Seeing Stars

Wow! Can't believe it was the first week of August I posted last.

Not much that's exciting has occurred in the meantime - which is good from the perspective that excitement isn't always a good thing, I suppose. The ponies have been enjoying the last days of summer winding down. The nights are getting earlier, and the mornings are definitely getting darker. I'm dishing out cat food, grain and morning supplements in the granary with the help of a light, and on moonless mornings my headlamp sure comes in handy. Then it's out among the beasties in the dimness, distributing feed pans and velcroing on their fly masks.

Thankfully, the fly masks do fit under their halters so I can get those on while they eat.

Our morning parade is now made by the light of the moon - some days it's bright enough to cast shadows and Squeak looks almost yellow when springs out to attack my feet and risk squashing as I trip my way back to the barn. Not sure why, but I never seem to fall over anything on my way TO the pasture with my hooved escorts.  So far the morning trips have been mostly uneventful. One morning we spooked several deer and sent them careering off into the brush. Another morning it was a cow and a brand new, still wobbly calf. We gave her a wide berth, but she was surprisingly unconcerned.  The horses had all the native wildlife spotted before we started, apparently, because other than pricked ears they didn't bother reacting.

They aren't quite so blase about the newest potentially encounterable obstacle though, perhaps because it's of the equid persuasion. The cow folks have four small donkeys, which until very recently they've kept up at their home barn. For whatever reason, possibly because the (this year's) baby is getting bigger, they've decided to turn them out with the cows.

"Egad!  I think it's moving - what in the world is it?"

The initial spotting of the new "holy crap, that's not a cow!" critters occurred on a bright, windy afternoon. Mutual snorting and retreat on both sides of the fence. So far, we haven't met them in the dark, but we did encounter them coming up to drink last night as I brought the ponies back down. Again, much with the snorting. Thunder particularly grew about a foot. He's the only one that hasn't seen a donkey up close and personal prior to, and he was NOT impressed.

Small, but incredibly cute

 I'm not too concerned about them interacting through the fence, but am hopeful the "run away!" mindset continues, at least on the little guys' part - meeting them up close coming or going  might be slide over into the bad kind of eventful, as I suspect one's an uncut jack - didn't investigate personal bits to determine for sure yet, though. (Only two of them are really interested in being friendly, but they do know about treats - lol!)

No riding to speak of - I keep resolving to do better, but so far it's been less riding and more other chores that need to get done.  Fingers crossed that Mother Nature continues to provide us with a long fall, and maybe I'll get my list of have-to-do knocked down and get back to the fun priorities!

Let there be lights... please!

If all had gone as planned, this would be a picture of us leading two horses back after a nice long ride.  Instead, it's a picture of us walking them back after they loaded up for a brief four mile ride in the trailer.

Something's up with the truck wiring, and we could either have trailer lights or trailer brakes.  Not both.  Grrr...  We've had a problem on and off with a clip, but this time the usual fix didn't.  I think welding may be in order.

We were supposed to meet J to ride, and we were already late because I forgot a couple of things and then we had to stop for fuel.  And the days are getting shorter.  We could have continued the couple miles over on back roads and worked on it there.  But as I saw it, our options after getting there were either a) waste riding daylight trying to get everything working, b) ride, and trust that we'd get back with enough daylight left to get home safely, c) try to fix it in the dark after riding, or d) just drop the horses back off and take the trailer back to town.  I wasn't going to risk hauling the horses in the dark in a trailer with no lights.  And no trailer brakes didn't seem like a fantasticly safe option, either.

After some "discussion" we decided to go back to the farm and unload Sunny and Thunder - no complaints from them - and then head to J's.  T could still ride Rufus, and I'd take the empty trailer back to town.  Best laid plans.  T and I ended up swapping roles, so I got to ride Rufus for 6 miles, and he got to put dinner in the over :)

Rufus is getting fat (more riding needed!) but he packs on the pounds differently than Sunny.  Where Sunny, round, feels a lot like saddling a 55 gallon drum, Rufus fat feels like riding the pointy end of a hard-boiled egg.  We jog-trotted and loped most of the way, and I couldn't keep my calves wrapped around him.  Not a comfortable feeling at all.  Although I did manage one of the smoothest walk/lope right lead transitions I've had with him.  Unfortunately, left was not nearly so pretty.  But I'm starting to think this whole issue with getting the left lead is something I'm doing.  Something else to work on.

It was dark by the time we got back.  But an absolutely gorgeous night for a ride.  I LOVE fall!  Just can't say that enough.

~ T says still no joy with the lights, but we'll pull things apart and see what we can see in the morning.

Fuzzy Ears

I took my own advice and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather with Sunny this afternoon.


We poked around bareback in the bigger pastures today, soaking up sunshine. He checked out the pheasants scuttling for better cover, cars passing on the road a mile over (amazing how far away they can spot something moving!), and leaves rustling down off the trees in the light breeze. I looked for holes to fill, fence to fix, and anything else I'd need to walk out and remedy later.

One small spook at who knows what had me clutching for mane and wrapping my legs a lot tighter, but he wasn't in the mood to take advantage. Good boy!

The scenery wasn't the prettiest, especially since I spent a lot of time looking at the ground, but it was definitely time well spent. I let him graze in the greener driveway verge for a while when we were done.

This is what remains of the swelling on Sunny's back leg. The swelling is gone, and it doesn't seem to be sore at all. A few patches of hide are sloughing off, and it's looking more as if he wrapped it in something. I'm guessing a loose piece of fencing wire, which is one of the reasons we were moseying this afternoon, looking for anything likely.
I did find fence stretcher/tightner thingy & about 15' of fence coiled like a slinky in the middle of one of the big pastures, but not one the horses had access to. So I'm missing something somewhere. Or he caught it in something else.

The Colors of Fall

One of these days I'm going to have some time to ride. Needless to say, this past weekend wasn't it. Leftover housework, hours of grading, and the gale force winds on Sunday pretty much put paid to my riding plans.

Fall has well and truly arrived. We had temperatures in the teens last night, and things are crispy and cool. I love fall! Between rain and wind, lots of leaves just purely blew away. The frost Sunday night dropped a lot of the ones that survived being drowned or gusted.

The ones still hanging on sure are pretty, though.
I love the way they almost glow with the sun behind them.

We picked apples (and lots windfalls off the ground) last night - about two bushels worth, and I spent the evening coring & slicing. The dehydrator is humming away, and the house smells wonderful. I already have a bunch sliced up in gallon bags in the freezer from an earlier batch, so these will all be dried. Well, the ones that don't become apple crisp, that is!

Weekend update...

Cold & rain starting Friday evening pretty much ruined my outside weekend goals. Other than the tack cleaning, which I fully intend to get to this afternoon. This morning was is as dry as it's been, but the pastures are a soggy, muddy mess. And it's cold, too.

T and Amyra

Sunny had some swelling in his left hind last night. It looks as if maybe he scraped it on something, but not enough to take any hide off. He was completely sound on it - no heat, so probably just bruised a bit. Everything is so slippery-slidey right now from the rain, which probably doesn't help. As you can see, the lot is goo.
They were frisky this morning.. I walked out first and was greeted, but the cows in the next pasture spooked so the horses all had to race up to the end of the pasture to check out whatever (deer, I think) the cows saw.

Then they raced on back by me to see T who'd walked out to see what was keeping me. We spooked up a couple of deer, but too far away to get a good picture - all I could really see was the white hind ends bounding away through the trees.

In other news, the trailer shopping will continue, I think. T called and talked to the salesman about the Chaparral this morning - new paint, lots of body work (the guy didn't say new floor, but I think it's probable). They're asking right at $6,000 for it. A bit less than half the price of a new one, but I think they're banking on new paint to help sell it. I'll have to think about it some more - there's no particular rush, after all.

Mosquitoes!?

They're back! The nights finally got cold enough to chill off most of the heel flies, and it hasn't rained much - but the mosquitoes were definitely out tonight.

See them? They were all over Sunny.

Proof of riding!

I feel like I haven't ridden in forever. Luckily, Sunny has a better memory than I do!

Tonight was gorgeous. The whole day was. So when I ended up an hour late at work, I decided not to waste any time dragging the saddle, etc. out to the truck. I changed and dashed, and had extra time riding.

Since I was bareback and no one was home, I didn't try anything crazy (like cantering). We wove poles, practiced walk trot transitions and leg yields. He was a star. Nice and light, and quiet. I fooled around until nearly dark and then brushed him off and let the rest of the crew out of the lot. A lovely end to the day.

Hunting season

They don't look much like deer to me....

Do you ride with bells on?

If I ride - or work out in the pasture - in the fall when hunters are apt to be out roaming around, I wear bright colors. If I ride down the road I wear a blaze orange vest. Riding in more forested areas during hunting season, a lot of folks use bells. I can't find a picture of what I'm thinking of (something like a large sleigh bell with a deep, merry sounding chime, on a snap that attaches to your saddle), but sleigh bells, bear bells or rhythm beads also work - anything that makes the kind of noise that says, "I'm not attached to dinner or a potential trophy!"

I worry about the horses out in the pasture, though. They're used to the sound of gunfire (there's a pheasant hunting/guiding operation next door), so that aspect of hunting season doesn't phase them. Like all horses, however, they will head toward something that looks and sounds out of place first, before running away.

Lined up along the fence watching T sight in his rifle last fall

Not necessarily a good habit, if you're vaguely deer-shaped & colored.

A lot of livestock doesn't make it through hunting season every year. You wouldn't believe what people can mistake for a deer, elk, or moose. And out here, where there aren't a lot of trees to stop them, a rifle bullet can travel a LOOONG way.

So what to do?

Hands up, stranger!

Wishful thinking. But obviously, the horses themselves
aren't going to be much of a deterent!

Since our horses aren't stalled and don't wear blankets or halters (when they're turned out), and I don't really want to paint them orange - don't laugh, I've seen it! - the options for keeping them out of harms way are more limited.

Location (or re-location) - We try to keep the horses out of the front pasture, up near the house or back off the road where the terrain and distance will help protect them from idiots and stray bullets.

Signage - The property is posted No Hunting & No Trespassing.

Good neighbor relations - the neighbors are friendly, and are as responsible as can be hoped given that one of them has a fair number of visiting hunters coming through every year. The hunts the pheasant operation runs are guided by the owners, who are careful to remind their hunters about safety, livestock & not shooting north toward the farm. The other neighbors don't hunt much, thankfully.

None of this prevented me from finding one of the yearling fillies dead of a gunshot wound in the side a few years ago. No responsible party ever came forward - more than likely, she was the victim of a spent bullet and the hunter never knew s/he'd hit anything. I was sick.

And so, I worry. And will probably continue to do so every year I'm a horse owner.