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!

 

Equine Reform School – Part I

We finally had that blow up ride I’ve been expecting. On Monday we saddled up for a ride, and Sully headed out of the driveway spooking at every bird/wind/rodent rustle. The plan was to ride him up to the end of Doe Run and meet up with Mom. I had Blue with us.

The spooks escalated in spite of my reprimanding him for each one. I became increasingly worried that Blue was going to get stepped on, as Sully didn’t seem to care that the dog was trotting right beside him.

We approached the dairy, and I decided I had no choice but to cut Blue loose and try to get hold of him again once we were on the other side. Sully’s attitude was such that a wreck seemed eminent.

Sure enough, the first sign of movement from the pig pen and Sully blew up. He stood dancing in place, snorting and blowing, and refusing to move forward, instead choosing to run backward toward the barbed wire on the opposite side of the road. It was as if I wasn’t even there, even though I was whacking him with the poppers on the ends of my reins, and spurring his flanks. After a good ten minutes of this battle and getting absolutely nowhere, I dismounted and we spent the next twenty minutes in all-out war, him snorting marbles over my head while I tried to coax, bully and coax again him to walk up to the source of his fright.

The whole time, I couldn’t keep Blue’s attention, either. He was trying to find a way into the pig pen. What is so fascinating about those damn filthy pigs? I’d call to him, he’d reluctantly come to me, but as soon as I had to turn to my attention back to the dragon at the end of my reins, Blue would rush back and continue his bad behavior.

I must admit, I lost my cool. Then I found it. Then I lost it again. Sully seemed to have absolutely no regard for me or what I was asking. I did, eventually get him to stand still within three feet of the offending animals. I used the crop I broke smacking him to tap on everything around us that would make noise, and did not allow us to leave until he started licking and chewing a bit.

I got back on him and ran him almost all the way to our house where I had asked Mom to meet us. I was exhausted.

But I won that one. How do I know? On our return trip, he walked calmly by the same spot as though that half hour of hell had not even happened. What’s more, I turned him around, walked him past again, and brought him back, with the same result.

Even though that battle was won, I was troubled by his complete lack of regard for me. Granted, he did not put me in any direct danger. He never reared, bucked or bolted. He simply ignored me. He didn’t care if I was in the saddle, or on the ground. That’s not the horse I’ve trained. Training is not successful if your horse/dog/child only listens to you under ideal circumstances; it’s easy to keep their attention when there are no distractions. Training is only successful when the horse/dog/child listens in spite of the worst distraction, or when they are particularly energetic. So I felt my training had failed in that moment, and we had some issues to address.

Fun Facts

Since September 7 of this year, Sully and I have ridden 51 miles in just over 9 hours.

I can’t walk into the kitchen without at least 3 items falling from my hands, off a shelf or counter, or out of the refrigerator.

Seeing bugs of any kind en mass, in life, in pictures or on television, gives me instant gooseflesh.

I am impatient. I wish I weren’t.

My favorite song at the moment is by Canadian actors Paul Gross and David Keeley. It’s called Cherry Beach.

I detest reality television.

I frequently procrastinate on simple tasks and then wonder why on earth I did.

I think pranks are unkind, and I would never play one on anyone.

I made this this afternoon:

It is pumpkin. I was born and [mostly] raised in the South, and I think sweet potato pie is a crime against nature.

That is all. For now.

A Smattering of Update

Here it is, a lovely Saturday morning. No work, no obligations, the opportunity to sleep in just a little bit…

Right. My internal clock apparently has no weekend setting, so I popped awake at 6 AM, as though it were any old weekday. Darn.

But I’m up, and the coffee tastes really good this morning. The furnace already has it up to a toasty 68 degrees.

As for the updates:

Sully and I had two great rides this week. He’s been so good lately, I’m a little scared. I’m waiting for the Blow-up Ride wherein every ordinary thing becomes a monster in a pop-up book and the Steed cares not if we arrive home together or in stages or in pieces. We’ve had a few of those rides, the latest being last spring. I don’t expect those rides through the hot months, but it’s autumn now, and the nights are crisp and the days are cool and breezy; perfect ingredients for insane horses. I have to say, I’m loving it. I feel like 6 years of hard work is paying off. Most days I don’t even wear a helmet anymore.

My helmet was not cheap. I bought it 3 years ago, and apparently at the time my head was as fat as the rest of me. Now the helmet swims around on my head, and no amount of padding will make it fit. Add to that the fact that with each change of season, the styrofoam (or whatever it’s made of) swells and shrinks, and is now badly mis-shapen. All this adds up to an uncomfortable helmet that I doubt would offer any protection in the event of a fall. However, I still put it on when Sully’s body language or the weather conditions make me think it might be an interesting ride.

I rasped Sully’s front feet yesterday. They are keeping shape very nicely with weekly raspings. I did manage to slam my pinky finger between the end of the rasp and the stool Sully’s hoof was resting on. It feels a bit better this morning.

Cats. The cats are actually coming around! After just two days of forcing them to approach and take food from me, they crowd me at the door each time I go out. They no longer dart away at my touch. And they’ll follow my hand around to check for food. They’re still nervous wrecks, but I think we’re making some progress.

The weight-loss is slow going this time around, but that is because I am not depriving myself of… well… food. And I’m exercising a lot, between riding Sully and biking. Exercise really slows down your progress, but it shapes you while you lose. My plan is to do some Pilates and weights this winter when it’s too cold to bike. But I am down almost 30 pounds. I’d hoped to be down 40 by now, but like I said, I’m just not sweating it. I’m doing all the right things, tracking everything, and moving. I will say that I’m down 2 pant sizes and 3 top sizes, too. I’ve lost a total of 9 inches since June, and that’s more impressive than the pounds to me.

On Vonage: it is awesome. I actually called and cut the land line phone service Thursday. Of course that meant we were 3 hours without internet yesterday morning for the first time since March! I don’t know what was up, there was no bad weather to blame it on. Our service has pretty much been uninterrupted since the March hailstorm. For a month following, we were without it more than with it. However, it came back and all is well. Once in awhile a voice will break up, and I’m still dealing with the echo from time to time, but I can’t fix that till I get some longer ethernet cable. But we’re very happy with it so far.

And I have ordered a Tracfone. So we will have an emergency back-up during internet/power outages. It should arrive next week sometime. Anyone who would like the new Vonage phone number, email me or Steve, or leave a comment here and I’ll get it to you.

I think that about does it. Perhaps I should go take a little nap before breakfast…

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.

 

Spreadsheets

 

Last year, I utilized this spreadsheet to help me manage Sully’s rations and weight. Since I did not have a scale to weigh the hay, it was still all estimation. I have learned this year that I can use a fisherman’s scale like this one to weigh out hay and feed portions. That is my plan for this winter, starting with the required 1.5 – 2% of his body weight as his daily ration. That’s only about 26lbs of forage per day on the high side, which tells me I’ve been over-feeding through the winter by almost double. This, of course, translates into half the amount of hay.

Another spreadsheet I’m using this year is this one. Not only will it allow me to keep consistent track of our activity levels, but I’ll know the mileage I have in our new Easyboot Bares. More on those later!

I was originally pretty intimidated by spreadsheets, but I’m not sure why. I suppose they do have a learning curve, especially for those of us who are both organizationally and mathematically challenged. But now that I’m getting the feel for them, they are a really handy tool.

 

More Homelife

After Monday’s cleaning binge, on Tuesday I went on a cooking binge.

Steve informed me that he had been craving some good oatmeal cookies. So I picked out two recipes from my Big Red Cookbooks (I have a Betty Crocker one and a Better Homes and Gardens one), Peanut Butter Oatmeal rounds and plain old Oatmeal Cookies. I put plain M&Ms in the former, and dried cranberries in the latter. They turned out really well. I made them jumbo sized so they came out really chewy and nice.

After a couple of hours baking cookies, I got a loaf of French bread in the oven, and made a really good Chicken Lasagna for dinner. Both turned out fantastic.

We went riding yesterday, and Sully was excellent. He had more get up and go, thanks to the fact that I’m being consistent about not letting him walk as slowly as possible, ever. We maintained a forward walk or nice jog for the entire ride, and this over gravel.

I’ve taken the plunge on the Easyboots after finding a pair of Bares in their bargain bin. I got two boots for less than the normal price of just one. And the rep assured me that I’ll get better mileage out of them than I would out of the Trails with the amount and type of riding we do, as well as Sully’s overall size. I can’t wait to get them and try them out.

I’m also trying out two different operating systems, thanks to Dad. He upgraded my Ubuntu 10.04 to 12.0-something (4?), which utilizes what I think he called a Unity desktop, and also installed XUbuntu on the same machine. So far, I’m liking the XUbuntu with its leaner interface.

Not much on the roster for today, other than a bike ride or two. I did manage to pull a muscle in my neck yesterday while uncinching my saddle (this after a mile and a half ride during which I debated wearing my helmet and opted to leave it at home.) It’s pretty sore this morning.

Normal

Things are back to that, pretty much, anyway. Mom and Dad got their power back on Thursday afternoon. We’ve had no more weird weather occurrences, though it’s been HOT. That’s pretty normal for July in the South!

I had a great ride on Sully yesterday. It was the first time I’d run him since his mysterious bout of lameness. He never missed a step, and ran till he nearly dropped. He fell asleep in the driveway while I had the cold hose turned on him No sign of any discomfort in his legs/hooves.

Mom made a big batch of peach butter in my kitchen while I was out cleaning on Thursday morning. Peach butter may be my new favorite thing. It’s got half the sugar of peach jam, and more of an apple butter texture and consistency. Makes a REALLY good vanilla ice cream topping I’m hoping to pick up a couple more boxes of peaches at the start of next week, as I didn’t have the opportunity to dry any of the last batch, what with the sporadic power situation.

We’ve also gotten in some good bike rides since the road opened back up. It’s so nice to be able to breeze along and not have to stop, climb into the trench, drag and lift your bike across, and climb back out! Mom and I made it to Jenny’s and back in just over half an hour the other night. Then it got hot and humid!

We had to do an abbreviated trip to Mt. Airy this morning, to replace some of the staples we used through the outage. We were gone barely 2 hours, and as we left town at 10am, the bank thermometer was reading 88 degrees.

Yup. That’s hot.

Sully Again

As quickly as his “symptoms” showed up, they seem to have disappeared. I like those sorts of injuries. I don’t think I had much to do with it, either!

I soaked the hoof three times in Epsom and warm water, for about 10 minutes at a time. He never griped about it, so I guess it felt good. I noticed some puffiness around his old injury site, but never did find any pin-holes in the hoof itself that would indicate a blown abscess. I’m really wondering now if he a( strained the fetlock a little in his rowdy play in the field, or b( if perhaps he is developing a touch of arthritis around that old injury. The injury stopped about an eighth of an inch shy of bone, and was badly infected, so some internal damage would not be a surprise.

I took him out yesterday morning, early, before the heat settled in. I chose the least rocky route I could think of, and kept him at a walk for most of it. However, we got to a shady, grassy, flat spot and I asked for a jog; he went right into it without hesitation or gimp. Then we crossed a creek and were beset upon by deer flies, I suggested we hit the hill at a run, and he took off like double ought from a shotgun. I had to pull him in at the top or he’d have kept going. I took this as a very good sign since our previous ride he had been reluctant to push off the hind at all.

We had a another good run, this time a gallop, going back over the creek, and he seemed again to really be enjoying himself.

In addition to going well, he was really good, and light off my leg and on the bit. I’m wondering if a little of his short-temperedness could be chalked up to some discomfort and/or pain in that leg.

Regardless, I’ll go easy for the next few rides to be sure everything is back to normal. He came running for his supper last night, too, and was moving out really well.

The heat wave has found us. I biked six miles this morning and almost didn’t beat it home! Supposed to be scorching for the next week or more. Do you hear me complaining? Not about that!