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. 

I love Bre and fall trail rides.......

........ Especially when I get both at the same time.


Last week my friend (Romeos mom) and I had hoped to haul out for a trail ride. We have been making plans literally for years to go to mission park. Between nursing school and her kid's sports schedule it never seems to happen. This week yet again w just couldn't be gone for a full day. The only day we had time was going to be pouring buckets so we opted for a little ride around the block a day early. It was sunny and crisp withcolorful leaves falling

I am waiting for a part only saddle and western kills my back so I opted for bareback. This is usually fine but bre has a trampoline trot so I was hoping the horses would be mellow. Romeo was all fired up so she schooled in the arena. It ended up being a lovely ride. We went through the Xmas tree farm the across the mini creek. When we arrived at the mini creek it dawned on me that I'm not very balance with my back flare up and bre rounds up so much when jumping she will launch u. She was all snorty at dramatic at the sight of this miniscule creek so I suspected she might jump.  I got off and she clopped quietly through the creek without a hint of jumping, figures.

Turns out the days excitement occurred because of my poor coordination rather than equine antics.  The remounting had to be funny from my friends view. The bench I mounted from was slippery with moss so I couldn't hop on it. I also realized I have zero flexibility when my backs like this. Who thought bareback was smart?  Bre was a saint. At one point I was hanging on by the point of my elbow in her wither and was kicking her in the side. I could feel her try to take my elbow stab then she hit the reverse like she was trying to help me up. Speed reverse was in fact not helpful but most horses would have put me on the ground with all the flank and wither poking

I just love my horse. By nature she hates standing still and thinks a pebble in her shoe is torture. However, when she's asked to bre will tolerate just about any stupid situation I get us into. Young horses are fun but nothing compares to a dead broke horse that you've spent so many hours riding it feels like you were born there.

Human Clothing

So often I am posting about saddles and what my horses are going to wear. A few weeks ago it really sunk in that if I want to get into showing again I will need something to wear. It seems that my show clothing shrunk over the last few years (or maybe my waistline grew). That means I will need to get myself quite a bit of apparel and on a budget. Fortunately I still have my effingham field boots and a velvet helmet. It isn't one of the crazy spendy ones that are trendy now but I wouldn't buy one of those even if I didn't have a show helmet.

Here is what I need:

Show shirt: My old show shirt kind sorta would go over my waist but the girls won't even pretend it will button. I will do the occasional dressage school show and combined training even so I think a white one should be my first pick. I have never shown hunters but will be doing some halter and walk trot shows with the baby boy next year so I am thinking it would be fun to have a shirt with some color too. I love the blue ones or even pink. I am pretty sure I have a stock tie around here somewhere for dressage but am hoping since I am only doing schooling dressage that I can get away without it.

Coat: I plan on doing more than just dressage so I want a hunt coat. I really LOVE all the subtle plaids and pin stripes. There were Ariat coats on closeout in great colors but I missed the ball on that (if you are looking and in the size 16 and smaller range check Dover out). My mom decided to get me a coat early for xmas and I was thrilled when a Riding Sport coat came up on clearance (50 bucks baby). I will probably need to have a tailor work on it because my rack is bigger than my shoulders so I need to go up a size. I ordered in in black so it is more versatile.

Here is my new coat (isn't the blue shirt pretty):

Breeches: I have a white pair for the upcoming show in December. I will need some tan breeches for the shows I plan on doing next year. I do dread squeezing myself into breeches and figuring out which are the lease offensive. I need to be able to run in them since we will be doing halter to start. Can't I start a new trend of a black coat and BLACK breeches. 

Helmet: I have a show helmet that actually doesn't give me a headache. However, my friend is moving her horse to Dickie's stable so I need two schooling helmets. I really hate carrying them back and forth. Then I end up without a helmet where I need it. And I have a big old head and chin so it's hard to borrow a helmet. There are three extra's at Bre's barn but they are all tiny headed skinny asses there. The helmet I have currently is pretty nerdy. I got in in silver when I was going on five hour trail rides in the hot sun. It is comfortable and I still love it but I decided to get something slightly cuter for the new barn. It is a Lami-cell and a knock off of the fancy styles but seems to get good reviews. It has a dial a fit system which is great for me because I get headaches easy and my head seems to change sizes from day to day. 

The silver one is my old helmet:

This is my new helmet:

Fence Stringing and Blanketing

I spent a few hours stringing hot wire today. I wasn't sure when we would be moving because I didn't want to take him until he had buddies to hang out with. My friend decided to move her horse with me so we had to get the fences in order. That means we are now in a mad rush to get things in order before the 1st. I work the next four days so I wanted to help out with that and get all of my tack moved today. That way I can just focus on getting the herd settled in next week. 

He was out with two other horses yesterday and it made me so happy. One of the horses will be in his new herd. She is this cute little arab who was telling him who was boss. I drove up and got to watch him for a little while before he saw me. He was having a blast getting the other horses to play. Geldings are hilarious when they fake bite each other and whack their necks together. When he saw me he gave a huge whinny and ran up and down the fence line until I could get there. I was glad that he remembered me even though he was having fun with his buddies. 

Today I knew I was going to be around shuttling tack to the new place so I decided to see how he handles a blanket. I figured I could intervene before he got caught up in the straps if he hated it. I tried one on him before and suspected blanketing might not be an option this winter due to his oral fixation. I put it on today and crossed my fingers he wouldn't eat it. As soon as he saw it his little face lit up. He thought I put a full body toy on. At first he was so into what I was going in the tack locker than he left it alone. Pretty soon I hear an awful ripping sound. I looked into his stall and he was walking in circles like a dog chasing his tail trying so hard to rip the blanket. I told him no and his little face perked up like "Hey mom this is fun" then he went right back to destruction mode. Luckily the sound came from his teeth running along the blanket and not an actual tear. I took it off. He was two seconds from shredding it. I could hardly get it off of him. He grabbed it and he made me play tug of way with it like a dog. I have decided he isn't a horse. He is a giant Labrador retriever. I hope he doesn't get cold this winter!!! 

This was taken in the very far corner of the pasture. The oak trees are part of the pasture and make a great place to get out of the rain. 

This is taken from the same spot as above. The roof you see if where he lives currently. You can see the top rim of the round pen to the left. I can't believe we get to have pasture board in a herd AND fancy facilities!!

This is our adorable barn. There are five stalls. Four for horses (one for chickens). And we have our own tack room. It will be so great to have a place without distractions to tack him up in. Then I can head over to the main barn to get him used to chaos. 

Miss Breedle Dee having some yummy grass. 

First Saddle Day

I haven't had a saddle on the goofball yet and decided it was about time to change that. I don't know why I haven't gotten around to it. He has been lunged in a surcingle with side reins jingling on his side. I have had saddle blankets over his head and a tarp over him. I wanted to make sure he was really mellow with new things before I got the saddle out. I figured he wouldn't care but I didn't want to take any chance that he would have a bad experience with something that will be such a big part of his life.  

He was out all day with the horses he will soon bunk with at his new pasture running and playing so I figured he would be in a good mental space to listen. I don't ride western but all I had was the western saddle I use for beginners on Bre. I recently picked up a great little dressage saddle but I have been using it at Bre's barn. 

I started out by setting the western saddle down in the round pen. I let him sniff everything and he decided the saddle pad tasted really good. He gave it a full on tongue bath. Mmmmm, Bre and Romeo sweat. Sounds yummy. I then put the saddle pad on his back, over his neck, and covered his face with it. His favorite part was when I covered his face because he got to smell the sweaty pad up close. 

I decided to put the saddle right on without the pad for several reasons. One is that he wanted to eat the pad and which made the process of putting the saddle up complicated. The other is the fact that I wanted getting the saddle up to be a really smooth motion. I figured that would be harder if I was trying to straighten a pad. I am not very coordinated with western saddles. He was very excited about the saddle. Western saddles have delicious stirrups and I allowed him to mess with them. It was pretty funny watching him try (and quite successfully) to walk forward with the stirrup in his mouth. 

We went for a little walk with some in hand trot. I held the stirrups out and let them fall on his sides. He didn't seem the least bit concerned about the whole process. Then I tied him up in his stall and left the saddle on while I picked his feet out. Happy mellow horse!!!

"Mmmmm this pad smells so yummy. "

"Something to chew on that goes everywhere with me!!"

"Look at me stand quietly in my stall like a grown up horse." 

"Wait, can't be too grown up. Must eat stirrup first. "

"Hi!! I'm a baby!!"

Update on the Silly Boy

Well we haven't had any earth shattering moments. That really isn't the norm with a young horse. I think that is why starting a horse isn't for everyone. It isn't like you go out and every day make progress. You don't have the weekly lesson where you get to try out new tricks or things start to click as a rider. 

The reality of a young horse is that they just need you there. They don't need you to have this agenda and plan for what you will do every week. They need someone who will be steady, who will show them the world isn't scary, and to have patience. From the outside he still likes like one wild pony. He likes to carry his head up in the air, rears sometimes if he gets mad, and tries to steal anything and everything within reach of his neck. 

This means victory for us is the fact that we go for walks and he doesn't step on my feet any more. He knows what "Whoa" means so he will stop when I stop on a walk. He understands that as soon as he starts to get in front of me we have to stop and he needs to back up. These days my shoulder isn't quite so sore after a walk but it's getting cold and windy so there are some exciting days. 

When I go in his stall he still wants to be pushy but it takes way less to clue him in to the fact that humans needs some space. You can wave your hands kind of like you are air pushing him back and he will step back. He is also way more aware of me in his stall. I brushed him lose in his stall with thunder, lighting, and hail going on today. He had to keep checking out his door  to make sure the world wasn't ending and was great about walking around me instead of over me. 

He knows when something is scary and I point at it he is supposed to touch it with his nose. If he touches the scary thing he gets a treat. I don't even have the point a the scary thing all the time. I will just start to walk up to it then he walks up snorting and spooking himself until he touches it. Then his cute little baby face looks right at me like "I did good, right? Treat now please." 

And he continues to be a total people horse. He nickers when I get there and nickers as he watches me leave. He comes running to me to the end of his paddock. He is more distracted when people walk by the round pen than when horses walk by. He can seem like he's totally unaware I am in the round pen but if I leave for a second he cries and throws a fit until I get back. 

He's still a goofy silly baby and probably less emotionally mature than other two year olds. However, he is smart as a whip and moving more gorgeous by the day. I couldn't be more happy with where he is at in his training. I didn't want calm ho de dum personality. I don't think that makes the best sport horse long term. I want him to think for himself, to question things, and to be curious. If he needs longer to settle and just be a horse I am more than happy to wait. I feel like if I give him time to grow up I will have a much bigger payoff than if I forced him grow up. I have horses to ride and I have a blast with him just the way he is.