Windy Thursday

Went out to hang with the boys a bit. It was a pretty uneventful day. Super sunny and nice out but a little windy so every once in a while everyone would take off running. Tried to work with Axel on some lunge work but I think we gotta start at the beginning. He had no idea what I wanted him to do. So we did practice some ground work, walk and halt. Couldn't quite get the trot in hand going. I let him go and went to halter Cody. Had the halter on but not buckled when the herd started running from the evil horse eating wind. Cody wanted to run with them but he stopped when he realized he had a halter on. He could have stepped away and the halter would have just fallen off at that point but he didn't so I rewarded his repsect by giving him a scratch and letting him go.

So after all the excitement of the wind died down the fun began... I think they call this, pass the stick.

Gorgeous day today

I spent most of the afternoon out at the barn with all the horses. Groomed Cody up and played a little Parelli friendly game with him. He's getting a lot more people friendly, mostly I think he's looking for treats though ;) I put Beau in the barn and took off his rug and let him roll in the dirt for a while. While he hung out in the barn and ate I groomed Axel. He must have been laying in the snow, his whole right side was soaking wet. And that combined with his black hair in the sun, you could see the steam coming off of him. I put the english saddle on him and we played around in the front pasture a little bit. I don't quite have the hang of the figure 8's yet, but I think Axel is starting to get it. The snow is pretty weird right now so we only got a little trot on the way back to the paddock. Though it was a very smooth trot. I am excited for summer to come so we can go for some real rides.

I untacked Axel and put Beau's rug back on and let him back out side with the herd. I was just kind of hanging out wasting time when Corey started following me around and wouldn't leave me alone. Tom had said to ride him whenever I want so I grabbed a bridle and took him into the round pen. I actually coudln't find his bridle so I just used one that looked like it might fit. And I just decided to ride bareback, he's close to the ground so I figured if I fell it wouldn't be too bad. I couldn't quite get him close enough to the fence to get on so I kind of had to fling myself at him. But the little goof was so good, he just stood there solid until I was on all the way. We walked around several times and he decided he was done and just stopped. Not wanting to end on that note I did get him moving again before *I* decided it was time to stop. He's a fun little guy and it'll be good to get him out on some trail rides this spring too. That way we'll have atleast 3 horses to go on rides with, Cody, Axel, and Corey. Now we just have to get Kiko and Kalani working under saddle.

Right before I left I put out the Jollyball to see if anyone wanted to play. Actually everyone took their turn carrying it around a bit. Cody seemed to like it the most this time. It's supposed to be nice again tomorrow so I'll probably go out again and see what kind of damage I can do with lunging. :>

Happy Birthday, Rusty!

Thursday, January 19, was Rusty's 25th birthday, according to the barn calendar. We didn't have a party or anything but I gave him some extra treats when I was visiting on Saturday.



It was pretty chilly out on Saturday so I just groomed the boys a bit. Cody's been hanging around a bit more than usual but I think he's just looking for some treats. He and Rusty were hanging out while I groomed Axel. Cody had his turn and got the treats he was looking for. And since it was Rusty's birthday I groomed him a bit too. Not sure if his owner made it out to visit him or not. One day I'll meet her. It was pretty chilly out so I didn't stay for very long and the front pasture was open so everyone was interested in checking out if they could find every last bit of hay out there.

Axel meets his match

I had Tricia out for a ride after conditioning Saturday afternoon. It was nice and sunny out and a great day to ride. Tricia rode Axel bareback and I put the english saddle on Cody. Tricia began the ride by vaulting up on Axel. Then she took him around a couple trees in figure 8s until she got him to bend with the turns, something he usually just doesn't do. She said he was a completely different horse than he was the first time she rode way back in the beginning. Cody couldn't figure out the reasoning behind doing figure 8s, when we'd get half way around a tree he could see Axel coming around the other side so he'd take the easy way around. I think he thought the point was to keep his eye on Axel the whole time. I probably should have pushed Cody a little harder to listen to me but just staying out in the pasture and not trying to get back to his herd was some good practice for us. We took a few laps around the front pasture in both directions. Tricia kept fighting with Axel when we'd pass the one corner that would take them back to the paddock until he finally gave in and would listen to her. She had him do some trotting circles in the middle of the pasture as well and he really started to collect. He's got a really smooth trot, but of course she could probably sit even the bumpiest trot. So Tricia thinks if we keep working on Axel he could make a pretty darn nice horse. Maybe it's not so far fetched that some day we'll get Axel to jump or something. She's probably going to come out every other Saturday after conditioning the therapeutic horses with me.

A weekday visit

Went out for a little visit today. The plan was to do a little Parelli with Cody and Axel. I brought out the rope halter that I had made and Corey was following me around practically putting his head in the halter. So I figured I'd practice on him. He was a pretty good boy, but he's had quite a bit of handling and whatnot in his life. After that I tried to work with Cody a bit. My rope halter doesn't really work very well, it's all crooked and doesn't fit right so I think I'll have to break down and buy one sometime. Mostly with Cody I just worked on the "friendly game" and getting him to pay attention to me and not the other horses in the pasture. We stood in the paddock and faced different directions and I petted him. He'd start pulling his head and nodding up and down towards his friends so I'd slowly pull the lead until he'd face his head to me then I'd pet him some more. We didn't have any breakthroughs but we'll keep working.

My intention was to work on the "porcupine game" with Axel but the rope halter just wasn't working on him and he was a little confused about it. So we ended up not really playing our games. After that I just kind of hung out for a while and tried to clean up the paddock a bit. Cody spent some time with Koko the cat at the water trough. He kept trying to smell Koko but the cat would step away from him. They are cute little friends.

A winter ride

Jeff and I went out to the barn on Saturday to do a little riding. It was actually pretty sunny and nice out for once. We put Beau in the barn for his little personal hay buffet and we took off his rug and brushed him a bit. He's looking pretty good as far as I can tell, I don't think he's lost any weight. We left Beau in the barn and groomed Cody and Axel. The boys are getting very good at picking up their feet for me, I'm so happy about that. I imagine the farrier will be happy as well. We decided to just go for a bareback ride in the front pasture. Getting on Cody bareback is quite a bit easier than getting on Axel. I looked away for one second and Jeff was already on Axel. I think he got on from the fence, which I always have trouble doing because he swings his rear end out. It looked like he stood pretty good and didn't walk away. I used the mounting block and hopped up on Cody and we were off into the pasture. Cody was still pretty reluctant as none of the other horses were coming with us. We made it around the pasture twice, only a little discussion about who was the boss. Atleast I know one way of keeping Jeff and Axel at the walk, take away their saddle! Hopefully I can get Cody out a couple times a month for the rest of the winter so he stays sound for some spring riding and learns that even if he leaves the group for a little ride they will be there when he gets back.

It's supposed to be pretty warm tomorrow so I will go out again and visit the boys and maybe work on some Parelli or something with them. Tonight I have my first Teaching Assistant class for WCR. My own riding lessons tomorrow night. Horse training on Thursday, and winter conditioning on Saturday. I'm also thinking of signing up for this workshop that the U of MN is offering in February on various topics for horse owners.

Where is the sun?

Since I am once again unemployed, I went out to visit the boys today, on a Thursday. I put Beau in the barn with some hay so he could have some peace and quite and a little lunch while I was there. I haven't taken off his blanket yet but felt around under it and he almost feels like he's gaining weight. If I can get someone to help me on Saturday I'll take off his blanket and see what's going on under there and maybe brush him a bit. So while he was munching away I went and groomed Axel. He was very good about his feet this time. Picked them all up pretty easy, only a little trouble with his left rear but not nearly as much trouble as it usually is. His head is still scabbed over so I can't really tell what's going on with his wound. I figure when it's healed up he'll start scratching his head on trees and the scab will fall off on it's own.

Cody came over to see what was going on so I groomed him next. He was such a good boy. I picked up both his front feet from the left side. I went to both sides for the back feet because all the other horses were crowding around and I didn't want him to loose his balance. I brushed the other horses a bit because they were hanging around. And everyone got some apple treats. Cody was being quite friendly today and following me around and just kind of hanging out with me. That was a nice change, usually he's off being a horse with the rest of the herd.

When I was done grooming I decided to jump on Axel for a quick spin around the pasture. He tries to pretend he doesn't see me coming with his bridle but I know better. It took us a couple tries to stand still well enough for me to mount from the block. Part of the problem was Corey trying to get Axel to move away, once Corey got bored of that then things went ok. Axel wasn't completely into the ride but we made it around the pasture in once piece. He's so funny, I cue him for a turn and he turns 90 degrees. He doesn't quite bend, he just stops and turns. Silly boy. Hopefully Tricia will come out and ride with me on Sunday morning and maybe she can offer some tips to get him to move a little more smoothly.

Day After Christmas

Axel's head is starting to look better. Atleast it's scabbed over now. Hopefully he'll be all healed up in the next week or so. He looks so sad with his big scabby forehead. I took his little pony tail out, so he was a little curly for a while. I ended up grooming both Axel and Cody while I was at the barn. They are both getting pretty good at picking up their feet. Next I'll work on getting them to pick up all 4 feet with me standing on one side, instead of walking to the other side to do those feet. Then Axel and I went on a quick ride once around the pasture so I could try out my new saddle on him. After that I put Beau in the barn so he could eat some hay in peace. While I was waiting for him to finish his snack I went and gave everyone some treats and did some carrot stretches with them. All the horses were really good at it, all of them kept their feet where they belong and both Cody and Kalani's neck cracked. They looked pretty pleased with themselves after that.

I stood around and watched them hang out for a while, Kalani looked pretty bored. He was standing in the manure pile afterall. So I put a halter on him and we practiced leading and stopping and tying. He did really well. Hopefully we'll get some more practice in with him and the rest of the horses.

Merry Christmas

I went out to deliver some christmas presents on christmas eve morning. I made it right in time for breakfast so I helped with that a little bit. After their feed they all went to the hay feeders for some hay. Tom put some hay out in the other pasture so that they'd have something different to do. No one really realized that there was hay out there so eventually I lead Axel over (since he seems to always get chased away). It was only a few seconds before Corey realized that Axel had a big pasture of hay to himself and came running over.

Cody and Kalani couldn't quite figure out how to get into the next pasture and ran up and down the fence line as fast as they could. Cody finally figured it out and came running into the other pasture. Followed, slowly, by Rusty. Then Kalani finally figured it out himself and zipped past Rusty. And lucky Beau, got to have the other three hay feeders to himself while everyone else was running around.

Chilly Sunday

Didn't do any riding today. But I did try the saddle on the boys to see how it fit. I think it'll fit ok except for the fact that it looks like a pea on a pumpkin. Little saddles on big horses is kind of silly looking. It doesn't look quite as small on Cody. I think maybe in the summer when everyone is a little more sleak looking it'll look a lot better.

Two reasons Axel got himself hurt, one he insists on standing under the trees. Nearly every time I go out there he's standing under the tree. I dunno if he's hiding or what. It's kind of cute though. The other reason, Corey still chases him around. How a 14hh Arab can bully a 16hh QH is beyond me. I wasn't fast enough to get a good photo of them running in the snow, I was more concerned with not getting run into. Hehe.

I put a little topknot in Axel's forelock to keep the hair out of his wound. It didn't look much different today, the cold weather is keeping it from bleeding. Hopefully it'll heal alright. He doesn't seem to mind, he was even trying to scratch his head on some pine needles while I was there.

Leave it to the Horses

So I went out to visit the boys today. The plan was to try out the new saddle on Axel. I first went out to grab Cody and get him groomed up quick. As I was walking him up to the paddock Axel came over to say hi, and that's when I noticed he had red gobs in his forelock. I thought, hmm I don't think there's any bushes with berries on it around here that he could have gotten into. I looked closer and noticed he had a huge hole in his head. So I let Cody go and ran up to the house to get a bucket of warm water from Tom. He came out with me to check it out. The only thing we can figure is that he drove a big stick or branch into his head. And it had to have happened between breakfast and when I got there, so in the span of maybe 4 hours or so. We couldn't find any blood around any of the trees so who knows what he got himself into.

He was walking fine, wasn't shaking his head at all. He had a little tenderness around the wound. And he was still eating. We called the vet to see what he thought, he directed us to just keep it clean and put some ointment on it once a day. Didn't sound like there was anything the vet could do as it was a puncture and you can't really suture those. He said it'd heal better if we left it open to the air. I'll be back out there tomorrow and I can check on him. I think he'll be fine though, guess he's got a thick skull.

I wonder if it'll be ok to ride him tomorrow though, a friend and I had plans to maybe go riding a bit in the snow. She's an experienced horse woman so I'll see what she thinks.

So... after all that excitement, I brushed him a bit and cleaned the 3 inches of of ice out of Axel's hooves. That's gotta make things a bit easier for him. I tried the new saddle on Axel to see how it fit. I think it's going to be ok but the girth I have wasn't nearly long enough. And as much as I asked, Axel just wouldn't suck in his belly. ;) I did pick up a girth extension on my way home that should work out.

I retrieved Cody and groomed him a bit and cleaned out his hooves. He wasn't nearly as bad as he got trimmed recently. I put the new saddle on Cody to try it out. Atleast the girth fits him! Seems like it fit well but Cody was not pleased. I tried to ride around the pasture a bit thinking as long as all the other horses were around, maybe Cody would be willing to go, but that was foolish thinking on my part. Any little turn in a direction where he couldn't see the other horses really upset him. Goofy horse.

The saddle feels kind of weird compared to riding in my lessons. Just must be how differently shaped my horses are or something.

Some Video Clips

Here's a couple video clips I took off the DVD we made when the horses first moved. I had to reduce these down quite a bit to get them to fit on the server. I might try taking some videos with my digital camera from time to time and see if that works out any better.

Axel's little trot
Running around

A New Saddle

Watch out boys, I've gotten a new saddle. I went to the WCR saddle sale last night, partly to help out where needed, and partly to see if they had anything I liked. I had been tempted to go and buy a wintec english saddle because they're cheap, but in all reality I don't really care for them, they are synthetic. I am glad I waited. For about the same price (probably cheaper) I got a nice used leather saddle. So now I just hope the girth I have fits Axel. I know it should fit Cody but Cody doesn't seem like he would like to go riding alone with me. So this weekend I'll go see if Axel wants to go for a quick little ride and try out the english saddle. I'll probably use the western saddles still for trail rides and longer rides. But the english will be nice to have for practicing some things from my lessons and maybe see if Axel would be willing to do some dressage or jumping in the future.

From the looks of it, we'll be riding through some snow drifts this weekend. I better dig out my snow pants.

Saturday Breakfast

Peace and Love

We love you, Jacque.

A Little Humor

Just a funny little comic.

Christmas Stockings

I finished the horse's christmas stockings. I hung them on their saddles since they don't have stalls.

Snow!

Went out to the ranch today to visit with the boys. I thought maybe there'd be some horsin' around in the snow but everyone was pretty mellow, standing in the sun and napping. Cody and Corey were even eating together! Cody is really fitting into the herd. I think he might even be trying to inch himself higher in the rankings. Meanwhile, Axel seems to be a bit on the depressed side. He doesn't seem to hang out with the group as much.

When I got there today Axel was hiding behind a tree. I ended up grooming him right there, since he seemed prety comfortable. I groomed Cody in the pasture as well. When I brought out the Axel's bridle to go for a ride, Axel wised up and moved to the opposite side of the tree. I guess he didn't want to go for a ride. He actually went up to see if he could get some protection from Kalani. He did give in and we went for a quick ride around the pasture. Bareback is the only way to go when it's cold out, that's for sure.

After I had helped Jacque with her computer for a while I noticed Cody was actually laying down in the pasture, along with Rusty, and the rest of the horses standing by. I haven't seen either of the boys lay down yet, so that was pretty exciting. I ran out and took some photos. So Cody is definitely feeling at home. Oh, and Cody's leg is doing fine. He was being chased around a bit while I was there, and he wasn't limping at all. Jacque said after two days he seemed to be back in good shape.

Holiday Preview

Happy Thanksgiving! I don't think the boys will be having any turkey today, though Jeff might sneak them a chicken nugget when I am not looking. It's pretty darn windy out there, so hopefully they are keeping warm in the barn or under the overhang. In the meant time here's a couple more photos.

Cody's Doing Well

Got an update on Cody this morning. He's doing pretty good. Much
less limping going on now. So definitely in a few days he'll be back
to his old self. As a side note, Jacque said she saw Axel, Cody, and
Corey all eating at the hay feeder together. So that is quite the
news. I forgot to mention that when we got the ranch on Sunday, Corey
had a huge bite on his flank. It was almost like he got scalped. And
there were chunks of hair in the paddock. We're not sure who got him,
but maybe that's the cause of the new eating arrangement that was
witnessed this morning.

Cody's Injury

Heard from Jacque this morning. They tried to put Cody in the barn last night with Beau to keep him from running around and hurting himself more, and to keep him off the slippery mud. But instead he just chased Beau around, so they let him back out. He really doesn't like to be separated from the majority of the herd. Even if it means a nice warm barn to sleep in. Goofy horse. He was still limping this morning so he got some more bute but they didn't find any heat in his leg anywhere. I imagine in another day or two he should be back to his old self. He'll probably get more bute tomorrow morning just to make sure he gets the full benefit of it. I guess he showed me, "take me away from my friends and I'll show you by hurting myself!" Of course that just makes me thing he and I need to spend more time away from the herd. ;)

Sunday Photoshoot

Well so much for the weather report of Sunday being the nicer of the two days. Atleast Saturday it was sunny for a few minutes while I was out. It was just dreary and cold. We cleaned off more mud the best we could but besides mud, there's sand and dust and it seems like the more you brush the dirtier they look. We took a few photos, poor boys were probably humiliated, put santa hats on them and everything. But they were cute. Hopefully we'll get a couple good ones out of it.

After we were done playing dress up, I got up on Axel, as graceful as ever, so we could get a few silly photos. Then we saddled up and went out for a little trail ride. Jeff rode Axel and I rode Cody. It's been quite a while since I had someone to go with so I haven't ridden Cody in a long time. He wasn't really thrilled about leaving his herd. And Kakei spent the whole time back at the barn, screaming and snorting because we left. We did the usual loop up the back hill. Cody was a little more than excited. He wouldn't walk up or down any of the hills. It was run run run! He had been limping a little bit so I planned to *make* him walk up the last hill but Jeff went ahead of us and trotted Axel up the hill so Cody wanted to follow. I did my best to hold him back but instead of walking he just bounced. Straight up and down the whole way up the hill. It was mighty difficult to sit that trot to say the least.

By the time we made it to the top of the hill and started walking, Cody was lame. I got off and walked him back to the barn and he was really favoring his left front. Jacque came out and took a look but we couldn't find any thing obviously wrong. Not blood or bumps or broken bones. We're guessing he either stepped on something, pulled a muscle, or twisted something. So he got some bute to help out a bit. In any case, his sore leg didn't stop him from finding his way to the hay that Jeff brought out as a treat.

The Joys of Pasture Board

Mud, mud, and more mud. I went out to visit the boys for a bit. Everyone was hanging out in the paddock, covered in mud. Actually, Cody was pretty clean, he must not have rolled like the others. So after I chiseled all the mud off of Axel, and brushed Cody, I rode around in the front pasture for a while. Getting on Axel with no saddle is quite the feat, atleast for me. I climbed up on the fence and realized he just wasn't close enough to me. I couldn't get him any closer so I just went for it. Of course he stepped away just as I launched off the fence. I managed to stay on luckily. Axel was a little distracted with the other horses playing in the pasture right next to us. We walked around for a little while and also stood and watched Kalani and Rusty play. After that it was corn cobs all around.

I'll dig up a photo or two when I get a chance.

Rainy Saturday

It was sort of nice out when I left the house this morning but by the time I got to the ranch it was raining. It wasn't raining too bad so I went and brought Cody up to groom. Corey and the girls followed us up but they got bored and left. That left just me and Cody and I think Cody thinks I'm invisible. He was very unhappy with being up there all alone. I couldn't get him to stand still tied so I decided maybe we could work in the round pen. My thought was that he could run around a bit and calm himself down then we could groom and all that fun stuff. Well he did run around but that was it. Around and around and around looking for his herd. Guess we've got a bit more work to do on that front.

So after I let Cody gallop down to his friends I went and got Axel. Atleast he knows I'm there. Hehe. I groomed him real quick and grabbed his bridle. We went into the round pen and after I got him to stand still for more than a second, I climbed up on a barrel and got on bareback. We probably just rode around for 10 minutes or so in the round pen. But I've never really ridden bareback so that was good enough for one day. It's pretty different being able to feel all the horse's movements. And let me tell ya, Axel may have a cubby butt but his spine is not!

Here's hoping for no rain tomorrow.

A Visit From the Vet

The boys had a visit from the vet today for their fall shots. Since we had given them a 6-way before they moved all they needed was a rabies shot. Heck, I didn't even know they gave horses rabies shots. Jacque said they did very well. I guess Cody crinkled up his neck though, he must not have really wanted to get a shot, go figure. Everyone was tied up at their buckets and I guess Axel untied himself and wandered around checking things out, helping where needed, I'm sure. The vet said they looked good, he didn't get a chance to peek at their teeth though, maybe next time.

Parents Meet the Grandchildren

So my parents made it out to meet the boys today. We got to witness the thundering hooves when all 8 horses ran up the hill to see what all the whistling was about. We just hung around with the horses slobbering all over us. Then we took a walk across the creek and up the hill to check out the view. It woulda been a great day for riding but I guess I'm not convincing enough because Mom and Dad didn't seem like they wanted to ride ;)

Happy Birthday!

This afternoon Cody and Axel got to participate in a 6 year old girl's birthday party. Jacque's neighbor girls like to come visit all the horses and bring them grass clippings and treats and things. At one time the one little girl was taking some riding lessons from Jacque. So her big treat for her birthday is to come out and ride the horses. 4 little girls, 2 little boys, 2 moms and a dad all came out for the party. Cody got to wear a very tiny little western saddle. I think he might have been a little embarassed though.

First everyone got on a horse and lined up for a photo. The birthday girl sat on Axel bareback. They told me that he is just like Black Beauty and the Black Stallion. :) The other party goers sat on Cody, Kiko, Beau, Rusty, and Corey for the big group photo. I was helping hold horses and whatnot so I didn't get any photos of the actual party. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of some from someone.

Then the kids took turns riding Corey and Cody around the round pen. First with us leading and then trying to steer on their own. We just used clip on reins on the halters instead of bits and bridles. I think Cody was a little bit confused, and he really wanted to keep his eye on Axel who was on the outside of the pen watching. So at first I'd have to drag Cody around the ring until we turned to face where Cody could see Axel and then he'd move out a bit more. He did start figuring it out a bit more by the end but we couldn't get him to trot he just looked at me confused as to why I'd want him to trot around in a circle, going no where.

When the kids were done riding and their interest had turned to climbing on the hay bales, the dad decided he wanted to try and ride one of the horses bareback. So we got out a bridle and brought Axel into the ring. He jumped on up and rode around the ring on Axel. And Axel did so well, he really moved out and was pretty attentive. I'm definitely going to have to ride him bareback this winter (when there's soft snow to fall on). They also got the two moms up on Axel bareback. Axel didn't seem to mind walking in circles like Cody did. And all that concern Cody had for Axel while he was in the ring, Cody was no where to be found while we were playing with Axel, goofy horses.

So while the big kids were playing in the round pen the kids had decided that the horses needed some hay. Normally they get fed twice a day with both their grain and hay at those times. So hay in the middle of the day is kind of a treat. When we were done in the ring and came back into the barn, I peeked over the small barn door to see what was going on. There was a pile of hay so big you could barely open the door. The horses, of course, did mind and were in 7th heaven. When I left the barn and turned the corner there was another pile of hay that the rest of the horses were gorging themselves on. Those little kids probably carried a full bale if not more, piece by piece, out for the horses to eat. The horses were very pleased, but I imagine when they don't get hay for dinner tonight they might not be so happy!

After all the horsing around we all went inside for some hot chocolate and cookies. I've decided that my next birthday party might have to be out at the ranch too.

Zahr Retires in Style

So this isn't related to the boys but it is horse related. My favorite horse from WCR got to retire last night. I went out to see him moving into his new place. He's got a new girlfriend named Razzie and two young human friends to keep him in carrots and other treats.