' Outsmarted '

‘ Outsmarted’

 
We had hoped to ride on Saturday, but plans sometimes go awry.  By the time we finished with the barn, the farrier, and some other tasks it was turning colder and windier.  We decided if the horses that needed some exercise couldn’t be ridden we would do a few minutes on the longe.

I grabbed my grooming kit, which I left outside the paddock, and a lead rope and headed into the paddock for Dusty.  Have you ever had a horse walk two steps ahead of you just out of range? Not running away, just walking fast enough so you can’t catch them.  Even though I had the lead behind my back as I maneuvered through the muddy moon craters Dusty was not fooled and kept just ahead of me half way down the fence line.  Her demise came about when she couldn’t resist a full hay net hanging on the fence; while she stopped to take a few bites I was able to snap her halter with the lead.

Once we were out of the paddock I started grooming her while she grazed on some green sprouts of spring grass. This kept her contented throughout the currying, shedding and brushing process.  As I said, it was windy and by the time I was done I was covered in white hair and could have passed for a very realistic impersonation of a Yeti.

Dusty longed beautifully even when she picked up the canter, which is her most “enthusiastic” gait, she was calm and collected.  Unlike the other night when she was a galloping bucking maniac, this time I was pleased with her performance. My daughter longed Nate, who was a total jerk, Grady who did well, Donnie who was a superstar and Sami who is starting to “get it.”  Now it was my turn to get Blue, who had been eating from Dusty’s abandoned hay net on the fence the entire time everyone else got worked.

With the lead rope in my hand and a song in my heart I headed out to catch Blue. Except that by now Blue has done the math and knows he’s next in line for some work.  Blue has disappeared.  I’m sure he moseyed away in his inimitable way; I swear if that horse could whistle he’d be looking up at the sky with his hooves in his pockets doing the impersonation of some nonchalant rambling man. We looked up and down the fence line as far as we could see into the next paddock and assumed he must be in the trees or had taken himself to the paddock way in the back.  They have access to all the paddocks over culverts and through opened gates, so we gave up.

When I got to the house and looked back at the paddocks once last time, I could just see this white splash of color behind the run in shed.  You guessed it Blue had taken himself behind the shed and was lying down - not necessarily sleeping, because he had his head up looking towards the house, [so I can’t be sure if he was lying down for a much-needed rest, or for cover.]  I’m only sorry I was too far away to get a picture. You’ve got to love this horse, he’s so smart and such an odd character he keeps me laughing.

I give him a lot of credit too; if he’s that motivated and smart enough to figure out how to ditch being worked he deserved the day off.  Next time perhaps instead of him outsmarting me I’ll be able to return the favor and work him first.

Until next time

Quote for Today

On the first day god created horses, and on the second day he painted the good ones.

' Reservations Being Taken'

‘Reservations Being Taken’

'Grey Horse Manor' is proud to announce we are now taking reservations for:

 Therapeutic Muck and Mud Spa Treatments

Treatments Include

·      Full day turnout in therapeutic mud

·      Scented poo-poo pillows

·      Professional grooming each night including:

1.    Curry combing

2.   Coat, mane and tail brushing with made- for- you mud brushes

3.   Hand picking mud clumps from manes & tails

4.   Vacuuming of furry critter coats

5.    Followed by a deluxe finishing brush out of body, mane & tail with our personal touch to make you shine like the star you were meant to be

6.   Hooves picked out

7.   At the end of your day at the spa treatment center for filthy horses, you can look forward to a wonderful custom homemade dinner with supplements (as needed), luscious hay and of course dessert treats

Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week for your convenience.  Don’t delay book your spa treatment soon, before all the mud is gone!

Dirty Dudes and Dudettes

Until next time

Quote for Today
You never get the pleasure of owning a horse, you only have the pleasure of being its slave

'Dusty' Answers

  ‘Dusty’  Answers

Thanks to everyone for their comments and insights on mares. In answer to some of the questions I received in the comments section of “It’s A Mare’s World’ about Dusty's previous circumstances, some of her background may possibly explain why she is a little less affectionate towards me and a thoroughly independent mare.


Even though Dusty was thirteen last July, she’s still as green as grass.  How is it possible that a horse of that age be so green?  Circumstances; I bought her when she was five, returned her 6 months later because of dangerous behavior, took her back at the request of the seller two years later, decided to have my daughter train her in the basics and resell her. Her dangerous mounting block behavior was eliminated and there were no more incidents of flipping herself over. Oh, and did I mention that she had a fracture of her leg that required stall rest for a time?  Dusty told anyone who would listen, “I broke my leg you know!”  Of course, she didn’t tell anyone that she injured herself by kicking the daylights out of her stall wall at night because she is a witchy little mare and the occupant of the adjoining stall was simply annoying her to distraction.

During this time we had a small business operation and she became our advanced riders’ project, under the supervision of my daughter, who is a wonderful trainer.
Running a demanding boarding/lesson business left her training sporadic at times. I didn’t have the time to ride her, as I had my horse Erik to ride and, in the back of my mind, thought that she would someday be sold.  Subsequently, I didn’t want to get attached to her as it would be harder for me to let her go when the time came.  This is how she comes to the dance: still green with a slightly confused attitude about why she is my star pupil all of a sudden. I should mention that I rode in fits and starts for the year prior to my knee replacement surgery, partly because of the pain in my knee and also due to the fact that my horse Erik had died unexpectedly from colic.  Most of that time, I really didn’t feel like riding. Thankfully, all that has changed now due to the surgery and healing that time brings with it.

Last June I finally got on her and we've been in mutual training since then.  With extended breaks this last winter due to poor weather conditions, it’s fair to say our training is less than what I’d like to be doing. Hopefully, with the warmer temperatures we’ll have more time together.

I have yet to know why I kept her when circumstances all point to the fact that I probably should have let her go. I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps there is a master plan for all that happens in the universe.  I’m not terribly superstitious but it just defies reason that I would have kept a horse I basically never planned on riding again. Did I mention that in the 6 months I had her Dusty won the prize for unseating me the most number of times in the nonstop express to the ground?  I believe it was 2 or 3 times. This was a record for me considering I had never fallen off Lifeguard for all the years I rode him and in the 15 years I rode Erik the number was also 3.

I can only conclude that she was waiting in the wings for me to see that she is perfect for me at this stage of my life. She's the horse I wanted when I first laid eyes on her, so I bought her; she's the little brat I couldn't handle, so I sent her back; she's the golden trinket that kept turning up until she couldn't be turned away any longer. I have had her for 6 years and ridden her since last June. We have a lot ahead of us to accomplish, but we have plenty of time to do that and get to know one another again – and in a lot of ways, for the first time.  

I feel she will come around eventually, as long as it's her idea. She probably hasn't forgiven me for sending her back because horses never forget and mares are less forgiving than geldings, in my opinion. Now she has to believe she can trust me to be her person before she warms up to me. I’ve decided we need to spend a lot more time together just hanging out and being friends before she will “let me in” to her affections. If she doesn’t, then I’ll be satisfied just being the best we can be for each other day to day.

Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care

It's A Mare's World

 

‘It’s A Mare’s World ‘

I’ve been wondering lately about mares.  I’ve never actually had a mare for any length of time and Dusty is the first mare I’ve truly ridden.  All our horses have been geldings, except for Meg—an off-the-track thoroughbred—and she was only with us a short time until we found a good home for her. We boarded at the time and although I would have liked to keep her (she was very sweet) we couldn’t afford all the semi-rescues we were accumulating.

Okay, back to my questions about mares; I know you will all help me out with trying to understand my girl.

Dusty, my darling: quarter horse; palomino; queen bee; princess extraordinaire….  She is most likely the most unaffectionate horse I’ve ever come across. She’s very independent and opinionated about everything from her food to her grooming.  Most times she won’t even make an appearance at the gate to come in and will make one of us tromp through snow or mud to get her.  I guess she wants to see if we really mean it. We do; she’s been left out more than once and not fed dinner and yet she wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of coming in willingly the next time either.  She has the queenly persona of being able to totally ignore you and plays the la-de-la-la ‘I can’t hear you’ game!’  It seems to be one of her favorites.

Dusty puts up a very tough front but she’s no marshmallow underneath; she’s tough as nails.  She can also hold a grudge for what she perceives as the slightest infraction.  It seems if I pet, groom, or pay attention to another horse she gets slightly miffed as if she’s not getting all she’s due. Yet again, if I go over to her she ignores me and turns her butt to me.  I’m not used to having a horse that thoroughly ignores me unless I have a treat, and only then she finds it in her heart to act all cute and knickers and bats her big brown eyes. 

Typical female?  I don’t know if everyone’s mares are like this but I’d like to know if is it just Dusty or are most mares similar?  Sweetie is very different; she likes attention and returns affection when given, which I attribute to her being happy and grateful to be with us. Our little Meg mare was as sweet as could be and loved attention too. So to me Dusty is an enigma wrapped in a mystery.  I’m sure I’ll never have the bond with her I had with Erik but, in my opinion, I think she could be a teeny bit more friendly.

The geldings are all so affectionate and huggable and love to be fussed over.  Typical males? Blue or Donnie will come running if they see me by the fence or I call them. Call Dusty and you get the shrug and cold shoulder.  I’ve even thought that because the mares are still au naturale and the geldings are, well, geldings that might have something to do with her behavior. Then again, we boarded a stallion once at our barn and he loved his mom and was very affectionate to her (then again, he was also a sort of a wussy boy.)  But Sami was a stallion when he came to us and he is also an attention sponge.  So that may throw my au naturale notion out the window with the bath water.

One quick, funny story about stallion mama/owner. At a dressage clinic we attended, she asked the clinician (a big name trainer) if maybe his trouble engaging his hindquarters was because his (you know) were too big.  My daughter was so embarrassed by this asinine question she almost fell through the arena floor.  I thought it was funny.  Do they make jock straps for horses?  But I digress….

Back to Diva Dusty. By the way, I tried to change her name because Dusty was so common for a palomino, but she would have none of it so “Dusty” she has remained.  She knows her name but chooses not to listen when called, sort of like when my kids were teenagers.

Now on to listing her good points, because I don’t want to seem like I don’t appreciate her, I do.

·         She is one of the safest horses we have in the barn. 

·         She loves to work and learn new things. 

·         Great on trails. 

·         Loves an adventure anywhere. 

·         Never spooks. 

Does this sound like a sale ad?  It’s not.  Dusty’s mine until the end; I just wonder how many other mares out there share this star persona. I wonder if part of her personality is because she is smaller than all the other horses we have except for Sami. Maybe she feels she has to be tough to prove herself in the herd. Regardless of why she acts like she does, Dusty is a dynamite package, all 15’1 hands of her.  She’s a real character and I do like her, but she is frustrating.

Until next time

Quote for Today

An owner about her (Appaloosa) Mare - "She will do everything and anything I ask her as long as she thinks it is okay!"
    - Mary Ann Holan

Oh, Sami!

Oh, Sami!

Sami has recently been let out of detention.  For the past two weeks or so he has been residing in the smaller side paddock with his mama Sweetie.  Why you ask? Well, it seems Sami cannot control himself with the rest of the herd.  In his youthful exuberance, he constantly annoys the other horses and picks fights with lots of halter pulling, biting, rearing and striking out. He’s not trying to hurt anyone, he simply wants to play all the time and not everyone is interested.  To be fair, Grady is sometimes the instigator of a lot of the antics.  He’s another horse who has never gotten to play with others because he was a valued show horse. In recent years, before we got him, he shared a small paddock with two old grumpy mares, so he’s never had a chance to play much in turnout.  Grady is close to 18 hands and Sami is 14.2, so when they are rearing Grady towers above Sami, one false move and Sami is a pancake.  They both come in with various cuts and scrapes and it’s just a matter of time before there is a serious injury.  So Sami was sent off to detention with his mother.  It’s fair to say that just one “mother” look from her and he scrambles to the other end of the field for cover.  She may have a hard time walking now, but I have a hunch in her day she was a no-nonsense mom to be reckoned with, and I’m sure Sami can remember her wrath.

 ' Sami & Sweetie '

' Grady '

Sami appears to know he’s on probation; he and Sweetie are both back with the herd and things seem to be going smoothly … for now.  What is so surprising is that Mellon, aka ‘The Terminator,’ never corrects Sami as he’s done with all the other horses his whole life.  As leader of the herd it’s hard to believe he lets Sami get away with so much disruption.  Sami is like that annoying kid in school that nobody liked but who was always willing to do anything to try and fit in with the ‘in crowd’. 

 ' Mellon '

The other day, I actually saw Sami and Mellon playing halter tag.  Mellon never plays, but I’ve come to believe that Sami is Mellon’s mini –me.  Or maybe Mellon never played because the horses were so afraid of his authority they never included him in their games.  Sami has no herd etiquette and so he jumps in with all four hooves.  However, this morning I witnessed a very cute scene.  Sami was up Mellon’s butt as usual and when Mellon decided to roll, Sami did the same.  When Mellon got up and rolled on the other side Sami copied.  This wasn't the first time they've been caught in a game of “monkey-see, monkey-do,”  and it leads me to believe that either Mellon is grooming Sami to be the next leader of the pack or perhaps just having a little fun with our bratty boy making him play follow-the-leader for his own amusement.  Either way it’s good to see Mellon playing in his old age and I do believe Sami is keeping him young and helping him get over his deep depression over losing his best friend of 15 years, Erik a while back. 

 ' Sweetie '

We’re waiting for some good weather and the snow to melt completely so Sami can be started in regular work. Sweetie and I feel that when he has a job to do perhaps he won’t be such and unconscionable little monster.

Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse has so docile a nature that he would always rather do right than wrong, if only he could be taught to distinguish one from the other.

'Spring Shape-Up'

' Nate '

Our Guidelines for Bringing a Horse Back to Work

After a winter of being turned out and not ridden consistently, there are certain procedures that should be followed in bringing your horse back to consistent work. We follow the guidelines set by the British Horse Society. They have a comprehensive book called, “The BHS Complete Manual of Stable Management” and it has many useful procedures on how to take care of your horse and tack. We don’t take their suggestions as absolute gospel, but translate their ideas into what we feel works for our horses and us. They have a wonderful plan for a young, healthy and sound horse, but it would be too time consuming for us to adhere to with so many horses to bring back into work, and needs to be modified for older horses or those who may have soundness issues. Following is their suggestion and below our translation:

' Blue

Suggested Exercise for an Unfit, Overweight Horse After Several Months at Grass

1^st WEEK

Walking exercise on the level. Half an hour on the first day, increasing to one hour by the end of the first week.

Translation:

10-15 minutes total walking on the longe line in a level ring, increasing to 30 minutes total by the end of the week.

2^nd WEEK

Increase walking up to 1 hour by the end of the week.

Translation:

2o-30 minutes total walking interspersed with limited trotting.

3^rd WEEK

Slow trotting, starting on the level, together with walking up and down hills.

Translation:

Increase gradually to ½ hour total walking and trotting alternately. This is also generally when we begin to add the tack to get them used to saddles and bridles again, though at this time we do not use any training devices attached to the bit.

4^th WEEK

As third week.

Translation:

We agree and do the same. At this time, we also begin to get on the horses and walk them under tack on alternate days as described in “1^st Week” above, increasing the walking up to an hour by the end of the week.

5^th WEEK

1 ½ hours exercise a day, to include some trotting up hills and short, slow cantering on good, level ground.

Translation:

We’re not big fans of longeing a horse for more than ½ an hour because of the stress continual circling can place on the legs, so we work 15 minutes in each direction of walking, trotting and slow cantering, alternating every other day with light ridden work (walk and easy trot) as in “3^rd Week” above up to 1 hour. When working on the longe, now would be the appropriate time to add training aids such as a loosely fitted chambon (we don’t ever recommend side reins or balancing reins like the Pessoa system...) while longeing; however, they should only be used at walk and trot.

6th-8^th WEEKS

1 ½ hours exercise a day, to include trotting up hills and longer cantering periods. School work may include jumping and canter circles.

Translation:

Basically as above; 1 hour+ a day - or every other day if continuing on the longe - to include the usual walk, trot, canter with some mild hill-work, ground poles and/or cavalletti added in. Toward the end of the last week we may begin jumping or adding more collected work for those horses who are able. Don’t forget: if you are careful and have good control of your horse, you may longe over cavalletti and jumps as well! It is also not a bad idea to follow a day of more intensive work with an easy day to give the horse a chance to recover and keep him from getting sour.

' Donnie '

A lot of this walking and slow fittening work can be done outside of the arena to prevent both horse and rider from getting too bored. We also sometimes create an easy “obstacle course” in the arena or around the farm consisting of cavelltti, cones, gates, tarps, etc. to keep things interesting while doing all that walking. After completing these exercises, your pasture-puff should be able to start being ridden at a walk, trot and eventually canter up and down hills, over small fences, with increased collection on the flat, on longer trails, etc. without the predisposition to being injured after a long winter of idleness. It takes a long time to get in shape after just “hanging out” for months, so we try not to rush it. I’ve seen cases where horses have been pulled out of the field or their stall after a layoff and put back to work as if they’d never had a day off, and they almost always ended up with an injury that interrupted or even sidelined their entire showing season, not to mention risking their future soundness. A little patience at the beginning is the price we pay to keep our horses happy, healthy and sound for life.

' Dusty '

Walk

Trot

Canter

There are a few other things to remember as well: as when bringing a horse back from an injury, if your horse is overweight in addition to being unfit, it is crucial to start very slowly. Putting a horse in this condition on the longe is not recommended because working on a circle puts undue strain on muscles, tendons and joints. For such horses, light longeing may be started after two weeks hand-walking and/or very light walking under saddle, but starting with 5 minutes of walking on either side will be all that is needed to start getting them back into shape when you longe. We start our horses back on the longe because they are basically fit from being turned out all day and moving around on their own. They keep themselves in decent shape and they are not overfed. Just ask them! ;-)

Have fun getting your horse/horses in shape for a fun and healthy season of riding.


Until next time

Quote for Today

A horse is like a violin, first it must be tuned, and when tuned it must be accurately played

Almost There

Almost There

' My (underfoot) Helpers'

I've been working on cleaning the tack room.  It's taken me longer than I expected, but I finally see the light at the end of a very messy tunnel. This weekend I am planning on cleaning tack which is the only thing I haven't gotten to yet. Here are some Before and After pictures which are documented proof that I actually do more at the farm than hang over the fence watching horse soap operas all day. 

' BEFORE '

' AFTER '

 

The door's always open, stop by some time for a visit!

Until next time

Quote for Today

Horse people are stable people

 

Happy Blogger Award

Happy Blogger Award

I'm so happy to have received another award. This one is from Beth and her blog Fearless Riding, about her learning to ride without fear. Thank you so much I really appreciate you thinking of me. 

I'm to list 10 things that make me happy and then name ten blogs that do the same.  I don't know how I could ever just whittle it down to 10. There are just too many blogs that bring a smile to my face each day. So once again I'm offering this happy, smiley face award to anyone who cares to participate. 

Here are ten things that make me happy:

1. My grandchildren and my family
2. My two Aussie dogs : Maggie and Murphy
3. All my horses of course
4. Having my own farm, I really hated boarding out
5. Taking a lesson and accomplishing something constructive
6. Going for a ride in the fields or on the trails
7. A beautiful Autumn day with the leaves turned colorful shades and perfect weather
8. Reading a good book that you never want to end
9. Writing something on my blog that everyone seems to enjoy
10. Just hanging over the fence at the farm watching the soap opera interplay between the herd

I didn't think I had another list in me but apparently I did! Whew! 

Until next time

Quote for Today

Surgeons General Warning: Horses are expensive, addictive, and may impair the ability to use common sense