First Day of Spring and a New Farrier

Sunny with a nice breeze.  Sure hope April actually comes with showers!

The farrier called approximately when he said he would, got directions from the closest town, and arrived with his wife just about the time I finished tying up the last horse.  I figured I'd have him start with Rufus and Sunny as they're apt to be either the best or the worst, depending.  

DT turned out to be a stout, solid, older gentleman with a slight limp - especially after Sunny stepped on him.  He talked as slow as he had on the phone - when he could get a word in edgewise.  His wife was a hoot, and rattled on with descriptions of her horses, relatives, etc. for most of the time.

Rufus went to sleep.  Sunny was tolerably good, although he did manage to step on the poor guy's foot.  I won't say he does the most careful trim I've ever seen, and he didn't appear to fuss around with angles, or leveling, and he didn't do a lot of rasping. He said he's been trimming for about 25 years give or take, and apparently he does mostly cow ponies and riding horses - no show barns. But he did a neat, workmanlike job, didn't mess with frogs, trim them short, or do anything drastic.  And he was quiet with the horses, which I liked.

I explained about Rufus's toe-jabbing problem and he did check out his shoes before he pulled them.  I didn't have Rufus reset - I figure he can go barefoot at least until his next trim and maybe I'll have shoes put back on. 

I deliberately left Thunder tied where he could see what was going on, and pulled him out third. He's pretty good about monkey-see, monkey-do, and I figured if the first two went smoothly he'd be calmer.  He's leery of strange men, but he's always been good about getting his feet trimmed.  DT was sitting down on his tool box when I walked Thunder over.  Thunder, of course, had to snort and blow a bit, but stood where I'd put him, although his eyes got big and he stretched up on his toes when DT stood up to say hello. 

DT scratched his neck and talked to him for a few minutes until Thunder stopped being quite so tall, then went to work on his feet.  Which tends to be the trick with Thunder - just don't pull out a needle, and you're all good.  Although he's still going to keep a darn close eye on you.  He's all checked out on stranger-danger.  He blew at J when she came over pet him, but didn't give her the big eyes and high head treatment which didn't surprise me in the slightest.  He's never minded strange women near as much.

Amyra, as usual, was cranky for exactly one foot.  It's never the first, it's never the last.  Generally it's the second front one, but it varies.  She's been exactly the same since the very first time she was trimmed, although this time the cranky was limited to cocked back ears, a set jaw and a couple of yank-aways with her foot.  The second time she pulled her foot away I popped her lead.  Her head came up, her ears came forward, and she decided minding her manners would be the proper thing to do.  Mares... or at least that one.

The trims were $25 apiece, which shocked the heck out of me considering.  I thought it'd be higher even given the fact that my Arabs did their bit for the breed and (mostly) behaved themselves.  He charges $65 for shoes, which is really reasonable, too.  He makes a loop this way about every 8 weeks, which is slightly longer than I'd like to wait, but he also said if something comes up it'd be no problem to work me in.

So...  We'll see how they wear and go from there, but I think he'll do. 

"A trapping we will go..."

With apologies to Thomas Ames...

Nothing in the live trap yesterday morning, and nothing this morning, either.  Phooey.  I bought a different brand of cat food - still fish flavored, but... it's proving not quite as tempting as the first batch.

Yesterday was gorgeous.  I ended up in town most of the day and got nothing productive done.  The ponies sure were soaking up the sun, though.

Waiting on the gate

They were all nicely in a line.  But Sunny just had to be different. 

In any case, that's our marching order, if you imagine Sunny back on the left: Sunny on my right outside, then Amyra, then Thunder and Rufus gets the far left.  Their butts are already getting rounder again - I may need to cut back on the pasture time, although they're enjoying it so much I really hate to. 

Farrier update I hope later.

Snow be gone!

Put in just over half an hour with Sunny yesterday - 50's and melting slop had me shedding layers and keeping things slow.  I came home liberally splashed and splotched with mud, but completely happy.

The snow is disappearing quickly, soaking right in - which is great, considering how dry it's been.  I don't want to see a spring as wet as last year, but some moisture is welcome.

Didn't saddle Thunder, but I did take him out and do some groundwork with him. If/when Sunny and I head for the show ring this year, Thunder will be going too, and since we haven't reached the point of under-saddle classes, I'm going to see if we can't at least do some halter.  It's not my favorite thing, but it will broaden his horizons which is the important thing.  

One goal yesterday was just some separation time for both boys - breaking up the normal routine a bit.  They're both copacetic when it's them that's leaving, but they don't like being the one that's left behind. 

There are tiny spring green grass shoots poking up among the dead brown winter scruff, and Sunny was eager to snatch a few so once I had his saddle off I let him nibble for a bit.  The best spot was out of Thunder's sight, and that had him racing and whinnying.  Sunny wasn't concerned.

I offered Thunder the same opportunity when I had him out, but he was content to stand, soak up sun and let me brush him.  Unlike Sunny, Thunder assumes that when he's attached to a person he needs to focus. Good boy!

Down to the wire

Wow, did we have wind this weekend. The sun was lovely, but stepping outside meant eating dirt, sand-blasting and being pummeled by branch bits. The horses tucked their tails and hunkered in behind the tree grove.

They'd really rather be out on grass, but it's been so cool that nothing's growing like it should in spite of all the moisture we've had. Since we still have lots of hay, they're going to stay confined to the lot until the green stuff is taller, like it or not.

The grass is extremely tempting, however, and unfortunately Sunny isn't inclined to wait. Sunday afternoon I counted: 1 black - 2 black - 3 tri-color bay... No fat chestnut drowsing in the sun. Sunny, drat him, was over the fence in the tree grove contentedly munching away. Not sure how he managed that, and he wasn't inclined to demonstrate once I finally had him back on the right side - we ran electric to keep him from stepping across via a snow bridge this winter, and there weren't any hoofprints in the blocked off section - grrrr!

I'd love to open the grove for all of them, but a) there isn't a gate into it, and more importantly b) the tree grove has all sorts of nasty junked metal things and rats' nests of wire tangled in among the trees. That's why there's no gate.

It's definitely NOT safe for ponies.

Sunny caught a hoof in the roll pictured above as I led him back. He dragged it along behind him for about 10 feet before I heard the wire-slidey noise over the wind howl and realized he was snagged. I stopped, he stopped. Should I back him up, or just try to get him undone where he was - visions of him deciding to panic and flailing about as soon as I stepped away from his head flashing through my mind....

In the brief seconds I debated, Sunny looked around, eased the tangled foot up, stretched it back and out like he was doing yoga and - zi-in-g!! Off came the wire. Down went the leg. And down went his head just in case he could snag another mouthful of grass while we were paused. Twit.

No gate, so the only way to get him back IN the fence was go over it. Once I had it squashed down as far as I could in the lowest section, I walked him up, stepped over and asked him to follow. And he did, one careful, high step at a time.

So I spent an hour or so inspecting the fence for pushed down spots, securing anything that looked weak, and wishing the portable fencer wasn't in Kansas with T.

Other people's fantasies may involve warm sandy beaches.
Mine involve Sunny-proof fences.

Spring?

Some, feeling generous might call it that.

I suppose, on the bright side it's wetter, rather than whiter...
Still,
I have to say, my mood rather matches Sunny's - cranky.

The ponies remain woolly yaks,
for which I'm grateful.
But is a week or so of actually sunshine
really too much to ask?

Needless to say, no riding this weekend. The gravel roads to the farm were 6" deep in semi-frozen slop on Friday, well nie on to impassible with slush and mud on Saturday, and rutted and nowhere near to dry on Sunday. I worried about high-centering or entrenching the Blazer - should have taken the big truck, but didn't want to linger in the rain unhitching the trailer. (And by no means was I subjecting Sunny to a trailer ride over those roads for anything less than an emergency vet-trip, which thankfully we didn't have.)

Here's to some sunshine for Easter!

Checking in

Between snow, mud, and more snow, it's been a depressingly monotonous few weeks here.

I say that knowing full well I'm asking for trouble, so I'll qualify...

It's been a few weeks absent any major disasters on the horse/critter front, and if the same can't be said for all things family-wise, I'm a HUGE fan of dealing with one crisis at a time! So the powers-that-be out there governing stupidity caused wrecks and freak accidents can just feel free to keep right on by-passing us for a while - I'm sure not complaining!

Since I last posted we:

• Farm/dog-sat and did lamb-watch one weekend
  
• Farm/dog-sat and did calf-watch two weekends
  

Of the two, I prefer the calf-watching, although the lambs are a lot more portable and angry ewes are a) less common, and b) easier to evade. Lambs are super cute, but they're tougher to keep alive - although I'm told that's just sheep in general. I think I have some lamb/calf pictures somewhere, but the disk on my camera filled up and I saved them all to a different computer, so no baby pics today.

But our snow has finally mostly gone, the fields are drying up enough to ride on, and yesterday we had sun, reasonable (not gusts to 30+ mph) breezes, and low 60's! It was amazing!

The horses are round, muddy, and in that horrible molting/shedding stage when everything looks dingy, dull, and frazzled. They've had half their vaccinations (4-ways done, rabies and West Nile to go) and their March wormer rotation except for Rufus, who's schedule is synced in with the horses where he's staying. They've all had their feet done but for Rufus, who needs a trim and a re-set.

So of course, who did I ride yesterday but Rufus. T was out of town, so I stole his horse.

He was actually pretty good for having had the whole winter off. A bit of excited dancing as we walked them in, but other than a bit of head-tossing, he was a champ for the majority of our ride. We waded through what felt like a lake's worth of field. (Clear and still, not running water, and known footing underneath. It was never much over mid cannon-bone, so we weren't in any danger of getting swept away.) We had a nice lope across some alfalfa stubble, scared up a few jack rabbits, and then headed home. A lovely afternoon.

Next time, when I have the truck and trailer (T had the truck), it's Sunny's turn!

Signs of Spring!

Look Mom, no hat!

All that sunshine felt really good - too good, apparently! I actually left the house without my jacket, but luckily T's was hanging in the back seat of the truck - with gloves in the pockets - when I got out to the farm to feed.

I took an hour to fuss over everyone, pulling out some windtangles and de-mudding a bit. Walked up to see if there were any new calves yet, but didn't spot any.

It's amazing what a few days warm weather can do to a whole lot of snow!



Not to mention what it does to the outside of the truck! I won't tell you it was close to clean when I left home, but it's sure a lot more brown than when I left!

Not sure how much horse time I'll have this weekend - T's mom and his nephew are visiting. But I did manage to drop a couple of bookcases and some odds and ends off at GoodWill, hit the bank (well, not literally) and the post office to mail some belated V-day stuff, and... then it was back to the house for more skirtwork before the company shows up. Such fun.... Hopefully next weekend I'll be RIDING!

Happy Ponies!

Is that a blissful expression, or what?

They got to go out for the evening. A bit of hay first so they weren't going to fill up completely on green grass.

We had to make sure the new section of fence was marked, since G adjusted one side in a bit this spring, and to make sure any stray bits of round bale twine were picked up from where we stripped it off the bales all winter, but once that was done we separated the bale feeder halves blocking the gate. The two mares currently eating at it were first through, but moments later the rest noticed and there was a mass exodus.

The first couple made it about three steps past the gate before they were nose down. The others just pushed them out of the way.

These two woolies wound up in with them, but they'll pop back out through the sucker rod at the top later on. Otherwise we'll chase them out in the morning. They were enjoying the grass just as much as the horses.

Happy horses!

Waiting on the grain

Heading out to pasture

"That's my bite!"

It's where's Waldo...

The barnyard version

Foxy's nail was not alone out there. I've commented before how spring mud means new nails surfacing to be picked up. This year seems to be particularly bad. If I didn't know better I'd swear some evil person was throwing handfuls of the suckers over the fence!

Can you spot the nail in this picture?How about this one?

It's there, it really is.

Maybe a tad closer...

There.

Today's haul:

And these two honkers get their own shot - YIKES!

Just ducky, isn't it?

I never liked Where's Waldo. But I'm not too bad at "find the nail." I'm sure getting lots of practice. I think I need to get myself a big magnet.

Weekend update

The mud is drying up, which means it's time for another round of snow. Winter is planning to descend on us again tonight, but in spite of that the weekend was fairly nice. Unfortunately, other than a stint of fence-fixing and the usual feeding routine, I didn't get much horse time in this weekend.

T and G and I spent Saturday morning identifying the trouble spots in the electric fence and making sure that all wires are appropriately tight and hot. The horses weren't real pleased to be locked in the upper lot for the duration, but after three of them made repeat appearances in the pasture next to the one they were supposed to be in (with no gates open or down) it was pretty apparent that some of the stinkers have discovered and embraced the fine art of fence crawling.

Since that just isn't acceptable, and the spring grass is just too darn tempting for them to stop on their own, it was time to get serious about zapping their sneaking noses. They're now much safer, and although not pleased about it, much more respectful of the fence. Having the current back on should keep the deer out of it, too.

Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful weekend. I spent much of it working on a presentation. PowerPoint is such fun....

Five reasons

I will be glad to see spring arrive:

1. Mud - or rather absence of mud. It is currently almost knee deep, and especially bad exactly where I have to wade across to close the gate to the upper lot. I almost lost a boot to the suction today, and of course the gate popped off the top hinge again, which required several more wadings through the muck before I had it (temporarily) fixed.
   
2. Weird weather - SD's getting hit by those wacky weather patterns just like the rest of the midwest. Here that means that after the beautiful 60's and calm we had last week, it dropped nearly 40 degrees in less than 12 hours, and we have sleet, snow, and yuck. The horses are pleased the grass is coming in, but blech!
   
   
   Although I have to say,
   SO glad I'm not out there
   in the Black Hills with their
   FEET of new snow!
   
3. Shedding - spring means shiny coats and goodbye to winter scruffies.
4. Grass - When the pastures come in no more moving hay bales and graining every day, which will leave more time for...
5. Riding!

That's my top 5 - what's yours?

Mud baths for beauty?

If a picture's worth a thousand words,

what does this one scream to you -
besides "Wash me!!!" that is?

Star has loved mud ever since she was tiny. When they were tiny, she and Solitaire (one of Star's yearmates) used to lie down in the melt pond in one of the pastures and wallow. Solitaire was almost as muddy yesterday, so obviously neither of them have outgrown the habit. Sigh....

How do you groom?

It's shedding season, early as it seems.

With only a few days until March, the horses are about to look as bad as they ever do: muddy, tufty, dull-coated (old winter coat, no matter how clean & shiny it's brushed, just has that sun-faded look, doesn't it?) & motheaten. The barbering jobs several of them have courtesy of the sheep they share their waterer with won't help.

Today's snow had melted & frozen on them here & there in miniature icicles dangling from their sides. Then there was the hay adhered in odd places after I got through toting pitchfork loads to the feeders - they will insist on standing in the way, and end up freckled with fallen bits which I usually brush off. Tonight's chaff just stuck to the ice. None of them were cold, though, so I fluffed them out as best I could and left it at that.

My weapon of choice against hay debris & dried mud is usually something really similar to one of these handy little Rubbermaid numbers (a whopping $2.50 - I get the generic kind about half that). They have nice stiff bristles, a handle, and they work pretty well for removing crusted on dirt, hay & dust.

Also good: they are mane & tail safe, as long as I'm careful. Twigs & random hay bits come right out.

They aren't so great, however, when the horses start shedding. Oh, the hair comes off, but it tends to get stuck well up into the bristles, and I have to clean the brush out every 30 seconds or so.

So when shedding season starts I turn to my old pal, the rubber curry. When I was a kid, I used one of these on my pony. It was huge for my (then) small hand, had a woven canvas handle, and was quite stiff.

Today's models are much more flexible, and seem to be somewhat smaller in size. (At least, I don't think it's just 'cause I'm bigger!) The one on the right from Country Supply at Horse.com is even available in two sizes, full & junior.

Now I know that some people like shedding blades & metal curry combs. But I'd never been a fan of the way they strip the hair off. So not mane & tail friendly.

If they get damp, a lot of them rust, and they're also prone to getting bent. You can't really use them on anything much below the knees, as there simply isn't enough meat in those areas to make it feel pleasant for the horse. Not to mention the fact that if I use one without gloves on, I always seem to end up bleeding, and how horse-friendly can that possibly be? Not.

My other pick for spring grooming? Well, Arabians, at least most of them, have lots of mane. And in spite of my best efforts they quite often manage to acquire a 5 AM, bedhead-worthy collection of dreadlocks, wind tangles, elf-locks and what have yous. So a nice, sturdy, wide-toothed plastic comb is also a must. I usually pick up several at a time, as I'm apt to either break the teeth out accidentally prying at something, and/or they just disappear - much like those socks the dryer is always eating.

Expensive isn't necessary - those Oster ones made special for horses? They don't last much better than the cheap people kind you can buy at Wal-mart. But I do avoid the hand-size, fit in your pocket ones you can get for $.19: they tend to have sharp edges, and just aren't comfortable to hold onto for any length of time.

Probably the most helpful thing for spring shedding season, though, is getting them out on grass. Spring greens gloss them up in no time. But edible pasture won't happen for a while yet, at this rate. It's snowing again. Yuck.

So, anyone have any favorite shedding-season tools? Does anyone use a vacuum? When I was out east they used a vacuum routinely on some of the lesson horses, and they never seemed to mind. Crazy!

And more of the same

It's about this time of year
that winter always starts to seem very long.

We've had a January/February thaw. Mud has set in (and thawed & set up again) as the snow has dwindled. The horses are starting to shed just a bit - I keep telling them it's too early to be losing coat yet, but they aren't listening.

The days are getting longer
and a tiny bit warmer.

Yesterday the sun was out, and I so wanted to ride. But the ground is still slick, Sunny was filthy, and there's so much else to be done.

Maybe this weekend.

Mud

You could definitely tell who was itchy tonight, and also who had a nap. There were a few fastidious faces in the herd, but almost every one of them was sporting either a full or half coat of dried on, cement-like mud. We had an hour long downpour this afternoon, and although the sun came back up and baked almost everything (including the horses) fairly dry, the combination of shedding winter coats and dirt made riding completely out of the question.

That'll teach me to set a goal!

At any rate, once everyone was fed I de-mudded as best I could while new thunderheads stacked up to the south. I'm afraid that by morning they're going to be a sorry sight again, but they sure don't seem to mind.

In the interests of actually accomplishing something, I played touch-it with Star for a bit. Don't know exactly where she got her stand-offish streak from, but of all of them she's having the hardest time being handled. It's no problem to catch her, do feet, give shots, worm, load, etc., but simple things like brushing don't seem to have sunk in with her like they did with her year-mates. Since she's for sale, time spent getting her a bit more confident and comfortable about being handled is to everyone's benefit, and to give her credit, she wants to be fussed over, she's just not sure what's going to happen next.

Anyway, 10 minutes well spent with her -- just loose with me and the clicker to get the "good things happen when you stick around" planted firmly in her mind, and I walked away while she was still interested. Another five spent waving & flapping my sweatshirt (it was handy) at Sunny & Pinto-Boy & clicking for planted feet. (Note to self: find something scarier; they don't care about flapping coats any longer.)

After that, the sky was dark enough it was time to get everything put away before the heavens opened. I'd begrudge the rain, but the grass needs the moisture, and as long as we don't get such puddles that the mosquitoes arrive, I'm not going to complain too much!

More walkies...

As I sit here typing this around the cat in my lap, I'm still smiling just a bit. Pasture mud is still curtailing the riding, and Sunny was more interested in hay than in working today, but when the three-year old Pinto-Boy stuck his nose in the halter, I thought, well, why not? So he accompanied us on a mile long stroll down the road today. (That's him to the right earlier this spring with my husband who's well over 6' -- Pinto-Boy is going to be BIG when he finally quits growing!)

I wasn't actually expecting much -- or rather, I was expecting more action that I got. It was an absolutely beautiful day with no bugs, lovely sunshine, and just enough breeze. We walked down the long driveway with only the slightest of hesitations at the mailbox. Hmmm... so far so good. Turning right we proceeded on down the gravel and over the slight rise toward the neighbors. They have kenneled hunting dogs that always bark, a huge double door garage with reflect-y windows, and a horse-eating double height mailbox. Did we falter? Nope. A momentary pause to snort at the reflection, but when I encouraged my friend and fellow walker to just keep walking and chatting as usual, on we went with barely a countable hesitation. Pinto-boy checked out the oversize mailbox and was rewarded by a click and treat. No monsters here!

At the crossroad we turned around and strolled back home. He went the entire way with no yelling for his mates, dancing or other silliness. Just a loose lead, lovely flat-footed walk, pricked ears, and no excess anxiety whatsoever. I couldn't be prouder of him if he was mine! I'm more and more convinced that he's going to be a pleasure to start, and I'm sort of jealous that he isn't going to be mine, too. He's Sunny's half-brother - same sire, RA Sunny Boy. I'm increasingly impressed with the colts he throws. All three of them that I've been around have had the same laid-back, curious, but less than volatile response to strange things. The mares they're out of have much the same reaction and easy-going personalities, so overall, it seems to be a happy combination for nice, steady trail horses with enough snap and eye-appeal to have potential in the show ring -- we'll have to see on that last when the older ones get a bit further along in their careers.

Still no riding, but a realization

After yet another day of rain, we finally had a day of sunshine. Unfortunately, totally de-mudding my pasture pony would have taken the entire time I had to spend, so after knocking off the worst of the mud we just went for a stroll down the road. Stopping to graze on the new spring grass, watch a wild turkey stroll back into the tree belt, and goggling a bit at the nearest neighbor's oversize mailbox -- it may not sound like we accomplished much, but the fact that he was quiet and didn't drag me home.... Well, it felt like success just re-bonding after not so much time together this winter. Hopefully, if he doesn't reacquire a new coat of mud tonight, we'll do better tomorrow.

It started me thinking, though just what value Sunny has to me. I paid (overpaid, probably) $500 for him as a long-yearling. He was halterbroke - barely and still a stud, both of which I rectified as soon as I could. It took us a while to bond initially. He'd not been handled much after being weaned, and he was quite happy with the company of a year-mate and the older gelding I was riding at the time. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have considered him but for the fact that I was desperate for a horse of my own, and his owner had been making noises about sending him to the sale barn. For an Arab or Arab-cross in this country, that's a death sentence. I don't know that he actually would have gone down the road, but it's as much to my benefit as to his that he didn't.

I've ridden plenty of horses, but I'd never started one, so Sunny went to a trainer as a three-year-old. He does mainly Quarter Horses, and had started several other horses I've ridden. He also had an advantageous location -- right down the road, which meant no trailer required. Sunny learned a lot, but I think the trainer did, too -- Arabians evidently need more patience than Quarter Horses (who'd have thought!). But after that was sorted out, Sunny did well. He's not a show horse. We've done mostly trail riding and a few small fun shows for, well, fun. He's learned about kids since I married (acquiring two) and has happily packed the younger of the two on his first excursion into the show ring -- they earned a blue in lead line, which resulted in an ear-ear grin from the one on top, although Sunny didn't seem surprised.

I've learned he won't make a drill team horse -- no problems with the flag, but being squeezed by the other horses doesn't suit him. He's not that fond of cows, but doesn't mind chasing them if he's asked. When he stepped on a nail and his foot abscessed during a cold snap in February, he allowed his foot to be soaked in Epson salts in -5'F weather, and tolerated the daily penicillin shots without twitching an ear. He's open to almost anything that involves a clicker and a cookie.

He probably wouldn't bring anything much if I wanted to sell. But I didn't buy him as an investment, or at least not as a monetary investment. He's my stress relief, my satisfaction, my sanctuary when the world gets too complicated, my teacher and my pupil, and my responsibility. I wouldn't have it any other way.