Back in the saddle

It's been a week since I've ridden. I've been fighting knee pain and finally broke down and made an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist. Definitely looking for non-surgical solutions, that's for sure!!!

I've been at the barn twice a day for the last couple of days - in the morning working with Daniel and again in the evening to help feed and bring in horses (Margaux usually helps but has out of town guests).

I took two Aleve and went out to ride today :-) I only rode about 45 minutes, at a walk, in the indoor, but it felt OK. I needed ice when I got home but I wasn't dying :-)

Daniel's doing great with just the snaffle. We did some turns on the haunches, because we need the on the trails, on occasion! But really just focused on leg yields, staying on the rail and he took good care of me, as always!!

Running back out tonight to help feed - I have to try to get some video of the 8 geldings cantering up the hill to get their dinner :-) Yesterday, Daniel led the charge!! Yes, a Percheron led a herd of OTTBs and a Hanovarian!!

Graduating to skipping a month!

Dawn's letting me graduate, and she's not coming back until mid-January!! I'm a little scared, but happy at the same time :-).

I am still having knee problems, so much so that I buckled down and made an appointment with an Orthopaedic Dr. I see him on Friday. Because of the knee, I didn't ride today. I just brought Daniel in, Dawn checked my work, and I put his rainsheet on him and turned him back out.

I came back about 4 to help bring the horses in. They were all unsettled because deer season (rifle) started and the gunshots had the horses a little worried. But, Jill and I got them all in. All except for Charlie. Jill calls him "Dumb Dumb" so he's not the brightest bulb there! We left Charlie out. I went out to him and tried to lead him in, but he was a bit wigged out and didn't want to follow me up to the barn.

I'm meeting my Masters Capstone advisor tomorrow, so I'm not sure I'll get back out tomorrow... But I'm hoping to ride a little on Sunday :-)

OMG the GEESE!

They were everywhere today!! Such stupid animals, I was on top of them before they sounded the alrm and flew off. - could have taken out 5 or 6 of them if I wanted to!!

He must have been rolling in the mud because one side of him was dirty. I groomed him and picked out his hooves, and then Lourdes and Brendan stopped out. I was glad they finally got to meet the big guy!

They both had a quick ride (of course, Daniel just wanted to follow me), then I had a quick ride on him, and we went to grab lunch. He still is in his snaffle!! What a good boy!

Quick trip afterwork

Made a quick trip to the barn after picking up the dogs after work. They ran in the barn aisle with the Rover Labs. :-)

Of course, I had a couple carrots for Daniel and he was mugging right through the opening in the bars for more!

I topped off his two water buckets and mucked his stall before I headed to a friend's house to look at new puppies!! I'll be back to ride him on Saturday!

Gorgeous November Day!

Mid-November and it was a GORGEOUS day!! Yesterday, I just trimmed D's hooves. I had to run out so Margaux and Sue rode him :-)

Today, after meeting Eileen and Linda for lunch, I told Eileen that I was going to ride after and she said that her daughter would love to see Daniel. So, I gave her directions and told them to meet me there.

I got there and picked hooves, brushed him and tacked him up. We rode in the outdoor. I've been having lots of trouble with my knee, so I took it easy, just walking and a little bit of trotting, until Eileen and Maddy arrived. Maddy and her friend Hailey got pony rides on Daniel, then helped groom him before I turned him out.

With all of the rain lately, I MTG'd his feathers and sprayed tea tree oil on his hooves to work on anything tht may be brewing in there.

I told the girls that all the TV shows where people show up at the barn, then leave all without a speck of dirt on them is a lie :-) that horses are a LOT of work. Eileen said that they wanted to do horse camp this summer and was telling them how much work it was. I told them that it might be good for them: if they still like horses after seeing how much work it is, then great!!! If they decided it wasn't for them, then they only invested a week to find out... They didn't go buy all the gear, or worse, buy them a horse! And decide it's not for them.

Did a trail ride with a snaffle

Didn't get a chance to post over the weekend, but I was at the barn on Saturday and didn't ride. I had to go late, so I took the dogs, helped feed, and the dogs played with Margaux's dogs while we worked with the horses. All of the horses, except mine, ran up to the gate for their food. So, I stood there. I called him and waved his grain bag in the air. And called him again. After a minute or so of this, he walked across the pasture to me. Hell, I know it was for the food, but still! It was progress! Margaux had me cracking up - she said Daniel must have been thinking, "Hey! Give the grain bag to the little one!! She walks it over to me!! She brings me my food!" I'm not there that often to feed, but I'm going to make him come to me if he wants to eat.

Sunday was a GREAT day! I met Carol at the barn, and we took Daniel and Cayuga for a trail ride. I was trying to put Daniel's pelham back on his bridle, so I'd have more brakes out on the trail, but I had problems with it. So, I left the snaffle on. He's been awful with the snaffle outdoors, and I've been working with him because I'd rather ride with just a snaffle instead of a curb.

He was being bratty when I tried to mount up - there were cars parked all over in the area where we mount up, plus there were leaf blowers running all over the place, so he was dancing all over the place. I ended up getting on him from the wagons by the outdoor.

We set off across the field by the outdoor, then up Mark and Ann's driveway to the neighboring field. We trotted the field, and circled back along the field. Carol asked if I wanted to go back the same way, or cut through the trails, and we opted to go to the trails. As we walked along behind Mark and Ann's, the horses there galloped, snorted and charged the fence. Daniel and Cayuga were both really well behaved!!! And my boy only had a snaffle!!

He crossed the creek off the trails (which were pretty steep in places), and crossed the creek again at the base of the geldings' field. We walked back up to the barn. All in a snaffle! Yay Daniel!!

He was SOAKED and luckily, it was 70 degrees, so I hosed him off, scraped him, and trimmed his hooves while he dried. We waited for Robin and her some Jacob to come for a visit. Jake is 3 and visits a horse in their neighborhood. He got a kick out of a tour of the farm, the barn, and petting Daniel. We went to take Daniel back out to the field, and the boys put on a show for him - running, bucking, snorting and stomping. They mugged for carrots at the fence too. Donnie bit Daniel in the rear and he even tried to do a little buck, too!

This week, I'm so swamped with work and school that I won't be back out to the barn until Saturday morning. I'm bummed!!! I wish I were able to get there a couple nights this week!

Saturday isn't coming fast enough!!!!

progress with the snaffle

Yesterday, I rode Daniel in the outdoor with a snaffle and he was good! There was a break in the rain, and it looked like there were going to be 4 or 5 people riding in the lesson, so Kara and I rode in the outdoor.

We just did walk, trot, small circles, leg yields and halts... and I was pleased with how well he did!

Today, I met Allysia and her son Joseph for lunch, then we all went to see Daniel. I think Joe really got a kick out of Daniel.

Tomorrow after work - trimming hooves!!!! :-)

I graduated!

Dawn had to do hardly anything today, and told me to keep doing what I've been doing, and she only need to "check my work" every 5 weeks or so :-) The clear pic above are D's front hooves after I trimmed him Sunday. The fuzzy front foot pic is from January '09 showing that same stinking crack that will probably never grow out because of a defect in his coronary band.

And I couldn't resist a few pics of Daniel with Dawn!

Days and days of rain...

Thankfully Tory Hill has an indoor for us to ride in! Daniel was being WONDERFUL in the indoor on just a snaffle! We rode with Kara and Tessa the last two days in the indoor and I was proud of Daniel compared to his behavior outdoors the other weekend.

I trimmed his hooves today. Dawn's coming Wednesday, and I didn't want her to have a lot to do.

Rainsheet's been waterproofed and water was beading up on it, so I put his dry sheet on him and let him go back out with his buddies.

Dismal Dreary day!

No pics today! I had planned to meet Kara at the barn about 8:30am to ride in the indoor... this rain has got to go! I didn't set my alarm because the dogs never let me sleep past 6:30am or so. I opened my eyes this morning, AT 7:58am!!!!!!!! Arrrghhhh!!!

So, I rushed and fed the dogs, made coffee, flew back upstairs to change, grabbed a thermal mug for the coffee and ran out the door. I got to the barn 8:40 or so and apologized for being so late. Damned dogs! Any time that I CAN sleep, they're getting me up at 6:00, and when I want the wake me up, they don't. ugh!

Anyway, Daniel was in his stall, a little wet because he'd been out about 15 minutes or so, but not too bad. I dried him off, picked hooves, detangled his mane and brushed him. He kept playing with the stuff on my shelves (he was particularly fascinated by a container of bit wipes... peppermint bit wipes!! The old boy has this new think for peppermints and my mother created it! She always brings those red and white peppermints to the barn for him. He hears the paper crinkle and he perks his ears right up!

We went the the indoor, and I was half expecting Daniel to be a bit stiff from being stalled last night, but he was doing good! We did a lot of walking and some trotting. Whenever Kara and Tessa would pass us, he'd speed up. I told him that Tessa's mostly TB, he can't beat her in a race so not to even try! :-)

I got him to do some nice trot work, and he was happy that we did a lap around the arena on the buckle after that. I found him some extra-long laced reins, so he can really stretch his neck out when he's on the buckle. The ones I got with him where 84" long, and way too long, they were all knotted so they didn't get in your way. Then I bought him "oversize" reins and they were a little better than regular length, but they still weren't long enough to really let him stretch out. I went to drafttack.com and found these. They're 72", so they are a nice length... I just need to keep working the leather new into them to break them in!

So, it was a good ride today. We went back up to the barn, took his tack off and groomed him again. I'm going to do hooves tomorrow after I ride. I was too scattered today with getting up late and rushing around to be in the right frame of mind to do hooves. I put his rainsheet back on him and turned him out with his buddies. When I went back to clean tack, he didn't come back to the barn banging on the gate... he seems to only do that when he's been bratty :-)

Better in the outdoor today!

We still used the snaffle, but he was much better!! Still need to work on brakes, but he was way more responsive than the other day. I feel like I have to use much more leg on him outside than in the indoor, and I'm going to just suck it up that I have to use the pelham on him on trials...

All in all, look at my boy GLOW!!! Not bad for a 20-something year old horse! It looks like Tory Hill's agreeing with him. I know it's agreeing with me (and the 15 minute commute certainly is!)

What a pill!

Today we rode in the outdoor alone. There were 5 or 6 students in the indoor and I thought it would be too crowded.

The weather was gloriously clear and cool and we even did the 'baby loop' on the trail. After that, Daniel became a pill. He didn't want to walk, he wanted to trot; didn't want to halt; was clamping down on the bit and just going! He was really being a bastard. At one point, at a dead trot he tried to go out the outdoor's gate back to the barn... I gave him a swift kick and he sprang forward into a canter! BRAT!

I slowed him into a walk, and enforced the walk twice around the arena before I dismounted. I don't know if it's going from the pelham to a snaffle, to cool weather, or him just knowing I can trot and canter and he's getting bored with all the classical dressage and walking... Or a combination...

I took his tack off, groomed him, flysprayed him and turned him back out. I went back to the barn to clean tack and heard a banging outside. He followed me back to the barn. After being such a pill, he was being a clingy goofball... Go figure!

Bath time!

Didn't ride today, but I gave the big guy a bath. A couple of the boys have rainrot. Daniel didn't have any signs of rainrot, but I bathed him in the medicated stuff as a precaution!

I'm planning to ride tomorrow, I haven't been on him in over a week due to working at Devon last week. But, after a week at Devon, I realized that I wouldn't trade my horse for any of the ones competing at Devon!!!!

Setting up at Devon

A bunch of us helped set up at Devon on a picture-perfect day!! There were some hiccups along the way with the pain in the ass GC who gave us no direction for our piece then was inflexible when we didn't complete it as he expected. but we had fun anyway!

After Devon, I went home to cut the grass, then to the barn for.a short ride. I tried Daniel in the new snaffle bit and he was a bit of a butthead. He kept trying to take the bit and going where he wanted. Leeandra's voice from days long gone came into my head, and Kara had similar advice and I wouldn't let him win.

The best part was after the ride. I had him to carrot stretches and was rubbing his ears. He was LOVING that. He just lowered his big head down to me, and was in horsie-heaven while I scratched his withers and inside his ears. We ended the ride on an high note with some TLC!

Just so the hunters know I'm not a deer!

Got him a blaze orange quartersheet and a orange helmet cover for me and one for Kara.
All ready for the hunters but not for myself. I pitched over too far and went right over Daniel!!! Kara said I was very graceful, but I hurt like hell! Daniel jumped back and stepped through the 4 step, breaking it. Ugh! But, after we had fun, working in the outdoor, where Cayuga bucked Jean off (bad boy!). Then we did the baby trail and cleared out some low hanging branches. Kara held Daniel while I cut them from his back!! We needed to know how high to cut!!

Water-crossing trailride Batman!

Jean and Cayuga were kind enough to be a trailguide for Daniel and me today. (Yesterday it rained so we just rode in the arena.) We enlisted their help specifically to get Daniel over his new-found fear of crossing water. He had such a hissy-fit last week that Kara and I thought a confident trail-leader (Cayuga) would make this a non-issue.

Kara had to cancel, so Jean and I hacked out (after her husband and neighbors came out to meet Daniel) and she had lots of great trips for me. First of all, Jean is a yoga instructor and reminded me that my breathing communicates messages to Daniel that I may not realize. (Dolt! Forgot that from dog training lessons with Karen Privitello, 18 years ago...).

We walked around the perimeter of the gelding's field and got to the blasted stream where Daniel had his hissy-fit last week. Cayuga walked right across it, and again, Daniel had a hissy-fit. So, I looked and saw a place where the stream wasn't as steep, and again he refused. I thought back to Leeandra telling me to point him and kick when he got silly about something like that on the trail. At the same time, Jean told me to just envision us crossing it and not to anticipate him refusing...and he stepped across!!! YAY DANIEL!!! I hugged him, patted him, and gave him a flax cookie!!! I gave Cayuga one too!!

We walked along the trails on that side of the creek and then crossed back and continued on to the wide creek. This one is about knee high on Daniel and about 15 feet across. Jean told me to give him his head so he could pick his way, which I did. I kept his nose on Cayuga's tail and we went straight across! Yay Daniel!

Then we crossed the road and got to a really nice, wide open, freshly mowed field. Jean asked if we wanted to trot and I didn't have to ask Daniel twice! He even threw in a few strides of canter to keep up with Cayuga, a TB. At the end of the field, there was another creek, and this one had me nervous! It was almost to Cayuga's belly, and the banks were STEEP! Could my old draft horse handle this?? He went right in after Cayuga, and we let the stop in the middle and get a drink. Good boys!! It was a real trust exercise because I had to give him his head, while leaning back due to the banks. But my buddy took good care of me as always!

We went up the steep bank and onto a nice, shady trail. We rode for about 15 minutes until we hit part of the trail with several No Trespassing signs, so we headed back. Again, I Daniel followed Cayuga right into the creek and went up the very steep bank in two big jumps (thank god I was in two point!)

We trotted back through the big field. My legs were getting like jello at this point, but Daniel was all full of himself and wanted to GO!

We saw nothing in the road, so we crossed and heading for the last creek. Just as we were about to go down the bank, this idiot on a Harley slowed to watch us and revved his bike. ASSHOLE!!! Daniel spooked, just his typical jump forward and swung his haunches to the right, so I rode it out just fine, but still! It could have been disastrous if we weren't riding such calm horses!

We let them get another drink in the creek, and headed back to the onsite trail. We let them do some trotting along the back fence, and slowed them to a walk on the uphill. This whole thing earned Daniel a new nickname, compliments of Jean, "the Cowardly Lion." How fitting :-)

My legs were jello by the time I got off!!! I figured Daniel's must have been too, so I took him out and hosed him off with cool water, used the sweat scraper to get the excess water off of him, then picked his hooves to make sure he didn't pick up any stones and turned him back out with the boys.

Then the work... Sweeping up, cleaning tack, checking supplements and putting my tack away and headed home to cut the grass!!!

Holiday Weekend!!!

I got to ride THREE DAYS IN A ROW!!!! Yay! I've NEVER done that before!

On Friday, I didn't ride. Instead, I took Bauer and Rumor to the barn to play with Margaux's three black labs. They all got along wonderfully, and we got a LONG, STEEP walk in. I was most proud of my little Rumor... she was about 100 feet in front of me, and I called her back. She came FLYING back to me (OK, so she knew I had a big bag of treats). I gave her a treat and let her go back out with the other dogs. We walked them through the geldings' field, then went out the bottom back gate, and walked them back up the path around the pasture.

On Saturday, Margaux (and Granit, the Oldenburg mare) and I rode together. We just did work in the outdoor arena, which was fine because they were week-wacking and brush cutting, and all that noise was making Daniel act stupid. After I got him settled and had mounted up, I was working on leg yields and shoulders-in with Daniel. We did a little trot work while we were at it.

On Sunday, Kara (and Tessa, her mostly TB mare) and I hacked out on the perimeter of the property. There was a little, TINY creek in the back... barely a foot and a half wide and two or three inches deep. Hell, Daniel could have STEPPED ACROSS IT, and he wouldn't. Then Tessa wouldn't, and it became a horsie-psycho-fest. There was a one foot drop leading to it that had no water in it, so I pushed him to cross that because I didn't want to quit something with him winning. Kara and I decided to ask Carol or Jean (Cayuga's owner and half leasor) to hack out with us and be the lead horse. Daniel's crossed water plenty of times, just behind a lead horse! After we got back, I trimmed his hooves before heading home to hit the shower.

Today, we did that loop again, but they were both much better behaved. The boys in the field were snorting and fencing running and acting like silly colts. The cool weather is really agreeing with all the horses. Um, we skipped that water crossing all together though!!

Speaking of pasture, the picture above is the pasture Daniel lives on. How did I get so lucky to find this place??? The shed in the background holds 6 horses very comfortably, and the white roof way in the background is the indoor, which is left open when there are no lessons for the boys to use as a run-in. 120 acres and only 10 horses on it!!

Cool turkey at Kaz'

I went to get tires today at Kaz in Port Richmond, and he's got Peacocks, pheasant, chickens, this turkey and a pony out back!! And not like the falling down ghetto stables you see on the news. He's got lots of fresh hay, water, supplies for them and, of course, plenty of feed.

The stalls and coops are picked up and the animals all look healthy and happy. His pony, Smarty, is really a doll! I told him about that Riders Rasp I saw at Bit of Britain, if he wanted to ease into doing a little more work on hooves. He has the tools, he's just afraid to do more harm than good, like I was.

After I got my new tires, I took the dogs out to Tory Hill to me Margaux and her 3 Labs. They all hit it off and had a great time. Seeing where Smarty lived and where Daniel lives...every horse should live like Daniel lives! :-)

No riding tonight

But the dogs had one hell of a run with Margaux's 3 black Labs!!!

Back in the swing

Getting back in the swing of things after my cousin Bobby's battle with liver cancer, couple weeks under hospice care, his death on the Saturday the 22nd and funeral on Thursday the 27th . My aunt, my mother, his girlfriend and I were with him when he died Saturday evening. It was very peaceful and I was glad I was with him when it was time. We miss you, Cuz!! I didn't get to the barn for most of the week, instead, I was going to my aunt's after work every day. On Tuesday night, she asked me to write and deliver the eulogy. So, a few very sad and busy days...

Last night, Hoppy Stearns came out to Tory Hill to work on Daniel, Tessa, and Granit. When I first went to get him, I couldn't find the boys. They were WAY out in the back field!!! Of course, it's so hilly you have to walk all over creation to find them! Well, after about 15 minutes I found them, haltered Daniel and started walking him back up to the barn.

I groomed him and trimmed front hooves while I waited for Hoppy. She hadn't worked on him since he was in Churchville, so he was quite overdue. I told Hoppy that I didn't have the heart to ask her to drive all the way out to Hampstead to work on him!

Hoppy said that Tory Hill is really agreeing with Daniel. She said that he has lots of nice, round, muscle, and really, REALLY looks great! At the old Legacy, she said his muscle was very flat. She said all the hills here are really doing the old boy good!! He really needed bodywork and he was quite pleased that she was working on him. He fell asleep, as usual. He seemed drunk when she was done working on him! He had some stuff going on in the RF, but Hoppy released some stuff going on between P1 and P2. He seemed so much better today as a result. I told Margaux that I thought Hoppy's work was worth every penny!

She worked on Tessa and Granit and I think it did Granit a WORLD of good!!! The old grey mare was looking good when she was done!

This morning, I met Lisa1 and her sister Jen at the barn. Lisa1 got to ride Daniel a little, and her sister hopped on him a little bit. Lisa1 was kind enough to bring Daniel some "Locks of Love" from Ellie and Lyric!! Just in time too - Daniel needs some more hair in his tail! He's down to about 4 braids!!! I finished trimming his hooves, and flysprayed him before I turned him out. The pics are him noticing that his band of brothers is right at the base of the hill, and the other is him first trotting, then cantering, off to meet his boys.

Tomorrow, an early ride, then to meet Paula and Pat for brunch!

Some horses graze

But mine just LOVES eating the leaves off this tree!

I went to trim his hooves tonight. He was such a good boy for me! I adjusted the stand a little higher as Dawn suggested and he was wonderful for me! It was hot as hell, so I worked fast, turned him back out, then cleaned up and got out before the T-storms they're predicting rolled through.

Lots O' deer at Tory Hill

Took the dogs to the farm for a walk (too hot to ride) and counted 15 deer in the geldings' field... (Some were out of frame)

Weekend of riding :-)

I got the ride both weekend days! Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, I met Kara and Tessa at 8am to ride before it got really hot. On Saturday, I groomed him, tacked up and we rode in the outdoor, then did some of the perimeter trails. Tessa did GREAT! Two deer jumped right out in front of her, and she just stood and looked at the them. I guess with all the deer in her pasture, she's getting used to them! Another thing spending time in the mares' field was this huge heron! I'd seen him before in the big filed with the ponds, but never in the mares' field.

I went to meet Stacey and Mark for lunch after, had a LOT of laughs, then went to the tack shop to pick up dewormer. Thank god Leeandra had me help deworm a few times, because I had to get two tubes of Zimecterin Gold in him. And since he's so close now, I was able to go back to the barn after dinner and get that wormer in him! I LOVE having him 15 minutes down the road!!!

This morning, the boys were all in the little pasture (about 6 acres) right next to the barn, so I didn't have to go far for him! We groomed, tacked up, and rode in the big field along the road. We made two laps and those hills are great for all of us!

Both days we were done riding by 9:30, done cleaning tack by 10:00 and home by noon. Another thing that's nice - not rushing out when I'm done! I can just hang out with my horse now that he's close by!

My cousin's very sick with end stage liver cancer. I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can, so I drove into the city after I showered to see him. I don't know what the week is going to bring, so I'm not sure if I'm going to get there before the weekend or not.

New chestnuts at the farm

Lots of deer at the farm tonight. There were 3 in the front field, and I lost count in the back fields! Oh well, as long as they're not jumping in front of my car, I don't care!

Tonight was my first bit of "quality time" with Daniel in a week! I was in Kentucky last week visiting my brother and his family. I got home Saturday night and was going to ride on Sunday morning, but it POURED rain. I spent most of Sunday with my cousin who's in end stage liver cancer... and now his kidneys are shutting down. :-( I drove out to the farm to see Daniel and drop supplements off on Sunday night, and again, thunder, lightning, and RAIN! I dropped the supplements off, and left. :-(

On Monday, I went out with some carrots, just to say hello, fly spray him, pick hooves and go home to continue working on the dreaded Leadership paper...

Tonight, quality time!!! Dawn came out for Daniel's hoof trim. I got there early, helped with PM feed, and brought him up to the barn. I turned the water on (there's been a leak at the barn, and we're waiting for the plumber... have to turn the water off and on from Jill and Mark's basement... sort of an "On Demand" system.) Dawn said that I've been doing pretty good with his trims. His abscess on the LH that popped last December is finally growing out. Yes, that abscess that had me thinking that I was the worst horse owner EVER... How much I've learned in a few months!

I told Dawn that he's been a brat when I work on the RF, and I put my head against his side last time I trimmed him and just asked him what he was trying to tell me. Then it dawned on me: something hurt, and that RF is the one with the mild ringbone. So, I asked her to work with me on positioning his RF to make him a little more comfortable when I'm working on his RF. We experimented with raising and lowering the stand... and found that he just does best with lots of breaks when I do the RF, in addition to extra support, like keeping my hand on it and giving it support so there's not alot of back and forth movement (that, and make SURE he's getting his MSM and glucosamine/condroitin.) My boy's such a saint to put up with a newbie owner like me!

Anyway, learned lots of new things tonight. First of all, Daniel likes Diet Coke!! I stopped at the Wawa on the way. I needed a Diet Coke, and I know Dawn is a fellow addict, so I bought two. When I was a kid and wanted something, my Grandmother would always say, "Buy two. One might kill you." So, Gram, I didn't want one Diet Coke to kill me so I bought two. Didn't Dawn let Daniel drink hers! And didn't he LIKE it!? Goofy horse. Of course, when we tried to get a picture of said goofy horse drinking the Diet Coke, he wouldn't do it!

The other thing I learned is that Daniel trained me, but I beat him at his own game. Whenever I would put him in crossties to groom or do hooves, he would drop like he had to pee. I'd untie him and hustle him out, so he didn't flood the barn aisle, thereby stopping the grooming or trimming session. Jill suggested a bucket. Yes, I keep a 5 gallon bucket nearby. Anytime he drops, I stick the bucket under him. Once or twice, he filled it halfway... so I dumped it and kept doing whatever I was doing. Never taking him out of the crossties, and only stopping momentarily to make sure the bucket was in position. Now, Daniel doesn't pull that anymore! He puts up with hoof trimming and grooming, without threatening to pee!

Here's a picture of some of those new little chestnuts that are all over the place!

Second lesson with Jill

Sitting here in the airport. Gate F38 at PHL and half the seats, as well as the PA is pretty broken. I hope the plane flies! I hope it's not indicative of the level of service the planes get.
While I'm stting, bored, waiting for my flight to Louisville KY, I'll fire off my thoughts from today's lesson. Like Sara mentioned in one of her posts, lightbulbs like paparazzi's in town! I tld Jill that my ENT Dr ordered a BFT (balance function test) for me, and until I get my balance issues squared away, I'd rather ride with a saddle. She was fine with that.

I carried his saddle down to the indoor, and remembered my helmet this time. I tacked him up with his saddle, and a bridle with a snaffle, not the mullen mouth pelham I normally ride him with. I borrowed a dressage whip from Jill, and used it to pet him, and flick flies, and let him see that a whip isn't there to hurt him. Jill said that it's an extension of my arm.

Joy was there, too, working with Charlie, the 17h Hanovarian (Joy's the girl who braided flowers in Daniel's mane his first week there!). Joy's a petite little thing riding Charlie bareback like a pro... How I wish I started riding at her age, not at 42!

I touched the whip to his right hip to keep him from swinging his hip out at the mounting block, and with it merely RESTING against his hip, he didn't take a step! Thank you Jill!! (Note to self, buy a dressage whip at Dover next week!!). I mounted up and started him (lower leg pressure) at a walk. After he was a little warmed up, Jill started to explain the whole driving from the seat thing. All this time, I'd been forcing my seatbone DOWN to weight it. She explained that you don't do it that way, you simply raise up the opposite seatbone, and the opposite will lower and be weighted! DOLT she said it's like a scale, if you weigh 150 (I freaking WISH), and you lift your left leg, you still weigh 150, it's just all on the right leg. She said I should reach straight up for the roof with my hip, not forward to Philadelphia, nor should I push that seatbone down. Also, when his back muscle rises to meet my seatbone, I should thank him by lightening the contact on the rein ever so slightly, for just a moment.

Once I started to "get it" Daniel really lightened!!! I felt more impulsion from his rear and he seemed much more engaged, not just ambling along anymore. We didn't get out of a walk, but we went from the "Daniel amble", to the, "OK, I'm waking up now", to, "is THIS what you want, Mom?" To, "C'mon! Let me trot!!". All at a WALK!!! Now I see why she has students who walk for nearly a year before they get to a trot!!!

After we, I mean *I* got that concept of lifting my opposite seatbone, not pushing down the seatbone I wanted to weight, I had to get the whole stupid dressage whip (or stick, as Jill calls them) think down. I felt like a kid learning to write, and going from a crayon to a long, skinny, pencil. I didn't know what to do with the flipping thing! Once again, Jill (just as Leeandra used to) broke it down to very simply resting it across my leg, and showing me I could move my arm away from his neck so the lash at the end would contact his leg. After an hour, I still couldn't get the whole 'stick' thing down!!

I'm SO gonna have to practice all of this a lot when I get home from KY next week!

Trimmed Hooves tonight

The sky was BLACK and it poured this morning, so I stayed home, did laundry, packed, fixed Daniel's supplements, and trimmed the dogs' nails. I'm flying to my brother's tomorrow and wanted to get all of that out of the way for my parents who are watching the dogs.

Then I showered and went to the hospital with my mother and aunt to see my cousin this afternoon. He's in end stage liver cancer. I was appalled when I walked into his room. There was trash on the floor. Not trash from him, but the staff! I kills me that the staff would take things out of sterile packaging, and toss the packaging on the floor. Just because he's REALLY sick, doesn't mean he doesn't care (or that his family doesn't care) about what his surroundings are like.

We stayed for about an hour and a half. Bobby was having a really bad day according to his nurse. We didn't want to tire him too much, so we left and went to grab something to eat (read: make sure my Aunt is eating.)

After we dropped my aunt off, my Mom and I went to the barn so I could trim Daniel's hooves. He was really good! He doesn't like his RF done - that's the one that has the mild ringbone. Not so much that he doesn't like it done, he doesn't like to leave that hoof on the stand very long. He gets impatient and takes his hoof off the stand. I'll have to ask Dawn what she thinks of this. Maybe I shouldn't have his hoof as high as the others? Dawn's coming to "check my work" on the 12th.

My mother has Daniel totally spoiled! She carries peppermints for him, and he hears the wrapper crinkle and gets all silly. I barely need a lead-rope on him when my Mom's got a pocketful of peppermints! He was sniffing in her pockets for more after he had the last one, the big dork!

Tomorrow morning, we're having lesson number two with Jill, and tomorrow night, I'm off to Louisville, KY until Saturday night!

open field ride!

I had to take this pic - my buddy's got neck, huh? :-)

It was HOT and humid yesterday, so I met Kara at the barn about 8:00am to ride before it got too hot. We decided not to ride in any of the arenas. We're really lucky to be at Jill's: we have an indoor arena, outdoor arena, and two outdoor round pens - for ten horses! Of the ten, only four of them are owned by boarders; the other six are Jill's that she and her students ride.

We decided to ride in a big open field that has three ponds, some hills, and runs along the road at some points. The first lap, I rode Daniel, and Kara walked Tessa (who's only 3 but is REALLY doing well!). The second lap, Kara felt like Tessa was settled enough for her to mount up, so we both rode our horses along the fenceline of the pasture.

Tessa did GREAT! Not one spook! Daniel was rock solid as usual. He tried to give me a trot, at a time I hadn't asked for it, so I took him back to a walk. There were a few times he really stepped out and led, and other times that he was totally happy to let Tessa lead.

I brought Daniel back into the barn, took his tack off and groomed him. I gave him a good coating of fly spray, and walked him back out to his field. We ran into Ashley, who I hadn't seen since the week we moved in. Ashley is one of Jill's students who rides Runner, the black TB who double kicked Daniel his first day turned out, that Daniel returned the favor by kicking and laming for a week... Ashley's the only person who can ride Runner, who is a really hot horse, but Jill compliments her by saying she's her only student who can ride anything. Daniel was mugging her like crazy, sniffing her pockets and behind her back. She confessed that when she comes for lessons, she brings apples for Runner, and for Daniel... It looks like he's found his way to being one of the barn favorites, just like at Legacy :-) Which is good, because there are students every day from 10-12, so I know he's usually getting some TLC while I'm working to pay his for board, farrier, supplements, vet bills, etc. :-)

Today, I trimmed the dogs' nails, and was planning to go to the barn to trim Daniel's hooves. Now with the heavy rain, I'm rethinking my plan to go and trim his hooves. He's probably hanging out in the indoor, which seems to be his happy place. I'd hate to drag him out of the indoor, through the rain, and up to the barn to trim his hooves. Maybe I'll pack for my week in Kentucky visiting my brother, sister-in-law and the kids, go to the hospital to see my cousin, and then trim his hooves tonight...

Asumptions and perceptions...

Wow - just came from a book-clubish meeting about Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. One of the exercises was to put our name and title on the top of a post-it flip chart sheet. We were supposed to write "highs, lows, frustrations, rewards" and the other people in the room were supposed to write what they thought our highs, lows, frustrations and rewards are.

What an eye-opener, as people were dead on for most people, but not for me! They listed things for highs like "doing what is needed before I'm asked" and "helping everyone" !!! I told them all that I used to HAVE help now I AM the help, and it is SO NOT what I want to be doing at this point in my life. Maybe I'd accept it better if I never knew any other way, but damn it, I'm getting tired of being underemployed.

I was struggling with that this week. I went to work at the university to get an education, when no one would hire me without a college degree. Now I have the degree, and I'm 3/4 of the way to a Masters degree, and I'm still making less than I did before I had a freaking college degree. Not only making less, but making WAY less and not getting any bonus either. Not to mention that I used to have a job where I had responsibility, could be creative and travel.

I wonder if the Penn Career Services people want THAT leaked out... spend 100K on your degree and you too could be on a lower rung than when you started!

Ken and Robin visit

D and I had a good ride this morning with Kara and Tessa. We did some trot work, some loops on the trails and Tessa handled even the deer jumping out in front of us like a pro! That little mare amazes me at how well she's progressing under saddle :-) Kudos to Kara her owner/breeder.

I ran home, showered, met Ken and Robin for lunch and went back over with them. What a riot!! Ken hopped on D like he'd been doing it his entire life, puffed out his chest and said, "I'm a knight!" We all walked around the outdoor arena for a while and then he said, I'm going up that hill! Robin and I just shrugged. Whatcha gonna do? Wish I had that confidence after not riding for five days, let alone five years or so!

Rob was smarter :-P as we girls usually are!! She stuck to the outdoor with him and just rode a little bit of the trails. I hope they had as much fun as I did!!

Tree eating horse

We got a good ride in this AM! Met Kara and Tessa at 8:30 and worked in the outdoor on trot work and did the trail loop before it got hot. And the brilliant horse kept wanting to trot DOWNHILL... no thank you!

I managed to trim D's hooves and Dawn (his farrier... really his "barefoot trimmer" thanks for correcting me Sara!) walked in for a lesson while I was working on him... So now she can see that I really do work on him in between her trims! I wish my nails grew as fast as that horse's hooves! That flipping abscess on the LH is finally growing out - he's got a huge chunk gone! I guess a few more months of ugly with that now.

I had to start putting Rainmaker on the hooves again - they're just too dried out right now to leave alone. (sorry Dawn!)

Ran into Margaux and her pack when I was leaving - Gotta start bringing my dogs the days I don't ride to run them with her and Dan's Labs! Note to self :-)

Off Topic Ivy League rant...

Off Topic vent - I work at the Wharton School at Penn. I just had to take materials for an event over to their flagship building, Huntsman Hall, just now. There was GRIDLOCK because it is summer time and there are tours of the campus everywhere. So, here I am, with all of these supplies, pushing a mailcart, trying to get through a tour in each freaking direction.


The parents with their precious sons and daughters were looking down their noses at me. I really wanted to say, "Hey! Guess what? I have a Penn undergrad degree, yes, from here, THIS Penn!!! AND... I'm 3/4 of the way to a Masters at Penn, yes, THIS PENN!!! And, yes, I'm PUSHING A freaking MAIL CART! Maybe your precious son or daughter could, too!"


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :-)

First lesson with Jill!

I had my first lesson with Jill today! I was a nervous wreck because I haven't ridden Daniel bareback in over a year. And D knew I was nervous so he did a lot of stopping. I'd shift, he'd STOP. Love. That. Horse!!

Jill explained a lot of her theories, a lot of kineseology (sp?) and tai chi driven stuff about using your seatbones to controll pretty much everything. She explained squeezing not as much as squeezing but more pulling your left seatbone deeper with your right heel kind of thing. I asked a lot of what I thought were dumb, newbie questions and we had a lot of laughs.

Rather than fight with blending everything I've learned from Leeandra with everything I will learn from Jill, I asked Jill to start me at the beginning. What would she do if I'd never been on a horse before? She can start me from the ground up, then I can merge what I've learned from Leeandra with what I'll learn from Jill.

We started with me walking along side D, to get a feel for contact with the bit. Good thing I'm tall!!! I couldn't imagine half of my friends doing that! Some can't even reach his back! Only after I had him doing well on the ground, did she tell me to mount up. Bareback. He's 17.2 and I'm 40-something and fat. OK fine.

I was petrified and all over the place. I had horrible fears of falling and felt like I'd never been on a horse before. I struggled through about an hour in the saddle and went home to shower so I could come back and meet Lisa1, Jill H and Miss Maggie back at Tory Hill.

When I was putting my bugspray in my cubby by Daniel's stall, I saw my helmet hanging. MY HELMET! I took the lesson this morning without my helmet!! I wonder if that was the nagging, gnawing doubt that I had going on through the lesson was that I realized subconsciously that I didn't have my helmet on? Maybe it was more than I haven't been riding bareback in over a year. Maybe it was lack of a helmet? Sort of like when I went for a physical recently... I didn't feel truly naked under that gown until I realized I didn't have my Blackberry on my hip. OK, sad but true...

Anyway, I'm waiting for Lisa1, Jill H and Miss Maggie to get here, so I'm sitting on a stump in the boy's field with The Metaphysical Club, an approximately 500 page book I have to read by my class Thursday night. So, back to reading!

Took the dogs tonight

I took Bauer and Rumor to the barn for the very first time tonight! I had a vet appointment for Bauer, a "Senior Check Up" and I took them to the barn after. It was about 7:30, so I thought it would be a good time, since no one's usually there then. (plus, I had a bag of treats for the vet visit!)

They did REALLY well! I did prepare though - I packed a bag of treats! I kept Rumor on a flexilead (a 26' retractable leash) to see how she'd handle everything. When she was doing well with everything, and was well aware that I had a bag of treats, I took her offlead.

I kept reinforcing the recall with the treats. I'd call her back to me and give her a treat, then I'd let her go off and explore again. She never really got more than 20 or 30 feet away from me.

At one point, when we were walking through the outdoor arena, Bauer, yes, BAUER, the 10 year old, decided he wanted to play!! I took a picture of them playing.
Daniel was happy - I walked out there with a big carrot for him!!! He's the main reason we were there!!

Filling the tunnel to the indoor

He's not 3-legged, just kicking at FLIES!! Poor things legs are cut up from kicking at the buggers. I upped his garlic intake, tried several commercial flysprays, and can't find anything that seems to work for this guy!

Thought he was taller than my car....

OK, so he's taller than a MB SUV :-) that's why the last thing I want to do is fall off :-)

Trimmed his hooves!

I gave it a try again and tried not to be so conservative

Daniel withdrawal

First time there in a week, because of classes :-( gotta trim his hooves tomorrow!!!

Rain?

Went to try to trim Daniel's hooves and it looks like rain!!! :-) Glad I didn't plan on riding in the outdoor.

Met a new "resident" on my way out the driveway tonight... laying in the grass along the side, a *tiny* little fawn. I was surprised that it appeared to be all alone... I hope mama deer didn't meet a car somewhere....

Blackberry survived the fall

I knew what I meant when I sent this FROM my Blackberry... the thing survived a fall from my horse! No, I didn't fall, but my Blackberry slid out of it's case and hit the ground. Luckily, Daniel didn't step on it, and it was still working when I dismounted, realized it wasn't in the case, and went back to the arena and found it!!

The gatekeeper

They told me that he stands by the door and monitors traffic... My hall monitor, I guess...

Learning to trim!!!

No pics today, but Dawn came out to trim Daniel's hooves and gave me the first (of MANY, I'm sure) lesson in hoof trimming!

Dawn did most of the work, then had me do a little bit for the practice. I'm going to try to re-do his mustang roll once or twice a week. Dawn said that since Daniel's got so much "real estate" (as Leeandra would say) maybe doing the fronts one day and the rears another might be easier than trying to trim all 4 hooves on one day, once a week.

So, now I have my own file, and there are plenty of hoof stands around the barn, so I hope Dawn doesn't have a lot of work to do when she comes back in 4 weeks!!!!

And the silly dog

Thinks dirty saddle pads that I bring home to wash are really cool dog beds....

Indoor work

met Kara early today, hoping to ride in the indoor before lessons started. Between grooming, tacking up and mucking out the indoor (which is used as a run-in for the geldings) it was an hour before we could start riding.

I had two revelations today... 1, I should invest in a dressage whip. I borrowed Kara's because Daniel was pissing me off, swinging out everytime someone went to mount up. I kept the dressage whip against his right hip, and he didn't move AT ALL... not at all!!!

Revelation 2, I need to have a game plan when I go into the arena to work him. I mounted up, with no plan and Daniel know it. My friend Rhoda stopped to say hi, and he wanted to visit with her. We walked on, and trotted, and he went back and visited again. Ted reminded me that I was LETTING HIM get away with this crap... Once I focused on what I was doing, we both did a little better.

We just walked and trotted... then, "the doctor" as Jill calls him, borrowed him for a lesson. Actually, Rick, the doctor's name, was arriving as I was finishing up and said he had to find a horse to ride for his lesson. I told him that I only walked with him, and he was welcome to borrow Daniel for his lesson. It was good, it gave me some time to clean tack! After the lesson, Rick was kind enough to hose him down, then I put a little citronella oil on him, and put his flysheet and flymask on him.

He was such a good boy today!

Checked out the round pen

And surrounding area! Kara worked Tessa in the round pen and we poked around the adjacent pasture. Kara got to ride Daniel today too!

Sunday trail ride

I met Kara and her 3 year old, mostly TB, mare Tessa this morning. We started working in the indoor. I almost had a mishap - I didn't quite have the saddle tight enough (Daniel had a belly full of air, that I thought he exhaled), so Kara saved me and tightened the girth. Daniel had a spook in the corner of the indoor (we blamed the jazz that was playing over the speakers!) but settled right down. We got brave and decided to venture out on the trails.

Ted was kind enough to let us out - Daniel did his little "I'm not going through my friends with you on my back" thing... I'm thinking that he's being more protective than pissy though. The other boys like to play and nip, I'm thinking that maybe he's taking care of me, and concerned about me being aboard if the boys get silly? Who knows! Anyway, I got the voice of Leeandra in my head, made a wall on the left and made him go right and walk through the field to the gate. Kara and Tessa went through the tunnel and were there to let us out.

We rode as much as we could in the outdoor. Someone was there with her son for a lesson, and parked in the middle of the outdoor. We were talking about it and figured that someone new to horses, might mistake an outdoor for a parking lot. It could happen! :-)

Tessa did a little spook at something in the woods, but was otherwise really great!! Kara dismounted halfway out, and we explored a little and went up a trail that was new to us. So much for an adventure, it just brought us out to a huge field that ran along behind the trail we were just on and let us out to the outdoor again.

I had some hiccups dismounting... frigging Kerrits tights! I hate them and I'm throwing them out! They have this great little pocket for your cellphone or treats, but dammit, you're GLUED to the flipping saddle! I have a helluva time dismounting whenever I wear the damned things! I came home and ordered another pair of the Irideons! One pair was fine when I only rode once a week, but riding 2 or 3 times a week, and only doing laundry once a week... math tells me I need a few more pair!! :-)

After the ride, I picked out his hooves again, brushed him and flysprayed him, put his flysheet back on him and took him out to the boy's pasture. He turned to me, let me take his halter off, walked off dropped and rolled!!! Yay!! I was so happy to see him comfortable enough with the other boys, that he's laying down and rolling around!!!!