Contemplating this changing world

It has been a bit since I posted, because I am trying to figure out which direction my journey with horses is going given the current world situation. Economic collapse, social upheaval and persecution… it's enough to make your head swim. 

How can I justify breeding more horses if there are no buyers and I don't have a huge ranch to let them live out their lives? 

So far, I have one concrete decision- I will not be breeding the mares back next spring. These 2 foals on their way may well be the last Beamer babies to be born. He will be 20 next year, and his arthritis while seeming to be at bay, has now started to appear in his other knee. I have no idea how long he will be sound and happy. So it is one season at a time with him. 

My mares have some age on them- 17, 18 and 19 next year. I may try to rehome the 2 broodmares and just have Gussie to ride and Moondance to be my replacement riding horse when he is old enough.

Gussie's health is an issue; she has fecal water syndrome and I am thinking it is because of a hind gut issue related to fresh grass and what little alfalfa is in the hay I have- she has always been sensitive to both fresh grass and alfalfa. I wasn't able to buy straight grass this year. This issue has caused another issue with her- a heavy vaginal discharge which is probably because of the fecal water entering via the vulva. I'm pretty sure she is no longer pregnant to Drifter. A blessing in disguise.

That is 2 days from the last butt wash I gave her. Poor Gussie... I have to braid her tail otherwise it gets really dirty. I sure hope it goes away soon. It seems to come in cycles, has been going on since spring so I am wondering if it is related to her heat cycles too.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying a warm November- it is the nicest November we have had in a while- our grass is still green and growing and to my surprise my magnolia bush decided to start budding out. I hope it will be ok next spring. 

It was such a nice day that I saddled up the ole red mare and ponied Moondance. 

Off to the river we went- Moondance didn't want to go in at first but finally I tricked him into it and he was fine. 

 Lovely setting sun highlighting Gussies carrot top mane

The river still runs clear, not a hint of ice now. But with December almost upon us I expect that will change soon.

Riding day 54

Happy happy

One of the good things that has happened this year is that Beamer's soundness has improved. He is no longer foot sore, and his arthritic knee seems to be holding it's own, no further advancement in the calcification. The biggest improvement came when I started him on Protandim, aka the Little Yellow Pill aka Nrf2. Literally within 2 days there was a marked improvement. Before that I was trying Prevacox- and y'all know how much I distrust pharmaceuticals; but I was at the point that something needed to change. 2 weeks of that treatment did absolutely nothing, so I switched to Protandim. I had been taking it myself for a couple of months and was pleased with how it helped my overall wellbeing, so figured I had nothing to lose.  I am so glad I switched! Other than Protandim he also gets 2 ounces of Camelina oil on his morning feed, and as a topical dressing on his knee I mix 4 drops of Clove essential oil with about 2 times as much of my homemade sticky bud oil. (The sticky buds of poplar trees mixed with Camelina oil or olive oil for a couple of weeks and then strained). All of these have anti inflammatory properties. 

Anyway... here is the proof about how good he is feeling.

This is the river crossing that I took the girls to on the beginning of our last ride. I didn't want to overwork Beamer's knee, so I kept the ride short. Probably about a half hour. He was happy, I was happy and it was a great day!

Riding day 53

Another autumn ride

A couple of the girls hauled here and we went for a ride to show them where the river crossings are and where they can access them from the other side. I live along the Goat River, on the north side of us is a high bank that divides us from the town of Ericson/Creston and across the river there is a climb that brings you up onto the hayfields and orchards of Lister. Accessing these crossings from there wasn't always possible because of the landowners, but they have recently put in a gate at one of them and allow horses to cross through- we are all appreciative! This allows me to ride from my place to a couple of friends places in about 15 minutes or so without having to hook up the trailer and haul. And now they can ride over here too. 

Happy smiling faces high above the first river crossing

Coming down the hill to the second river crossing, We usually stop here to take a photo, in case it looks familiar.

Once back on my side of the river I took them out on the lease ride, and at the end of it I had cleared the way through the narrow gate and placed some rocks in strategic spots so we could ride down across the rip rap that lines the dyke; there was one spot where the rocks were small and made a narrow path down to a rideable area, but there were a few holes that could trap a hoof so the day before I filled them all in. Just beyond this gate is a huge mudslide from a few years ago that obliterated any trails, so now we were exploring.

We rode as far as we could  between the high bank and the river, with the idea that we were looking for a way to scale that bank on horseback so that the lady who lives in Erickson (on the blue roan) cold ride down from her place. We had to turn back at one point or ride through the river to continue, so we called it. On the way back we did some bushwacking closer to the high bank to see if we had missed any possible trails. 

The turnback spot

In this photo you can see the mudslide in the background. One of the riders had scrambled up a little rocky draw to see if it was passable on horseback; it wasn't.

Over all it was a great ride, lots of fun and adventure. First river crossing for P, the lady on the blue roan, who is my barefoot trimmer and moved out here from Quebec.

A note about that blue roan, it's a lovely quiet mare, about 18 years old (all the horses pictured are `17, 18, and 18). 

An interesting thing about that blue roan- it's a Nokota Horse Check out the link, it's an interesting story.

Riding day 52

Fun with Moondance

Now we enter into the fun part of working with Moondance. Let the sacking out and obstacle courses begin!

One of my tools is a raggy old white tarp. You may remember past posts like when I was working with Drifter with this tarp. It's one of those tarps that has a fibre woven through it so it doesn't easily get holes in it, like for example from little hooves! Perfect for little creatures to stomp, chew, and drag.

First I drag the tarp into the pen while leading him, to gauge whether he is curious or fearful.

Well that's good! Curious colts are much easier to work with than fearful reactive ones. 

Next step is … well a step! will he walk over it? 

That didn't take long! From there, I picked it up and bunched it up and let him get used to the sound and feel of it, before putting it on his back. 

Then it was time to see if he would walk with it on his back. 

Instinct took over.....

so I spent more time rubbing him with it, and draping it on him before asking him to move with it on one more time.  

I love how unconcerned he was when it dropped off him. He is such a good minded colt! 

We ended the session there. 

The next day, I ponied him on the trails- out on the lease, and it was such a lovely day. Being a Monday, I was pretty sure we wouldn't see anyone walking their dogs, and I was right. It was such a perfect ride. I had done the Masterson Method on Gussie the day before,- I only got to step 3, but got tons of releases- and she was really relaxed. Such an enjoyable ride. 

We went to the end and checked out the gate that leads to places I haven't explored yet, I plan to come with an ax and clear the brush to make it easier to get through this very narrow gate, then take Gussie by herself and do some exploring.

On the way back, Gussie stepped up the pace a little but, without breaking into her usual little jog. Moondance had to lengthen his stride to keep up, but he didn't trot. Pretty good for a colt who will only be 6 months old in a couple of days.

Back home, , standing tied for a while before being turned back into pasture.

Just a couple o' good horses. 

Riding day 51

In the crisp clear air

I do love autumn riding! So beautiful and crisp, not hot and not cold, no pesky bugs- perfect!

Took Moondance for a little stroll, started on the road before heading down into the brush. We had to pass the neighbour's dogs who rush the fence and yell fiercely. I kept Gussie on the dog side, she pretty much ignores them. Moondance got a little up on his toes but Gussie's calmness let him know there was nothing to worry about.

As I was taking this video I was imagining how it will be when I eventually get to ride him and look at the world through those cute li'l ears!

Next day I rode Gussie, first a bit of a schooling ride on the property- she is so stiff to the right again. I need to take the time to do the Masterson Method on her and see if I can get her to loosen up. 

Then we rode out onto the lease that actually didn't get used by the cow guy this year, and it shows. There is a lot of grass in there!

This spot is usually grazed right down

The road to the view

That is a huge cedar tree! It may not look like it in this photo but it's about 4 ft across at the base.

I spend a lot of time on this ride looking up at the trees, there are huge cottonwoods/poplar trees that draw the eye upwards. Some of them are gnarly and broken so I also check for broken branches that are barely suspended and likely to fall- widowmakers, they call them.

On my way back there were a couple with their Rottweiler dog who came up from the river and were walking back . I called out a hello but they didn't hear me, although their dog did. He was interested in us and they weren't too successful in getting him to come back to them. Gussie isn't afraid of dogs, but with a loose dog like that one thing I always do is turn my horse to face the dog as it circles us. As I told the people, (who were busy telling me that their dog is really nice and not mean at all) that one kick from my horse could kill their dog. They were quick to put a leash on him after that!

We have a couple more nice days in the forecast so I want to keep riding as long as I can before it gets rainy again, which is in the forecast.

Riding day 49 and 50