It’s About Time…

Spring finally showed up. Some days have felt more like the earliest days of summer, but you will not hear this gal complaining! The leaves have popped out overnight, and now that the Equine is on pasture 24/7, he’s lost his girlish figure. That’s okay, we’ll work that pad right back off.

Due to mowing on Monday and poop-moving on Wednesday, and some pretty gusty winds all week, we only got in one ride. Sully also developed a small crack in one of his hind hooves; it doesn’t appear to be anything at the moment, but I’m keeping an eye on it. It has required me to do a little of my own impromptu farriering. We did get out yesterday, though. He was a real monster before the ride, so much so that I almost called it off. Instead, I longed the heck out of him, and then had one of the best rides of our year to date. Apparently we just had to get our pecking order sorted out again! The above photo was taken last night at feeding time.

But, I did get the pasture mowed, and about half of the poop redistributed. I will do some more of that next week.

In addition, I’ve biked a lot this week. Some days I’m getting in two rides, but I think I’ve gotten in at least one every day this week. I’m not as out of shape as I thought; My times are about 5 minutes longer than at the end of the season last year. I’m already back to where I can ride all but the two biggest hills, and those I just get off and push.

The chickens are doing a fair bit of free-ranging now. I stay close and check on them frequently, worried mainly about Blue. They’re already about bigger than the cats are interested in messing with. But Blue has chicken dinner on the brain.

Immediately after this was snapped, he lunged and pinned Marshmallow (the one to the far right) against the fence. I hollered, he let go, and she booked it back to safety. She’d just been trying to keep a little morsel of pear all to herself and didn’t even hear him coming. And this was after his being loose all morning, hanging out with me watching them roam. I punished him, and he’s been pretty good since.

I don’t expect him to like chickens, but I do expect him to tolerate them at least as well as he tolerates the cats.

Marshmallow was unscathed; I’m not sure it wasn’t more of a warning on his part. I’m thinking about putting a bell on him for a little while. That way they can hear him coming.

Rain and thundershowers for this afternoon, and a few days ahead. On to my housework and homemade spaghetti dinner…

 

Another Weekend

We had a really nice, relaxing weekend. It was too short, but they always are.

Steve had a ridiculously late night at work on Friday, and didn’t get home until after 9pm. I’d had Mom and Dad over for chili verde, and by the time Steve got home, all he wanted was chicken and rice soup! He was beat. So he took the weekend really easy, did a bit of mowing and a lot of resting.

Saturday morning I got to watch a chicken being butchered. I feel confident that I could handle the trauma, now that I know what to expect from each step. I’ve had no interest in my extra roosters, and as badly as I thought I wanted a Silver Laced Wyandotte roo named Carson, as the little bugger matures, he’s just not very likeable! The Buff Brahmas are much more affable. So I have a feeling I’ll be trying my hand at some home-strangled roaster! I’d like to thank Jenny for allowing me to witness the carnage

Afterwards, I got an impromptu lesson in the mechanics and operation of a walk-behind zero-turn mower. I’ll be trying it out this morning, as the pasture needs it again already. I’m steeling myself as we speak! It may not be pretty, but I bet I get it done.

Steve and I treated ourselves to a delicious fried chicken lunch at a local diner after all that excitement. And yes, even though I’d just witnessed a chicken meeting its maker, I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. The rest of our Saturday was spent chillin’ out max and relaxin’ all cool, in the infamous words of the Fresh Prince.

I got in 2 bike rides on Saturday, and Sully and I did 6.6 miles on Sunday, in spite of below average temps and gusty winds. He was spooky but good until we ran into a wagon pulled by a couple of misbehaving Halflingers. I wasn’t sure how he’d react, so I made the snap decision to voluntarily dismount as soon as I saw them; boy am I glad I did. I’m not sure I could have controlled the 12-foot monster he turned into as they approached! He almost got away from me anyway! I had to walk him out a little afterwards before I got my nerve to get back on him. We were very close to home, and I could have walked, but I didn’t want to reward his meltdown. He was very good the rest of the way, even stood for me to mount.

At one point he blew so hard that he gave himself a bloody nose. That hasn’t happened in a long time.

Over all, I was happy with the ride and how we both handled the things that cropped up. I never felt in danger, and he’s starting to learn to maintain contact with the bit, and my consistency and rhythm is really improving, as well.

The chickens got a little outdoor time on Saturday; then this cold front moved in and it was too cool and windy to sit out with them; I had to put the lamp back on them last night as temps dipped into the thirties. They’d been without it overnight for almost a week. They’re growing like little weeds; about the size of large pigeons now.

Off to mow this morning; then we’ll see what the rest of the day holds!

Needles, Poop and Dirty Laundry

Day One

It was a busy day yesterday, in a good way.

First of all, I had the vet out for the animals’ needles and Sully health and dental check. Everything checked out, and everyone got their rabies vacs. I asked the vet about Sully’s weight, as a few people have commented on his being ribby. She said that since he’s a draft cross and genetically prone to both obesity and founder, he’s absolutely perfect. So I can stop worrying! His teeth also checked out, so he won’t need floating until next spring, which cut the vet bill in half

While I waited on the vet to arrive, I started moving some manure around the pasture. In an effort to both nourish the grass and to change Sully’s grazing pattern so he’s not eating it bare in some spots, I’ve decided to take my wheelbarrow and pitchfork and redistribute poo. That sounds like a beaurocratic position, no? I picked up, broke up and spread about 5 wheelbarrow loads in just under 2 hours. It was hard work, but I didn’t mind it. It will be an ongoing project this summer, but really good exercise

Sprinkled between was some housework, yardwork, cow wrangling and, of course chickens. Today I am getting the tire garden cleaned out and washing horse blankets. Speaking of which, I’ve come up with a really good way to do the latter. I took my garden sprayer/feeder and washed it out, added a scoop of Oxy Clean and set it to the jet spray setting. I have gotten the rain sheet cleaned using this method, and it seems to be working really well, except that I ran the well dry! I have to wait for it to fill back up before I can do the heavyweight one. I’ll let you know if they look/smell clean when I’m done with them!

…and today.

 

Riding

We’ve actually gotten out for three rides in the past week. The weather is still somewhat inhospitable, but it’s drifted into the tolerable range. The key is layering. Yesterday was the nicest day; in spite of fairly gusty winds the temps were mild and the ground condition was good.

We’re easing back into it after a couple months of almost nothing. Sully has visibly lost muscle tone, and me, well… So our rides are consisting of a lot of walking with brief jogs and an occasional lope sprinkled in. Cementing our communication has been my main focus. But Sully is one of those rare horses that you could stand in a field for a year and not touch him, then throw a saddle on him and go. He forgets nothing. And what he does “forget,” you can rest assured it is a conscious choice! Some of that selective memory stuff, like, oh my gosh, I’ve never seen that boulder before! Deer?! What the heck is a DEER?! You want me to put my FOOT in that mud puddle?!

Meanwhile, back at the pasture, there’s Sully grazing peacefully around the base of a boulder with a herd of deer frolicking around him and his foot in a mud puddle.

Yesterday’s ride was fantastic, though. We started with a brief longe session; at one point I dropped the line, and his circle was getting larger and larger, and his trot was getting faster and faster. Then it dawned on me that it hadn’t yet dawned on him I’d dropped it! So I brought my body language back up as though I were still holding the line, and I gave the whoa command. He did a couple more strides and came to a stop. Ha! Sometime’s it’s nice that he’s not the sharpest tack in the pack. Once we mounted up he was a little lazy, but as I’ve learned gradually how not to nag him, he’s gradually learning to respond the first time I ask. So though I had to remind him a few times that we were walking and not napping, overall he kept a consistent pace. We went by the dairy with a little gawking, but he neither tried to stop nor spook at anything. Then I rode him for a quarter of a mile with absolutely no rein contact, steering and changing speeds (up and down transitions, they’re called) with my legs, seat, and voice. I like to think that in the event of an equipment failure like a rein or headstall breaking (and it has happened to me before!) I could easily bring the horse down to a stop with something other than the bridle.

We rode up to the house here, or to the top of the drive, and met up with Mom. While she walked down to pick up Blue, I took Sully up to the area where the cow guys have been leaving the white plastic bale coverings all over the place. These were strewn all over and flapping in the wind. I was hoping to get Sully to stand quietly next to one while it twisted and rattled. He walked up to over the first one. The next one he stopped on top of while the wind whipped it at his belly and legs. He stood there, and after a moment, pawed at the plastic like he wondered what was underneath. We walked on, around and over all the different pieces, and he never even flinched. The herd of cows and calves was a few feet away, too, watching with fascination. Sully’s attitude toward the whole thing was pretty amazing.

We had an equally uneventful ride home. It was great.

As we barrel towards spring and grass, I’m down to 4 bales of hay in the barn. The 65 bales we started with have lasted well, but I’ll have to run for another load to get us to May. We easily used half the hay that we have in previous years, and Sully’s weight is where it should be right now. The farrier and I have missed one another a couple of times now, but he’s scheduled out on Monday to get Sully’s feet back in shape; maybe then I can get them back into his boots! He’s not had a professional trim since Thanksgiving, though I have trimmed him once and rasped him a couple of times. I’d like to take a couple of pictures to demonstrate before and after. The farrier’s also bringing me some plastic hoof pads that I’ll hopefully use to repair the grazing muzzle; I’ll document it for those of you who are looking for a way to extend the life of your muzzles.

This morning we’re making a feed run before the weather sets in. A rare 62 degrees today, and thunderstorms in the forecast!

!@#$ the Groundhog Says

 

Shot near the Mississippi RiverReplaces :Image:Groundhog Standing1.jpg, which, although of a higher resolution, is at a much poorer angle. , in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Copyright © 2004 by April King

 

I finally got out for a ride today. First one since sometime in the middle of January, I think. I put on all my layers and it was 50 degrees and sunny when I left the house just after noon. By the time we got home, it had dropped to something lower than that, the wind was blowing and it was spitting rain. It’s supposed to be 15 degrees tomorrow night! No, that is NOT Centigrade (all our Canadian friends are probably praying for 15 degrees right about now…) Ha!

 

February is hard because you can feel spring coming, but it never quite does. Though that little Philadelphia rodent predicted an early spring, which would put it in the next couple weeks; he may have lied… or been slightly hung over from all that hibernating. I know hibernation makes me leery of shadows, too.

 

It was a great ride, though. I expected to have WWIII on my hands with a fresh horse conveniently forgetting who rides whom coupled with the nice-ish weather and my own sore muscles from the fall I had working yesterday. But it was great. Sully was just glad to be out of the mud for awhile. We even passed a funeral, complete with weird covered chairs, flapping tent and coffin. How can a horse be afraid of a pig or a cow, but something that looks like a fancy coffee table standing in the middle of a yard and smelling of formaldehyde is business as usual?

 

We also rode by some resident groundhog holes, but no one seemed to be home. I guess they all know they only have two weeks before they have to wake up and do groundhog stuff.

 

After our ride, I took Mom home and Dad put mirrors on the truck for me. On my way back out we noticed the rear tire was soft. There was a piece of 12 gauge fence wire stuck in it. I managed to get it home, where now it is now resting on three tires and one rim.

 

 

 

 

 

Meteor trace (Photo credit: alexeya)

 

 

The asteroid did it. You know, the one that didn’t hit Earth today.

 

 

 

We have a nice evening planned. We had Chinese BBQ pork and rice for supper (homemade, of course) and we have a movie to watch while the snow flies. Yes. We’re going to be groundhogs this winter weekend!

 

Spooking: Bad Behavior or Second Nature?

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to horses, this question has always lingered in the back of my mind. The reason for it is that, while 95% of the time Sully is really laid back, and pretty well bomb-proof, even he has his “horse” moments. These moments typically arise when asked to do something he’d rather not, or when he’s already having a bad day. They also tend to be directed at non-scary objects, things that he’s seen and not reacted to a hundred times before, in places we ride frequently. I have a rule of thumb when out riding: if it startles me, it only makes sense that it would startle him, and I offer no consequence for those occasions. Startling things happen from time to time. Things like flushing game birds, deer popping out of the woods, gun-shots or loose livestock.  Every equestrian expects them, and good equestrians always ride as though one is around every corner.

 

I’ve known people whose horses are constantly a nervous wreck, and one thing I’ve noticed is that these horses typically don’t act scared. They’re often tuned out from their people, independent, angry or disinterested. And the people are afraid of them, which only fuels the fire. Trainers and riding instructors are called in, endless arena and desensitizing work is done, and if the horse is truly afraid, much success is had. But many horses return to the bad behaviors as soon as their rider is left alone with them.

My theory? People teach their horses how to behave. If your horse is behaving badly, rather than chalking it up to a horse being

horse, take a good hard look at not only how you handle him from the saddle, but firstly how you handle him from the ground. Are you  paying attention to every action and reaction? How do you react to a spook? Do you freeze up, get nervous, and leave the scary area? That’s what I did. Sully very quickly learned that he could intimidate me. A little jump, and suddenly, all cues stopped. His spook successfully broke contact, and he could do his own thing.

 

If a spook is for real, it lasts a 10th of a second.That’s it. It happens, we may stop and stare for another second, but then we return to whatever attitude we had right before it happened. If a spook is a ploy, the behavior drags out until the horse gets what he wants from you, usually a frightened dismount or a turn for home and the end of work.

 

I’m no trainer, so I can’t tell you how to proceed from that point. Every horse is different, every rider is different.

 

I stumbled across a book a few weeks ago on the clearance table at Tractor Supply Co. called Ride the Right Horse, by Yvonne Barteau. This impulse buy has changed the way I communicate with Sully, and therefore is gradually improving our riding experience. Yvonne and her husband, Kim, surmise that there are various personalities of horses, and each has a unique way of dealing with its environment. Through reading this book, I was able to pinpoint the type of horse I have as being an aloof-social type. Aloof horses are independent loners. They don’t like to partner with anyone, man or beast. They are not easily frightened, but they are easily overwhelmed. They can become over-stimulated by too much outside information, and when this happens, they simply tune out. Social horses love to be around everyone. They are easily taught silly tricks and don’t do well on their own. They rely on their herd for safety and company. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Well, gosh, an Aloof-Social mix is a complete contradiction!” Not really, though.

 

horses (Photo credit: willg willg.photography)

Sully shows definite aloof tendencies, and it comes out as the dominant personality. He’s content on his own most all the time except feeding time. He definitely tunes out my riding cues when something more stimulating comes along, like a cow or a sparrow in a bush. But he’s social on his own terms. He’s formed a bond with a few specific people, myself and my mother being the two main ones, and wants nothing more than to please us most of the time. That’s the social behavior.

 

The book states, too, that the aloof mixes are actually the easiest to train, and good for beginners, as their reactions to everything are typically pretty subdued. I have definitely found this to be the case.

 

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Riding him with this personality in mind, for instance, past those pesky pigs, I’ve seen a huge improvement in just two rides. Rather than increasing aids as he takes his attention off me and thus over-stimulating him and causing him to shut down completely, I remove all aids and wait. If this means we stand in one spot for a few minutes, that’s fine. After he’s had a little time to process the source of his fear, I start asking for an ear (acknowledgement) by lightly touching his girth with my heel, or picking up one rein. As soon as he acknowledges me, I remove the aid. Repeat, only this time, ask for a step, quietly, and when you get it, remove the aid. Allow him time to process each request independent from everything else.

 

This has worked amazingly. The first time, he proceeded to walk through the area with his neck low at a normal speed. No spinning. No blind backing. No crazy sidepasses. I really couldn’t believe it.

 

So this is the way we are proceeding, until it stops working. As for the spooking, the book confirmed my suspicions; when my horse

(Photo credit: gem66)

spooks, he’s usually just breaking contact with me because he’s feeling overwhelmed rather than afraid, and now that I know this is what is happening, I immediately pick up contact again rather than freezing and removing all aids for fear of a bolt. So far, it’s doing the trick.

 

The real test will be this spring.

Australian Equitation

 

I’ve been riding in an Australian poley saddle for about 6 years; the majority of the time I’ve had Sully, actually. I started out with a Western pleasure saddle that not only was extremely uncomfortable for me, but also created saddle sores on Sully’s withers very quickly. When I discovered the saddle wasn’t fitting him properly, I took a wither tracing into the local saddle shop, and it just so happened that the only saddle they had even close to fitting him was their cheapest Aussie.

 

English: Australian stock saddle, top view of seat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

They actually advised against purchasing that $300 saddle because it was made of Indian leather, which isn’t really leather at all. (Made me wonder why they had it in the shop!) They recommended instead either going with the Tucker trail saddle for a draft, which ran about $1700, or having one custom made for him, which would have been between $1000 and $2000.

 

Right.

 

Obviously, the latter two were not even remote possibilities. The ironic thing is, I purchased that cheap knock-off Aussie, and have put hundreds of miles on it and only had to have one stirrup leather repaired. I clean and oil it regularly, but it stays in an open barn, covered with a saddle blanket between uses.

 

Sully’s saddle sores immediately healed up. And not only was it more comfortable for both of us, the poleys make it the safest saddle you can ride in. The poley saddle is designed to be used over the roughest terrain imaginable, often at high speeds, and doing things like roping and cutting cattle. The seat is deep, and angled so that if the horse jumps or spins, it actually throws the rider forward. Not only is this the optimal spot for balance, keeping you over the horse’s shoulders, but it puts you up against those poleys, and they are angled to keep you from coming out of the saddle. Knock on wood, I have yet to “fall out of” this saddle.

 

I’ve been riding this saddle all these years as though it were a Western saddle, sitting in the seat as though it were a chair, with my knees between a 45 and 90 degree angle. I didn’t realize that Australian equitation is its own discipline, and there is actually a right way to ride. I have noticed after long or hard rides, Sully will be a little sore down either side of his spine. I assumed it was my poor horsemanship, allowing my seat to hit the saddle at the trot. Come to find out that you are supposed to sit slightly forward in the saddle, with your feet slightly forward. At the trot or canter, this position almost becomes a 2-point position, taking all the rider’s weight off the horse’s back and putting it over its forehand. This also frees up the horse’s hind end to actually work! In addition, 25% of the rider’s weight is actually supposed to be in the stirrups, suspending you slightly over the horse’s back.

 

I’ve been training myself to ride like this. Within just a few rides, all the soreness has gone out of my own back and core, and Sully no longer shows any discomfort in his back after a ride. It also makes riding the trot and gallop extremely smooth.

 

Modifications

The grazing muzzle I bought for Sully back in the spring is  a deluxe, which means it came with a halter attached. In my opinion, however, it was very poorly designed. Sully had it off himself within 10 minutes of my putting it on, and I had it adjusted smaller than recommended in anticipation of his attempting to rub it off. In addition to the halter portion being flimsy, it also meant that the muzzle itself couldn’t be rotated to provide even wear.

     

I looked for a standard muzzle, but was unable to find one in draft size for a reasonable price; oddly, the deluxe was the cheaper option.

Then I found a draft halter that actually fit Sully’s head. I ordered a black one, and then cut the halter off the muzzle, leaving enough strapping in tact to attach it to the new halter. I was able to use the four slider buckles, as well.

The resulting muzzle is truly deluxe, and not only has Sully been unable to remove it, he’s barely tried. Since it is more secure on his head, I can have it adjusted the proper distance from his mouth, which means it only comes in contact with his muzzle when he wants it to. He barely objects to it at all.

  

Now, you may ask, has the muzzle been worth it? The answer to that one is a resounding “absolutely!” This time last year, on mediocre pasture, Sully had a heart girth of  90 inches. This year, on lush, beautiful pasture with lots of clover, he’s 81 inches. He’s sleek and approaching lean. I attribute it partly to the riding we’ve done this summer, but think the muzzle is largely responsible.

The Art of Repurposing

Well, it’s not really art. But it’s nice to be able to take an item that has outlived its original purpose and give it a whole new purpose. I did this with Sully’s old halter. It was a draft size, and always looked too big and bulky on his head; even though Sully’s head is huge, it’s surprisingly fine, almost Arabian in appearance. He lacks the Roman nose and boxy muzzle of the draft line.

The halter new, back in 2009. Not bad for a $5 halter!

But I used this halter for 3 years, after purchasing it for just $5 from Horseloverz.com. The throat snap finally sprung, and I used it for a few more months before upgrading. But all the webbing is in tact, and the hardware, though partially rusted in parts, is still good. So I took it and turned it into a harness for Blue.

Our first time out with the new harness.

In the past 3 years, I’ve repeatedly attempted to train Blue to stay with us while we’re riding, but since our riding is all on the road, I’ve never been able to get him to keep up. He’s kind of a slow dog, doing pretty well with sprinting, but he has a hard time keeping pace. So in addition to just keeping him close, I also need a way to get him on the horse with me for short rests. This harness allows me to comfortably and safely lift him off the ground, and then “buckle him in” to the back of the saddle so he doesn’t slide off. In time, I hope he’ll both be able to keep up, and “ride” on Sully’s rump – you know, like the heelers ride the backs of the sheep during musters!

He and Sully both did great on our first time out.

I have a light-weight nylon cord that I clip to the saddle so I don’t drop it; it serves to remind Blue of his boundaries, and is quick release should we run into trouble.

 

Charge it Up

Early early Monday morning, I was perusing CraigsList, which I do every morning. There was an ad there for a barely used Patriot solar fence charger, and the individual selling it was in Willis. I don’t typically answer CL ads because I factor travel time into the overall value of the item. I just happened to know someone who was going to be very close to Willis just a few hours later.

                  

I’ve been using Zareba’s Yellowjacket chargers for years, and most currently, one of those attached to a a large, clunky, HEAVY 12v equipment battery. The battery has been requiring recharging more and more frequently, and over the summer, I’ve had difficulty keeping an adequate voltage on the fence. Just a few days ago, Sully went through all four strands of electric to get to the better grass on the other side. He hasn’t done that since we moved him and started using the battery on the charger.

I still don’t know if it’s the charger, which is almost 4 years old, or if the battery itself just isn’t holding a great charge anymore. The battery is old. I’ve been assuming that I would need to buy another big battery, preferrably rechargeable, before the fall was out, because fall is the time when equine breakouts happen.

The seller was offering this 10,000v output charger with its own internal rechargeable battery for less than half what it sells for new. I jumped on it. It was just too appealing a thought to not have to deal with recharging the big battery anymore, as it is difficult to move and get back in the spot buried in a dark corner of the barn!

Gazing longingly at the greener other side of the fence.

I’m still finessing placement of the new charger, and doing some fence maintenance to be certain all is working well. It should serve us well. In addition, the sellar gave me a small moneyback guartantee on it.