Tooth day

 If you have been keeping up with the weather news you will know that BC is being hit by what they call atmospheric rivers. As I type this, we are being hit with another deluge that will bring floods, musdslides and avalanches to the coastal regions. There have been great losses in the dairy farms and chicken farms there, as well as many rescues. Sadly, there have been people who lost their lives in mudslides. It isn't over yet. 

However, yesterday we had a short break in the weather, and the sunshine was sure welcome. It was perfect timing for Sophie's dentist appointment. 

He starts with the front teeth. I asked what he was finding and he said she wasn't bad; some sharp edges that caused leisions in her cheeks on both  sides, which explains why she was turning her head away when I touched her there. Over all just needed a good float. No wolf teeth either.

Sophie was quite in tune with him. This guy has really good energy. Even without sedation, the horses stay with him. When he is doing the work on them he allows them the freedom to move as they see fit.

The noise in the background is Ted working with power tools. This dentist doesn't use power tools. 

He chuckled about Sophie and said she is really expressive. Also said that he thinks she will be a really good horse for me.

As soon as the weather breaks again, it will be time to do more ground work on her. This time, with saddle and bridle 😊

I'm a big fan of Chris Cox and have recorded some of his TV shows that I am going to refer to as I work with miss Sophie. 

Sunday Stills- Fresh

 Can't get much fresher than this!

Carrots for the supper table! I still have plenty of carrots in the ground, hope to keep them in the ground as long as possible.

Also have beets, green onion, aand some spinach that self seeded after the spring crop was done. Fresh veggies!

Tarp session

 In between rain showers (almost) I did the first tarp session with Sophie. 

It was interesting. First of all, when I went to catch her, she stood nicely until I went to fasten the head collar- then she tried to blow away from me. I love my rope halters, this one stayed in place due to her having raised her head, even though it wasn't done up and I was able to reel her in and do it up. I seriously think her neck is out at the poll, as several times she has been startled by my hand approaching her near her eye; often when the neck is out at the poll it puts pressure on the optic nerve and makes it seem as though things are suddenly jumping into their field of vision. I feel that her left eye is more affected than her right eye. I should do the menace response test on her tomorrow to confirm. Of course, this means a chiro appointment... it never end$....

Anyhoo, off to the round pen we went, where I had already placed my old raggy white tarp. I decided to treat her the way I would with my foals; pick it up, make some noise with it, and then lead her out and drag the tarp on my other side- the usual routine. 

 Sophie gave it the hairy eyeball, kind of sideways walking while I kept her head turned towards it. A couple of times around each way and she allowed as how it maybe wasn't so scary, so on to touchimg her with it.

She wasn't overly pleased with being rubbed (both sides) with that big noisy tarp. 

When I put it over her back, she scooted away. 

Several times both sides, not making a big deal of it, letting her move away if she wanted. Then I put it on her back again and asked her to trust me and not scoot away. Lead her a step, stop. Lead 2 steps, stop. Back up a step, stop. etc. 

Next I laid it out on the ground and asked her to walk over it. 

Well would ya look at that, she's much more confidant when it's on the ground than on her back. 

I went back to dragging it and let her walk on it as we went. She seemed perfectly ok with it then!

I did one more session of putting it on her back, and this time she didn't move her feet, so that was lesson accomplished for the day! 

We just stood there in the rain, dwelling on the session, letting her relax, rubbing her forehead and letting her know I was pleased with her. I tied the tarp to the rail and she sniffed it a bit. I think I will do more tarp work with her before I ride her; also swing the rope around her and do a lot of the little sacking out things I do with my foals. Once her teeth are done there are more things I will do before ever getting on her; at this point I am treating her like a very green horse until she proves otherwise. 

But I do like this mare! 

Blogger author

 Any of you who read the blog Journey with a Dancing Horse will already know this, but she has contributed to  a book which is now available on Amazon.  Head on over to her blog and read about it! 

I think people who blog and stick to it over the years despite the attractions of faster instant gratification social media, are a very talented and creative bunch. It takes time, preparation and persistence to write blog posts, so it's no surprise that TeresaA has contributed some of her writing to this book. 

The lope

 Today was supposed to be dentist day, but he cancelled until Monday due to the inclement weather. BC is being inundated with rain again and it is so muddy! 

I did get a chance to take Sophie to the round pen the other day. My goal was to get her loping under saddle on the longe line to see if she is inclined to buck when speed is added. 

A note on my saddle- I see the need for a modification on it; the rigging rings where the latigo and off side billets are attached are not the best design. They don't have a lot of room to feed the latigo through as you can see in this next photo:

This type of plate rigging also has flat edges instead of rounded, guaranteed to wear out the leather  at least on the off side where it gets more pull. 

So the search is on for a saddle repair shop to change it out for me . Loooking for something more like this:

Any way, getting back to Sophie; I worked her on the long line saddled up and was quite pleased to see that she was nice and steady at the lope both ways. She seems to quite like being  worked, if one goes by her expression.

Yes Sophie, you are a good girl.

I think that most of her working life, she was not fussed over at all- just get her saddled up and go to work. I think this because she seems a little unsure of having a lot of attention paid to her, like me brushing the mud off her or rubbing her head, etc. I think working is her comfort zone- what she is accustomed to and expects.

She will adapt to my way of doing things over time!

Good- weather and horse!

 The weather has been lovely lately! Crisp in the mornings and warming up in the afternoons. 

Moody November clouds with the Skimmerhorns peeking through

I always love to see the changes the seasons bring to these beautiful mountains.

The elderberry tree dropped a lot of its fruit- usually the waxwings and chickadees clean them up but a lot of them ended up on the ground.

Such a lovely day meant taking Sophie to the round pen. I didn't have big plans for her, just an outing to give her a change of scenery. 

Yes I know her conformation is not perfect

She ground tied nicely while I pulled some of the taller weeds- until I went behind her and she turned to keep an eye on me, then decided to grab a bite of grass. 

I worked her with the flag. I am sure it has been a long time since anyone has done any ground work on her, she kind of gave the flag a hard look but once I started using it she stood nicely for it. 

Sorry about my noisy breathing,... I have issues... too much breathing hay dust over the years.

I am so looking forward to riding. We have a dentist appointment for Friday morning, so I think Saturday I will get my first ride in. 

Today all I did with her was the Bladder Meridian again- for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, check out this link or just google it. 

She seems to have a lot of neck tension- no surprise after her pulling back episode- and also right in front of her hips- about where I assume her ovaries are; she has just (finally) come out of heat. An 8 or 9 day heat at this time of year is a bit unusual as they are normally in diestrus. 

I am getting to know her signals for when I find a spot that I need to dwell on. I dwell on a spot when I get a reaction- with her she either turns and looks at me or just has rapid eye blinking.  I stay until she releases. This time it was flared nostrils and a big sigh, sometimes its licking and chewing.

The more time I spend with her the more she is coming to trust me. I think she has just been a using horse all her life and never had her own special person. 

Sunday Stills- you

 Folks who know me know I don't do selfies, never did like getting my picture taken. So here is my offering for today....

Me 'n' Sophie!

Who's da boss?

 Our journey of getting to know ya continues. Yesterday, Sophie shadowed me and wouldn't let Jayne near me. She just pins her ears and walks towards Jayne, who obligingly walks away. 

It was hard to get a photo of her from a distance- she just kept walking up to me. 

Today- different story. 

She decided that I wasn't allowed to walk up to her- kept moving away. So I gave her the drive-her-away treatment- make her move and when she stops, I stop asking her to move. This was at liberty in the mare pen- Jayne quickly figured out that I wasn't talking to her and continued to eat while Sophie had to work circles. Eventually Sophie decided to just stop; I walked up to her, and rewarded her by doing the Masterson Method Bladder Meridian on her. So much blinking and relaxing! I found many spots on her that needed to release. She let me work both sides- remember, I didn't have a halter on her. 

I think I would like to do a lot of liberty work with her.

The snow did melt a bunch today, and tomorrow I will probably be able to use the round pen. Still waiting to hear what date the dentist is coming.

 

I tried feeding them in the shelter today- it only worked until Sophie drove Jayne out. So back to feeding in the field. When I see them both eating out of the same pile I will be able to feed them in the shelter. It takes a while for the herd dynamics to work themselves out.

Boss mare!

Getting to know Sophie

 The last 5 days have been all about figuring out miss Sophie. Things I have discovered:

*  She is easy to handle. It took a couple of days for her to let me catch her without her wanting to walk away- partly, I'm sure from having a sore face from pulling back in the trailer. But she seems to be all healed up from that.

*  She is friendly. She comes up to the fence to visit with people, (not just me) and when I go in the pen with her she follows me around at a respectful distance. So - friendly but not in your pocket. 

* She is a little tight in her mouth. I dewormed her the other day as she has bot eggs in her mane, and she wasn't too happy about opening her mouth. She did let me squirt the ivermectin in though, and it was pretty funny because I took her out onto the grass and she would take a bite of grass and spit it out because of the taste of the ivermectin still in her mouth. I have the equine dentist booked for the end of the month as she has never had her teeth done. 

*  She loves her scratches. Remember how Dally loved to be scratched with the plastic manure rake? Well, Sophie several times sidled up to me while I was scooping her poop; at first I just gave her skritches with my hand- then I thought, what the heck lets see what she does with the rake.

Well would ya look at that! Just like Dally she loves it! Unfortunately for her now that we are into the more freezing weather, I have to switch from the fork to my aluminum scoop shovel for pen cleaning. 

* She isn't inclined to spook or balk. I took her for an in hand walk down to the pond, I wanted to see the water level now that B.C. has been hit with major rainstorms. She walked calmly, even past Beamer who was hollering at her because she is in heat- she ignored him and stayed right with me. At the pond we paused and she looked at everything as I took a few photos. 

The local kids may be able to skate this winter!

Jayne was carrying on when Sophie got out of sight but Sophie didn't call back, which leads me to the next point-

*  She is quiet. The only time she talks is when she sees me coming with food, and even then only a couple of times in the last week.

*  My saddle fits her! At least, as far as I can tell at this point as I have yet to ride her in it. She is easy to saddle- no more pulling back when I had her at the hitching rail.

This saddle has nice flare at the front of the bars, and the rest seems to lay nicely on her back. Good wither clearance.

*  She had some good basic training- lunges well and boy does she have a nice big stride at the walk! Definitely not a lazy mover. With a butt  motor like that she can't help but be powerful. 

* She has a prefect swirl- centered between her eyes and not too tight. Which tells me that my impression of her is probably correct- that she is uncomplicated. 

I am waiting until her teeth are done before I bridle her up, but meanwhile I will do as many things as time and weather permit. Longeing, sacking out, see how she does with the tarp, swing a rope around her, etc. She has already walked through puddles the other day.

I plan to turn her in with Jayne tomorrow, she isn't showing much interest in Beamer today although she is still a little bit in heat. She spends most of her time hanging out next to Jayne. Hopefully there won't be any drama!

Sophie

 We sure picked the right day, weather wise, to go get Sophie. The roads were bare all the way; a bit of black ice but the sand trucks were out doing their job. We left at 6 am and got home at 6 pm.

We hit sunrise right around Fernie, and the sun on the snow covered mountains was spectacular.

The day before this, we had heavy rains and it  washed away most of the snow that had been causing slippery roads. Once in Alberta the roads were all bare and dry and no wind to speak of- a paltry 30 km. hr. which is a gentle breeze there!

We stopped to visit Ted's daughter and son in law; and found out that the twins she is carrying are both girls, due in February, so that was a special visit for Ted, as he doesn't get to visit with them very often. I'm glad he came with me.

When we got to the ranch to pick Sophie up, I looked her over- oh my what a build on this mare! She did have something they didn't tell me about (buyer beware) which was a swelling on the front of her ankle at the bottom of her canon bone. They acted all surprised to see it, but I could tell that it wasn't just something that happened on the 13 hour trailer trip they took. There is an old scab under the hair and a small bony deposit . However, I had come all that way, and the mare is of good enough quality both physically and on paper that I decided to load her up and bring her home. If it is just a blemish similar to a splint I will ride her, and if it is something that will eventually cause lameness she will go into the broodmare band. 

Then there was loading her....

He led her in, tied her and stepped away just as she pulled back- and she is one powerful mare. She banged her nose on the divider, which was pinned shut against the wall so she could have the whole trailer, and managed to cut her nose just below the noseband on the halter. 

By this time I was not too impressed with the people who sold me this mare; (oh she has never done that before!) But once again, I kept my mouth shut. We turned her loose in the trailer for the haul home. She hauled like a dream facing backwards as most horses prefer to do when they are given a choice. 

What? Another long trailer ride? 

I'm giving this horse the benefit of the doubt. 

The drive home was uneventful. Southern Alberta, which is known for its wind, has several wind farms along the hiway. Sometimes it looks like the turbine blades overhang the hiway- very unsettling.

Once home, I separated Beamer from Jayne and put him back in his stud pen. Sophie went into the foaling pen, across the fence from Jayne. She was very quiet, no calling to the other horses. Once she settles in I will turn her in with Jayne. 

Next morning, as I approached the barnyard, I could see Sophie staring at Beamer... and squatting and peeing....

Yes, she is in heat. Now I have had other mares come into full standing heat when they are pregnant, but I am betting that Sophie is open. Which is rather a relief to me as I didn't really want a pregnant mare. In the above photo you can see the bump on her front right leg.

The short tail is from being in a pen with yearlings who were tail chewers.

That hip!

So for now it will be all about getting to know her, getting her settled in and happy, then after that I will assess her suitability as a riding horse.

Sunday Stills- Upside Down

 The world may be turning upside down, but to Foose, that is a normal state of affairs.

He always sleeps on his back at some point during the day!

Updates

 Thought you might enjoy a couple of photos of Mama Belle (courtesy of Shayla)

She is a happy mare! She looks great for being on her 12th foal.

Got a couple photos of Drifter too- they love him. Moving cows and pulling bulls out of the herd, he loves working cows. They say he is smart and kind.

My trip to Alberta to pick up Sophie is postponed due to weather and mechanical troubles. 

Big storm in Saskatchewan has shut down the highway, delaying their trip to Alberta with her and a couple of their yearlings that they are also delivering to another lady, and our truck is having unexpected issues. I'm sure it will all be resolved soon, but I am going to have to hire a hauler after all, and that depends on availability so I am not sure when Sophie will arrive here.  So I will leave you with a photo of the stallion she is bred to- they don't have many photos of him!

He definitely has that Playgun look.

November flowers

 I still have a few flowers hanging in there, even after several heavy frosts. We have had a couple of rainy weeks, and the snow line is creeping down the mountain ever closer. Good thing I am heading to Alberta in 2 days to get Sophie before the weather turns ugly. 

Aurora- this first one is for you. My heleborus, which I planted on Merle's grave, has maintained a couple of leaf stems all summer and is now sending up a new shoot- I hope it is a flower shoot, but even if it's only a leaf it will make it stronger for next year. 

Also thriving on Merle's grave is  lamium which has several flowers. What a hardly plant!

The snapdragons are flourishing too; all of these are volunteers some of which I transplanted to new locations. The plant that keeps on giving! One of my all time favourites for their variety of colour and seasonal longevity.

My fall Asters are still doing their thing:

I found a few pansies too.

Happily sticking his face up amongst the snapdragons was Johnny Jump Up!

All throughout my lawn these guys were peeking up, the last sunny yellow flowers of the season.

Sunday Stills- Glass

 Glass is such an integral part of our lives. Windows, windshields, we are always looking through glass

Painted glass light catcher in my kitchen window. 

A gift from my friend Carol who bought it on a trip to England

 or using it to contain a myriad of things. 

Who doesn't have a plethora of herbs in glass jars cluttering up the kitchen? 😁

Of course one must include that glass half full!

For more Sunday Stills go here

Wordless Wednesday