The Good and the Bad

The good news is that Axel's bumps have gone away. Musta been hives. Rumor has it, a lot of horses get them this time of year. Must be allergies to something or other.

The bad news is, my car was only happy with the new battery for the time it took me to get home. I think my alternator is bad :(

One of Those Days

It was one of those days, well almost. On my way out to see the boys my battery warning light comes on in my car. I'm just about there and the voltmeter goes from 11 to 0. The car kept running but when I shut it off it wouldn't start again. Dead as a doornail. No one was a round at the ranch so I continued on with my fussing over the boys.

I groomed Cody, who was, as usual, annoyed that I took him away from his herd for something as silly as some brushing. But he could still see everyone so he was fairly calm about it.

I groomed Axel and tried my rope halter on him (that I tied my self). It fits pretty good, now I just have to cut off the extra long ends. I got out the saddle and saddled him up and went back to get my helmet. As I was coming back out I noticed Axel's hindquarters were covered in bumps. I don't remember seeing the bumps when I was grooming. They didn't seem to be bothering him and they weren't like sores so we went for a ride anyways.

Went down the road this time for our ride. Had a really nice canter in a wide ditch, went nearly the whole block, and not a single buck. Then we went out into a bean field that hadn't been plowed yet. Cantered for a quite a ways there too. We came to the end of that block and we were going to visit the mare that lived there. As we were standing across the road from the mare, a dog came across the road to see us. Axel decided the dog was going to eat him and took a 90 degree turn to the right and started running as fas as he could. All the way across the bean field until he came to a row of trees. He finally stopped. I had lost a stirrup and was bouncing around like a sack of potatos. I definitely need shorter stirrups.

So we stood there calming down a bit and I noticed that dumb dog was still there. He had chased us all the way across the field. And the owner or daughter or whoever, who had seen this all happen, didn't even bother to call her dog back. Stupid dog ended up following us nearly the whole way back to the ranch. Let's just say I was not pleased. Stupid dog nearly got me killed. Someone needs to train Axel to kick things on command ;)

So with some shakey legs (mine) we slowly walked back, stopping for some nice grassy snacks. Apparently Axel wasn't all that scared, still had his appetite after all. So when we got back to the ranch I called Sandy to see if she could come out and take me to get a new battery. I layed in the grass and watched the boys graze while I waited. 65 degrees out, not too bad of a day to be stuck outside waiting. Anyways, we got a new battery and my car started, though I think I need a new connector thingy.

We're not sure what the bumps are that Axel has, maybe hives or some sort of allergic reaction to something. Hopefully they'll be gone tomorrow. I probably can't go out there tomorrow until we figure out what's wrong with my car, unless Amy gets home and lets me use her car, but I'll give Jacque a call and see what she says he looks like in the morning. I'll have to plan to wash my brushes and stuff in case it's something contageous or something he was allergic to in the brushes. Poor big guy, he doesn't seem to annoyed by it all though.

Next weekend there might be a birthday party of little girls out to see all the horses, then hopefully Mom and Dad and maybe Grandma and Grandpa and Amy will come out that weekend to meet the boys. They haven't met them yet. The vet is due out on November 8th for shots and stuff as well. So it'll be an eventful couple of weeks

Squeezed Out Another Nice Day

It wasn't looking so nice today but I went out to see the boys anyway. Luckily while I was there some blue sky peeked through and it turned out pretty nice. I groomed Cody, who really didn't want to stand there for me for very long. Then Rusty came by and wanted some attention so he got groomed to. Then I groomed Axel. I was just going to leave after that but I changed my mind and tacked up Axel. We went for a quick ride in the woods out back. Even had a nice canter in one of the clearings. I got a crash course in mounting while trotting. That was interesting. After the bridge I had to dismount to close the gate and Axel would not stand still. He kept trying to follow me. Finally I thought he was going to stand so I started to get up and off he went. He really missed his buddies I guess.

One More Nice Autumn Day

Turned out to be a pretty nice day today. They kept threatening rain but it was sunny for most the afternoon. After WCR I went out to visit the boys. Surprise surprise! I tacked up Axel and we went for a little ride.


This time I thought we'd go down the dirt road a bit and see what was there. Most of the way it was a nice grassy ditch to ride in, so that was good. Near the end of the dead end we came upon another friend. A nice little roan horse. Not sure if it was a girl or a boy but it had some really pretty eyes. And Axel was very interested. But we managed to keep it in control and he tried his best to pay attention to me and not the other horse. The whole trip only took us about a half hour to 45 minutes. So just a nice short ride.


Afterwards I passed out some carrots we had leftover from WCR. Everyone was quite appreciative. Even the boys. I remember one of the first times I met the boys I brought them some carrots, that's what the school horses are always excited over. Axel just looked at me. Cody grabbed the carrot and spit it out on the ground. I took that to mean they'd rather have apples, they never spit those out. But now it seems carrots are a welcome snack. So I hung out for a while and hung out with the herd (yes I am a dork). Cody was almost eating out of the same hay bin as Corey. Corey was eating out of the feeder and Cody was eating hay that had fallen on the ground next to the feeder.. There was some shifting around for a while. Then Cody ended up standing back a bit just waiting. He looked like he was waiting to be invited to eat with Corey and Kiko. It was cute.

My boys are sweeties. Axel has really "joined up" with me but Cody still thinks I'm just that annoying girl that keeps putting a saddle on him. Hopefully playing some of the games this winter will help him trust me more. Then he and I can go for rides alone like Axel and I have been.

Dreary Day

Well it was a dreary day today but wasn't raining so I went out to visit with the boys. Gotta get in all my visiting while I can before my contract job starts. It was pretty mellow in the paddock today. The boys are really starting to fit in, even with Corey. He still moves them around but they are getting along a lot better. I just did some grooming today including Rusty and Corey and a little bit of Kakei. Everyone was just hanging around today. Axel and I visited the roundpen just to see what that was all about. Mostly he just thought it was a good place to eat some grass. After I watch the Parelli 7 Games video again maybe we'll start playing some games. It might be hard while there's still grass though!

Tom and I took a walk down the back pasture. The horses are going to be staying up front mostly now. Apparently someone had some issues yesterday afternoon. Several of the metal fence posts were either out of the ground completely or bent at 90 degree angles. The bottom rope of electrobraid was busted completely in one place and probably a good 50 feet or more was drug across the pasture and hung up on several trees. My assumption was that someone was goofing around and got caught in the fence and then proceeded to freak out and run around until the fence came off. That's my guess at least. None of the horses had any rope burn or anything out of the ordinary. So it's a mystery who was the culprit. We did find some hoof prints on the wrong side of the fence in one place. But it only looked like one horse worth of prints. Perhaps in the freaking out there was some crossing over the fence.

Tom has some plans to split the hill pasture into another section so he can rotate pastures easier. And also hopefully get some fence up on the other side of the creek for another pasture. In any case he might have to electrify the fence around the back pasture to keep the kids from getting too close to the fence!

Beau, Axel, and Cody

And it was back out to the ranch this afternoon. When I got there Kalani was napping in the sun, laying in the middle of the front pasture. Everyone else was grazing away. And Corey and Cody were about 3 feet away from each other. Yay! So we groomed up Axel, Cody, and Beau. Dick came out to ride Beau and Tom rode Cody. We took it slow going up and down the hills. Beau did great, though. He's got arthritis but he really loosened up on our ride. The very last hill seemed like a bit of work for him but other than that he was really happy. And Cody, I think he was really happy that Beau went out riding with us. Jacque has said that she's seen Cody standing behind Beau at the hay feeder, waiting for an invitation to eat with him. I think he really wants to be Beau's friend. So it seemed like he was really looking out for Beau on the trail ride. When they got to the top of the hill they were nose to nose checking each other out. So cute! Goofy horses, there was some loud airplane coming from the other side of the woods somewhere and Axel did not want to go into the woods. Beau had to lead until we got going. But after that we made it just fine. I think they are pretty happy with all their new friends.

I Love Fall

I hate wasting these really nice days so I went out to see the boys again today. I can send out resumes at night, right? Heh. I figured today I'd see if Axel wanted to go for a ride, just me and him. I groomed for a while and started tacking him up. Got a phone call from a temp agency about a possible job. While I was on the phone, all the other horses thought they'd try and help by stealing my brushes. I had to play tug of war with Axel to get the mane brush out of his mouth!


Took us a few tries to stand still at the mounting block, but not too bad. Going down the hill took a little more encouragement than normal but we made it down to the bridge before Axel started calling for his buddies. I dismounted and opened the gate and we walked across the bridge. I closed the gate and managed to mount from the ground (yay me) without too much difficulty. We walked up the hill and stopped to visit Tom who was cutting low branches. Then we made our way through the woods and then out in the clearing. Wandered around the clearing a few times. Axel called a couple times to his friends that stayed behind. Other than some calling he seemed pretty calm about it. We kept our trip different from other trips so we don't get into any patterns. After a while we made our way back down the hill and across the bridge. Took me a little longer to remount from the ground but it went ok. Then we walked back up the pasture hill and met up with the other horses. They were pretty happy to see us. Kakei's always concerned when one of her herd is missing. We walked up the hill and then tried some trotting and cantering in the front pasture. That was a bit more difficult so we'll have to work on that. We visited the round pen for a few minutes and then we finally went back into the paddock and finished up.

So all in all it went really well. I think Axel might be a good prospect for taking on trail rides out to different places. Cody might need some more coaxing before he's ready to leave the herd by himself. He's really worried even when I just bring him up to groom by himself. Wednesday we have plans to go riding with Tom and one of the other boarders. Hopefully this weekend my parents will come meet the boys as well.

It's Bad

You know you're horribly addicted to horses when you feel like you haven't spent enough time with the boys because you were only there for 3 hours yesterday. Heh.

3's Company

Another little trail ride today. And another gorgeous day for it. Went out to the ranch. Pulled Cody out of the herd to groom first. He was a little annoyed and didn't want me to take him away. The rest of the horses were right in the front pasture so he was pretty calm about it. Jacque came out as I was finishing up Cody so I groomed up Axel as well. I'm going to have to get some tips from Tricia on her skilled scratching techniques ;) Jacque found some cardboard and wire and we measured the boys withers so I have some models to use when I get around to finding some english saddles. They are some wide boys, that's for sure. Anne called and came out to ride with us as well. So Jacque got Corey ready and we were all set to go. Corey hadn't been ridden out of the round pen in probably 2 years so he was a little tough to get moving at first. Once we got going though he went pretty well. He was a little nervous and wound up but he kept it pretty much together. We took it slow and walked the whole trip, which was a little tough for Cody, he really likes to run up the hill on his way back to see his friends.

Another Gorgeous Day

No photos from today, oh well. After therapeutic riding this morning, Tricia and I went out and saddled up the boys and went for a quick ride up the back hill in the woods. She was fairly impressed, so that made me proud. And I think she might have made a new best friend of Axel. Tricia knew all the right spots to scratch and had Axel standing there with his leg up in the air and neck stretched out enjoying the attention. But she didn't take any grief from him and made him stand to mount and wouldn't let him run up the hill. Guess I gotta start keeping the boys to a walk up the hills now ;) She thinks Axel would be good on the long trail rides she and her friends like to do. So that could be a fun thing to do sometime.

Gonna go out to the barn again tomorrow and groom them both and hopefully go for a ride with Jacque. We might also measure withers so I have some idea of what size saddles would fit them for when I get around to getting an english saddle. And I hope to borrow her Parelli 7 Games tape so I can watch that and start playing some games with the boys.

And luckily I was working on this site this evening so I wasn't paying full attention to The Horse Whisperer on television, or I woulda been bawling like a little baby, sad movie :(

4 Mile Ride

The weather report predicted rain on Wednesday and Thursday so I decided to go out the ranch one more time while it was still nice out. I saddled up Axel and brought out the mounting block. I'm not sure if he's ever seen a mounting block before so I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce it. Well that goofy Axel just stood by the mounting block like he's done it a million times before. I wiggled the saddle, pulled on the stirrup, put my foot in the stirrup and he just stood there. So that pretty much put an end to our practice of standing still while mounting. Tricky fellow, that Axel. So Tom went and got Cody and saddled him up and we went for a ride down the road to find the State Trail. We walked down the gravel with only the usual tenderfoot issues. When we got to the pavement things slowed down a bit. Axel started calling and Cody joined in. Must have been all the new sights and smells. We got out the country road and walked all the way down to the trail entrance, cars whizzing by, and no issues at all. It was slow going as the boys were being extra alert, but we made it safe and sound. We walked the trail for a while before we turned around to head back. Axel and I had a little canter along the trail with no bucking. Cody proceded to trot the fastest shortest trot ever. Only one minor surprise on the way back when a dog ran across the road. But Cody recovered quickly and was just startled. When we got back to the gravel road we cantered a few more times along the corn field. I think Axel may have gotten a few bucks out but nothing major. Cody even picked up a few canter strides as well. So we probably went a little over 4 miles total and it all went fantasically.

I've made a little map of our usual trail ride and some of the escape locations the boys seem to find themselves in. Luckily since we've found their way out and fixed it, they've keep themselves on the correct side of the fence.

More Riding

I went out to visit the boys on Monday again because it was just so nice out. Tom is on vacation so he was home doing some work around the house. We decided to go for a little ride up the hill and through the woods in the back pasture. Tom rode Axel and I rode Cody and off we went. We even made it down the steep hill and up to a little clearing on the other side of the woods. The boys behaved like champs as usual. Axel was having some issues standing still while Tom mounted so I've added that to the list of things to work on.

A Fall Ride

Jeff came out to the ranch again for a little trail ride. Down the hill and through the woods. Jeff rode Axel and I rode Cody this time. As usual, it went well. Only one minor issue with some sandburrs on Axel's legs and some mounting difficulties after that. Guess I'm adding "mounting" to the list of things to practice with the boys. Axel just doesn't like to stand still.

A Little Rain

It rained a little bit and the boys ended up with a big lake in their front pasture. I groomed the boys and then hung out and watched them graze around their new lake front property. In the sunset it looked pretty nice. Jacque should consider keeping it ;)

Just A Visit

Just went out for a little visit today. Groomed the boys as usual and took some photos. Everyone loves fuzzy horse noses!