More than just ponies......

I mainly focus on ponies for this blog. I wanted to keep some level of privacy for my family. I also really wanted this blog to be history for Dickie on Bre over the coming years. However, I thought I should show there is more to me than horse poop and hay. 

I decided to create my first garden this year and am really excited about how it is coming along. We are kind of winging it and learning by trial and error. Today we enjoying the sun and did some cat walking. Natasha likes to help garden. 

Very Grainy Video

Dickie Trots

It's a super grainy video. It was raining on an off and my iPhone camera decided it can't focus while videotaping anymore.

WE TROTTED!!!

A month or so ago I felt like Dickie just wasn't ready to push under saddle. His attention span was all over the place and he had the spring crazies. He seems to be calming down and somewhere along the line I realized he is as ready to be pushed as he will ever be. He ground drives, stops from long line pressure, W/T/C from voice command, stands at the mounting block. tolerates mounting/dismounting, and his attention span is improving daily. I planned on getting him going during my vacation that happened a bit sooner :) The BFF sent me a text to say he was getting off early and we should ride Dickie. It just so happened that I was getting off early too. I threw on a sweatshirt over my scrubs and BFF brought me some jeans and I was ready for some pony starting. 

I went through my usual routine of lunging with lots of transitions. When I lunge a horse my goal isn't just to "wear them out." You can't wear a hot horse out, you just get them more frazzled, and they are even fitter/spazier for the next ride. I ask for lots of transitions between gaits and tempo changes within the gait so the horse is mentally tuned in to me. 

After I worked him the BFF took over since he would be getting on first. We both expected some fire works when it came to telling Dickie he had to move forward when he really wanted to watch what the lesson girls were doing. He gathered up a little like he might rear but the BFF has started enough horses to get Dickie moving right away. Once Dickie started to understand what was being asked he seemed to actually enjoy the whole process. Pretty soon the BFF is trotting and Dickie looked happy as could be. BFF hadn't planned on cantering but trotting went so well that he gave him a kick and said "canter" annnnnnd HE CANTERED!! There were a few small mini bucks here and there when he was first figuring out how to balance with a rider but that was it. They did a few canters each way and I hopped on. 

It felt great to get on. He was already figuring out how to move off the leg and has a good "whoa" installed from the rein and voice. It was going so well that asked for a trot. He felt amazing. I had the biggest grin on my face. I wanted to keep going forever but I knew Dickie was tired deserved to be done. I felt great to finally be working towards some under saddle goals. It meant so much to have my BFF there. He has started many horses and Dickie is my first, so he gave me some great ideas. 

I have photo proof. They are from my iPhone so the quality isn't great. The photos of my are from video so they are even more blurry. At least I finally have proof!! The only proof I have so far is a blurry photo of my knee, lol. 

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!! 

Cross Tie Woes

Another horse blogger recently shared on Princess Diva Diaries that blogs help us not feel so alone when things aren't going perfect. I have to admit that sometimes I tend to accentuate our good days. It isn't all from wanting to look good. Mostly I am just so impressed with my boy that once he's good I forget about the bad parts right away. Well in the interest of commiserating with my fellow bloggers in the hope that it will make someone feel not so alone here it goes........

Dickie looked happy as could be grazing with his girls today. I called for the horses to come in and at first no one was interested in what I had. They were up to their eyeballs in grass. Of course my good boy couldn't resist me for more than a few seconds and came right up. I decided to take him over to the old barn before it got too dark or started to rain buckets again. I heard that when they walked him over this weekend he reared a few times. It isn't entirely unheard of for him throw tantrums and rear but this kind of behavior has pretty much dwindled and I wanted to see what was up. Our routine is for me to stop often and say "Whoa" then ask him to back up. I do this randomly and I will also do it the second his shoulder get an inch in front of mine. He was FABULOUS on the way over. He was a little snorty and wanted to prance but he listened and even kept out of my personal space. I was thrilled. Often he needs mental recalibration when I have been away working for a few days. We went into the round pen for a few minutes and he was on point there too. The best thing about it was the fact that it was windy and he was very distracted. Even with all that he was still able to listen to me. That is  HUGE improvement over the first day I got him. 

How is this sharing the bad stuff you ask? Oh I am getting there. Once we got back to the barn I decided to work on cross tie manners. We haven't had a good cross tie set up since the first barn. The only cross ties were in another barn and it was too hard to walk the beast and carry all my supplies to I groomed him at a single tie in his stall or the aisle. The second I put him in the ties I knew I had my work cut out for me. He would back up, move forward, dance from side to side, grab the cross ties, he was like a preschooler hopped up on candy after Halloween. 

When I work on getting my horses to stand still in the cross ties I just keep putting the horse where I want them. That is how I get them to ground tie too. Bre would stand all day in one spot if I asked her (I used past tense because she is currenlty in a state of extreme spoiled rotteness). This sounds simple but generally it works. The only place they get to relax is in an area that I choose. Eventually they get tired of the boring game and decide it is more fun to get love and treats than have buzz kill mom poking you in the side. At one point he decided he didn't want to move his bum and kicked out. As much as I don't like to resort to being rough I won't tolerate that I the next time he tried to kick he got a dressage whip in the butt and he didn't try it again. Man that horse can move fast. The second I got him to move to the left he would go right, move him forward, he would move back. He didn't care if he walked all over me. I have to admit I was starting to feel more than a little equicidal as our dance went on. We didn't seem to be making progress and my only other option was going postal on his ass but that isn't my style so I just kept at it. After twenty minutes of this I realized he was spending more and more time with his feet where I wanted them. I took a step back and MIRACLE he stood there right in the middle of the aiselway ears pricked happy as could be. "Hey mom I was standing like this the whole time. Don't know why you are all sweaty." 

I was sweaty and tired but feeling triumphant. I won SUCKA!! I showed that two year old. Or so I thought..... I ended my night with some tack room organizing which happens to be across from his stall. He could see me and decided it was unacceptable that I wasn't paying attention to him. He proceeded to throw his body against his door and bang his legs. The sound was enough to send me over the edge. In addition to the infernal racket he also risked taking the door off the hinges. I think he actually likes the noise because he doesn't do it at his other window. My solution? I made my own jail system to keep his bloody head in. We will see if it holds up over night but I did a pretty good job securing it. He still gets to stick his head out but not at the door. Magically he stopped all the racked the second the door option was taken away. I guess he really was doing it for the noise. 

Here he is in all his naughtiness:

I can see you in there!!!! COME OUT!!!!! Come out or I will remove this door and get you. This is generally the super cute look he has on his face when he is doing bad things. 

Ha, ha. Once again I WON!!!! No he can get his nose out and get his head stuck. I have it secured to the bars so it can't slip with vet wrap. I plan on putting up a stall guard once I get the right hardware. 

See, he can still hang his head out and with visit with the girls. 

They go out to the big pasture tomorrrow. I am heading out in the morning to help lead him. I want to make sure that he is a good boy and that the barn manager sees what works with him. 

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. 

Last Week: Eat this not that.....

I had some really great sessions with the handsome devil last week but was so focused on getting Bre well that I didn't post about them. Then I went into a four day stretch of work. I ended up picking up some overtime so I worked two 12s (my normal shift) and two 16s over the course of four days. Those extra hours earned me overtime and doubleback time (time and a half if you work within 8 hours of your last shift). This means I get to work on less shift during the pay period. However, it also meant that I was dead tired when it all finished Weds. I got off work at 11am and passed out until about 8pm. I was awake for a few hours before crashing again. I ended up sleeping a good portion of Thurs as well with no energy for horses or blogging. Today I am still turned around because I've been up and busy during my normal sleeping hours but I am feeling somewhat normal so I can share more pictures from last week. 

Last Friday I went out at about midnight to play with my boy. He was very cute and mostly obedient. I lunged him in the big arena a little but the main focus was getting him to stand tied in the aisle without throwing everything on the floor. I first started the process by telling him what not to eat. Since he wants to put everythign in his mouth this is a never ending list. I could feel myself becoming increasingly annoyed every time he threw a new item on my head.  There isn't anywhere to tie him without tasty items in his reach so there is no way around temptation. And even more annoying is the fact that he isn't throwing his own stuff, he is throwing things from the high end hunter group that boards with us. He either throws the expensive item at me or plays tug of war when I try to get the item out of his mouth.

I know from all my psychology schooling and teaching riding lessons that it is much easier to tell someone what we want rather than list all the things we don't want. If we keep saying "Don't do behavior A" then all the person will think about is behavior A. This is something I was careful to keep in mind back when I was training Bre. For some reason I just forgot all of this and let myself get sucked into the trap of nagging him constantly with "No!". 

I decided to go at the problem by giving him an area that he was allowed to mess with whatever he wanted. If he moved out of that area I would quickly move him right back where he was allowed. I cleared everything off his stall door and made that his area. This left only his lead rope to chew on. I started by brushing him on the tempting side so I could correctly redirect his behavior before he even snatched an unapproved item. From there I slowly started walking away from him and correcting him with "Ahh ahh" if I saw his little brain heading in the wrong direction. Rather than wait until he had something in his mouth to correct I just woudln't allow him to stand near the tasty items and would correct any steps in that direction. I was amazed that he was perfectly happy to chew his lead rope thoughtfully and my annoyance level went down to zero. He stood tied for at least a half hour and didn't dance or swing his rear all over. 

Here is a little taste  (haha, taste get it?) of my angel boy tied in the aisle. I took this before I started my new tactic. Just before I started filming I had to reach half my arm in his mouth to retrieve my car keys. Just after the video ended he threw all the blankets on the floor then grabbed a sleezy in his teeth and held on like a pit bull. 

 He had been standing calmly so I went around the corner to my tack locker. I suddenly heard silence instead of his usual jingle of the lead rope and I knew he had to be up to no good. I came back to find his butt pushed in Ryan's face and the two of them quite enjoying a strange love session. 

I'm just a cute little baby. I would never do anything naughty. 

Um, the other horse made me pick up this halter. 

Poor Red Mare

Bre has had issues with soundness over the years. Initially (age 4) it was a trimming issue then she did great until I took five weeks off for a knee injury (my own) and she came back super lame (age 5). We never really figured out what it was (yes I had multiple vet opinions). I brought her back to Oregon and tried a few things that seemed to work because for the most part had a sound happy horse. She has super thin soles and I have to be really diligent about how her feet are trimmed. She has received regular chiropractic or acupuncture treatment since she was a 4yo. For about a year my friend who was in human chiro school and training to do horse chiropractic as well worked on her. Since she was hired to work at a horse/human chiropractic clinic in Boston I let Bre's body work go. It has admittedly been almost two years since she was adjusted. When Bre went lame about a month ago I immediately assumed it was feet issues. Her farrier (who is awesome) has had to let her go long twice this summer because of vacation. The horses just happen to be growing super fast this year so her angles are off on one foot. She also has chunks of dead sole coming off in patches and catching rocks in the holes. With these things in mind I just assumed he would get her all fixed up at this next shoeing.

When he arrived I let him know what was going on and he said the last time he trimmed her she had a hard time holding up her right foot because she wanted to keep weight off the left hind. I have noticed her pulling her way with the right front and took it to mean she didn't want me messing with that foot. It is hard for me to see what is going on with the rest of her body when I am the one bent over. Watching him do her shoes I could really see her tucking her hind under and shifting her weight on the hind often to get comfortable. She really didn't want to put all her weight on her hind to pick up a front foot. When he trimmed her left hind she was obviously uncomfortable. When left to her own devices she cocks up the left hind and puts more weight on the front. She has a hunters bump that I have noticed looks larger than usual.

He said she is acting similar to when he first trimmed her. Lo and behold after he first trimmed her I started intensive body work. My friend was working on her several times a month until she moved away. I also put her several scoops of cosequin a day. I ran out of cosequin in June and was planning on putting her back on it this month now that I am more financially settled after graduating from RN school. She sliced her right leg open last year and was swollen and sore for over a month. I wonder if she tweaked herself then and it just kept getting worse. Between that and a longer than usual spring abscess I am not suprised her back is sore. She's also a nut and won't walk when she's sore. She runs everywhere if it is physically possible so she doesn't give her body a chance to heal. I have a bum hip that does the same thing if I don't rest and nip it with proper chiro work. I felt terrible and guilty to see her sore. I love this mare so much my heart feels like it is going to burst so when she hurts I always feel like I should have fixed it sooner. She is the sweetest smartest girl. No one has been riding her the last month but she loves to be ridden and we have some great fall trails calling to us. I am hoping she can get back on track.

Romeo needs some work done too so I have called the vet out Thursday. My vet clinic does acupuncture work. Bre used to get acupuncture work from another vet who has since narrowed her practice down to small animal. Luckily that vet trained my equine clinic. It is nice to know whey will be able to notice if something bigger is going on. I am going to start massages on Bre tomorrow and keep on top of it over my next week off work. She loves her massages and will position herself so I am getting to the right spots.

Recycled iphotos (since I am still working and can't get to stable)

Bonding

I think I am fairly good at figuring out the general personality of a horse quickly. However, I love taking time to really get to know what makes each horse unique. I have known Bre for 11 years and at this point know her as well as I know myself. I can tell what naughty thing she is thinking up by just the look on her face. I knew both Bre and Belle for many months before buying them. I had been taking lessons on Belle until she needed colic surgery. Then when she was rehabbing from surgery I spent a ton of time hand walking her and getting her back in shape. When it came time to buy a horse of my own I kept looking for one just like Belle so when they offered to sell her it was a no brainer. I started training Bre at age three and bonded with her long before buying her was an option. By the time my name was on her papers Bre had already chosen me as her owner.

In comparison Dickie and I have only know each other for a very short time. I bought him after only meeting him for a few minutes. He has one of those personalities that sucks anyone in so it didn't take me long to fall in love. He is such a social guy that he demands everyone within his sight loves him. Even with that endearing personality it still takes time to really know a horse. After two months I feel like we are getting to the point where we have a personal bond. He doesn't like me just because he likes everyone, he recognizes me individually. He whinnied for me twice on Sunday and I went all gooey inside. It was the girliest little baby whinny and hilarious coming out of this big studly looking horse.

The more I get to know his weird quirks the more I love him.  For example he likes to put everything in his mouth but there are a few things that make him as joyous as a little kid on Christmas. When I get my gloves out he perks up and starts this crazy ants-in-my-pants dance with a gleam in his eye because he wants to chew on them BAD. Today he was super focused on unscrewing the top of the treat tub but left that in a second when he saw the gloves. If they are on my hands he doesn't bother them but if I haven't put them on they are fair game. God forbid I let my guard down because once he gets a glove in his mouth there is no getting it back. I would have about as much luck winning a tug of war match with a pit bull.

His lead rope is also apparently as tantalizing as horse crack. We will be walking along with him looking around at the birds and cats and things then suddenly I see a light bulb go off "OMG LEAD ROPE!!!" he will do a crazy double skip hop in the front and bite the air away from the lead but his ears and eyes are a dead giveaway to what he is planning. If I can catch him at the first skip with an "Ahhhh ahhh ahhhh" I have some hope of keeping the lead out of his mouth. If he gets past crazy hopping to air snapping his mouth then I might as well just give in and let him carry the rope because he has his mind set. He cracks me up because I really think he thinks he is being sly. There is nothing sly about this guy though. When something gets him happy he hops and does crazy dance moves with his head and snaps the air. Usually he gets most happy when he sees I am in possession of something he might want to put in his mouth but large fluffy dogs have also been known to elicit dance moves.

The more I get to know him the more I love his personality. He is just so fun. Sometimes he is exhausting because he never stops. He is always looking for something to grab or knock over so I can't let my guard down. I know horses who can just chill out while people are talking and he isn't one of those. If you watch him closely his mind never stops. I have never seen him just zone out and chill. It isn't that he is anxious. This horse is far from anxious. He's has to be the happiest horse I've ever been around. Even when he throws a tantrum because he doesn't want to do something the second he is done Mr Happy face comes right back. When I am not keeping his mind busy he's just always watching, plotting, and planning. He doesn't see why we should just stand around when we could stand annnnnd pull down halters, knock over plants, smack humans with the lunge whip, twirl the lead rope, and do a little dance at the same time. I am really trying hard to find the balance between having an obedient horse and without expecting too much of him. I don't want to lose that curious nature by expecting him to stand still at all times.

Tonight I took him in the arena to lunge and drooled all over myself. He is getting so strong and confident in his movements and it doesn't seem real that I will get the privilege to work with such a nice horse. He has some real talent. We also tried long lining which was both a win and a disaster. My main goal was to make sure he wouldn't mind all the ropes and he didn't. In fact he was so relaxed with all the ropes around his body that he decided the most logical thing to do would be to roll. Somehow I managed to keep everything away from his legs. However, he didn't want any part of steering and decided that he could walk any direction he felt even if I had him turned the other way. I have plans for fixing that but he was so mellow and seemed so happy to be learning something new that I quit and called it good. We ended with our usual stand by the mounting block. We did that quite a bit at the old barn but I have neglected this routine the last few weeks. This arena is a little more difficult because there are really cool things by the mounting block. He wanted to stand still but he also gets a craving for eating lunge whips from time to time and the neatly lined up row of whips was calling to him. This mounting block is also really tasty. The mounting block is made for all the 18h warmblood hunters so I towered over him. I couldn't resist laying over his back to see how he felt. He took a few steps with me over his back and could care less. I slid down to the ground and gave him a good rub down. I love him.

It's hard to get pictures without at least one blurry body part because he is so busy. 

Attempting to throw halters on the floor, and rip his fly mask off the stall door. He is super shiny and you can kind of see here. I am sad that we will be losing the summer shine soon. 

Opening the treat bucket. He left that in a heartbeat when I pulled the gloves out of my pocket.

 Looking quite grown up. 

 Ready for some loving. Notice the fleece surcingle pad isn't on his back where it should be. That occured during the long line rolling fiasco. 

 Rub my face please.