Hot hot hot

My least favourite part of summer is when it's too hot to do anything. My routine is pretty simple- early morning chores, do any garden stuff that needs doing, then in the house until around 4 pm and head down for chores before supper, water the garden and that's about it for the day. I don't do heat well.
However, this is the best time for heading to the swimming hole! Yesterday I got my husband to accompany me, he rode there and back while I walked and I rode Gussie in the water. I so need another riding horse!!! ( I also so need the exercise...)

I love seeing him ride, he doesn't ride often enough.

Gussie is wearing her Easyboots…. more about that later....

The water is just right, not cold any more. There were swimmers there and people on floaties going down the river. One guy came walking upstream packing a huge inflated swan floaty- Gussie could have cared less...
I didn't swim her as I didn't want to get my saddle wet and didn't feel like unsaddling so we only went chest deep.

I left her boots on for the river crossing..... bad idea....

Yup there is one missing.....

I did ride back and search but I'm pretty sure it got washed downstream and I wasn't about to make Gussie walk over all those rocks looking for it.
The Velcro was really worn out and it was time for new boots anyway so I will be ordering a pair of Cavallos for her today.
I will be spending more time at the river as I have a friend who wants to come and swim her horse.

The farrier trimmed all my horses including Moondance. The little guy was really good to trim, all that handling of his feet paid off.

The boys are the sons of the farrier, there were 2 of them and they trimmed Belle and Jayne while their dad did Drifter, Gussie and Beamer. They all did a good job. And I am happy to say all my horses were good! Jayne did try to pull a back foot away, and the dad coached the son through that- he was holding her foot higher than Jayne was comfortable with; she may have some hip issues from compensating for her bad front leg. And both boys were really interested in Moondance!
That's another thing that has been playing on my mind lately- If I can't get Drifter sold soon I may have to sell Moondance as I can't justify keeping him and Drifter . I do have 2 more Beamer babies coming and I sure hope at least  one is a filly.

Riding day 28

Gussie , the lesson horse

As we head into the hot days of summer, Moondance is shedding out nicely. His black is coming in and I can't wait until all that baby coat is gone. I think next summer, after he sheds out his winter coat he will be much darker black.

He readily jumps in and out of the trailer now and is giving his feet nicely. Standing tied is still a work in progress.

I have a farrier coming today to trim all my horses, it's something I can no longer do myself, that torn shoulder is not healing well; I even had trouble saddling Gussie. Last time I had my niece do the saddling as she needed to learn how to. 

She got a riding lesson in the round pen and did really well. 

Gussie is so patient with kids. I actually had to get B to put my boots and spurs on as Gussie has way more whoa than go with inexperienced riders. We worked on steering mostly, getting her to turn on leg and neck rein instead of direct rein. Gussie is very light in the face when you ask with leg first, and that was a new concept with B, she picked up on it quickly though as she saw how much easier it was to turn. I did get on Gussie for a bit and remind her that she wasn't supposed to be lazy. 

When I say "knees down" it's actually heels down, but when you push your knees down it lowers your heel and gives you a more secure seat; usually when a rider has heels up they are tipped forward a bit and if you have spurs on they will be on the horse's sides, whereas with the leg lengthened by pushing down from the knee you are more balanced and the spur will drop down and away from the horse.

After the lesson, she rode down to the pond and into the water.

The water level has dropped back to normal, and with the hot days here I just might have to see if I can find someone to ride with me to the river for some swimming. 

Riding day 27

A good horse day

What a year for storms. It's gotten so that I schedule my day around the weather forecast. For example, yesterday they said thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I did all I could before then. First I worked Drifter as I needed new photos and videos for someone who is interested in him. I haven't worked him for about a month so he was a little bit fresh on the longeline but more like happy-to-be-doing-something fresh than anything. He settles down so quickly and is so willing.

My niece was taking phone photos for me.

This one made me giggle- doing the bunny hop!

He longed beautifully once he settled into work mode. 

My right arm doesn't work so well due to torn muscles so that's why I was using my left. I had to save my right for swinging the rope. 

After the rope work and longeing bitted up he did so well that I asked my niece if she wanted to get on him. Of course she did!

Please note that I did not turn her loose on him- no helmet, boots with too much tread and inexperienced rider meant the she would be on the lead line. Drifter did well with her mounting, just twitched an ear and balanced himself. 

I was pretty happy with Drifter, he shows that he has a good mind and a willingness to learn. I really hope that I can get him to the right home. I will keep you updated on that!

After that it was ride Gussie to the river. My niece rode there and I rode back. The river is really nice now, so I took Gussie in to stirrup deep.

As always she was happy to turn around and head for shore.

When we got back it was Moondance's turn. I'm happy to say that he pretty much just stepped right into the trailer and happily munched his ration while we groomed him. But then when it was time to step out.... well he had to ponder that!

Oh! Look how far down it is!

He has unloaded at least 4 times without giving it that much consideration... 

I had to laugh, he would put one toe out- no ground!!!! pull it back, think about it, try again a few minutes later- still no ground!!!!! 

Thinking....

After about 4 of those he decided that the last 4 times weren't flukes and the ground really was still there and anyway he was thirsty for mama milk darn it all!

A couple hours later we had one heck of a thunderstorm as predicted. I sat in the barn watching and listening. The horses weren't in the least bit concerned about the rumbling and booming right overhead.  I made sure to feed them all in their shelters. Although Jayne still isn't comfortable with being all the way in the shelter with Belle, there is enough of an overhang on the sides of the building that she can get out of the rain and weather. 

Riding day 26

Loaded

Moondance made really good progress in the last few days. Ever since he loaded the first time, he decided that he just didn't wanna go in the trailer to eat thank you very much. So after days of setting his foot in and rewarding the slightest try, yesterday he did load- but we helped load that first foot several times before he went in.
Today.....
Well today, it was all his idea.
Success at last.



Once he was in and happily eating I groomed him, trying to scrub some of that baby coat off to reveal his black.

It's a work in progress!

I took Drifter to get his coggins test done in case he does find a buyer. He had to stand tied in the trailer for about an hour while we waited for the vet to get back from an emergency call. He did really good for quite a while, just standing quietly but like a typical teenager he got bored after a about 50 minutes and started pulling and twisting trying to turn around.
To no avail (Grin) Trailers are a good place for colts to learn to stand patiently- as long as they don't start kicking, which he did NOT do. If they set back they can't go too far, the wall is a big help there.

I need a patience pole! I'll have to find a suitable tree for Drifter to stand tied at. I think the hitching post isn't good for that as they can move around the end on it, but a good tree and tied so he can't reach the ground and get a leg over his rope may be in his near future.

Training and riding

Sure can't get any consistent weather lately. Couple days too hot and muggy, then a couple days of rain and thunderstorms... rinse and repeat....

I don't do a lot on the hot days unless I want to spend a few hours hiding in the house recuperating. I have managed to get Moondance out every day and work with him a bit. After that first day of loading in the trailer, he refused to load again. So I have been working on getting him to load his head and neck then one foot. Reward the slightest try. Today I kept putting his left foot in the trailer, give him a mouthful of kibble, try with the right foot, and so on. After many repetitions he finally loaded a foot himself and got to eat as much as he wanted while he had that foot loaded.

With colts it's often one step forward, three steps back until they figure out what you are asking of them and decide it isn't life threatening. But it always makes me laugh when I see that sully look on their face when they don't want to do something and how the light bulb goes on when they figure it out.

My sister is visiting for a few days, and she was helping me with Moondance, it was nice to have her help especially at the hitching rail as I had to rasp the front feet. 

After handling his feet so much for the trailer loading, he didn't mind too much getting his trim. Should be able to do the back feet without too much trouble in the next day or 2.

We also saddled Gussie and took turns riding her  as we went to the river to check out the water level in the swimming hole.

Umm, Thumper, can you move so we can throw the saddle up?

The water is still a little too high and swift for swimming, couple more weeks and it should be perfect. 

As I was riding, we had a tree come crashing down about 50 yards ahead of us- Gussie just stopped and raised her head and looked. Sure do love not having a spooky horse!

My sister (who rarely rides) rode her part way back. 

Sure was nice getting out. Gussie seems to be over the worst of her thrush, so now I can get more riding in. 

Riding day 25

And... done!

Today's lesson with Moondance was similar to clicker training. Hit the target, get a reward. It went like this: I led him to the back of the trailer, set his kibble bowl in there, lifted a foot and placed it on the trailer floor and gave him a bite as I held his foot there. Did this several times with each foot, and then moved the bowl all the way in and stood in the front corner and waited.
Et- viola!

 I moved the bowl to the open back of the trailer so he could feel free to leave if he wished, but he was quite content to stay there .

A little more work on lifting his feet and holding them up, and that was enough for one day. Good boy, Moondance!

Kindergarten time

Moondance is 2 months old tomorrow. So I have been working with him the last couple of days. I have the usual goals for him:
1: Lead properly
2: Eat his supplement which will help him maintain his weight at weaning time 2 months from now.
3. Go on walkabouts and be introduced to new sights and sounds.
4: Learn to load in the trailer.
5: Learn to stand tied.
6: Pick up his feet and stand still for trimming.
7: Be mannerly.

So far, he leads well...

and is happy to go on walkabouts, although on the first one he threw a little hissy fit and fell down; hasn't done that since.

He is eating his kibble- I started him on it yesterday and tricked him a bit- I scratched his itches for him and when he wanted to chew on something like they do to another horse, I stuck the pan of kibble under his nose and he started chewing on it- and decided he liked it.

Today I stepped up the game by putting the pan in the back end of the trailer and got him used to eating it there- which gave me the chance to ask him to step a foot into the trailer.

He did that a few times and that was enough for today.
I pretend -tied him at the hitching rail, and groomed him with a soft rubber brush, and he was happy to just stand there ; I used the opportunity to pick up his feet and put them down on my terms. I have been lightly picking up his feet since he was born but now I am asking him to hold them up a little longer as I need to rasp them soon.
Being mannerly is ongoing, he is pretty good natured and just needs boundaries set occasionally like all kids.

19

The only "19 " I want in my life.....

Beamer is 19 today!

He rubbed out a bunch of his tail, it used to touch the ground! I gave him some turnout in the bottom pasture to celebrate. He has been pretty ouchy with his arthritis lately so I started him on prevacox and after a couple of weeks it is finally kicking in.

He even loped....

The mosquitoes were pretty nasty though. This is wet grass (and weeds!)

A few mouthfuls of grass and he was happy to get away from the skeeters and back in his house (hence the first photo.)

Happy birthday, Mr. Handsome.

Moondance update

I'm having some trouble with my right arm rotator cuff, so riding and working horses is kind of at a standstill for a few days. I did pony Moondance from Gussie a couple of days ago and he did ok until he thought he didn't have to and threw a little fit, falling down a couple of times. I just bailed off Gussie  who stood nicely ground tied while I regrouped my lead rope and eventually he led like he should.  It is so hard for a little fellow to realize the universe doesn't revolve around him!

What? Say it isn't so!

He is really starting to blow off that baby hair and show the black underneath. I'm so excited to see him all shed out but that will probably take another year.

You can see all the little spots of black where he has rubbed off his baby hair.

I was looking at old photos of Nitro and he looks so much like him but with one less sock. And oh my what a hip on him!

Riding day 24

Gussie gets to work (cows!)

Cows, that is. And a bull.
We woke up to a bull and some cows and calves in the yard.

A guy down the road from us had trees blow down across his fence in a storm yesterday, and of course the cattle went walkabout. They headed away from our place, but later turned around and came back. Now, we have neighbours just across the fence from us who have cattle too, and this bull just had to visit with them. He got separated from his cows, they stayed down the end of the road while he and that tan calf  turned back to visit the other cows. Of course, right through our yard again. I grabbed my longe whip and got them headed back towards their own farm, but there was no way that bull was going to line out for home when there were girls to visit with. And the owner only had a quad to move them with and I could see he was getting frustrated.

Visiting with the neighbour's bull, not a good idea!

So I offered to go get Gussie and help. We went back and got "his" cows and got them lined out for home.

That's our driveway, managed to line them out at a good enough clip they didn't turn in there. Once we got close to where the bulls were having their discussion about whose cows were whose, we managed to get them past that spot and continue down the road to their own farm, and I headed down to get the bull while the cow's owner kept trailing the cows.
He was in deep bush and I couldn't get around him so I had to take a wide trail down to the dyke and up through the bush- Gussie is just the best bush horse, goes wherever I point her-  and managed to come out on the side of the bull that allowed me to push him where I could get him turned towards home. He had one last conversation with the black bull but a lot of hollering and pressure from Gussie convinced him to get moving.

Of course, he wouldn't go down the road, instead had to go through yet another yard.....

which bordered the hayfield of the farm where he escaped from....

and he was reunited with his cows, which had been successfully trailed home. I locked the gate and gave my hard working horse a hug! She did great!  She worked up quite a sweat on this muggy humid day. But I'm glad this all took place in the morning; we were done by 11 am, because we had one more rockin' rollin' thunderstorm in the afternoon. I was cleaning the horse pens on a tractor and managed to get them done just before the skies opened up.

Riding day 23

Moondance

Moondance is officially Midnight Moondance now, his registration went through. However. AQHA made 3 mistakes on his papers, so I asked them to correct it and send me a new one.

I haven't done much with him lately, so I haltered him, cleaned out his feet, and took him out of the pen, leaving mama in there. 

Belle kept a close eye on him

Checking out Foose

I had  Beamer tied to the horse trailer while I soaked his foot for a suspected abscess, so I took the opportunity to take Moondance over to meet his daddy.

Beamer has such a big voice! It startled Moondance but didn't seem to intimidate him. I guess because he has heard it enough because of breeding season here, just so much louder up close! 

Water boy

There is no doubt about it, Drifter loves the water.

Who me? Why yes, yes I do!

He is always splashing in his water tub, so I took him for a walk to the pond a couple of days ago. It is full to overflowing and there are ducks, turtles and geese taking advantage of it.

Of course, any birds vacated the area when he started splashing!

I have been working him in the round pen a couple of days a week, and if I take him for a walk a couple of times a week that will keep him "in training". His knees aren't closed yet so any riding other than a few minutes here and there can wait. It does make him harder to sell but I'm ok with that, I wouldn't mind if he stays until next summer, then I can get some serious riding on him. Saw an ad the other day for a 2 year old that already has 90 days riding and is in reining training. I prefer to take the 2 year old year slow, maybe 20 rides in the fall and then as a 3 year old start their more serious training. 

Jayne fits in

The herd is getting itself sorted out. Gussie and Jayne seem to be getting along quite well, Belle allows Moondance to visit Jayne but still keeps Jayne out of her personal space. They have all been getting daily pasture turnout; Drifter gets the morning and the girls get the afternoon. I have to lead Drifter through the mare herd to get him out to pasture and he is minding his manners well.
Yesterday I had Beamer out to tease the mares, and Jayne was in full standing heat, so with Ted;s help, we got her bred to Beamer. She and Beamer were both quick and efficient - it's nice having an older mare who has previously been live covered.
Afterwards I put her back in with the mares and Gussie was quite excited, following her around and talking to her and sniffing her lady parts.

I haven't had any more interest in Drifter- probably because I have him priced fairly high- but that's ok. He's a good boy and I will take my time with his training. The only thing I won't do is pony him from Gussie any more, as he bred her and I don't need him thinking about that while leading him. Ground work and going for walks will be enough. Hopefully this fall I can find someone to put a few rides on him.

Drifter was really interested in Jayne once he realized she was in heat. Sorry Drifter, she is not for you! Thank goodness for electric fence, this fenceline is charged up which is good in case Jayne came up to it. I locked him into the smaller foaling pen for the night as a precaution, it has penel fence with 2 strands of hotwire above it. And all was quiet this morning.

Li'l pest!

One more reason why I love Gussie- she is so patient! (If you all remember, patience was my key word for this year).

He did eventually lose interest when she wouldn't get up.

Adapting

The day I brought Jayne home, there was a major storm in the forecast. I had her in the foaling pen with the shelter, and Drifter in the bottom pen which has no shelter, so I put a rain sheet on him in case we got the hail that was in the forecast as well as the major rain. I wasn't sure how he would do with a blanket on overnight...



all I can say is he is well sacked out now! I did see him on my spy cam with the blanket in proper place an hour before that. Looks like he tried to roll himself right out of the blanket!
The next morning I put Jayne in with the herd, she was pacing the fence and really wanting to be in with them. It went well, Gussie ignored her, and Belle TOLD her where her boundaries were when it came to Moondance.



Jayne respectfully kept her distance, and by the next morning I could see that she is earning her place in the herd.

The river has been steadily rising, you can hear the roar from our place. Our pond is overflowing, its been a few years -3 maybe? - since it was high enough to flood the bottom corner of the horse pens.

So today I saddled Gussie and went to check the extent of the flooding. I knew we would be doing some wading to get to the dyke- sure enough! (bonus- it cleaned the mud off Gussie's feet!)

I've been hand grazing Jayne, as soon as she is accustomed to grass she will get turnout on pasture with the other ladies. She really wants just to be part of the herd. I'm going to do a search on the AQHA website and look up her foals; how many, what colors, etc.


Riding day 22