our stops. I think Chase is going to go with so it should be a blast. I’m really happy with the way Lu is going. I had to ride her w/my leather halter last week (MIL used my bridle for drill) and she was just as light and soft in it as she was with her bridle. Really makes me wonder what she’d be capable of doing w/a patient trainer.

Also, I want to thank John and Ranae for the tips on the bending exercise. I’m gong to try a few of them w/Lu tonight and see if I can get it to work or at least get a starting point.

Weekend ride

Saturday it was so hot! I hosed off the horses and put them in their stalls with the fans on. I decided to leave Cat’s bandage off to see if some fresh air would help her laceration heal a bit faster. I put some wonder dust on it to prevent it from bleeding and then put her in her stall. She proceeded to lick every ounce of wonder dust off (that had to taste good) until her leg was clean and started bleeding again. Needless to say the bandage went back on.

Sunday Chase, MIL and I went for a ride. I decided to pull the old lady (Black) out since I knew we wouldn’t be going far. We ended up riding down to the river and over the river bridge. Abby was very good for Chase and Sis was her usual lazy self. We trotted some and even loped a little on the way back. Black felt pretty good and was striding out. I had to chuckle on the way home as it was Black (25), then Abby (9), and then Sis (10) bringing up the rear!

Later that night Ty decided he wanted to ride so I pulled Nikki out for him. She’s a good pony but she’s learned a few tricks over the years (like diving for grass and snatching the reins away from her rider or shaking and unseating them) so I made up a set of grass reins before Ty ventured out. He likes to ride “by himself” so as soon as we made our way to the backyard I turned him loose. Nikki of course set her path straight back to the barn. When she learned the gait was closed she came back to the backyard (yes I was watching close by) and then proceeded to walk circles. He rode for probably 20 minutes before I made him get off. Little stinker thinks he’s big stuff now!

Not much going on

I know I’ve been quiet but not much in the world of horses has been going on. Right now we are more in the “fowl” world. We have 40 eggs in an incubator set to hatch around May 4th and 8 eggs each under two different hens set to hatch the same time (good timing huh?). The boys both got 5 ducklings each. Ty got some Indian Runners that I think will be fawn/white and Chase got his “pudgy” Pekins. He doesn’t like it when I tell him they are meat ducks.

Cat barreled through the barn the other day to get breakfast and smashed my big toe. BIG mistake! HUGE! I can’t and won’t put the blame on her though. She bangs on the door and people open it and get out of the way. Now she gets to come in last, with a halter on and backwards.

I hauled MIL to drill practice last night so took Cat along for the ride. I decided to saddle her and do some LFR while they practiced. She took the saddle well but got a little humpy going downhill during the LFR. I think she was feeling the saddle in a way she’d never felt it before. Guess I need to go find some ditches and work her in those. Nothing bad but I got a chuckle out of her “attempt” to crow hop.

I did get on and we walked up and down the grass alley and did some ORS. She was a bit more excited compared to what she has been but then there were 10 other horses there too. We did some ORS and then just sat and relaxed while the horses did their run. She’s learning to enjoy stopping. I did pick up the popper once and she remembered that one! Guess I’m going to have to desensitize her to that a bit unless it is needed again.

At the end of practice MIL decided to run Abby around and of course Abby started up w/her humping up in protest. I told MIL to make her go one more time and when she did well to get off. She started her out and Abby turned and off came MIL. She was ticked too! MIL just lost her seat (the first time in 9 years) but thankfully didn’t get hurt. I told her to take the emotion out of it but she was too mad so I got back on Abby and moved those feet! Poor girl was dripping w/sweat by the time I was done but she didn’t once think about bucking either. I honestly think she knew right off the bat that she wasn’t going to be able to pull anything w/me. When I finally sat and said “whoa” she was more then happy to stop.

I had to remind MIL that nothing has been done with her all year. Chase has ridden her 3 or 4 times and she’s ridden her twice at drill. She needs to be worked with more then that. This is an ongoing issue w/Abby that has never been resolved and it won’t be by me unless I miraculously come up with more time this year.

Ride 5

I’m going to try to start summing up my blog post a bit more vs. the long drawn out stories.

MIL, DH, Chase, Ty, two friends and I went to the arena last night. It was VERY windy but it was beautiful! Unloaded and Cat was not happy! It was the first time she’d seen Sis and Abby and she wanted to be next to them.

Lounged Abby to get her ready for Chase and then got him, MIL and DH riding while I watched Ty and saddled Cat. Had to remind her a few times I was next to her as she was very worried that her buddies were going to leave her. Ty was playing w/his tractor in the dirt so I decided to make Cat move her feet and quit worrying about Sis and Abby.

Backed her into the arena and then did LFR2 (haven’t done this much). She did very well and turns over her hocks well). Headed back to the trailer, bridled her up and got on. Flexed. She’s still a little stiff to the right but overall did very well.

Walked into the arena and I’m not sure what happened but she jumped sideways and up as if she was trying to get away from Abby (I don’t think she realizes she can’t play under saddle and that is what it felt like). I immediately pulled her head around and proceeded to let her know that behavior was not acceptable!

She was in high gear so I worked on ORS at the walk. Once she was listening we picked it up to a trot. I was able to do some ORS at the canter but I had to be moving towards the other horses (left spanker in the trailer). She did well for the most part.

Next was the passenger lesson at the trot. I really need to do this w/less horses in the arena (6 horses all going different speeds). She did well but she wasn’t moving out as much as I’d like (she’d already downshifted herself into a nice jog).

After that I moved her to the center of the ring and just sat and flexed her and then let her relax for about 5 minutes before dismounting. She’d worked up a little sweat but nothing too bad.

As for the other horses – Black looked really good! MIL hopped on her for a minute and said her trot was so soft and smooth! Abby was having issues but then I don’t think Chase was helping matters much there. I’m to the point w/him that I think I’m going to hand him the reins and say “figure it out” (just like w/DH). He doesn’t seem to listen to what I say and it just frustrates me so I guess he can learn the same way I did – trial, error and hitting the dirt!

Great Labor Day Weekend!

I know, I’m only a week late on this post but better late then never right?

Labor Day weekend we packed up the ponies and headed for Elk Rock State Park. It is a small park but it has nice facilities. The trails are fairly easy so I don’t have to worry about Chase being out on difficult terrain.

Friday night we spent most of the night unpacking and setting up the trailer. Man I love my trailer! It makes it so nice when we do stuff like this. DH had to work Saturday so we had Abby, Lucy and Sis and he was to bring Black down Sunday when he came down.

Saturday MIL started off riding Abby. This was only her second trail ride and if you remember, our first one last year left me with a sore bum. Chase was on Sis and I was finally on Lu! We headed out on our first trail with Lucy in the lead. Abby does not like to be in the back so MIL did a lot of ORS and circles with her. It was nice to be on a quiet horse for once! Sis of course was wonderful with Chase.

It didn’t take long for Chase to tire but we met up with another group and told him to buck it up, we were going on another ride. They rode a bit faster then we do so it gave me an opportunity to work on collecting Lu at the trot. When we got back we had ridden all 8 miles of trail & all of us were tired! We took a short rest and then headed into town and to the lake.

Sunday DH met us down there with Black. This was her first “known” trail ride since we’ve owned her & she was wonderful! Abby was being a bit more of a handful for MIL so I told her to get on Lu while Abby and I had a meeting. Needless to say, after 6 miles of trail and one hot, sweaty pony, Abby still wasn’t ready to come to an agreement with me.

Later MIL, DH and Chase went out and I stayed back at the trailer to work on supper. I sent Chase out on Lu so MIL could ride Sis and Abby could throw a fit at the hitching post. I was told Lu did very well with Chase, this made me very happy.

My parents showed up with Ty and we had a lovely dinner. After dinner MIL and I took Ty on a short ride. He had Black’s reins the entire time and giggled up every hill. He was so cute telling Black “easy Black! Whoa Black!” and moving her over on the trails.

The following day we noticed that 3 of the 4 horses had swollen legs. Upon further inspection it seemed that most of the horses at the park had swollen legs. I think there may have been some sort of weed that irritated them but we decided they had done well enough and headed home.

1 down – 3 to go

Show season is slowly dwindling down. It feels as though we haven’t really had much of a season with all of the rain we got at the beginning of the year but it has still been a good year. This past Sat. MIL, DH and Chase showed. I opted not to take Lucy because Ty was going with and I know how that usually works. Plus she really isn’t ready and it isn’t fair for her when I have high expectations but haven’t put forth the work. We’ll be ready next year.

Due to a lack of volunteers I had to help the judge so a few good friends helped out with Ty while MIL and DH were showing (thank you Brenda and Terry). Chase got to use Sis in w/t and while she was a bit fast from all of her long trotting during her rehab he still had the quietest horse out there so he placed first. I know MIL placed in w/t and WP but I honestly don’t remember what her results were. She didn’t do as well as she normally does (again Sis is strung out and fast) but she was still in the top 5.

DH didn’t place (not that we expected him to). Black was a bit gimpy in the back end. I almost asked him to come to the center but I didn’t want to call him out. He put her up after the class and that was the only thing she went in for the day.

Chase had a GREAT pole pattern and took first. He got a little “big for his britches” in barrels and while they gave him a 2nd place placing, I told him he wasn’t getting his ribbon because he broke patter. I know, I’m a mean mom but he’s moving up w/the “big boys” next year so he’ll get knocked off of his pedestal quickly anyways. He needs to practice more and quite blaming it all on the pony.

Abby was being a bit of a handful for him though so I popped my saddle on and signed MIL and I up for barrels. It was a good crowd so I knew I’d get the opportunity to “fix” some of her issues. At the end of the pattern she likes to crow hop so as we ran for home I prepared. As soon as I felt her head go down I turned her in and nailed her w/Mr. Crop and asked her to continue running in a circle. I think I caught her by surprise.

After that MIL hopped on. She had a nice run (no crow hopping at the end) and I do think she placed 5th.

I took Carmella back and MIL took Sis and Cat back to her place so I’m back down to 4 horses at home. It is kind of a nice break since DH will be leaving to help with harvest soon.

When we got home, as I was picking out Black’s feet (assuming the gimping was from thrush), I noticed some liquid. She has an abscess on her back left foot. It looks like she bruised her foot on one of our road rides last week. While I’m not thrilled about it, I’m happy that is what the problem was and that it wasn’t another laminitic episode (I was starting to question that too). So for now I’m soaking her foot once a day in Epson salt, ACV and water and I have her in an icthamol wrap. I bought some of the new Easy Care Glove boots for her back feet and so far I LOVE them! I’ve got one over the wrap and she seems to be feeling a lot better now that the abscess is draining.

This means that Lu is going to have to temporarily fill in at drill. I think this will be good for her but we’ll see what she thinks.

Where to begin?

I’m not even sure where to begin with this weekend. Saturday I got up, headed to the ATM to get some money as we had two shows to head to. One was for a drill performance and the other was to actually ride/show. When I got to the ATM I got a message saying “card restricted” and no money. It was too early to call the bank so I headed to the barn to finish cleaning up ponies.

While finishing up I got a call from the bank asking if I had authorized two internet purchases. No I hadn’t. So needless to say my card was cancelled & I will be watching my account closely. Thank goodness for mom and day (I had to borrow cash from them).

We finally got the ponies loaded and headed out. The performance was less then perfect (our worst of the year). Black did great (we have an easy job) and I do think she really enjoys it. Abby popped her butt up once but MIL was quick to whack her. She is getting a little bit better with each performance. I’m not sure what happened but someone got out of place. When you get out of place it is very hard to get back in and it messes up everyone else. Needless to say they managed to make it “look” ok but we were all pretty embarrassed. Thankfully, most of the crowd had no clue what happened.

We loaded up and headed over for the show. I had to do registration so I needed to be there early anyways and I wanted to have a chance to ride Lu a bit before the show. I decided to go ahead and take her in w/t at least. She really needs to get the experience even if we don’t do well. I had been having issues bending her but she was doing great! Her head was low and soft and her trot was to die for. She was getting a bit nervous when the other horses would get around her (looks like I need to take her to a few drill practices) but for the most part she was great. I rode for maybe 20 min. or so and then took her to the trailer until closer to my class.

Once the classes started I saddled Lu back up and headed over to wait. Chase was in his w/t class and he was as stiff as a board but somehow managed to come out with the first place ribbon. There were two more classes before my class and Lu would not stand still. She’d either back up or want to walk off so we did flexing and bending but she still refused to stand still. By this time she’d started to sweat and laid down on me. I hopped off and kicked her and then whacked her w/the reins until she got up. We then went for a “behind the trailer” session. Nothing big, just some LFR to let her know that wasn’t a good idea.

I mounted back up and headed in for my class. By now she’s dripping with sweat (I think it had more to do with nerves vs. heat) & I could tell the sand arena was very appealing to her. The class was so bit they split it in half. I tried to keep Lu moving so she wouldn’t go down. The class finally started and she was moving beautifully. Her head was low and tucked and her knees were flat and flowing. She was getting annoyed (by the sweat) so she tossed her head and as she did my headstall came flying off (the new one DH just got me). I got it back on and we continued w/the class. After lining up and backing I dismounted so she wouldn’t go down with me again. They called for the second batch so I left the arena and headed back to the trailer.

At the trailer I put on her halter but did not untack her. For those who have followed my blog and have followed my “adventures” with Lucy you will know that when she gets hot (even if I’ve only worked her 15 minutes) she will try everything in her power to lie down, even if she is tied. A lot of those times she’s succeeded so it has ingrained the behavior even more. This was one of the reasons I refused to unsaddle her. She needs to learn how to deal with it.

I walked her behind the trailer and anytime she’d tuck a knee like she was going to lie down I’d back her a few strides (I had my crop ready in case she actually went down), nothing hard or fast but just me saying “no”. She was fidgety and would not stand still. She tried several times to tuck her knee so she could go down. When she got close to the trailer she’d throw herself into it to try to rub/scratch my saddle off so I’d move her back over (another reason why I didn’t just tie her up).

I had already decided that *if* by some odd chance I was called back in from the split that I wouldn’t be taking her in. As expected, I wasn’t called back in so it was no big deal. This is when things started to get fun. Another participant decided to come back and offer me some advice. She politely (using the word politely very loosely) suggested that I needed to untack Lu. I thanked her for her concern but assured her that she was fine and told her that I would not be untacking Lucy. She again politely (again using the word loosely) told me (this time she didn’t suggest) to untack Lucy. I again assured her that Lucy was fine and informed her that I would not be untacking her.

I was then informed by her that she has been in the consulting business for over 40 years and knows when a horse is tying up (Lu’s abdominal muscles were tight but so where about 50 other horses at the show). She then proceeded to threaten me that if I didn’t untack Lucy that she would call the Humane Society on me. I encouraged her to do so (by this time my patience was gone).

Now – as for the “concerned citizen”, let me give you a little bit of background on her. She is IDK how old (50 or so). She has trust money (and lots of it) so she hasn’t worked a day in her life. She buys OTTB, uses them up and then dumps them. I’ve rarely seen her keep one more then a year. NO ONE can stand her! The only reason they put up with her at the shows is because of her money (which I think is bullshit). She can not keep workers because she is such a xxxxx that no one can stand working for her. I was ok with her concern until it became a threat.

Needless to say about 5 minutes later I had about 10 people at my trailer looking over Lucy. ALL of them had seen her pull this before (getting hot and laying down) and they all knew I wouldn’t put her in danger (still not sure how untacking her would have kept her from tying up if that is indeed what she was doing). I stood my ground and they stood behind me. 15 min. later when the sweat had started to dry Lu was being a pain in my butt trying to get hay and treats. After she had fully dried off I untacked her and let her stand at the trailer the rest of the night happily munching on hay.

Now while this “concerned citizen” was all over my ass about Lu she never once said anything to the gal who was riding a weanling (gal said it was a 2 yr. old but it looked like a small yearling at the most).

I’m still very irritated that she felt the need to threaten to call the HS on me. How would you have handled this?

I forgot to mention - I was told by the ring steward that the judge REALLY liked Lucy but that she didn't feel like she could call me back in due to my tack mishap. She said she debated over and over because she really liked her. I guess that is good to know once I get her to quite laying down with me. :-)

Busy, busy, busy

Last week MIL took Sis and Cat back to her house until Sis is healed up. Saturday we loaded up the ponies and headed over to the arena to ride. I wanted Chase to get on Abby before the show on Sunday and MIL needed to practice too & for once I got to ride my own horse!

Lu was great! She was soft, she was tucking her head and she was moving great! I joked about taking her to the show on Sunday. MIL was having a blast on Abby. A friend was there and they “raced” around the arena. MIL almost fell off when Abby turned but she managed to squirm back into the saddle before slowing down. She had a smile from ear to ear and she needed that after the news about Sis.

After that Chase got on and rode her around a bit while I got on Black and worked on carrying the flag on her (we might be opening up for the drill team at the rodeo on Friday night). DH hopped on Lu and I just looked the other way. I told him to watch her because she would probably try to lay down with him (when she’s hot she wants to roll). The next thing I notice is Lu on the ground and DH kicking my saddle (next time honey, kick the horse). I really wanted to say “I told you so” but instead I gave him back Black.

Chase was having issues with Abby so MIL hopped on Lu while I worked with Chase. We worked on post to post and Chase looking where he was going vs. looking at Abby. It made a HUGE difference in Chase’s riding and Abby worked a lot better for him.

I had decided not to go to the show on Sun. so Sun. morning DH got up and loaded up. DH called me to tell me he’d thrown Lu in the trailer so Ty and I headed to the show to keep an eye on Lu. When I got there DH was riding her in the arena w/Chase (we are going to have to have a discussion about him riding my horse). I took her back to the trailer and tied her up.

We put Abby in a one handed bit for walk/trot. She’s not fond of them but I’m trying to teach Chase to follow rules. The young kids do not know how to spread out and I could see trouble brewing with one horse before the class even started. Abby would trot and then walk then trot then walk and on one occasion she went ahead and popped into a lope so I knew Chase wasn’t going to place. I know this is not Abby’s strong suite so we’ll have to work on it. When going the second direction at the trot one of the horses started bucking (bronc style) so I yelled at Chase to stop Abby. The announcer must have heard me because he then FINALLY directed the other children to stop their horses as well. Luckily no one else was hurt.

I decided with no preparation to take Lu in walk/trot. She did great for what little I’ve done with her. She wanted to have her head up but when I asked she tucked it nice and low. Her trot was a bit fast but she looked amazing in my show bridle! The arena was packed! We didn’t place but I was happy with her performance.

Chase did great in poles. He watched where he was going and placed 2nd. By the time we got to the barrels it had started to rain softly. Chase went in and did a great pattern as well. He placed 2nd again and he was happy with his “paycheck” from the show.

This week is a busy one. Tomorrow we have drill practice, Thursday & Friday we have the rodeo & Saturday Chase shows Dozer.

Off to the rodeo

With MIL gone and Sis out of commission I’ve been taking Abby to drill practice in MIL’s spot. I think it has been very good for Abby. For one thing she’s had to run & we all know how much lazy Abby likes to run. But it has also helped her get used to having horses next to her, behind her, in front of her and coming at her from all directions (this was the one thing I did like about drill).

We have been practicing in the arena that Chase shows in (the only arena Abby has been in) so I asked if we could go to a different arena last night. The team will be performing next Thursday & Friday at the rodeo so I wanted to try to get in that arena to see what Abby would do. When we first got there she was a bit nervous but not too bad. We’ve been working on vertical flexion so she had her head almost between her knees (she’s an over achiever). One of Abby’s biggest issues is that she is very aware of her footing & if she doesn’t like something on the ground she won’t move. I’ve been working on that through groundwork but there is still room for improvement.

She was very aware of her footing last night and refused to move a few times. When she did she was quickly greeted w/Mr. Crop. After that she decided it wasn’t so scary. In the arena she got tense. I wasn’t sure what she was nervous about but quickly discovered it was the stands and the noise from them. I asked a gal in the stands to make some noise while I did rollbacks on the fence and she finally decided they weren’t very scary when she had to work so we proceeded to move around the arena.

She was fine with everything else in the arena including the chutes but it will be interesting to see what she’s like next week when the stands are full, there are little kids running up and down the sides of the arena and there are bulls in the chutes. This is another reason I like drill, it gets them exposed to lots of different places/experiences that I wouldn’t be able to expose her to by myself.

One thing that keeps surprising everyone on the team is how fast little Miss Abby can go. Just because she’s a pony doesn’t mean she can’t run! She can keep up with the best of them (although the crop does help with that). MIL gets to practice with her next week prior to the rodeo so the boys and I will be making lots of noise in the stands!

My ass!

I've been wanting to do this for a long time but I either don't always have all of the horses here or something else gets in the way. Last night DH was gone but I decided to try anways and here are the results!

The line up!

Sis


Black


Lucy (can you tell she was hot?)


Abby


Cat (I promise her back leg isn't that messed up, she was kicking flies on her belly)


Nikki


The gang!


The End(s)


The end!

Man is it hot!

I’m sure it isn’t as hot here as it is other places but it is what you are used to and for me it is hot out!

Saturday Redfield had their “Old Settler’s Days” and the saddle club was giving pony rides. Since Sis is out for the count at the moment MIL decided to use Abby in the parade. I was a bit nervous since this was Abby’s first parade and I wasn’t going to be riding to see how she did.

For the most part MIL said she did very well. She is having issues focusing on her footing. For example: It took me 5 min. to get her from the grass to the street. Once on the street any pavement that was a shade darker/lighter was an issue. Same for the grass, if there was an area that was darker/lighter she didn’t want to cross it. This is something that I’ve known we needed to work on so I guess it’s time for me to get with the program.

I thought that she looked very nice in the parade though. Here are a few pics.

She’s the very last horse/pony



Next to Anna (the youngest drill rider)



Pretty little pony



The end!