A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Heck I don't even know what I've posted and what I haven't anymore!

If you actually read this blog and you haven't noticed - I have tabs up at the top for the horses so I can keep track of them easier.

Duke is growing up quickly and turning out to be a really nice little colt.

Cat and I have been playing around here and there.  I've been using Endomondo to track how far I ride and how long we are out.  Our last trip was 7.21 miles in a little over 2 hrs.  Most of that was at a walk or in circles.  I had a good laugh because Endomondo even showed where we zig zagged in the road.

Here is a short clip of how we ended one of our rides.

Some kids

Some kids like dolls.

Some kids like tractors.

My kid like chickens!

Did you ever dress your cat up like a baby when you were little? This is what Ty and his chickens remind me of.

He will grab a chicken and sit with it while he plays with his tractors. After a while we have to yell at him to put them down so they can eat/drink. He does and then goes and grabs another one. The funny thing is they don't seem to mind.

Pioneer Ridge

Saturday I met up with a few friends at Pioneer Ridge Nature Area.  We had planned this trip a few weeks ago but we weren't sure what the weather was going to do since they had predicted storms.  We decided to take our chances and I'm glad we did as it turned out to be a beautiful day.

Cat was a bit full of herself in the beginning but settled down by the end of the ride.

Me, Chase, and MIL

Water crossings

I thought Cat and Abby did very well considering their limited trail exposure in the past.

MIL and Chase

I don't know what it is but Chase has a way with Abby.  He can get her to do things most adults can't.

My pretty girl

Breaking for lunch

Circles

Anytime Cat would get too fast or too close to the horse in front of her we would do circles.  Once she started to relax I  started stopping her and backing her when she got too close.  Danny tried telling me I needed back up flashers on her butt, but by the end of the ride she was listening to my seat, was soft in the face and had a fairly decent back up which isn't something I've worked on much with her.

Plum tuckerd out!

I logged my ride on Endomondo.  I didn't have my gps turned on but we rode for 4.5 hours.  I now have my gps on so I can track my miles along with my time.  If you are a member feel free to "friend" me.

Welcome Duke!

He's here!  Duke arrived around 7:30 this morning.  He's got a bit of frosting on his butt so it looks like he will be a roan.

Thank you so much Danny for everything!

I love this picture -
 

Waiting to get the strength to get up

Up but not steady!


As you can see Lucy worked up an appetite.


I love this picture too.

Yep, he's already sticking his tongue out. lol


Yer doing it wrong! lol Lucy is lifting her leg for him.

One man's trash

Is still trash but sometimes it can be useful trash. ;)

The neighbors were kind enough to leave a tractor tire in our timber so I pulled it up to the front of the pasture and filled it with dirt.

Cat didn't even bat an eye but instead gave me the "your an idiot" look as she stepped up and then gave me the "are you happy now" look. lol




DH let me try out his saddle.  It might look pretty on Cat but I'll stick with my saddle from now on!


I can't leave out my LLL.  Bad picture I know but hey, it's all I've got for now.

Everyone is getting out!

Last night my niece came out to ride. The kids are getting old enough I told them they can start catching, brushing, saddling, ect. by themselves. I didn't realize it would be dark before they got done.  I did help put the bb pad on Black since Black has cinching issues and I helped bridle the horses as I don't want the kids to bump their teeth.

Ty got Nikki cleaned up and Chase even decided to ride (he has until May 1st to figure things our or his pony will be on CL). I did a bit of GW w/Abby since it has been a while since she's been ridden. She was full of P & V! All of the kids mounted up and rode around the pasture while Cat and I headed to the rp.

Cat..........oh my sweet Cat........she is soooooo much like her mother! She's also been on vacation way too long. She decided the rp = run 100 mph, kick, buck, & fart. Needless to say I had a few things to say about that.

While I was having a come to Jesus meeting w/Cat I noticed Chase had picked up the flags from the arena (the one's I had used to desensitize Cat) and was carrying them around on Abby. I swear that pony will do anything for him. Nikki pulled out her "shake" trick and Ty ended up on the ground. His pride was hurt more then he was but he got back on.

Cat is fat and out of shape so it didn't take her long to run out of air.  Once she finally decided running wasn't any fun I ran her a bit longer and then let her come in. She was lathered in sweat and had her head hanging in submission.

My new headstall

I decided to end the session with a slow, quiet ride in the rp.  Cat was pretty willing to let that happen. ;)

I've had two full pain free rides!  Woo hoo!  I'm so ready to hit the trails but I also know I have to prepare Cat even more then I normally would as I don't think my body can react as fast as it used to.

This, That and Everything In-between.

Duck, duck, goose???

Yep, our geese have decided to adopt the baby ducklings I hatched out.  I got tired of fighting them so just said here ya go.



I went to the Iowa Horse Fair on Sat.  I found Ty the cutest little bareback pad.  The handle is stiff and goes from side to side instead of front to back so he can grip w/both hands (if need be) and actually find the handle if he needs it.  They only had one so I was limited on color options.



Nikki is just thrilled let me tell you.

The poor kid rides just as bad as I do. But he has a good time.





I had my injection just a little over a week ago. I'm still on the fence but am trying to be patient. I did ride Cat Friday night after playing w/the scary dollar store stuff but my hip locked up as soon as my ass hit the saddle. I rode Sis last night w/better results. I'll give it a bit more time and hopefully things will loosen up and work out.

The Dollar Store

I found some fun “objects” at the dollar store and couldn’t pass them up.



Cat is no dummy so it didn’t take her very long to drag me over to the scary objects and stand on the hot tub cover to get me to leave her alone.

“Thank god! I get to rest!”



“Where does she find this crap anyways?”



“Oh hello. I didn’t realize you were taking pictures. Let me pose.”



“God I wish she’d just leave me alone!”



“Really? How many more freaking pictures are you going to take?”



“Please tell me this is the last one.”



I bought an umbrella too but someone…………..*cough Chase*……………broke it before I could use it on Cat.

Hot tubs, Horses and Fun!

DH dragged home a hot tub cover to use as a backstop for his arrows. He only needed 1/2 of it and I got tired of seeing it sit in our yard so I had him drag it out to the farm.

I decided to use it as a "scary object" for Cat so after working her some I took her over by it & did the sending exercise. First pass past it and she shot through like a rocket slightly shouldering in towards me. Second pass through she shot through like a rocket again.

Third pass and I get "oh hey, I'll bet if I look at it she'll leave me alone". lol

Fourth pass "Maybe if I stand on it? Yep! I KNEW this would work!"



"Oh hey, if two hooves are good four must be better!"





"Oh shit! It turned white!" (yep, there are two sides to ever hot tub cover.)

"Maybe if I just step on it again she will leave me alone?"



"Damn, works every time! I'm such a good human trainer."

Look - I taught her to count.



After the workout I decided to hop on. I hadn’t ridden for a while and thought a nice, calm bareback ride w/no expectations would be nice.  She was very good and very light in the halter.

Is it spring yet?

Our winter has been fairly mild so far but I'm still craving the longer hours and warmer days.  I was all set to work Cat last night when a dark storm cloud decided to roll in.  I couldn't tell if it was going to hit us or go around us.  I don't think it would have mattered either way as the "dry" lot looked more like a mud volley ball court then it did an arena.  What's a gal to do?

I'll tell you what I did - I loaded Cat up and headed over to Mona's to use her indoor.  I started off with a little bit of groundwork and then decided to saddle Cat up.  Cat hasn't been saddled since Sept. of last year so I wanted to make sure she wasn't going to have any issues with the saddle.  I did a bit more gw and then decided to jump on.  She was good as gold.  Her flexing was nice and light and she felt relaxed.

After a nice workout I dismounted and unbridled her.  I was messing around with her and got a bit on film.  It is pretty obvious to see what areas I need to work on but hey, I was having fun.  I luv my pony!

Video Time

I finally managed to get some videos uploaded from my phone.

Lucy eating from the Cinch Net


Warmer days!  This was from our ride at Brushy.

Is this Iowa?

Is this Iowa?  The weather here has been very odd.  We have either had a 50* day or a 15* day.  This weekend was in the 40's & 50's so I took the opportunity to split the ponies.

I put Cat, Abby, and Nikki out on the back pasture w/the Cinch Net and Lu and Black on the front pasture w/just a bale ring.  It will be interesting to see who is out of hay first.  Having the horses split will make it easier for me to grain the two that need grained (Lu and Black) in the mornings w/o fighting the ones that don't (fatty Cat, Abby and Nikki).

I did do a bit of GW with Cat.  I debated saddling up but opted against it for the time being.

DUH Podcast

Not much going on with here so I thought I'd put a plug in for my friend John and his wife Ranae  Harrer.  They started a new podcast on iTunes called "DUH Podcast". DUH Podcast is a podcast for friends and fans of natural horsemanship the Downunder Horsemanship Method.

If you are a fellow DUH fan you may know John (JHarrer) from his blog Training Jessie or from his Youtube Channel.

Please subscribe to his podcast at: DUH Podcast

John and Ranae have been a great support to me. John is always willing to give me an outside view when I'm having problems. I can't wait to see how the podcast turns out for them.

John and Ranae We would like to add some interviews. If you would like to share your Downunder Horsemanship experiences, please contact them at jharrer@pacbell.net and put DUH Podcast in the header. They'll set up a convenient time, and give you a number to call so they can record the interview. Don't worry, they promised me they can edit out the bad parts.

It ain't easy being cheesy!

And Lucy is cheesy!



I went down yesterday to check the status of my big bale. I had a lot more left then I anticipated.



It doesn't look like much but there normally by this time the ground wouldn't have a drop of hay and they'd be pushing on my fences looking for food.



The bale ring took a toll on Lu's mane.

Who are you calling fat?



No weight was lost w/the use of this bale net. I did check Black since she is older and I couldn't feel her ribs so I think all is good there.

Slow Down!

Even though we’ve had an unseasonably warm winter the horses seem to be going through more hay then they’ve ever gone through before so I decided to take another look at the slow down feeders.

I had a few grids so a friend of mine built a feeder for me. I took it over to MIL’s to use on Sis and Belle since MIL typically waste a lot of hay.

Before - MIL was going through over a bale a day but most of it was being wasted.



And after - Now MIL is going through a bale a day (2 horses) but very little is being wasted.



A bunk style slow down feeder was not an option for me since I feed round bales during the winter. On the CA site I ran across the website for Cinch Chix Bale Nets. After reading about them I decided to order one.

I put the net on a round bale Saturday. It didn’t take long to put on before putting it out for the horses. We decided if we were going to try it out we were going to see just how well it works so we didn’t put the bale ring around it. So far it seems to be doing well but I will let you know for sure next week since a bale has only been lasting me a week with our current feeder.

Here are some pictures of the Cinch Net in action (not my horses).

Cleared for take off!

Well I just got back from seeing Dr. Imanhourlate and I got the go ahead to ride! Actually I got the go ahead to do anything I want to do. He wants me to find an activity that will set off my socket pain. Then they'll do an injection, have me do that activity and see if it helps the pain. If it does then we will do surgery. If not then ??? I have no idea.

I also learned I have impingements on both hips. Oh joy!

I did ride Lucy for about 15 minutes earlier this week.



She was her typical good girl self. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it also didn't feel great. I'm not sure if I would have stayed on longer had it stayed light out.

I'm Grounded

After my "crash" I went to the Dr. to get some good pain meds. My hip was pretty sore but not where the bruises were. The Dr. ordered x-rays and didn’t find anything so he sent me in for an MRI and an Arthrogram. I apparently have a tear in my hip joint capsule and a torn labrum. Friday I went to see the surgeon. After waiting 2+ hours and taking more x-rays he informed me I have a hip impingement. If I understand him correctly it has been there for a while and is more then likely what cause the torn labrum. The crash had nothing to do with it except for helping them to find it.

So for now, I’m on 8 weeks of pt 3 x a week. Then I get to follow up to see if they plan to do surgery. I’m not quite sure why we are doing the 8 weeks of pt since my other Dr. said it doesn’t work but I guess I really don’t want to do the surgery so I’ll go ahead w/it for now. I did ask him if I could ride. He wasn’t very black and white w/his answer. ;)

Back in the saddle

Last night I thought I’d try to get “back in the saddle” to see if I could handle it. I headed straight to the barn after work, caught Cat, saddled her up and headed down the road (ride #33). She was full of P & V so we did lots of circles and w/t transitions. Her feet are tender since the injury so I’m trying to take things slowly getting them back to the rock crushing feet they were. The last thing I need is road founder.

I knew I only had an hour and a half to ride so I headed down rollercoaster hill. I did ask her to canter up the big hill but I could tell she wasn’t ready. At the top she took a nice, long break before we headed back.

The farm is located just off the top right hand corner of this picture.

After taking a break Cat and I headed back. She was very quiet and relaxed – even as we passed the calves in the field playing. That was until the big red tailed hawk flew up out of the ditch. This was the not so good part of the ride last night. Let’s just say I have some work to do on her spooking along w/a few other things I need to work on myself.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. It was near dark when we pulled in the drive. I did do a bit of LFR just so she doesn’t think home is a place to rest. So far she hasn’t “rushed” home but I’d just as soon keep it that way.

I had planned on hitting the trails with a few friends this weekend but I’m pretty sore. I don’t think a weekend trail ride is going to help either so I’m going to stay home. Depending on how I feel hopefully I can get a few short rides in.

First Big Bale

Saturday I reluctantly had my first big bale of hay delivered.  My front pasture is completely bare and the back isn’t looking much better.  I looked back and I’ve fed my first bales around the end of October so it is going to be a long winter for me.  Despite the sad eyes from the ponies I refuse to put this bale out free choice.  I'll be forking it over until I can build a slow feeder to use.

I love my pony!

I know, it is such a corny title but what can I say? I love my pony! It took 2 years to get 30 rides on Cat between my schedule, the weather and her abundance of injuries. I got the 30th ride in just a week before her fetlock injury. But you know what? I even after all of my inconsistencies, she still learned, she still retained and still has a good mind.

Tuesday was the first ride she’d had since the injury (ride #31). I stayed in the pasture and just walked and trotted around. I didn’t ask for anything special, I just wanted her to move with weight on her again. Last night I took her for a “real” ride (#32) down the road.

I’m not sure what happened up at ISU but her alignment was off a bit. She seemed to pull to the right so I had to make a few adjustments. She was a little close to the neighbors mailbox so I turned her into it hoping she’s bump her nose. She did but she also got her O-ring hooked on the thumb latch. Oops. After a few minor adjustments the rest of the ride was smooth sailing.

The best seat in the house

It is an awesome feeling to be able to get on a horse (any horse, let alone one w/only 30 rides) after 1 1/2 + months off and ride down the road on a loose rein. Once we crossed the highway I picked up the pace so I could do some ORS at the trot. It didn’t take long before she remembered to stop off of my seat.

I rode her down to the river. I haven’t taken her that way before. On the corner there is a herd of horses and they always spook the horse I’m riding because they come running up out of the trees. The horses can hear them but they can’t see them. Cat was spot on. She had a small jump when they blasted through the trees but then didn’t miss a beat as she continued on down the road.

Once we got to the river we crossed the railroad tracks and then headed out onto the bridge. She was nervous about the crack expansion joint on the bridge but after a few slow circles she decided to cross it. I took her partially out onto the bridge and then returned to the safety of the road. Then I took her out a bit further and then returned to the road. Each time I went just a bit further until we were approx. ¾ on the bridge. I wasn’t going any further then that because there are some real winners that drive up/down the road and the bridge is semi-hidden.

On the way home I loped her up the hill. She is definitely out of shape! I think we ended up going just a little over 2.5 miles. When we got back I trimmed up her feet. They’ve changed a lot since the injury and not for the better. I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long to toughen them back up.

Photo Shoot

Sunday I went down South to Danny's to take some pictures of his "herd" for his website.  The wind was blowing 100 miles an hour and the sun kept coming and going.  It seemed like the sun was "going" when Boon's ears were forward and his eyes were bright.  It had been a long morning cleaning him up and clipping him up so by now he was pretty done with us.

Here are a few of my favorites.  What do you think?











Sky -



A few of the foals -











And the homestead -