Coyote

Today I didn't have to ride anywhere to see wildlife.  This coyote was outside of Zoe and Skippy's pasture.  Looks pretty healthy to me.

Ice

I liked the pattern in this puddle when I was out on the trail the other day.  Usually the ice lines are straight but this one had curves.  

Mom...I TOLD you I like my mud!

One of the few clean spots on my horse lately.....sigh

Wasn't a boring ride

Today I had a fun ride.  It was fun for many reasons.

Zoe, and Sky (with riders) helped Glory out to the trail.  Glory is a younger filly with not much trail experience.  Her owner decided to hand walk her out to the trail head and walk back with her.  We had done this before and it worked fine.  But today was different.  We put Glory between us with Zoe in front.  Glory decided to act like a young horse, not knowing how to obey or what to do with her extra energy.  She was a little too energetic on Auburn/Folsom road and we stopped while her owner dealt with her.  Around the corner Glory decided to buck, kick, fall and slide on her side.  Zoe heard all of this and was not able to see it so she got excited and danced a few steps.  I turned her to see and Zoe just stood there while the owner dealt with her horse.  Zoe was a little excited but very controllable.  Sky just stood there too.  It's nice to have calm horses while one horse isn't so calm.  Then we continued to the trail head (by the way, Glory and owner did just fine and made it back home fine too)

Little did I know that we would get to practice being calm with excited horses a few more times on this ride.  At the trail head we said good bye to Glory and owner and met up with Dune and owner.

I took everyone the back way to Look Out Rock only I've found another way that stays off the rutted road.   Dune's owner was happy with the ride, she was amazed at all the different things to see.  On the way back Zoe was still in the lead and Sky in the rear and Sky decided to try to charge up the trail when we picked up a trot.  We stopped while Sky's rider dealt with him.  Zoe and Dune did really good, just stood around and waited.

Then we decided to try something different on the sewer road just before we cut off for the trail to FLEC.  Sky has recently been helping Dune with some trail lessons at this juction in the trail.  The girls wanted to try trotting off and leaving a horse behind.  I said ok, but with 3 horses it would be tricky.  The plan I came up with was to leave 1 horse at the man hole cover, the other 2 horses would walk away together, go 1/2 way up the road, 1 of them would stop there and the other one would continue on to the top of the road but stay in sight of everyone.  Then the original horse left behind would walk up to the 2nd horse.  Then get left behind again while the 2nd horse walked up to the 3rd horse.  At the end the horse left behind would join the other 2 horses.  We started this out at a walk and it worked fine. Zoe got to be the horse left behind and the other 2 did great.   So we tried this at a trot.  Zoe was again the left behind horse and she did fine.  Then we mixed it up and Sky got to be the left behind horse and he did fine.  Then Dune got a turn and he did fine.  When Sky got to be the left behind horse Zoe didn't do very well trotting away with Dune.  She was having a PMS day (Pissy Mare Syndrome)-got to love those mares.  I kept her trotting but boy did she have attitude-alot of verbal reprimanding and rein correction was involved.  She was happy when Dune trotted off away from us to the top of the road.

Then we tried to take the trail back towards FLEC.  Sky in the lead, next was Dune and Zoe last.  Sky thought it was time to charge up the trail.  He got a little excited I guess.  (Owner off and disciplining horse)  Dune got excited too and tried to charge but didn't get away with it.  (Owner circling horse)  Zoe got to see all the excitement this time and danced a few steps but listened to my reprimands.  It really helps when ALL riders know what to do with their horses to calm them down and get back control.  I've been on trail rides with people who didn't know what to do with their misbehaving horse and the ride is no fun.  I start to get worried about the poor rider with the misbehaving horse-concerned for their safety.  Then all the horses start to get worked up because there is no correction/disciplining going on.  It makes for an uncomfortable/tense ride.  But this situation turn out better-all riders took care of their horses in appropriate ways and we were back on the trail.

So I guess I liked this ride for many reasons.  It was good to work on trail manners with excited horses. It was fun to show someone some new trails.  And it was fun to work the left behind excercises.  And it was good practice trotting next to another horse with my PMS horse.  We will have to do this again.

Finally a Wednesday ride

It rained today-Wednesday.  But it was raining before the sun came up and was gone before the sun came up.  So....ride day!  The trails were pretty good, not too slippery to get around.  Zoe did pretty good for not getting out by herself for 3 weeks.  We saw some deer that caused her to stop and stare, but that was about it.  There were a few times that I got off to take some pictures and she decided eating would be her activity while I got my pictures.  Working on some more pictures of things....

Free lunging

Since it was raining every Wednesday and Thursday for 3 weeks (my normal midweek riding days) and I was out of town for 2 weekends my horses didn't get ridden very much.  So I decided some lunging in the arena-off lead-would be a good idea.  Zoe usually is pretty good.  She's the one I've lunged the most over the years.  Her biggest downfall is food.  The feeders for the pastures are on the outside of the arena so food spills over to the arena side and it all looks so inviting.  Once she discovers that I mean business about not stopping to eat, she does fine at lunging.  She stays on the rail most of the time.  I usually have her mom, Skippy, in there at the same time.  Skippy can be eating while Zoe lunges around the arena.  Sometimes Zoe purposely runs right between Skippy (while she's eating at the fence) and the arena fence.  I think it's her way of saying "this is not fair, I have to run around and she gets to stand there and eat".  

Then my attention shifts to Skippy.  I let Zoe have the feed at the edge of the arena and I lunge Skippy. I don't work with Skippy as much on lunging.  I  have noticed that she has a "M.O."  Her trick is to not stay on the rail.  She just makes smaller and smaller circles around you.  It's as if she says "see, I'm going around and I'll be done sooner."  So the challenge is to make her stay on the rail.

The last horse is Sky and I don't lunge him much either.  Sky is not related to the other 2.  He's an arab gelding, and he tends to be very mellow.  His "M.O." is to go once around and stop, turn toward you as if to say "see, I went around once and now I'm done".  Then I get on his case and he says "fine...I'll go really fast 1/2 way around and then I'll be done because I exerted so much energy".  It's funny to watch him charging up the arena because when he stops, he stops on his front end, his front feet look like pogo sticks as he stops.  It's a dead give away to what he's thinking and just makes it easy to read his thoughts...so I can time my requests to "keep it going, Buster".

 

Windy and lunging

Yup...still raining.  Today it came with a lot of wind.  By the time I got to the barn after work, it was really windy.  By the time I left it was starting to rain.  Supposed to rain thru the weekend.  No trail riding for me.  So today I took all 3 horses out and groomed them so they could get dirty again...just part of owning horses.  I lunged Skippy and Zoe together, focusing more on Zoe.  They both had fun racing around the arena bucking and kicking out - eventually I got a "ok, I'll get back to work" attitude from both of them.  I lunged first then cleaned them up.  I left Zoe for last, I wanted to go back into the arena and lunge on a lunge line and see what would happen.  The last time I did that it didn't turn out so well.  Previously I hadn't let her blow off energy so on the line she had a really bad attitude and tore the line from my hands and she went running off and stopped to eat leaves.  Then we had a "conversation" in the round pen and after that-she was good.  I hoped this time would be different because I had let her get rid of some of her energy, but I didn't know because it was soooo windy.  Sometimes in the wind she seems to have LOTS of energy.  But she did just fine.  In fact her lope was so slow, I had to get on her case for her to put more effort into it.  I did ride her a little bit, bare back with just her halter.  I briefly tried the half-halts I had been working on.  She really paid attention.   At least Zoe and I got to do something together today.

Pilates and the half-halt

Between the rain and the Thanksgiving holidays I haven't been on the trails much.  Maybe this week.  So my riding has been in the arena on Monday and Tuesday mornings.   I recently read a very good description of the half-halt in Pilates For Riders by Lindsay Wilcox-Reid.  We've been able to do half-halts for quite a while now, but I wanted to work on the more advanced levels.  So I've been working on the half-halt in the mornings.  Sometimes we "get" it and sometimes we don't.  I need to get better with my cues/timing and Zoe needs to get better at listening for the finer points.  I've really enjoyed reading this book and I look forward to doing pilates.  I think it will help me and my horse.    

Canal Trail and cantering again.

Today we went down to the canal trail again.  I went a different way.  We took Lomida, Prospector, HSB, Pioneer Express Trail, Canal Trail, Lake Forest Trail, back to forest and home.  It's a nice little ride.  Zoe and I left on our ride today before Skippy's rider came to the barn....so we had no calling at all.  None on the way out and only 1 on the way back-on the corner of Aub/Folsom and Lomida.  By that time Skippy and Sky were out on the trail.  No one answered Zoe back when she called.  (We will practice leaving when Skippy is coming back in the future.  Last week was interesting and we need to do it again.)  While out on the canal we practiced cantering again.  It went really well.  Once she spooked at a log next to the trail-side stepped and dropped down to a trot.  I laughed at her.  Later when we were cantering, we were able to keep it up for quite a while.  Zoe kept slowing down, almost breaking into a trot-it was if to say "can we slow down now?  This is unusual."  It was a nice canter-Zoe did a good job.  Not so sure what she will do with another horse involved.  Usually if she is in the lead she does fine.  If anything we need to practice being in the middle or in the back and cantering.  

Wasn't sure how this ride would turn out

I've been riding by myself on the canal trail lately, it's one of my favorite rides.  Last week Zoe cantered nicely by the lake.  Sometimes she canters like a frantic, mad pony down there.  So we have been working on that.  Last week was good.  This week was also good...altho I wasn't so sure at the beginning of the ride.  When we left the barn, we passed Skippy in the barnyard.  She was just coming back from a ride as we went out the gate.  Zoe's mind was on the barn and Skippy-not trail riding.  She called out many times on the road.  Once on the trail she still called.  So I thought I'd try some circles.  Every time she called I circled, but that didn't seem to help.  She got more worked up, didn't calm her at all.  I need to try another "if you're going to act like a brat, you get to do more work" method.  So we did some trotting.  It turns out that she doesn't call while trotting.  And she seems to be busy moving, watching where she is going.  Hmmmmm trotting is the answer today.  So we trotted alot.  When we first started out I wasn't sure we would make it to my original destination-the canal trail-but now it seemed possible.  While trotting I met C on Dune as they were heading back to their barn.  I slowed for them, told C that I had to keep moving and I would explain tomorrow at lunch.  We trotted most of the way to the canal trail and once on the trail kept it up.  We even cantered.  I thought she might revert back to frantic, mad cantering but she did really good.  Seemed that her mind was back on her job.  On the Lake Forest trail back home she did good.  I thought she might try to get back to the barn as fast as she could, but she was content with any speed I chose.  We met up with  a water maintence worker on the first street we came to...he was flushing out a pipe.  I could see the water moving down the street past his truck.  Just as we passed the truck, Zoe jumped..."oh my gosh, mom, did you see that water!!!!".  I was thinking she might do that and was prepared for it.  The worker and I laughed and he shut off the water.  I was hoping he'd keep it on some more.  Anyway it turned out to be a good ride.

Sad to mad

Yesterday we had to put one of our dogs down.  I always thought this dog, Noodles (yes Noodles can be a dog's name), would outlast her sister, Sophie.  But no.  Anyway I was in a sad "funk" for most of yesterday and today until....I went to the barn and saw my horse.  Now that sounds nice and warm and fuzzy.  But no.  Zoe, being lunged on a lunge line in the arena decided to pull away and run off.  She had attitude before she ran off.  She decided that eating leaves and running around without that lunge line constraint was a "good idea".   Well, she made me mad.  I had more than just my "mad face" on.  Since she decided that running was such a good idea, we practiced it in the round pen.  Afterwards I had one contrite, sweaty horse.  We tried lunging with the lunge line again in the arena...and she was an angel.  I could even take her off of the line and she would follow me everywhere, at any speed, even backwards and sideways.  So I got to feel something besides sad...mad.  And the whole experience kind of snapped me out of my "funk".  So even the outside of a "horse acting badly" can be good for the inside of a wo(man).

Tracks/footprints

So I haven't blogged lately because I've been taking pictures for this blog...footprint pictures.  I wanted to do them before the rains started because the prints are so different in dry dirt/sand than in wet, and some of the prints we won't be seeing again until things dry out or warmer weather starts again.

I've tried to identify the prints too.  Some of them I'm sure of and some of them...well it could be. So here goes...

I saw these on my way to "the rock"  They were pretty fresh.  There were no fresh people tracks around-the tire tracks by my foot are lots older than the paw print and the people track on the other side of the picture is my print.  The print had no toe nails/claws to it.  One of the side toes is smaller and the main part of the pad edges are characteristic of a mountain lion.  The one thing that holds me back from being 100% on this one is that I wish I could see the "M" shaped pad better.  So maybe a mountain lion.

These are raccoon prints.  I've been seeing alot of them lately.  I didn't know they traveled the main trails so much.  One day I followed them for at least a mile on the same road.

These are turkey tracks.  How do I know they are turkey?  They were pretty big tracks, you can almost see a horse hoof print "behind" some of them.  I forgot to put my foot next to them for a comparison.  Turkeys also tend to walk "on a tight rope" as opposed to the photo of the next print.

This picture was taken at the barn after the chicken had walked by me.  We only have 1 chicken now so you can see that they don't "tight rope walk" much.

These are deer prints.  You can see them all over the place out on the trails.

These are Zoe prints.  Not only do I see Zoe's prints but there are many other horse prints out there too.

And there are usually tire prints out there too.  Bicycles, motorcycles, quads, 4-wheelers all use the same area I ride, so we usually see their tracks too.

The small squiggle is a small snake.  I wanted to get a larger snake print but I think they are all started to hibernate for the winter.  Not sure of the type of snake.

I was happy to find these prints...didn't think I'd be able to get these ones.  Ignore the horse hoof prints. What we see is the front and the hind footprint of a bear.  The hind has the bigger pad in the back-it's towards the bottom of the picture.  The front one is above it.  My foot is there just for comparison.  We've been seeing alot of bear scat lately and had a few sightings of a bear.  It was nice to catch the prints.

This is my footprint-thrown in just because.  Also tire tracks from a larger vehicle.

These are lizard tracks.  I didn't think I'd get these prints either-it's getting late in the season.  


So I'd like to add to these photos as I come across more tracks.  I usually see dog tracks because people walk their dogs out there frequently, but they can look so close to a coyote track that unless I actually see the animal I probably won't take a picture of that track.  Anyway riding to see different animal tracks and get pictures has opened up a new aspect of my trail riding experience.  I'd like to learn more about tracking too-I have some books at home of animals/tracks in our area.  I think I'll bring some pictures along with me on my rides.

Rain finally

It has been raining for the past few days.  First rains of the fall.  Zoe and I went out on the trail today.  I ran her in the arena yesterday morning so I was hoping that she wouldn't be too frisky today-and she was fine.  We didn't go too long, had too many things to do today, but it was a good ride.  We cantered some, trotted alot, walked.  She didn't spook at anything.  We did some stops, backups, circles just because and she was fine with all of that.  I guess the only thing I could fault her on today was the few times that she walked along and tried to eat trees at the same time.  I remember a time-when she was younger that after the first rain she would be a handful out on the trail and it turned out to be a workout for both her and me.  She would be spooky, barnsour, not listening.  So I guess she has grown up some-at least for today!  Hopefully for good!

Must be Halloween Bears

Wednesday we (Sky and Zoe) went on a ride to Rattlesnake.  It must have been very spooky because Sky wouldn't cross any of the sets of rocks (and his usual pipe).  My friend had to get off, after many tries, walk him back and forth over and then he would cross.  Zoe wouldn't cross the last bridge-same thing I got off and walked back and forth then we could cross it.  On the way back Zoe wouldn't cross the last set of rocks.  This time I just waited for her just a few minutes then she went on-easier than the bridge.  The trail is so narrow in some of these places that to do some hard work while they won't cross something is difficult to accomplish.  The hard work idea usually works great for Zoe, she decides that it's much easier to do the "scary" thing than to put up with the work.  But it wasn't to be today.  I did notice that there was alot of bear scat on the trail.  And my other half told me that bears like to mark their territory and paths on large rocks.  So maybe it was those scary Halloween bears.   Our ride was 20 minutes longer to get there than it was getting back.  The way back is usually faster but not that much faster.  We must have spent quite some time dealing with the rocks/bridge.  

Grandson's trip to the barn

The view between Zoe and/or my ears has been expanded today.  I took my grandson to the barn and got some pictures.  A grandma, or "amma" as I'm called, can't resist posting pictures-and it was somewhat horse related.

 Today at the barn I found a kitty  

 I found a wheelbarrow

 I found a tractor 

 I found a rope...but it looks like I lost my horse!

 I brought my amma 

Now I'm resting 

Sunrise at Folsom Lake

One thing I wanted to do this summer was ride to Folsom Lake and see the sun rise up over the hills.  Last Wednesday I got to do just that.  My friend rode Sky and I took Zoe.  We met at 6 am and I wanted to go out the gate at 6:30 but we ended up going out at 6:40.  It worked out because we mostly trotted to the lake.  We got down there and about 1 minute later the sun came up.  Totally worth it.  The shadows and the light was awesome, so different from later in the day.  We took our time on the ride and stopped to take many pictures.  The pictures don't do it justice-you'd have to be there.   I expected to see some wildlife but the only thing we saw were geese and for a while we were herding them.  And on the way back we did see a very large pile of bear scat, not sure how old it was but it wasn't fresh.  (I saw it again the next day and it seemed smaller, I guess the heat must have dried it up some-maybe it was fresher than I thought)  The horses did great on the ride.  They weren't spooky at all.  The only thing they "got away with" was eating grass while we stopped to take pictures.

 Sun just coming up

 Kerrie's rock 

 Sky and Kerrie's rock 

 Definitely a view between the ears 

 Don't get to see my shadow this long very often

I like that rock wall 

This ride was arranged at the last minute.  Someday I'll make it an official ride/breakfast time with some friends.  I love getting up early, usually I rise at 4:15.  I'm so used to getting up early that I have a hard time sleeping in-6 am is sleeping in.  Sometimes it makes staying up late a difficult thing to do...sometimes I even fall asleep on the couch at night-have to wake up to go to bed!  I don't think I'd do good for a moonlight ride-by the time I would end up in bed I'd only get a few hours of sleep and then I'd be awake.  That's okay because there is always a sunrise ride-in the arena or out on the trail!  

Mom....I told you I didn't like getting my face wet

Running I Ranch obstacles

Sunday Dottie and I took the horses to Dunnigan to the Running I Ranch.  It's a place to practice many obstacles that they have set up all over their ranch.  I was there about 2 years ago, it was fun then and it's still fun.  We were specifically looking for water obstacles because at the Folsom Mounted Patrol Challenge that was our most difficult obstacle.  We also found some more obstacles that we encountered at the Challenge here at Running I...some were easy and some were not so easy.  Besides the water we found there were a few more things that we will be working on...for us they were very challenging.  

We started out in the arena.  Everything in the arena was easy for the horses.  There were plain tarps to walk over, and tarps with poles, branches and pool noodles on them, mattresses to walk over, things to drag, barrels to go around.  It's a very large arena and we could canter in just 1/4 of it, leaving plenty of room for others to work in the arena.  And a large ball to push around. 

                                                                                                  

You never know when we'll run into a ball or mattress on the trail!

There was the trail hills to go over.  It had ups and downs with logs to go over.  At the side of it was the plastic bottle pit.  Zoe didn't mind the plastic bottles, but Sky minded.  He had to be walked thru then he could be ridden thru. 

The pully pole was still there...had a bag of tin cans on the end of the pully that you could drop to the ground.  The horses didn't mind that. 

Everywhere there were real animal skins attached to obstacles or to the fences to get in and out of places.  The horses didn't seem to mind them.  They even sniffed them.  Some of the skins were very old, but some were more recent-however none of the skins were fresh.  There were some dead animals around-on purpose.  There were 2 dead ducks next to 2 obstacles, and there was a dried up fish on the antlers of one of the fake deers.  Last time we were there, there was no animal skins.  

We found 3 goats tied to trees next to the walk thru burlaps and hanging pool noodles.  The horses didn't seem to worried about the goats however I didn't trust them-they had horns and seemed agitated...so we didn't get to close to them.  

Then we found our first water obstacle.  This was a new one to us-wasn't there last time.  3 large pipes that had water flowing out of them into a pool of water.   The pool had a creek flowing out of it into the very large pond.  The point was to go thru the pool of water next to the "water falls".  The small creek was no problem to go over, but the pool-different story.  The water from the "water fall" was about 1 foot from your horse as you went thru the pool.  The pool didn't have a nice flat bottom, it was cone shaped-started shallow, then went steeper quickly, but only up to my knees.  I say that because I ended up leading Zoe thru the pool, she and Sky wouldn't go thru and wouldn't follow the other nice people that offered to lead us thru on their horses.  Sigh.  Finally we were able to ride them thru and I could get Zoe to go thru in the opposite direction too.  The picture shows a different way to operate the obstacle-the water is changed to go thru the top pipe and the water goes over the pool so you would have to walk under the water fall.  You would also get wet because it still had some "rain" over the pool.                             

We didn't do the obstacle with the water flowing like this.  I was just happy we got thru the first set of waterfalls. 

 The next obstacle proved to be quite a challenge.  I had never worked a teeter-totter with Zoe.  I was advised to hand walk her thru it slowly.  Just before it would teeter to the other side I was to stop my horse and REALLY praise her.  We were able to do that.  Then we were to slowly walk down the other side, but we weren't slow.  She got scared.  We were able to do it one more time, but it wasn't done any calmer.  So then it was difficult to just get her front feet on the board.  I finally was able to get that done in hand and also riding her.  Sky did better.  Dottie was able to lead him over and ride him over, but he wasn't happy.  He didn't like the board coming up behind him.  So eventually he didn't want to do it either.  So this an obstacle we will be practicing.  

The next section had things that we had done before, a nice break in the obstacles.  An elevated pole -from the ground to about 1 foot high- to have the horse walk with left feet on one side and right feet on the other side.  We almost made it to the top of it.  An "L" to work, ditches to work, bridges to work.  The thing that  was another challenge was the board to walk on.  It was about 18 inches wide to start for about 12 feet, then narrowed to 9 inches wide for about 12 feet.  After trying to work the teeter-totter,  Zoe wasn't sure about putting her feet on any boards.  So I just worked on getting her to put her front feet on the boards and we could do that.  Another thing to practice at home.  

There was a mud pit here.  A square made of rail road ties about 5 x 5.  Filled with water, mud on the bottom.  It had a board with holes drilled into it floating on the top.  You were supposed to ride your horse over it and as they stepped on the board the water would flow into the pit and it would feel a little unstable to them because now the board was on top of squishy mud.  I got off to try this one, she didn't like it when I tried to ride her over it.  It took some patience, but eventually I got her to walk over it, then we were done.  Sky didn't want to try.  

There was a bear skin on a zip line that you could pull back and forth.  The horses didn't seem to mine that .  

There was an archway to walk thru.  The pole at the bottom was made of metal.  Sky usually doesn't like to deal with metal poles but he walked thru this one just fine.  Zoe was a little hesitant when her feet hit the pole and made a nice loud sound.  There was also a dead duck next to you as you walked thru this obstacle 

We stopped for lunch and gave the horses a break.  It wasn't too hot that day.  They did a good job of drinking water.  

After lunch we found 2 more water obstacles to do.  The first was to walk into the pond.  You could go into the pond 2 different ways.  One of the ways you had to walk past a row boat.  Zoe didn't like the row boat and wouldn't go past it.  I was just glad that she got into the water to start with.  So we just stopped and stared at the boat.  Sky said no way.  The other direction we both could get into the water and ride out-we made a small circle doing this many times.  The other water obstacle reminded us of the water obstacle at the Folsom Lake Patrol Challenge.  It was a long wide muddy pool of water to walk thru.  Zoe didn't want to do it and neither did Sky.  So I said we were going to work small circles and figure 8s and keep their feet moving-they could only stop and rest with feet in the water.  With that Zoe was able to stop with her front feet in the water.  I asked her to go forward but got resistance-so we worked circles and 8s some more.  Then I was able to get all her feet in the water.  We just stood there for a few minutes.  Then I asked her to walk forward and she did it!  I was so happy.  Sky still wasn't convinced and wouldn't even follow Zoe thru as we did it again.  So Dottie got off and walked him thru it a few times.  Then he could be ridden thru it following Zoe, then he did it by himself.  Yay!  It was a good way to end the day.  

Nice separation ride

This week has been an interesting week at the barn.  Tuesday horses came for a stay while the owner was on vacation.  These horses have been here before but were not calm and happy with their "new digs".  So there was much calling, alot of extra energy.  One of the barn horses was "talking" to one of the visitors and managed to get her foot caught in the fence, pulled a shoe and took off part of her hoof.  Then one of the visitors got a laceration on his shoulder and had to have the vet stitch it up.  While that was happening 2 of the horses in the turn out got into a tiff and one ended up with kicks to her legs and now is a bit lame...so she is in the barn, while her pasture mate, the one who kicked her, is by herself in her pasture-and she is not happy about it.  She is calling all the time...only her call sounds more like an elephant call.  So all this to say things are not as calm as usual.  When I went out with Zoe on Wednesday she was okay, but seemed a bit in a hurry to get home and started calling while we were in the cow pasture.  She hasn't done that in a long time.  Maybe it was the events back at home, maybe not.

Anyway I decided that on Thursday our ride would be really different.  I originally thought another ride just by myself was in order, but then I got a different idea!  Dottie and I were going to go out and I decided to make it a separation ride.   I mean ALOT of separation.  We got our horses ready at the same time, but I left the barn first, and Dottie/Sky came 5 minutes later.  We decided to meet at the bottom of the hill going into the 2nd cow pasture.  While I was waiting for them I decided to practice loping up the wide road and try to get on the left lead.  Didn't do it the first try, turned around to try again.  I needed just a little more bend and then we got it.  So we met at the bottom of the hill.  Sky took the road and I took a smaller trail and we met again at the bottom of beginners hill.  Then Sky went back down to the road went past "grand central station" to the top of  the rise while I went up beginners hill down and to the right and we met up again at the bottom of the hill.  We rode together for a little ways then Sky took the big road, veered right and down the other rutty side while I took a side trail and met them at the bottom.  Then we rode together for a little ways.  Sky took the small trail that winds to alligator rock and I took the big road to alligator rock.  Then Sky took the big trail to just past bread rock and I took a small trail over the hill to get to alligator rock.  Then we stayed together for a while.  We ended up on one of the trails at the KBB hills.  Sky took the big road to the top and I took a smaller trail-where the "naked ladies" are blooming nicely-to the top.  When we met at the top we switched and Sky took the smaller trail back down and I took the big road back down.  Then decided that the horses were doing so good that we would stay together for awhile.  We headed back home.  The last separation was the opposite of our first separation.  Sky took the small trail to the bottom of the hill in the second cow pasture and I took the big road and met them.

Each time we separated the horses were willing to go but also kept an "ear" out for the other horse.  There was no calling, no "hurry up to met the other horse", no impatience while waiting for the other horse to show up-just an awareness that we were playing a game and they waited patiently-looking in the direction that the other horse was coming and eventually the other horse would show up.  There was even one time that Dottie took a wrong turn, realized it, got back on track and took longer to met us than I thought she would.  We just waited patiently for her to show up.  So we did 5+ miles today, most of it practicing separation.  It turned out to be fun and a good alternative to trying to go out again by myself.  

Saddle adjustment

Today I had an appointment with my saddle fitter.  I really like my 17" Frank Baines Wide LDR Enduro saddle.  But I noticed that my horse was getting white hairs on her back, first on the left side and then on the right side, just under my stirrup bars-I seem to be "falling" to the right when I ride so pressure on the left occurs as the left side "holds" on.   Zoe has no back pain from these marks.  So before I obsessed about saddle pads I thought I'd get the saddle looked at.  

Good thing because my saddle needed a flock adjustment.  Susan from Saddles that Fit said that the flocking had settled in alot.  And under the stirrup bars was too much pressure.  So she added more flocking to pick up the front again.  (She originally added more to the front because my horse is "down hill to the withers" so that would help alleviate pressure on the shoulders.)  She also added more on the left to even out the saddle.  That seemed strange because I thought it would make me fall even more to the right, but it didn't.  It really helped even out my riding.  AND I learned that Zoe likes to push me over to the right.  All theses years I thought the whole leaning to the right thing was all my fault, but maybe it is a combination of me and Zoe-what a thought!!!   Susan also added more flocking to the back and up high on the seat.  But she left flocking "holes" where the white hairs were to relieve the pressure in that area.    

Reflocking saddle-what a job!

We also talked about saddle pads and decided that the work on the saddle should fix the problem therefore the 2 different pads I was using were just fine.  She said that I might not need the scrim pads underneath the saddle pads.  I will try riding without and see what happens.  She also thought that I might not even need a crupper.  We'll see.  Apparently white hairs occur when a horse had been ridden for 2+ hours with "something wrong" going on.   Sometimes it is from just 1 ride or can be an ongoing "something wrong" going on as you are on shorter rides.  Hopefully this will help.  I probably won't notice the white hairs going away until the next shedding occurs in the spring.  I hopefully won't notice white hairs increasing-that would mean I still have a problem.
Well I feel like I got a "tune up" done on my horse...the feet issue was taken care of and now the saddle problem fixed.  Hopefully all done now and off and riding....