Lady in Waiting

July 8

2009-07-08T20:56:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I worked with Rambler a little. I walked him around in the pasture, working on "woah" and staying out of my space. He has good breaks right now. He gave me a little fuss about picking up his front feet, but we quickly got over that. And no progress on the back feet. I tried standing him next to the fence, in the corner of the barn, nothing worked. He just walks in a circle, or forward, or even backward. I told Paul I'm gonna need him to help. Maybe if Paul holds him while I ask for the foot...I don't know. Won't hurt to try.

Then I put him out in the arena with the others. That was his first time in there, but he did great. Didn't test the fence or anything, just started grazing. *whew!*

I didn't work with Rambler today. I thought we could both use a little break from each other. Not that he's working hard, but still.

I rode Junior today! I takced him up (western) and rode - at a walk only - for about 15 minutes. I was very tempted to jog a little, but I restrained myself. He seemed fine, though he was kind of stiff at first. And I turned him in circles both directions, testing his hock. To the right, no problem, but to the left, I could tell it was bothering him a little. Not much, but I could tell. I guess cause to the left, he pushes off with that right hind? I don't know. But I'm thinking that may have just been where he hasn't done anything with weight on his back in so long... so we'll see. I'm just happy to have sat on him again. ( :

July 6 - big step!

2009-07-07T11:02:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I put Sunshine, Wiley, and Junior in the arena to eat grass so I could work with Rambler in peace. Thankfully, he wasn't too upset that they all left him, though THEY were pretty upset about it...silly horses!

I walked him around the pasture, working on stopping and backing out of my space. Worked on picking up his feet some, too. He's getting there with the back ones, its just slow going...

Then Paul came home so I decided to be brave. I took Rambler out of the pasture and into the open yard. He was a perfect gentleman. He looked at a few things, but wasn't bad at all. I even let him graze on the lead a little. Then Paul held him while I doctored up all his cuts, and he walked Rambler around and fed him treats and then put him back in the pasture. I was proud of how well-behaved Rambler was. ( :

I'm thinkin this weekend I'll start introducing him to a blanket and saddle....he's old enough so there's no need to wait too long. ( :

July 4 update

2009-07-05T18:31:00.003-04:00

Well, I was gonna post pictures of me ridin the barrel horse, but then I remembered that I put them up on my shutterfly site and facebook, so I think that's good enough!

Yesterday, Meredith brought her horse Blu over for a trail ride. I rode Sunshine barback, and of course she did great. We rode about 2 hours, until we were ready for lunch. So much fun to finally go on a trail ride with another person! It gets broing by myself. I'm hoping soon I'll have a full-time riding buddy...Paul said as soon as I got Junior goin again, he wanted to start riding. Yippee!!

I worked with Rambler a little yesterday. He's no trouble to catch as long as the other horses don't scare him off. They are SO mean to him. Yesterday morning I put a fly mask on him, and he flinched a little but was pretty good, considering he's never worn one before. I think he was grateful! I took it off to work him, and when I put it back on, he was still cool with it. This mornin, he wasn't so happy about it, but still not bad at all. Yesterday I successfully picked up one of his hind feet for a few seconds. Usually he walks around me when I ask for a hind foot. But he's getting it.. He joined up in like 3 minutes, too. He seems to really respect me now, and even like me. He's very sweet. I just have to be careful about the others. I haven't done anything with him today cause its been rainin on and off and we've been lazy. Slept most of the afternoon! Not that I feel guilty; we have so few lazy days.

I didn't get a chance to work with Junior at all this weekend, but that's okay. I really think the next time I get him out I'll put a saddle on him and walk. Once I get him back into shape, and if Paul's really serious about riding with me, I'll have to get him a new saddle. My english one doesn't fit him well, and I'm not sure the western one does either, but its a lot better and I use a much thicker pad with it.

July 3

2009-07-03T22:45:00.002-04:00

More Rambler updates. I worked with him yesterday and he did really well. I took him out of the round pen for a walk around the pasture, and at first he was fine. A little nervous, but fine. Then something really spooked him and he took off. Dragged the rope right out of my hands, gave me rope burns. Hurt like hell. Now I see why cowboys recommend wearing gloves when workin with youngsters! But Rambler was easy to catch, and good as gold - almost - after that. And he was better about me pickin up his back feet.

I worked him again this morning, briefly. I joined up with him, then praticed leading again, and stopping. He's got pretty good brakes, not wonderful but good. Better than he had. He backs well. So I decided to turn him out with the others. He's miserable in that pen all the time, and I felt bad for him. I took pics, which I'll post sometime this weekend. They ran and ran for a while, then settled down. Rambler ran into the fence once but when it shocked him he got right off. Sunshine hates him. Her and Junior have paired up, leaving Wiley and Rambler together. Only Rambler's not too sure he likes Wiley yet. Wiley will graze peacefully beside him, then suddenly run to him and attack. Its so funny to watch, but poor Rambler. And Sunshine doesn't like him gettin to close to her or Junior. And I couldn't take her fly mask off her tonight cause she kept runnin from me. Silly mare. I hope she calms down tomorrow, I'm supposed to go on a trail ride with my cousin.

This afternoon I went with my cousin to her boyfriend's house to barrel race. He competes, and she's getting into it a little, and she's been workin with her colt on it. I have never ridden a barrel racer before. I was nervous. They put me on a 25 year old who acted 4. He didn't do anything bad, but boy was he ready to GO! I held him back the whole time case I was scared. Next time I'm lettin him out! That was the most exhilerating thing I've done in forever. I was laughing and whoopin and hollerin the whole time. I'll post pics later, but they're funny to me. Everyone else who barrel races hunches all down in the saddle. Me, I look like I could be in an equitation class goin around the barrel. Its ingrained in me to sit up straight in a saddle, I can't sit any other way. So funny to see! ( :

July 1

2009-07-01T21:26:00.002-04:00

Well, Rambler is certainly interesting. Sunday, I brushed him a while and worked on the knots in his mane, then I had to trim up his mane and cut him a bridle path. He didn't mind any of that at all. He's cool with pickin up his front feet, but doesn't understand when I ask for the back ones. He walks in circles around me. We're working on that. I got him going in the round pen, wanted to Join Up with him like I did Wiley in the beginning, Monty Roberts-style. It took him a while. BUT he did it! Wiley has always been very submissive, at the bottom of the totem pole, and he was very happy to let me be in charge of him.

Rambler is used to being near the top of that pole, and he challenges me a lot. He's not mean at all, I can just tell he's having trouble giving up his position.

Monday, he joined up in about 15 minutes, still a lot longer than Wiley ever did, but I know every horse is different, and I was patient (yay for me!). He was really good on the lead rope after that, very responsive.

Yesterday, he joined up in less than 10 minutes! He was really good with leading around the round pen, so I decided to push it a little and walk him just a few steps out of the round pen. The other horses were in the other pasture, so I wasn't worried about them. At first, Rambler was fine, then he realized he wasn't confined anymore. He didn't do anything really bad, I could just feel the energy building up in him, and I got a little worried. After all, I haven't quite got him compeltely controlled yet - I don't know how his brakes are in a pinch. So I turned him back around to the gate, and he did not want to go in there. But he followed me - reluctantly - into the round pen. Then he turned around and reared up. Not at me, though. He reared away from me, like he wanted to get the rope out of my hands. Somehow, I didn't loose my cool and got him calmed down. Then sent him back to work! It didn't take him long to apologize for his behavior, and he was good as gold when I tried again in a few minutes. But again I could feel the energy building in him, and got him back in the round pen before he got out of control.

Today I didn't work with him because I felt like crap. I think I have a touch of a stomach bug or something. Anyway, when I got home the round pen was all messed up. Looked like someone had picked it up and moved it about 10 feet, then made one end pointy. Paul said Rambler did it tryin to get out, but dang. That thing is HEAVY! And none of the horses are hurt, miracurously (I know that's spelled way wrong). He wants me to go ahead and turn Rabler out with the others, but I don't quite trust him enough yet. I'm not sure he'd let me catch him and work with him if he was loose all the time right now. But we're building our relationship...

I also walked/ran with Junior yesterday. He seems to be doing just fine. I may ride him - briefly - this weekend, see how he goes with weight on his back again. And yesterday I rode Sunshine around the neighborhood a bit. I tried to ride her down this path that leads to some hog houses, but there were herds of cows on either side of the path, and they were goin CRAZY! I got worried that they'd come through the fence, so I turned around.

June 28 - Rambler

2009-06-28T17:50:00.005-04:00

First, I'll update on Junior. I've hand-walked/jogged him twice so far and he's still good. Yay! I may walk him again tonight, but I seriously doubt it; I'm very tired and I still have to work with Rambler.

Yep, we got a new horse yesterday! This is Paul's 4 year-old Mustang, Wiley's 1/2 brother. They remember each other, its so cute. They had to lassoe him yesterday to get the halter on him, and Paul's daddy brought him over here in a cattle trailer behind a tractor! haha. He's very calm, very loving, loves attention (and food!), but doesn't know anything. He leads, sort of. He's got a lot to learn, that's for sure! We got him yesterday before lunch but I didn't have time to do anything with him. I'm goin out there in a little while to see if he'll let me brush him. I think he's been brushed before, but I'm not sure.

Sunshine is actin like an absolute idiot now. She gets mad when the other 2 go over near Rambler, who's in the round pen for now (I have to be able to trust him enough to know I can catch him out in the pasture before I'll turn him loose). She kicks, bites, squeals, just acts silly. And she's ruined one of the panels in my round pen. And feeding time is such a pain. She HATES it cause Wiley eats in a pen next to Rambler's, and she runs all around and I waste SO much time tryin to get her away from Junior and Wiley and to her own feed pan. Hopefully this crap won't last much longer!

Anyway, here's Rambler. Ain't he cute?? I can't wait to see him in a few months when he's filled out more.

June 15

2009-06-15T19:32:00.002-04:00

I'm so bad about updating this thing. Let's see....I've been busy as usual! I lost 2 riding lesson students due to financial troubles, but I've still got 2. And possibly a 3rd soon. Sunshine is still doing awesome with all the inexperienced rides. I've been able to get on her occasionally and either school her or give her a nice relaxing trail ride, so that's good. I haven't ridden Wiley at all yet this month. I just haven't had time, and when I have, its been raining. But this class will be done with next Tuesday so I'll have more time for riding. Which is good because we're moving Rambler (Paul's horse, Wiley's 1/2 brother) up here next week I guess. He's barely halter broke and he's 4 years old. Fun.

Junior had his hock injection on Friday (June 12 for my records). What a procedure! So technical. It was about 90 degrees outside, but we had to go into our barn so be as sterile as possible. It was closer to 100 degrees in there I bet. We were all sweating like pigs. Paul had to help us. Junior was so sedated that he was leaning on a 45 degree angle the whole time almost! Scarey. I was holding the twitch on his nose and had to hold his head up so he didn't either fall or try to kick the vet. He didn't feel the first injection, but he felt the last 2. It was pretty quick, though. He had to stay confined in a 12x12 pen until this morning, and he was kinda pissy about that, but he's okay.

I turned him back out with the others this morning and the first thing he did was roll in the dirt! Then he walked down to the end of the pasture to eat grass, just ignored the hay I put out. He's a funny guy. I'm so happy, though, that he did so well with everything. Now I have to give him a week before I can start working him again. So next week hopefully I'll be able to tell if this worked!

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T19:18:00.002-04:00

Wow, I've had a busy - and productive - weekend. Days like these make me wish we were rich and I didn't have to have an actual job!

I rode Wiley this morning. He was GREAT. Paul was bushhogging the wood line right beside the arena, and Wiley wasn't too crazy about all the noise. AND the sprinkler was goin in the garden on the other side of the arena, and Wiley wasn't too crazy about that, either. But he didn't do anything about it. He just dealt with it. I was proud! We worked on the same stuff we've been at all week, then I decided to try the canter again. It wasn't working, so I stopped and got my crop. Bingo! He just needed a little encouragement, I guess.

He has an AWESOME canter! He got kinda crazy at it, though, so we've got some work to do. He just got excited, I think, and kind of forgot to listen to me tryin to steer him. But he wasn't unmanageable. I think he was proud of himself. lol. I was proud of US. And did I mention he has a great canter? ( :

May 23

2009-05-23T10:36:00.002-04:00

Things are going well. I rode Sunshine on Tuesday, worked on getting her soft again. Its so hard to keep her soft in the mouth when so many beginners ride her and I don't ride her myself often. But she remembers. I try to ride her myself once or twice a week, keep her tuned up and keep her happy. I think its nice for her to be ridden by someone who doesn't bounce all around on her back sometimes! She's getting to be in such good shape, even though none of my students are cantering yet. When I ride her I usually canter her around the corn field after we work in the arena. Nothing's better than feeling your horse running under you, wind in your face. And on my own land!

Wiley has been doin really well, too. I rode him on Thursday and he was SO much better about slowing down. Usually he races around the arena but he's finally learned to listen to my seat and go slower. I started workin on him giving to the bit. I realize I should have already accomplished this, but remember this is my first time! He's so smart. I also tried to canter him again Thursday. He is totally clueless, though. I could see the wheels workin in his brain, but he just didn't know what I wanted. The only way I can think of is to teach him on the lunge first. But I hate lunging. I plan on working on that this coming week.

I rode him this morning and he was really good again. I did a lot of variations in speed at the trot, and he listened so well. I was proud.

I'm hoping tomorrow I can ride him and Paul can get some pics of us together. I have no idea what I look like on him in the english saddle. Maybe I can even persuade him to get a video so I can see him moving...! ( :

May 17

2009-05-17T20:10:00.002-04:00

Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated this thing since the beginning of the month. Sorry. Okay, quick rundown...Junior was diagnosed with advanced degenerative joint disease in his right hock only, caused by an OCD lesion in there. Poor thing. Wait, did I already type all this? Feels like I did...anyway...I've started him on Cosequin daily, and he's gonna have a joint injection. We're tryin to figure out when. The vet called on Friday and wants to do it on Memorial Day but I've already got plans to go to Pepperwood (!) for the day. So I'll have to talk to her more tomorrow. Hopefully she'll just do it on a Saturday, that way I'll be able to watch him for most of the 2 days he'll have to be confined afterwards. But otherwise, he's fine. Doesn't act like his joint is fallin apart!

Wiley has been a mess lately. I haven't been ridin him because the last two times I tried it was awful. He was spooky and totally ignored everything I did. So I've been doin nothin but groundwork for weeks with him. Friday, I finally decided to ride him in the new english saddle. He was GREAT! We did groundwork first and he was fine. All I did was walk/trot, and not much of that, but it was nice to actually not feel like I was gonna die on him. lol.

I rode him again yesterday morning and he was great again. I pushed him a little harder, a little longer at the trot. I have to work on rating him. He likes to go his own speed, really really fast then barely moving. Its annoying. But I'll work on it. I'm just happy he's not tryin to kill me!!

Of course, now I'm about to start summer class, so I'll be dreadfully busy for the next 5 weeks. And then I think we're movin Paul's horse - Wiley's 1/2 brother - up here. And he is totally untrained. So that'll be a big project. But I can do it. ( :

I'm lookin forward to goin up to Pepperwood for the day! Crystal says I can ride some of the dressage horses. I'm skeptical, but hopeful. Hopefully I can learn somethin that day...if not, at least I'll be immersed in dressage for a few hours! No one around here even knows what dressage is.... *sigh*

Junior

2009-05-01T22:18:00.002-04:00

Well, the vet came out today to do a lameness exam on Junior. First, she put the hoof testers on him. No problems there. Then, she did a flexion test. He was fine on both front legs and his left hind fetlock. His left hock was "a little positive" she said. And his right hind fetlock and hock were very positive. :(

After that I lunged him for her and she could easily see how lame he is in his right hind. Then she lunged him so I could see. Once she pointed out to me, it was SO obvious. I knew somethin was goin on back there, and you can feel it on his back, but I didn't know what I was lookin for exactly. I have zero experience with lameness until now. So she took x-rays of both hocks and his right fetlock (which was kind of difficult because I only have 2 outlets outside and one was inaccessible due to the flower bed (!) and the other was less than ideal because we had nothing to tie Junior to there and it took the 2 of us to work the film and machine!).

She's going to develop the films tomorrow morning and call me, but she suspects arthritis. Which really sucks. Junior is only 12 years old. She said no matter what, she wants him on Cosequin Optimize for at least 3 months. OMG do you know how expensive that stuff is?!? THEN, if the x-rays show arthritis, she's recommending Legend injections. I think she said one injection every 7-10 days for...several weeks I believe. Legend is insanely expensive, too. I'm getting depressed.

I'm glad we're thisclose to knowin what's wrong with Junior finally, but dang this is gonna be expensive. And of course, there's no guarantee that I'll even be able to ride him again, which really sucks. I asked the vet what if the x-rays are clean. She said she didn't know. She's pretty sure arthritis is the problem, and that's why he's been sore other places, cause he's so tense and holding himself in ways to protect his bad leg. Poor baby. :( At least if nothing else, he'll finally have some relief from his pain, even if I can't ever ride him again. But why does it have to be so darned expensive??!

wiley again

2009-04-26T20:38:00.002-04:00

Well, today we went to the local tack shop. It was a real treat for me cause I hardly ever go to tacks shops any more. There is only one real one around here, and its a right good drive. I wanted to buy a new saddle for Wiley because the one I've been using is Paul's mother's and I need to give it back. Plus its not very comfortable, and Wiley is outgrowin it, and I want to ride him english, not western. I also wanted to get a new bridle for him because he is fast outgrowin his and I wanted one with a noseband.

So anyway, the tack store around here caters mainly to barrel racers and trail riders. Lots of barrel racers in this area. They just started stockin english stuff a few years ago, and most of the time its used stuff. Today they didn't have any new saddles. But that was fine with me, I don't mind used. I found a decent-lookin hunt seat saddle that looked like it would fit Wiley okay. (The shop owner is good about lettin you bring back stuff if it don't work out, so I wasn't worried.) I got it (and it came with stirrups and leathers), a brand-new bridle, and an almost-new (doesn't even look worn but it didn't have tags) girth for $100. Pretty good, eh? The saddle is in good condition. You can tell its used, like the flaps are scuffed up some but the billets are in good shape and it doesn't look awful or unsafe. I'm not planning on showing any time soon, at least not on Wiley, so it was fine for me.

Thankfully, it actually fits him pretty good. I'll have to ride in it to know for sure, but on the ground its good. The girth is almost too small so I'll have to get a bigger one soon, but for now we can deal. And the bridle fits perfect! Wiley looks so CUTE english! Now if I can just get him to act halfway decent...!

Tonight at feeding time I went out there with the buckets as usual. Sunshine and Junior went to their feed bowls as usual and waited for me. Wiley USUALLY goes to his bowl in the round pen (where he's been eatin at since I got him) but not tonight. He didn't act scared, he acted like he didn't know he was supposed to eat in there. He would NOT go in there. I finally gave up and fed the other two, but I had to guard Junior because he will let Wiley steal his food. Wiley wouldn't let me herd him in there, and wouldn't let me get near him so I said to heck with it and he just didn't get supper. He just got hay with everyone else. Later he was pawin at the round pen tryin to get to his food but I had locked the door. Maybe he'll learn to behave! Crazy colt. I wasn't too worried about him not eatin, though, since they were out in the ridin arena eatin grass for several hours today.

Well that's enough ramblin for tonight! ( :

never a dull moment

2009-04-25T21:29:00.002-04:00

Well, as usual, a lot has been goin on. I now have 2 lesson kids - yeah! I had a woman stop by last Saturday and was interested for her son but I haven't heard from her again. People just don't want to pay the $$ around here. But 2's good. Sunshine is doin great for the kids. I'm so proud of her. I was NOT proud of her today when I gave her a bath - she acted ridiculous. I forgot how much she hates to be sprayed with water. She's gotta get over that. You'd think after all this time she'd be cool with it.

Junior has gotten worse. The new vet is comin out next Friday to do an exam on him. She said at her last visit (just to do shots) that she suspected his problem was in his hocks. After the farrier came out last Friday, I am leaning towards agreeing with her. Junior did not want to pick his feet up to put them on the stand to be rasped, but only the back feet, and it was worse on the right side. And we tested his back and it was really sore. :( But out in the pasture he's totally fine.

Wiley...oh Wiley. I've about had it with him lately. After that disastrous ride on Easter, I haven't tried to ride him. I went back to ground work. I did ground work with him several times, and he was doin really well. His ground manners are pretty awesome right now. BUT he's so scared of everything. I have tried and tried to despook him and he's just a wuss. Even out in the pasture he jumps at every little noise.

Anyway, since he'd been bein so good on the ground, yesterday I decided to ride him after some initial ground work. I got on him and walked around in the area that is as of this morning my new riding arena (!) and when we got close to the house, he freaked out. Nothing had changed since the night before when he was out there, it wasn't even really windy last night. So, tryin not to have a repeat of Easter, I got off him and walked him around, showed him that there was no monsters around, and did some more ground work with him. That's when he started showin his tail.

I wanted him to go in a circle around me, not really lunging since I just had the lead rope, just move away from me and be a big boy. He did fine one direction, but the other he just broke down. Would NOT go and when I pressured him, he reared up at me! He's NEVER done that before. I worked and worked with him for over an hour. He and I both were sweatin like crazy, and I was feelin light headed, but I finally got him to do it so I stopped for the night. While I was coolin him out I noticed his left eye was swollen almost shut. At first I thought maybe the end of the lead rope had popped him and hurt his eye, but I only popped his shoulder, not his head. Then I put two and two together and figured out that was why he didn't want to go that direction, cause he couldn't see out of that eye. I felt really bad until I remembered him rearin up at me. That is unacceptable, no matter how your eye is. I guess he didn't know another way to try to tellme, though.

Anyway, I called the vet and had to drive to her house (almost 30 minutes) to pick up some eye ointment and Banamine paste. I flushed his eye out with saline, put the ointment in there, and wouldn't you know this mornin its totally fine??! I'm still doin everything she said, just as a precautionary, but I think he's fine. I have no idea what it could have been, but I'm so glad it wasn't anything serious.

I'm gonna let him chill probably tomorrow, but Monday its back to work! I think tomorrow I'm gonna try to find him a saddle and bridle. I think I want to start ridin him english, but my saddle is too big for him.

Oh yes, this mornin Paul and I got up super early so we could get my riding arena fence up before he had to open Thornton Nursery at 7:30. We got it done except for the gate, which we finished tonight. I think it looks great. I'll post pics tomorrow if I remember. We put up one strand of white poly rope and 2 strands of white poly tape (we would have used all poly tape but we didn't think we'd have enough to go around 3 times, but it turned out that we did so we may decide to do that top strand over with tape). It looks very neat and tidy, and very visible, which is what I wanted. I'm happy with it. I've never had my own actual riding arena. And as a bonus I'm gonna use it as another turn-our for the horses. ( :

sigh

2009-04-12T18:37:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter. Easter is a big deal, and I am so grateful that Jesus died for me, and I'm in awe that He then rose from the dead. Its awesome. But right now I'm having trouble being enthused.

I've not had the best of days, and earlier this afternoon I decided to ride Wiley, thinking that would help my mood some. Oh, no. It was the worst ride I've ever had on him. Granted, I haven't ridden him in 2 weeks (since we cantered), but that's not anything unusual for him, and time off doesn't usually bother him. He was extremely spooky, wouldn't listen to me, even ran away with me a few times - not far, but still. I got off him once and lunged him in the round pen for a few minutes, and that seemed to help some. Then I got back on him and he just found another issue. I was so frustrated, and then he got frustrated and his brain completely shut down. When he gets like that (and I get like that), we just need a breather and usually we're fine. Not today. It just kept gettin worse.

He was havin a lot of trouble with this one spot. Not sure why, its a spot that he can see easily from the pasture, nothing scary there, just a water trough. But today, it was a big monster. I got off him and lead him up to it a few times and he was totally fine, but as soon as I got on him again, he freaked out over it. I don't know what was going on. I'm sure some of the problem was I was beyond frustrated at that point. I usually have a lot of patience with Wiley (and other horses), but today I had to put him up before I totally lost it. :(

I put him up, then thought about it and got him back out. I didn't have the energy to get on him, though, so I just worked with him on some ground stuff. Just to make sure he understood that I'm still the alpha around here. He's totally fine on the ground, its the under saddle stuff where we have issues. Today, at least. Oh well, I guess every ride can't be a good one, right?

So now I'm chillin in the house, drinkin a small glass of wine and waitin to go eat supper at Grandma's. Maybe the rest of the evening will be better.

brief update

2009-04-02T19:48:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm gettin sick again. I've got all the early symptoms of a sinus infection. I'm tryin my best to stop it, but I have a feelin its here to stay a while. :( I'm supposed to go to a horse clinic with Mary-Marshall on Saturday in Stokesdale, but I doubt I'll make it. Usually when I start feelin like I have today, within 2-3 days I'm absolutely miserable. And of course I'll be sick over this beautiful weekend we're supposed to have. Anyway.

Yesterday, I felt fine so I decided to work with Junior some more. I took him on a 20 minute walk. Not with me on him, I walked beside him. We walked down the road to this path that goes to a hog farm. I got some strange looks! I had fun, though. He always matches his pace with mine. I can walk realllly slow and he'll drag his feet, and if I walk really fast or skip, he'll jog with me. Anyway, we took it easy, just alternated walking and jogging, nothing major. When we got back, I palpated his back and he was fine except for behind his right shoulder - right where the saddle would sit. I don't get it. (I palpated his back before the walk and he had no sore spots.) What gives? How can a horse be "saddle sore" if he doesn't wear a saddle?!?

Sunshine has really been tickin me off lately. Sunday, I put them all out in the other pasture for a few hours to eat grass, and when I went to get them, she ran from me. For an HOUR. I could have killed her! She was good on Monday for my lesson kid, and then yesterday after I walked Junior I was gonna let them all eat grass in the yard (like I do almost every day). Sunshine wouldn't let me catch her again. So I just let the boys eat, and she paced the fence. Oh well. Maybe she'll learn that she canNOT act like that!

woohoo!

2009-03-24T19:25:00.002-04:00

Today was a very successful day for me. I rode Wiley and he was really fast, especially at the trot, but good. We gotta work on slowing down. He listens to my seat really well at the sitting trot, but not when I post. I guess me moving around makes him nervous, even though I'm pretty smooth about it. I decided that today would be the day I tried to canter him. I know I said before that I would introduce him to the canter cue on the lunge, but I just don't lunge him much any more. I wanted to wean him away from havin to be lunged before every ride, and I have. I hate lunging, so I try to avoid it.

Anyway. We were trotting along and I just asked for the canter like I would a normal horse. I think I said the word too, but I can't remember. He picked it right up! He was the SMOOTHEST canter, too! I didn't keep him in it long, because he got a little nervous and was tossing his head. I didn't want him to freak out. So after a few minutes, I got him back to the trot and asked for the cnater again. I guess the first time was a fluke cause this time he stopped dead. LoL. After about 3 more attemps (where each time he just slammed on breaks!) he finally picked it up. I quit after he cantered a few strides. I was so proud! I probably should have made him keep goin, but I was so excited that he actually DID it and his canter is AWESOME that I just had to stop and praise him. I love that colt. There is no way I can ever sell him.

I lunged Junior for anohter 5 minutes yesterday. He still looks good! I'm gonna slowly increase his time and hopefully eventually get on his back, but he needs to build muscle first so at least ONE of my saddles will fit him.

beautiful day

2009-03-22T18:40:00.002-04:00

The day is drawing to a close, and I'm sad about that. I've had such a great day. Paul and I slept in a little this morning (8), had a great breakfast, went to church, ate with my family, and we've been just together most of the day.

I even got him to ride with me!! He rode Sunshine and I rode Wiley. We stayed in the pasture for a while until I was pretty sure Wiley would be okay riding with someone else - it was his first time. Then we decided to go into the field next to our land. We rode all around it - Wiley's first time really out of the yard or pasture, ever. He was pretty good, but I discovered that he does NOT like to be in the back. And he walks REALLY fast. It was annoying, but he wasn't really bad. He got upset with me a few times when I argued about him wanting to lead. When we got back I decided to teach him that just because we're back from a trail ride it doesn't mean he's done for the day - I don't want him to start rushing home. So I worked him in the pasture a little. He was really good. I trotted him all around, over trot poles (for the first time). I guess it was a day of firsts. His steering is getting a LOT better, too. I'm happy with our progress. I think next time I'm gonna work up the nerve to canter. I was gonna do it today but while I was working Wiley, Paul decided to ride Sunshine down the driveway and over to the field and Junior couldn't see her anymore and freaked out. He was running back and forth down the pasture, and it kinda upset Wiley, naturally. So I called it a day after I got him calmed down. All in all, a great ride. And I was happy that Paul was with me. ( :

I lunged Junior yesterday for about 5 minutes and he looked GREAT. Springy trot (haven't seen that in a while!) and even canter. I didn't ask for the canter, but he did so I let him for a few seconds. I was so happy with how he looked. And he seems to be fine today. I'm gonna lunge him again tomorrow and hopefully several times this week.

Oh! I almost forgot about my lesson kid yesterday. Man. She's apparently had about 8 months of instruction, but you can't tell. I've decided to basically start over with this one. She has pretty good natural balance, and is good about keeping her heels down most of the time. But that's about it. She knows how to post, but she has to hold the saddle, and she can't steer when she's posting. And she doesn't really know how to stop trotting. After 8 months, my student better know how to post the trot without holding on AND steer! So I have a lot of work to do, but its good. Sunshine was pretty good for her, not great but okay. She tested the poor kid. She has a bad habit with kids of trying to pull the reins out of their fingers. I don't know how to stop her because she doesn't do it with me. She just knows they'll let her do it. I put her on the lunge and that helped, but I don't want to have Sunshine on the lunge all the time, its not good for her back. Anyway. I do love a challenge!

whoops!

2009-03-18T20:25:00.003-04:00

So I kind of forgot about my blog for a while there. Sorry. I've had so much going on. As usual!

Being married is great, we finally have our rythm down, our schedule or whatever. Its good. Paul's very helpful around the house, with is nice. He hasn't learned to wash clothes yet, but that's okay. He does a lot around here.

My cat, Jordan, finally settled down and he seems to love being an "only child." He's asleep on Paul's lap right now. ( :

My horses are doin pretty well. The vet came out last Friday and gave them shots. Junior and Sunshine both had reactions to the West Nile/EWT one, but they're better now. We didn't do anything with Junior because it was raining and I was worried he'd slip in the wet grass. But his back has been a LOT better lately. I can brush him and press all over his back and he's fine. The new vet (who I love, by the way!) suggested I start working with him a little and see how he goes. She said to pay close attention to his hocks. She's thinkin that may be the culprit here, and he's overcompensating in the rest of his body for a problem in the hocks. Makes sense to me, but we'll see. I started riding Sunshine last weekend and at the beginning of last week, but I felt awful the rest of the week. I think I was fighting some stomach bug that's goin around here. I finally got better and then it rained for 4 days! The pastures are basically swamps right now, and the cows are out where my riding arena is supposed to be. So I'm limited on where I can ride until the ground dries a little. And I have a lesson kid comin on Saturday! I gotta get crackin. Sunshine's so out of shape. Luckily, I've never seen this kid ride so we won't be doin much on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure she's a beginner.

I did a dumb thing today. I groomed all the horses while they were grazing in the other pasture, then I was feeding them treats after I put them up in their own pasture. For some reason I got my finger in Sunshine's mouth and couldn't get it out and she bit down HARD on it! I screamed it hurt so bad. Broke the skin - actually, it tore a hunk of skin and meat off! It was numb until a while ago, now it just hurts and that raw meat is sensitive to everything, of course. Stupid me! THAT'S why you give horses treats with a flat hand, kids!

Today I worked with Wiley in the trailer. He loads great with me, but I wanted to teach him to self-load. He was doing it in about 5 minutes. Maybe less. That colt is so darned smart!! I love him. ( :

married

2009-02-26T21:08:00.002-05:00

Well, we're back from the honeymoon. We've been busy as bees since we returned. We are still in the getting organized stage. I think we'll be here a while!

Today we moved my horses over. They were all great. Wiley loaded up on the first try! I love that colt. They seem to be settled in pretty well. I'm about to go check on them one last time for the night. I'd love to hop on Sunshine tomorrow and ride around the fields, just for fun. ( :

Charleston was great. We were very tired the whole time, though. We walked everywhere we went pretty much. And then we took random walks throughout the day. Yesterday after breakfast at the hotel we walked for around an hour through downtown. We toured a historic home, visited 2 plantations, took a carriage ride, did a ghost tour (where we went to the city's oldest graveyard - 1600s! - after dark!), and ate a LOT of seafood. And took 350-something pictures. Which I am in the process of uploading now. Hopefully I'll get them on my Shutterfly site tomorrow. And hopefully I can get some wedding pics from people soon. I didn't take any with my camera, so I'm waiting on people. My photographer said it would be about 4 weeks before hers were done. But she usually finishes before she says.

My new vet was supposed to come tomorrow, but we've been playing phone tag for a while now so Im' not really sure. I called her last Thursday I believe, and she hasn't returned my call yet. I forgot to call her today, we were so busy. So hopefully I can get up with her in the morning and see what's going on...my babies are due for their shots and I want her to examine Junior. ASAP. I had a guy at church a few Sundays ago ask me about riding lessons for his daughter.

Oh! And my old client has asked me to start working on her mare again soon. I'm excited about that. I gotta get in shape, though. I have done virtually NO riding this winter. But that's about to change!! ( :

2009-02-21T22:43:00.002-05:00

i'm married!! wedding was beautiful, perfect, couldn't have asked for better. charleston SC tomorrow!!! ( :

countdown - 8 days!

2009-02-13T22:35:00.002-05:00

Wow, we're almost there. The wedding rehearsal was tonight. (Yes, I know, rehearsals are traditionally held the night before the wedding, but I think that's a stupid tradition!) It went pretty well. The preachers were getting ill at us because we were all hyper and acting silly, but it was okay. I figure we need to get it all out BEFORE the actual wedding! The best part about tonight was that we didn't have any major meltdowns or any big problems. And Mama was in a good mood and was very...nonargumentative. For once. ha. And I got to wear my sexy little red dress. (I love dressing up!)

Things have obviously been hectic my way lately. Getting crazier the closer we get to the 21st. I think I'm doin pretty good, though. A lot of brides would have lost their cool by now and turned into Bridezilla, but I don't think I'm there. I still have friends, at least! I've just removed myself as much as possible from the whole event. So has Paul. We were telling the wedding director tonight that we don't really have any opinions anymore because nothing we wanted is happening, and everything we didn't want IS happening. So we're like "whatever." Whatever. In 8 days I'll be married and starting a new life with Paul. That's all that matters.

**********

I rode Wiley last weekend. First time in several weeks. He was really really good. We trotted all around the pasture. No major issues. I think I'm gonna hold off on the cantering until we get settled into our new place. No need in me breaking any bones before the wedding! Nah, I don't really think it'll be a problem. I'm just not mentally ready for that next step. But I'm getting there.

I'm giving Sunshine a few more weeks off, hoping she'll put some weight back on. The last time I rode her bareback (for like 10 minutes) her spine was hurting me it was so bony. I guess those few really cold days really took a lot out of her. I've switched them all back to pellets again. Well, they're still getting about 2 cups of sunflower seeds a day, and beet pulp, so really I've just added pellets. They've already picked up a little weight.

The new vet is coming out the Friday after the wedding. (We'll be back from the honeymoon on Wednesday.) I sent her a very detailed history of Junior and she seems pretty interested in trying to help us. She said she had some ideas of things for us to try. And she may want to do x-rays, which I've been wanting all along. The past few days Junior hasn't been so sore, but just last week he was awful. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon.

Well that's all for now. Going to go put the pics from tonight up on Shutterfly. ( :

countdown - 3 weeks

2009-01-31T22:07:00.002-05:00

Well, Sunshine's colic episode was over last Thursday, thank God. Knock on wood, she is now fine. I went out that weekend and bought a de-icer for the water tank, but of course, neither Sunshine or Junior will even TOUCH that tank now. They'll only drink out of the little waterer. Wiley has no problem with it, though. I swear, they drive me crazy. I just hope they'll come to their senses when it gets cold later this week and drink the nice warm water!

I've been giving them extra EXTRA beet pulp with extra water, 3 times a day - morning, evening, and late at night before I go to bed. And I've put Sunshine and Junior on corn oil. Its expensive as all get out, but maybe it'll keep things lubed up.

Thursday, Paul brought over another load of hay. Hopefully I'll have enough to last us until we move them after the honeymoon. We couldn't get the truck into the pen like we normally do (Daddy had to move the waterer so we could hook the de-icer up, and had to put up a pole right in the way), so I had to walk 30 bales from the gate to the barn, which is not a short distance, and half of the way is a swamp. Luckily Paul helped me, but I still ended up making 8 or so trips with 2 bales each time. I got my feet stuck several times in the mud. I kept saying "I love my horses, I love my horses...!" My arms are STILL sore from that one.

Paul's stupid bull broke the water spigot in front of our new barn on Friday, and the whole place was flooded by the time Paul got off work. So now the horse pasture is even more of a swamp than usual. Good thing they're already used to a lot of mud, cause they ain't gettin out of it.

My new vet is opening this week. I can't wait for her to start workin on Junior, even though I have no idea how I'm gonna pay for it. I just hope she can figure out what's wrong with him, and tell me how to fix it.

Wedding countown: 3 weeks. I'll be SO glad when its over. Mama is seriously driving me crazy. The other day she told me I was ungrateful because I'm not having the song she wanted sung during the wedding. And then her AND Daddy got mad at me because I told them that I didn't care what color napkins they bought! How ridiculous, right? Like I don't have enough on my plate to worry about NAPKINS that people will use to wipe their faces and then THROW AWAY!! Ugh. SO sick of wedding crap. 3 weeks...

colic update

2009-01-22T19:12:00.002-05:00

Well, Sunshine was totally fine by the time I fed last night. I gave her the usual ration of beet pulp, but gave her 1/2 the amount of BOSS, just to be safe. And extra water in the beet pulp. At midnight I went back out there with warm beet pulp with lots of water for them all. All was well.

This morning, everything was still fine. After work I went out to feed, and Sunshine was acting fine, hungry and ill like she usually is at feeding time. I have her her normal amount of feed, and went to get hay for them, when I heard her kick her feed pan. I turned around and she was on the ground. Not rolling, just down. NOT normal. I rushed over to her, she got up, walked a few feet, then went down again. I took her out, listened to her gut (minimal sounds on the left side again, good sounds on the right), took her temperature (98), walked her a few minutes. She's not dehydrated, and the water bucket was almost empty, so they've been drinking today. She started trying to eat grass, so I put her out in the pasture with some hay and watched her. Offered her fresh beet pulp with warm water and she wasn't interested. After a few minutes of eating hay, she layed down in it, but still not rolling. I called the vet, he said to give her another shot of Banamine and let her have hay. That was at 6:15. So far she's fine. I just hope its as easy as it was yesterday: give her drugs, and she gets over it.

But my luck it'll be more serious. Mama said we're cursed. I think she's right. I take GOOD care of my horses, way better than anyone else around here. The only thing more I could do is have orchardgrass or timothy hay or something shipped in, and I just can't afford it. They're on an all-roughage diet, how much better can it get for a horse? They're not locked up in stalls, ever, they have roomy pastures, plenty of water, shelter. And they still get sick. After you loose 3 to colic, you start to think you're just cursed. Especially when the vet tells you that you're doing everything you can to prevent colic. I've gotta get them out of here.

The good news is the barn will be done by Saturday, maybe even tomorrow. So hopefully we'll be moving this weekend. Of course, that'll probably start another round of colic, with the stress of the new place. If Sunshine even makes it to that point, that is. Who knows right now. I just hope that now that the weather's getting warm again, she'll be fine. Pray that she will.

snow days

2009-01-21T11:22:00.011-05:00

Well, today and yesterday have certainly been interesting, to say the least. Yesterday, of course, it snowed all day. I didn't go to work cause I was scared I'd get stuck there. And I probably would have. One of my bosses and one coworker made it in, and they were swamped with birds, but I didn't really fel bad. I hate that place and I so needed a break from it. So, I spent most of the day with Paul. Well, I had woken up at 7 as usual, stayed up until 8 until it was clear that we didn't have to go to work, then slept until 11. Lazy, I know. But I needed that. Paul came and got me after lunch and we spent most of the afternoon working on the house. Well, I was mostly working on wedding stuff. We hung the wonderful deer head in the living room (thankfully, it didn't fit over the mantle, where my bridal portrait will go!) - yay:

Then we decided to go to WalMart. We had several gifts to return and needed some essentials for the house. We returned $182 worth and turned around and spent $172! That was quite the experience. WalMart employees didn't go to work, either, and there were 15 employees there (we know because the hateful woman who rang us up told us, rather rudely). I spent the rest of the evening working on thank-you notes for the shower on Sunday. And I am so proud of myself: they're all done except for one! ( :

Today I knew the roads would be bad, so I had decided I woudln't go to work until 10 or 11. Called a coworker at 7:30 to make sure I wouldn't be the only one late, then went back to sleep for a while. Paul said the roads were horrible, and I should stay home. Then my boss called and said she wasn't opening the lab today because of the icy roads. So I prepared to spend a quiet day here, had plans of hopping on Sunshine for some snow pictures.

Sunshine had other plans. I went out there to pick out there feet (I read somewhere that you should get the ice out of there because it can cause abcess or something like that). Sunshine had a humongous block of ice stuck to one foot, and I had to get some hot water and melt it off! Then I noticed she wasn't acting quite right. She's trying to colic. I called my boss and told her I wouldn't be in after all (they had called back and said the lab was open and to come in when and if we could).

I'm assuming Sunshine has not been drinking enough water. Even though I've been giving them all extra watery beet pulp, and they've been getting it 3 times a day since it's been so cold. Obviously that's not enough. I'm going to look into getting a water heater for them. Anyway, I've been squirting syringe-fulls of water into her mouth, and I gave her a shot of Banamine (she kept looking at her side, and I coudln't hear much gut sounds) and walked her a few miuntes. She's pretty calm, though. I put her blanket on, too. Figured it coudln't hurt, and I don't want her wasting energy tryin to stay warm. So after a while I put her back in the pasture. She's just standing there. I've moved my laptop to the kitchen so I can watch her out the window, but she hasn't moved for the past hour. As long as she doesn't try to roll, I'm gonna leave her alone and just keep an eye on her. And make her drink more water periodically. We'll see how she is around 2 when the banamine wears off. My horses...! Oh, wait she's moving. No worries, just changing positions.

I really don't know what else to do for my horses. They are getting BOSS and beet pulp, which according to my vet is a great diet - nothing but roughage basically. They don't have grass right now, but that will be changing soon. They get good hay, the best I can afford. Its just a coastal grass, but I can't afford to ship in anything better. I guess at this point the only thing more I can do is heat the water so they'll want to drink more. *sigh*

On a happier note, here's a few pics I've taken in the snow:

As you can see, Junior wouldn't pose for me like the other 2 did. And as you can see, Wiley would not leave Sunshine alone yesterday. They were so cute.

who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

2009-01-19T18:16:00.003-05:00

So its supposed to snow tonight. Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, snow is cool and all, and we hardly ever see it, but man does it create problems! If the roads get even a little bad (and they probably will), I won't be able to drive my car - it canNOT handle even a lot of rain, much less snow and slush. So maybe no work for me tomorrow. Which will be nice until I get my paycheck for the week! Anyway.

Every night after work last week, Paul and I worked on the house. We got the kitchen finished, cleaned, and decorated with time to spare. It was hard work, but it paid off. Saturday was my lingerie shower, and it was so much fun. I think we had around 20 women and girls here. We went through 2 bottles of wine and a lot of food. I got a lot of really nice lingerie and pajamas, and a Victoria's Secret gift card. 8 of us went out to eat afterwards and had a ball. That was the perfect bachelorette night for me. (Except for when our waiter asked me if I was marrying a girl or a guy! Umm...do I look like I'd marry a girl?!)

Anyway, the church shower was yesterday, and although it rained and was freezing, a lot of people showed up and we got a LOT of presents! Mama and my aunts did a great job, everything was beautiful and the food was delicious. So far, we've been lucky with the gifts - we haven't had to return but 4 or 5 things, and all of that was duplicate items. From yesterday's shower, we'll have to return around 15 things, but that's still not bad. People just don't understand how to take things off our register I guess. We got 4 toaster ovens! But its all good. We've almost got everything we need now.

Paul says hopefully he'll have my barn done by this weekend, and I'm thinking of moving the horses here Sunday or maybe Saturday. We'll see. It might be next weekend. I'm not in a rush, but now that its almost ready I sure am excited! And totally ready to move out on my own for a while.

At first, I was scared to even come up here to our house alone - its way off the road, no immediate neighbors, surrounded by fields and woods, and there are lots of coyotes that come around. But I've been spending so much time here lately without Paul (I usually get here bfore he does, like tonight) that now I think I could actually spend the night alone. Its not so scarey. ( :

As far as my horses goes...yeah, I haven't ridden in a while. Last weekend I think I rode, but I can't remember. There's just always so much to do, and then its dark. But it'll calm down soon...

(Crystal, if you're reading this please e-mail me, I need your address!)