More Moving Pictures

Hopefully everyone isn't bored to tears with moving updates. Today they were turned out in the big pasture. I went to help if there were any problems. The BO lead the horses out and I was just there for backup. He was a very good boy and led like an old pro. Josey and Dickie went out first and calmly started to explore. Of course there are three acres and they went to the corner. Tari (the chestnut Arab) was ready to run and tore out after Dickie/Josey. They had a few laps around the pasture. It was funny because Dickie didn't really want to be our front but his legs are so long that he kept getting half a pasture in front then he had to loop around back. They decided to go hang out at the gate to the old farm. It is the only muddy spot in the whole pasture but apparently that was the best place to be. 

Josey was unimpressed at all the running. She just wanted to eat. 

The littlest one was the leader of the running. 

Three acres and they find the corner to hang out in. 

At the gate to the main barn. 

Happy as a clam surrounded by his mares. 

Josey says "You can sniff but don't effing touch my blanket."

Tomorrow the farrier comes for pedicures. Hopefully the kids let me catch them. Dickie always seems to come when I call him but this is a big pasture!! 

The Big Move

I worked Saturday through Weds am at 730am. I work 12 hour shifts so I am really only awake and home from 4pm to 6pm during that time period. I had moved all of my things before I started work and we finished the fences. Dickie moved over there yesterday. I figured it would be uneventful since he was already turned out with the horse he was moving with a few times. Today I went over to the barn to pick up my friend's horse. She is the Clydesdale/Appy cross who I have been riding. The herd integration was shockingly low drama. I didn't think we would have major problems because Dickie seems to get along with everyone and my friend's horse is really low key and non marish. She said her mare had been turned out with a variety of horses and just keeps to herself. My friend had to work late so she wasn't there when we picked up her horse. 

We had them in a smaller paddock just off the barn so it would be easier to step in if there is drama. There is also less room to get up real speed and go into a fence. Turns out we could have turned them out on a 50 acre ranch with rock piles every where and not worried about the horses getting hurt. They just started grazing like they are old buddies. The cute arab mare occasionally pinned her ears in jealousy if Dickie tried to love on Josey. They were maybe five total squeals and less half assed threats to kick. I wasn't expecting much strife but I thought they would at least do a dramatic lap around the pen or make noise. I was hoping maybe being turned out with two mares would help him learn some manners but they seemed fine with letting him invade their space. Here they are enjoying the last few hours of daylight. 

Dickie wanted to share the same blade of grass as Tari. She didn't seem to mind. 

Hi mom!!!

There was lots of nose sniffing without even a hint of mare squeal. For some reason horses seem to know Dickie is a baby and will tolerate just about anything from him. 

He had a field of grass and still wanted treats. 

Dickie stood over Josey while she rolled. 

This is Tari channeling her inner border collie and herding "her" horses around the paddock. She didn't chase them, she just calmy told them it is time to go wait for dinner by the barn and used ear pinning and the stink eye to get them there. 

The herd coming over to see if I will feed them. 

Josey has a big squishy butt and Dickie promptly decided it felt good to rub his whole neck and shoulders on her. He would bend his knee and put his full wieght on her. She wasn't impressed but tolerated it better than I would have. 

I think they will have one more day in the small paddock then it will be time for the big pasture. I am so happy we were able to move!!! I can't believe I will be getting everything I need and so will Dickie. It made my heart happy when I drove up to see him grooming Tari. He was missing being able to touch other horses. I plan on heading out tomorrow to work Dickie and ride Josey. Today I just let them settle in and organized our tack. Tomorrow they go back to work. 

He's moving again (but kind of not really)

Dickie has been doing great at the new stable. The barn manager is fantastic. While they don't need to handle the horses much she does a great job with him. She has been great about getting him out of her space when cleaning stall or feeding without going overboard. He loves her and the other person who cleans stalls. I love the facilities. Having a round pen and big arena has made a huge difference. I have seen a big difference in his coordination and stamina. I love having a huge arena that lets us lunge straight lines. There are always poles and jumps out so we can walk over them. There is just enough chaos that he gets used to activity without overloading his brain.

My ONLY problem with the situation is that he isn't out with other horses and there isn't much grass in his paddock. When it comes to boarding with a nice big area it is next to impossible to get a big pasture too. If you do run into a place like that your horse often doesn't get turned out for the whole day. Well....... I was doing my usual random craigslist searching and lo and behold I see the barn manager is leasing out the pasture directly behind Dickie's pen. I can't believe I just ran into the ad searching for saddles. It is a few acres and there will be at most four horses. It's still full care!! I hand graze him in the pasture often. She would lead them in at night to a cute little barn. It isn't as fancy but there isn't a lot of places as fancy as his current digs. He doesn't need fancy, he needs pasture and other horses to play with. I know we wouldn't run into the problem of her turning them in late and bringing them in early. We have a few stalls at the main barn that require hand turnout. Those horses are always out early and in late. She really gets how important turnout is. Coming in at night won't kill him.

Even more awesome is the fact that I still get to use all the fancy parts of the main barn. It is even $100 cheaper a month. Doesn't sound like a ton but that adds up to $1,200 a year. That is half a vacation for my partner and I. Or it would cover show season next year. He gets to have an amazing turnout with other horses, I get to keep my dream arena/roundpen, I get to pay less money, and I won't have to feel guilty that he wasn't out playing with horses all day.

There are a few cons.

1) The fences need a little work. I would need to spend a day stringing hot wire. It has been started and she has everything she needs so we can work on it anytime. I am ok with that. If it helps my horse then I am not above a little work. I have also worked out a trade for lessons with my student so I plan on seeing if I can steal her for a day.

2) There are a few rocks in the pasture that I need to pick up. There's also a burn pile that the manager planned on getting rid of a long time ago but we have had a uncharacteristically dry summer. It hasn't had horse on it in while so it is just the usual pasture clean up you go through when getting set up for livestock again. The great thing is that I am not having to give 30 days notice because it's not a real move. I can just plan on going once we get done.

3) Another trick is that I will be trudging over to the arena in the dark and rain. I should be fine though. I lived in Alaska and anywhere you went was in the dark. I'll just get another headlamp. Bre and I rode all the time in the dark. I know it might be hard to motivate myself but he is a great motivator. I know he NEEDS me to get myself in gear so I will do it. I walked a similar distance when Bre was out on pasture. Plus looking at show clothes has motivated me to lose weight. Maybe this will help me fit into a smaller size.

4) The last issue is getting more horses over there. I am not going to move him over by himself. I think my friend will go with me but she has a few people leasing her horse so it depends on if they mind the walk. If my friend isn't up for the move the BM said she would move a lesson horse over there.

I think I have made up my mind. I am going to let her know what my schedule is so we can plan a pasture repair day. Below are pasture pictures:

This was taken from the end of the pasture closest to Dickie's current pen. If you go to the end of his current paddock, take a left, and walk 30 feet BAM here you are.

There are pretty oak trees to get out of the rain under. 

Isn't the barn cute? 

This is a shop that has a run in shed. I think the shed might be too small for multiple horses so I might as that we block it off. A little rain during the day doesn't hurt. There are trees. 

First Ride!!!

Video of Mr Goofball in the arena this weekend. 

Gahhh!! I feel so behind on blogging. I have been able to read every one's comments on my iphone between running around and just haven't gotten the chance to respond. I am also keeping up on blogs and loving all the horsey stories. It inspires me with all my horse adventures. 

I worked Weds-Fri which means I was off Sat morning. I found myself totally exhausted after a busy week at work. Sat I pretty much slept all day but enjoyed an amazing birthday dinner with my partner. My birthday was Sunday and I got to spend a good chunk of it at the stable. I gave a riding lesson on Romeo and was very happy with his young rider. He still wants to break to a canter rather than move out at a trot. I believe this is remnants of jogging wayyyy to much. She is doing really well at riding him through different lengths of stride using only her seat. I think that he will remember he can move out pretty quickly. I am going to ride him again this week once I finally have a little break from work. 

On another Romeo note, he managed to imbed some wood chips into his head a week or so ago. Erin was worried that the puncture wound (which was cleaned by the vet initially) was looking a little oozy. There is nothing I love more than the chance ot squeeze something nasty so I ran out there today. I had been picking at it every day until I worked Wed-Fri then yesterday I didn't tack him up so I forgot to look. Sure enough today I saw it was swollen so I cleaned it with betadine and gave it a good squeeze. Out came lots of goo and I flushed it was sterile saline then squirted in some medication from the vet. Looks like it might need daily irrigating for a few days but it was actually not too bad. I think he will live to tell about it. 

Romeo's wood chip piercings......

Dickie play time was also on my list of weekend fun. By best friend and silent co-owner used to start horses for a living. He has been trying to get out there to play with him and give me some tips but he's been working 10 hrs a day five days a week for the last few months. We decided to see how Dickie would feel about me sitting on him. I have no plans to do anything more than sit on him a few times before his third birthday and the BFF is the only person I trust to lead me on him. I trust his judgement to tell me when the horse is ready, to keep the horse under control, and tell me if I should hop off. I have been leading him up to the mounting block since I got him and leaning over him too. We gave him a good workout first and BFF did some ground work as well. It was great to see how he handles him and learn some new tricks. 

After his workout we went to the mounting block and I got on. We have an awesome super tall mounting block that I barely have to lift my left to swing it over him. I had to hop off twice when Dickie got mad at the BFF for refusing to be eaten but Dickie could care less about me. He turned around a few times to chew on my feet but other than that didn't seem the least concerned I was up there. I mounted from the block at least 5 times with zero objection. The first couple of mounts we just walked a step or two and stood still.  By the last time we walked around a lap around the arena. IT WAS SO FUN!!!!! I loved feeling him move under me and he's pretty comfortable bareback. I won't be doing it again anytime soon because he is too young but it was amazing to be up there. I have never been the first person to sit on a horse. I was so happy that it was the BFF and I together for the ride. Dickie is going to go on so many fun adventures with one, or both, of us over the years. It is only fitting that we are both part of his first journey's into real working horsedom. 

For now though we go back the drawing board with ground work. I got some good ideas from seeing the BFF work with him. I can't wait until I have a stretch of seven days off and can work with him consistently for a longer stretch. I am also really looking forward to riding Romeo too. It is fun to feel the progress with a horse. I think I might even pop him over some cross rails (Romeo not Dickie of course). He seems to enjoy doing something different. Yay for Friday at 730am when I am off work for a week!!

Finally some video of him moving around.... (VIDEO PROBLEM FIXED)

Sorry the video looks like a drunk person took it. It is on my iphone and I have realized that it is hard to chase a horse and keep a steady hand. I am so happy he has a bigger arena. He is already more confident and balanced now that he has more room.

http://youtu.be/eV4tM0syJV4

http://youtu.be/rTUpkeCw0z4

Now you should be able to view the videos as long as you have the link ;)

Moving Day

I have already shared that Dickie and I gave 30 day notice with plans to move to a new stable. Thursday on the way to work (graveshift) I got a text that we could move the 1st of Sept if we wanted. Someone was looking for board ASAP so we could go to the new place and our old stable would be able to fill that stall right away. Win win!!! My only problem was getting Dickie to the new place. I don't have a trailer so I depend on Bre's surrogate family for horse transportation. Normally it would be no problem but they happened to be leaving town for the weekend and took the truck. My wonderful new barn manager said she would give him a ride if I could be ready Friday. The vet was coming for fall shots at 3pm so it was a bit of a marthon day. I got off work at 730am, was asleep by 9am, up by 1230pm so I could stand for Bre, Romeo, and Dickie to get shots. By 4pm our ride arrived. 

I suspected he would be great but I wasn't sure if the 3+ hour trailer ride from Washington had made him leary of the trailer. I really shouldn't doubt my horse. He hopped right in without a second of hesitation. He didn't seem worried or stressed once we got to the new place. He snorted at a few things in the aisleway but was willing to follow me to his new stall. He made a few laps around the new paddock with a big fancy trot. He didn't panic though and came right back to check his stall out. There were about 3inches of soft shavings and he immediately plopped down to roll. Then he calmy strolled to the far end of the paddock where there is some grass to eat. Five minutes later he was acting like he has boarded there for years. I am excited that we found a comprimise between me getting the facilities I need to train him and Dickie getting the room he needs to be a happy pony. 

I can't wait to play in the new arena.

Dickie quickly went to the end of his paddock and set to eating grass. 

Bre and Romeo feeling sorry for themselves because they have been banished to the lower pasture. Poor poor ponies. 

Lounging in the hammock while I housesit at Bre's farm this weekend. 

Wonderful Horsey Day

I am pulling an all nighter to get ready to work three days in a row. It is the end of a totally perfect horsey day. I met my friend and her adorable little boy and showed her some of my fave tack spots in Portland. Then I played with Dickie who is as smart as ever. I brought a clicker and a toy with me. He figured out click=treat in about five clicks. Then I went to reserve a stall at the new barn for Oct 1st. It was just as nice as I remembered. After that I headed back for a ride on Bre. We went on a bareback jaunt through the woods and I ended up tearing my t-shirt in half because I misjudged the hieght of some branches on a game trail. I was so happy that I didn't run into anyone on the ride back because they would have been blinded by the white skin on my back fat. It was a long day and I am sore from all the walking and riding but I feel great.

I took a few pics from the new barn's website so you can see new digs. I officially gave notice today. The current owner was so nice about it. She understood my reasons. I might be able to leave before the 30 days because someone just called about a stall recently. If the other person still needs a stall I can move before Oct 1st.

The day started with wishful window shopping. What a heavenly sight, rows and rows of consignment saddles......

Dickie's stall looks just like this (I think his shares a wall).... 

His stall is the second from the end. The one next to the horse peeking out. 

I took this one today. It is of his personal run attached to his stall. I had already walked a ways before I took the picture, if that gives you any idea of the size. It goes all the way to the far fence. There is rock/gravel just outside the door so it probably won't get too muddy :)  He gets to be out 24/7. YAY!!!

This is of the round pen the built last year. It is so nice. It is all wood so there are no worries of a frisky kick resulting in a leg through the fence. 

Finished product.....

 Enough about what the pony gets. I get one of these wondeful tack lockers You can walk into the locker and stand up by barely scrunching. 

Showing Some Sass

In advance I apologize for the long ramble. I have alot of horsey stuff to ponder.

I haven't given any updates on the spotted beast lately. No worries, he is still cute and fun as ever I just haven't had much to write about. It was really hot out, then I had a stretch of working, took a vacation up to Seattle, then immediately went to work again. It was great to actually get out of town for the first time since graduating. I don't think we have taken an overnight trip since last summer, maybe longer. I was happy to get home though and back to playing with four leggers.

Dickie was feeling full of drama and energy the other night. He has been in more often than I would like (long story, that will soon change) and I could feel it right away. Instead of calmly looking to me for our next adventure, his mind was everywhere but on planet earth. He was gazing off into the distance and wasn't interested at all in what I had to say. I went into the normal routine of asking him to put his head down by touching behind his ears and he went straight up. He was not having any of what I was selling. What I have learned about him is that he doesn't really kick, never bolts out of my hands, and doesn't usually do crazy tantrum bucks. What he does love to do is his best impression of Trigger, whether he is having fun or expressing extreme displeasure. It isn't every session by any means (maybe 2-3 times since I have had him) but it does happen.

By the end of our work out he was willing to step from side to side, move his haunches, respect my space on a walk from both sides, lunge at a walk, and stand still without eating me. His mind was still all over the place and he never got to the point where he was chewing and relaxed but was obedient. Today he was MUCH better. There were no signs of a levade but he was still quite distracted.

The last few days pointed out several problems to me. One is that my horse is so smart he already knows the routine and is bored. He knows what is coming and really needs something new to work on. Smart is a good thing so this just means I need to step up my game. It isn't that I won't keep doing all the basics but if I do it in the same order each time I am going to run into a grumpy horse who looks at our time together as something to endure. I have been meaning to bring toys and a clicker into our training but keep putting it off. It seems lazy mom needs to get cracking. Tomorrow I will stop and get a clicker and maybe check out goodwill for some balls and pool noodles.

Another problem is the fact that he isn't turned out as long as I thought when I moved him there. He goes out pretty late and comes in pretty early. It wouldn't be a huge deal if he was older but he is 2 and big and has lots of energy. He needs to be out 24/7. I want him to be worn out from playing before I get to him so he can actually listen. I can't blame him for wanting to eat the lead rope, or be in every one's business if he has been bored out of his mind for hours before I arrived. Don't get me wrong. The barn he is at takes incredible care of the horses, and the owner adores Dickie. However, horses are individuals so the living situation that allows each one to shine is unique as well.

Lastly, I REALLY need a round pen. The arena is too big for me to work him at liberty. He goes to one end and starts playing with the gate and looking out the window, then runs and farts down to the other end to dig in the shavings pile. Neither of which is helping us. Plus, it varies between being dusty or deep from watering. I use the makeshift outdoor most of the time but it is HUGE and just pasture w a dirt track that will soon be mud. I love working him up at Bre's barn but I am realizing it isn't feasible to always walk him there. We have pretty early barn hours at Dickie's and I work grave so I sleep late. By the time I see my honey, have dinner, and skip rush hour it is too late to walk him to Bre's and back. Some days by the time I get ready for the stable it is too late to go out period. And frankly sometimes I am just too tired to haul myself up that hill.

Moral of the story? The amazing barn despite all it's awesomeness doesn't fit our needs. The bad news is that I love the barn owner and really don't want to give notice. The good news is there happens to be a place not far down the road. He would have a half acre pasture attached to his stall. There is a nice sand round pen with sturdy wooden walls to avoid leg injuries. It has a nice loop around the property for walks. There is a full size dressage arena with brand spanking new footing (no dust baby). I would be allowed at the barn any time 24hrs a day. And it is the same price. More for the same price? Sounds good to me. The only pitfalls I see are the chance of a crowded arena (probably not an issue when this vampire will be there) and the fact that he won't be out with another horse. I really like horses in a herd situation. But he will have plenty of room run and be out right next to others. And there are shared pasture options if a stall comes up in one of those areas.

Other moral of the story........... When it comes to babies sometimes you take two steps forward and sometimes you take two steps straight up in the air with hooves pawing.