What you do on a hot day

Invite friends to come over for a swim!
 On horseback, that is.

Both of the guest horses are part of the local Therapeutic Riding program. The dog belongs to the lady on the bay horse.

The palomino, Allie,  was worried about the rocks on the river bottom. She isn't the most agile horse! But she figured it out with a little encouragement from the other horses.

I love this bay mare, Kit! She was indifferent at first, but once she realized how refreshing it was she quite enjoyed herself.

We had one person stay on the bank while 2 went in the water- someone had to hold all the cell phones! And take pictures!

Gussie really enjoyed herself! Me too! The water was the perfect temperature. I find that you really have to pay attention to keep your legs forward when riding bareback in the water as the force of movement makes your legs drift back to the horse's flanks. Important to remember as the horse gets into the shallower water and you need to regain your balance.

Swimming! I just grab a handful of mane to keep my butt in place as I also tend to slide back.

I stop her when she gets her footing back so I can adjust my seat.
I'm not much of a swimmer- I can, but it's not my strong suit, so this is for me the best swimming ever!

Meanwhile, Moondance makes progress. He is moving on to the next phase, standing tied. I no longer feed him in the trailer, because he has that all figured out; now his tub is at the hitching rail and the lead is triple wrapped around it. The bonus of halter breaking at a very early age like I do- they long ago learn to give to  pressure, so standing tied comes much easier.

If something bothers him and he tries to leave, there is enough resistance- with give- in that triple wrap to keep him from leaving and it gives me time to grab the rope if needed.

It was put to the test with a little help from Thumper.

Such a brave colt, and not overly reactive. So far, he is winning me over!

Riding day 32

New boots and Drifter photos

Who doesn't love a new set of boots!

The used boots I ordered for Gussie look like they were barely used at all, and they fit her perfectly. Same basic construction as the Cavallo Treks but a different closure system. We are all set now, just need it to cool off some more as it's supposed to be stupid hot (in other words, typical August weather) for the next week.
We are getting lots of interest in Drifter, so I did a photo shoot of him in turnout the other day.  The best ones I put on Facebook, but here are a few of the outtakes.

Airborne

Oh look! Mares!  (also airborne)

Boyz just gotta have fun

Rodeo time! (This was at full gallop)

How do they not bang their feet at this point in the stride? And when you are riding, can you pinpoint the feel and what the next part of the stride feels like? 

He had to stop and check out all the smells that the girls left behind

Mostly though he was just his beautiful self.

He had just got a bath

He really carries himself well

I hope he becomes somebody's dream horse soon

Booted up

I have had a couple of rides in to get Gussie used to wearing her boots. The first day I took to some rocky trails through the bush, and up onto the paved road.

She kept to her old habit of looking for the softest footing for most of this ride. Her back feet don't have boots, just her fronts.

It was a lovely day - not too hot and not many bugs. I couldn't get her to put her ears forward for this photo!
At the end of that ride I checked the boots and her feet; there was only a little bit of debris in the boots and a little bit of displaced hair on her heel bulbs. I may not have had the boots adjusted properly, so the next ride, I made sure they were snugged up better.
On the next ride we did the water test. These boots have a toe flap that you push tightly against the front of the hoof, then two side flaps that velcro to the velcro on the toe flap, and then another velcro strap that snugs down on top of all that- I wasn't worried that they would come off in the water like the easyboot did.

Rode through the pond, which is pretty low right now, with no problem and then up a little hill onto the dyke. The boots were no problem on the hill, which is loose gravel.

Then some trotting on the trail- I was always worried that the boots would interfere with her hoof placement and she would be klutzy but I needn't have worried. We got to the swimming hole which was blessedly deserted as this was late afternoon, so we both just soaked up the peaceful sounds of nature's version of silence.

The boots seem to be working just fine! Gussie seems to be comfortable in them, they stay put- I haven't tried mud yet- and they are easy to put on and take off, unlike the easyboots I had. The water seemed to drain out well because of the front construction with the toe flap.
I bought a second set from a used hoof boot page on Facebook, they aren't the Treks, just the standard Cavallos so I will be testing them out too, they should be here in a couple of days. Sporty red ones! If they work well, I could use them on her hind feet if I had a really rocky area to ride but mostly hind feet don't need boots as 3/4 of the weight of a horse is carried on their front end. It will be nice to have a spare set though.

Bevelled on the front for proper breakover

Riding day 30, 31

Moondance at 3 months

As always, I do a 3 month photo shoot of foals. Moondance does not disappoint!  He is not only gorgeous, he is a sweet natured colt. He follows me around, is curious, and willing. He has kinda stolen my heart!

He managed to bang his head on something just between and below his eyes, it was a cut and a bump. The cut is healing but the bump may take a while to go down and may never disappear entirely. It does mar his good looks a bit when viewed from the right side.

His legs are perfect. The white socks are starting to stand out, although there is still some of his golden baby hair to shed out on his legs.

He has a certain elegance about him that both Rio and Stella had.

He has that special "look" to him.

He's one flashy little dude.

Well balanced, good muscling..

and his mama loves him. (I do too!)

These boots are made for walkin'

Or trotting or loping....
I ordered a set of Cavallo Trek boots for Gussie. They are quite different from the Easyboot Gloves that I used on her before; very easy to put on and they do have more bulk to them.



I will have to get her used to walking in them . Her feet are freshly trimmed and there will be enough room in them as her feet grow. I rode her in them yesterday and  it was nice to hit some of the rocky areas and not worry about where she placed her feet. She did stub her feet twice, I guess she will pick her feet up more carefully as she adjusts to the feel of them. Cavallo recommends a break in period before long rides in them. So a few half hour rides and then I should be good to start hauling to some trails.
I got swag too! That was a nice surprise.



Spare Velcro, a visor, a cell phone pouch, a hoof pick, a flashlight and some other gadget that I haven't figured out.

We took Drifter out for a stroll yesterday…. with Ted riding and me leading



Drifter was happy to get out in the real world! He does need a lot of exposure though.  Before Ted rode, I led Drifter all over the farm including under the big willow tree you can see next to our house in the photo above. The branches are really low and they rubbed the saddle and his sides and startled him. I led him through a few more times until he relaxed- and then he realized this was the branches I throw in his pen to eat and he took a big chomp! Then he was ok with it.

People walking on the road were cause for high alert

My plan for the next little while is to take him for walks again- Lord knows I need the exercise- to get him out of his comfort zone and desensitized . We do have a lot of interest in him, but it's tough because of the border restrictions.

Riding day 29

Drifter update

It was so nice having Shayla here for the weekend. She rodeDrifter, who did very well- such a good boy. Here are some photos from the first day:

Sunday a lady came out to try him out. She rode him after Shayla put Drifter through his paces.

While she really wants him, she has to sell her current horse first, so that could take a while. Meanwhile I put a post on the Driftwood Horses page on Facebook and got 3 ropers inquiring about him, so I'm hoping something will come of that. One in particular where he would be kept as a stallion.

Since Shayla had to head back to Alberta, it's up to me to keep up with Drifter's riding, so today I got my first real ride on him. A short warm up on the lunge line and then I used the corral panels to step on him. He felt really good, calm and willing. He is pretty narrow at the moment, being so young so the saddle feels a bit roly poly. I quite enjoyed the ride though!

Moondance loading , a bath and zoomin'

Little Moondance is not so little anymore! He will be 3 months old on Thursday and I am planning to do a photo shoot of him. Meanwhile, here  is an update on him.

He loads like a champ and happily eats his kibble. I have been scrubbing the baby hair off him while he eats and in this heat it's disappearing fast.

My hat is not edible!!!!

I decided it was time for his first bath. He actually did quite well, just moved away a little at first but then seemed to quite enjoy it.

The "What the heck" face.....

turned into  "Hey can I have a drink"

We finally mowed the weeds in our turn out pasture so I have been letting them out on it all day, they can come and go as they please between the pasture and their main pen. The mares just drop their heads and graze but Moondance has to zoom!

And be a pest! He doesn't pester Jayne though. I have noticed that on the mornings when I come down to do chores, if Moondance is napping in the early morning sun it's Jayne that is standing watch over him. I am so looking forward to her foal!

Hot horses

This weather is hard on horses and humans. 101F degrees yesterday and 50 percent humidity made it a score of 151 , 31 degrees above what horses can handle.
I checked on Drifter in the late afternoon as I had noticed he was starting to show flecks of sweat around 4 pm; that's when it's the hottest here. At 7 I went down and he looked like this:

Poor guy was drenched and couldn't cool off.  So I gave him a nice refreshing bath. 

He quite enjoyed it. I noticed that Gussie was hanging out at the water trough but not drinking; it is a favourite hang out so I wasn't too concerned. But this morning, she wasn't eating. That's very unusual as she is always waiting at the gate to try to grab a bite of hay from the wheelbarrow. 

She didn't appear to be colicy, just dull, and her hind gut issue has flared up again. I put my trusty DiGize oil on her belly and gave her the probio supplement, as well I hosed her down; a couple hours later I gave her some electrolytes and more DiGize. I have a fast acting electrolyte tube on it's way so she will get that too. I will be keeping an eye on her today, she may need hosing down again. The other horses seem to be fine, just Gussie and Drifter having trouble with it.

Drifter got ridden today; Shayla is in town for the long weekend and came over to ride him. He hasn't had a proper ride for 4 months and he was so good! Some ground work first and then she stepped on and rode (in the round pen.)

All this was done starting at 7 am to beat the heat. We did hose him down again after riding and he promptly rolled and viola! a chocolate palomino!

A little loping video:

That's a pretty nice 2 yr old! We have someone coming to see him tomorrow..... stay tuned...