As the pastures turn!

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.

Oh Lucy!

I had a nice, relaxing ride on Cat last night while DH and MIL were off getting hay for MIL.  They returned just as I was finishing up my ride.  I tied Cat to the PP while MIL and DH rode around in the arena.  I'm not one to sit and watch so I decided to hop on my trusty steed to see if she was still trusty.


It felt so weird riding her again.  She isn't built that much different then Cat but she is built just enough different to make it feel really weird going from riding Cat to riding her.  Riding her reminded me why I love her so much.  She acted like she'd never had any time off and immediately started to tuck her head to the halter pressure.

Ty was sitting on the mounting block whining that he wasn't getting to ride.  After about 10 minutes I got tired of listening to him and saddled Lu up with his saddle.  He does a pretty good job with Lu and she does a pretty good job taking care of him.  If my cell card wasn't full I would've gotten a video as it looks like she's walking on eggshells when he rides her.

Duke had been over pestering Cat but decided it was time for a drink.  He wasn't sure what that "thing" on Lucy's back was so he just followed her around a bit and then went back to pestering Cat.

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

I’ve got my hands full!

Finally! We are having some nice weather and extra time at night to actually enjoy it!

Tuesday it was in the 50’s with a slight breeze but it was still lovely so I took the boys out to ride. The hair is just falling off of the horses so between the mud and the shedding grooming is taking a bit longer then normal but we finally got them cleaned up and saddled.

Chase was off in a flash with Black and I don’t think he stayed in a walk for more then about 2 minutes. Since Nikki hadn’t been ridden in a while and Ty is only 4 I decided to put her on the end of a 14’ line and just let her walk a circle around me. Well, that was what I thought I was going to do anyways – Ty had other plans. I was informed very quickly that “I can do it myself mom” and was told to “let me go! I can train her myself”. Ok!

I took the lead off of Nikki and off they went. Of course Ty wasn’t happy at a walk either so he quickly got over by Chase and asked Nikki to trot. She did and the giggles echoed over the pasture. By this time I finally had to tell Chase to cool it with Black. The poor old girl looked like she was ready to have a stroke.

I think both of the boys enjoyed themselves. I think Chase is enjoying Black and I’m hopeful she instills some confidence in him so when Abby is back he is not intimidated by her. Ty……………..I’ve just decided that kid is going to be a handful!

Woo hooo! Pony Time!

I’ve already informed my parents that they aren’t getting their house back. I’m loving being out on the farm!

Sat. MIL and I headed to the vet for out coggins/health certs for TX. Sis got out first and Lu wasn’t very happy. I’m not sure if it is the weather or what but she typically doesn’t care. After Sis got done I grabbed Lu and she was full of it. She was antsy and didn’t want to stand still for the vet. I would have loved to have done some LFR but the vet was in a hurry & she wasn’t any worse then most horses so I just let it be.

When we got back to the house I decided to do some gw with her since she seemed to have so much extra energy. I put the long line on and she did very well. It didn’t take her long to start thinking. ;) She was dripping sweat by the time I got done so I tied her up in her stall to think about it and we headed to town to pick up feed. They had mini hay bales at the feed store so I bought one for Ty to carry around. I think it is too cute!

After the feed store we headed up to Ames to look for new boots and to buy bagged hay (they don’t sell it locally). I really want a pair of boots that doesn’t have a thick, grippy sole but I can’t seem to find a pair. Since we were close to Brandon we decided to take the boys to go see their dad. By now Lu had stood for a good 4 hrs. so I asked my sister to go untie her. Good thing I did as we didn’t return home until after 8.

Sunday I got up and did some gw with Lu again. I put her on the long line and made her do LFR on the hill and over the creek bank. After she was nice and hot I grabbed Sis. Sis did have some swelling from her shots so I took it easy on her. She was still huffing and puffing but she didn’t work nearly as hard as Lu did.

Later in the day MIL came over and we rode. I saddled up English and MIL rode bb. My bridle was at home so I used MIL’s bosal. Lu did well in it but didn’t like the heaviness of the bosal. I know she’s light because I can just barely pick up the reins and she will tuck her head – in the bosal she thought I was picking up when I wasn’t.

When we got done riding I decided to see if Lu would lie down. I worked on her in increments and treated her often (she’s a lush for treats). Let me tell you – when she decides to go down she falls like a ton of bricks! I was just trying to get her to touch her knee to the ground when she decided to come on down (almost on top of me). I got her to go down twice and then put her away.

Later I went down and spent time cleaning up her mane, clipping her and I even blunt cut her tail! I actually like the way it looks on her. Did I mention I love being out at the farm.

Round and Round We Go

Tuesday night DH, the boys and I headed out to the barn. We had left the horses in earlier in the week due to a rain/snow storm so we had stalls to clean. Poor Chase doesn’t think he should be responsible for cleaning Abby’s stall and when he does clean it he does it like most kids would do it. I’ll admit I’m pretty picky about how my stalls are cleaned so I wasn’t happy when he was just trying to throw away all of the sawdust vs. actually cleaning his stall.

By this time my niece had come down and started brushing Nikki for a ride. DH helped her saddle up and about 20 minutes later Chase was finally done with his stall so we started on Abby. I sent the kids out into the pasture to ride while I jumped on Black bareback and had Ty join me in the drylot. All I can say is that it is a good think Black ignores ½ of the cues you give her! Ty was clucking to her trying to get her to trot and when I’d take her towards the barn he’d grab the reins out of my hands and try to steer her back over to the gate because he wanted to go out to the pasture with the kids.

After a while of that he decided he was done. It was a good thing too because I nearly unloaded on my eldest child. Looking back I probably shouldn’t have gotten so upset but it is a little too late now. All he wants to do is run that pony (yeah I know I did the same thing when I was young). I had told him several times not to and when I would turn around he would be giving her the cue to trot and then he’d tell me “she just started doing it on her own”. **inserts not a happy mom face here**

Needless to say by the end of that night I was ready to sell Abby.

The next night we sat down and I explained to him what my expectations were for him. I expect that if he is going to have a pony and that if he wants to show (more like show off) then he needs to practice just like he would with baseball or wrestling. So that night we headed back out to the barn only this time I loaded my pockets with a few quarters. I gave both kids (my niece and Chase) $2.00 worth of quarters and told them when they didn’t listen I got one of their quarters. If they lost them all they were done riding. Whatever money they had left over at the end of the night was theirs to keep.

This seemed to work out well and Chase lost a quarter right off of the bat for giving Shari some “training tips’. About 5 minutes later he lost one for not releasing Abby when he flexed her (we had to buy her a caveson because she’s been biting him hard since he isn’t releasing her). I had them do some ORS at the walk and then I let Chase do some at the trot. We need to work on Nikki a little bit but I think her toes are a bit sore from some of the hay we had so I didn’t push her trotting.

After that I brought Nikki in with me and had Chase do the passenger lesson at the trot. Abby kept taking him behind the barn, by the gate, etc. He trotted her for probably 15 minutes and then I had him take her to the far end of the pasture, flex her and just let her stand still for about 5 minutes before bringing her back up to the barn to stand tied.

Then it was Nikki’s turn. Instead of letting Shari do this in the pasture we went to the dry lot so I could help “encourage” Nikki to go. Any time Nikki’s head would go down she’d get a friendly “pop” on the bum. I didn’t ask her to go too fast or too long before we put her up as well.

With DH’s bad back Black has been missing her exercise so I decided to RP her for 5 minutes each side at the trot. She wasn’t amused but she needs the exercise as well.

Isn't she looking good?