Christmas Eve

There's something special to me about horses and Christmas Eve. I'm not sure what it is.  Maybe it's the peaceful way they munch on their food or the way they quietly stand as the sun goes down. They look at me with their large soft brown eyes that seems to know what's going on in my heart. They seem so in tune with the season-winter and Christmas. The busyness of the Christmas season doesn't matter to them. They are so in tune with the rhythm of life that only the really important things matter.  Whatever it is, it's something I will always treasure in my heart. And it helps calm my spirit and helps me to see what is really important in the Christmas season and every season of my life. Things I can take with me where ever I happen to be in life.

Different journey

The view between Zoe's ears is about to change. I find that I'm at a "crossroads" in my life and a change is coming up for both of my horses, Zoe and Skippy.

My financial needs are starting to increase and it is becoming difficult to maintain the cost of 2 horses and keep up with the things that are coming up. Our basic needs have always been able to be maintained on what my husband and I make but now we have some house and health issues that need to be met and we need the money to do them.  No pressing needs but looking at the future the money will not be there if we continue to own these horses.

My husband is also going to retire in a little less than 2 years and he is 10 years older than I am. If I continue to own these 2 horses and I continue to work until I retire, my husband will be close to 80 years old. Eighty will be too old to start to enjoy a retirement. He has stepped back for the last 15 years and given me the go ahead to pursue my enjoyment of horses. It is now my turn to step back and allow him to retire and enjoy his retirement.

We also want to move when he retires. I now am able to work off a portion of my board but if I continue to own these horses and move, I doubt I will be able to afford to board them and I will not be able to afford to buy a house with horse property. We think we will be moving to the area around Portland, Oregon. Part of my family will be moving there this spring. We will be visiting them often and if we like it we will move there. My husband has been to Oregon and likes it. If we don't like it, we will still be moving...just don't know where yet. Family moving to Oregon just gives us some direction.

So as I continue to own these horses my life will be unbalanced and the longer I own them the more unbalanced my life will become.

I have enjoyed my horses. There are times that they try my patience but looking back at the whole experience it has been good. The years I have spent riding have not been wasted years. The lessons learned while owning horses are things that will follow me my whole life. And I cherish the things I've learned about myself, others and horses.

I would rather try to find them homes now, while things are upbeat and bright, than wait until they become a burden. This is something that must happen, it is the right thing to do, however it is not an easy thing to do. And that part of the story will remain private.

Generally speaking, I am not a person that looks back on the past and dwells on what "was" and laments that it can't remain the same. I usually try to find the good in every situation and I look forward to the future-and this remains true in this situation. Yes, it is difficult to say goodbye to these horses but I'm also looking forward to what the future holds. When I move maybe I'll ride again, probably not owning horses but I'm sure that I'll find a way to ride.

I've spoken to the owner of my barn because this decision affects how her business runs. I help manage the barn, it is a co-op situation. My role in the co-op will be changing. I've said that I will stay on until she recovers from her knee surgery in March/April or until my horses are gone. I would like to continue to do something around the barn in exchange for the opportunity to grab a horse and ride out with my friends or ride in the arena. She was agreeable to that idea.

Now I find myself trying to sell 2 horses. I've enlisted the help of my trainer, I've spread the word to many people and to the people I work with. I haven't advertised in print yet. Thanksgiving is coming up so now might not be the best time but I will start soon. I also put my back out (again) so I can't really do much physically until December. So now my blog will be interspersed with the journey of selling 2 horses. So if anyone knows someone looking for 2 good trail horses let me know.  Thanks.

This blog has been interrupted by...a baby!

Yes, a baby has been born. Meet Micaela

As usual our daily routines are changed because of this new addition and that's okay! Big brother (3 years old) is amazed that she is so little and keeps remarking that "she has little hands and little eyes and little ears and a little nose." 

This time I got a call at 4:12am...my alarm was set to go off at 4:15 so at first I thought it was my alarm waking me up. We left for my daughters house, Grandpa to stay with the sleeping 3 year old while the rest of us left for the hospital. Probably got to the hospital about 4:45 and Micaela was born at 5:51. That was fast! Mom and baby are doing fine. 

Lesson was good

I last wrote that Zoe was much better with the "stopping when supposed to be trotting" issue. We have had our ups and downs. But over all getting better. I find I don't have to turn has many circles anymore. Sometimes just a reminder, in a timely fashion, with the crop is all it takes. So I wasn't sure how lesson was going to go today. I rode her briefly in the arena 2 hours before the lesson and she balked one time. She started going backwards instead of forwards but I just kept on her case until I got what I wanted. Before our lesson we warmed up in the round pen. I got on in the round pen and got the same thing. So I wasn't sure how lesson would go. I explained to my trainer what I had done during my practice sessions and he was ok with it. He thought it was a good call to turn circles if I felt she was going to buck. But to always get back to work, walk out of the circle and ask again, which I did. So he said if she gave us a problem again, he'd get on and work with her. She did great in the lesson. I was so happy. We walked on a loose rein, picked up the reins, collected, asked for a trot, sat the trot, asked for a canter with the correct lead, stayed on the circle one time around, then did a posting trot, changed directions thru the circle at a posting trot, sat the trot, picked up a canter with the correct lead, stayed on the circle one time around, then did a posting trot, changed directions......we did this 3 times in each direction. And each time she did not stop! We rested for some walking laps and did the same thing again without stopping! There were a few times we picked up the wrong lead but I fixed it. And she did try to ver off the circle a few times but we fixed that too. And I was reminded, again, about my hand position- still working on that. My trainer said he was amazed that she didn't stop, he was waiting for her to make that mistake. I remarked that he didn't have to get on her this time and he said (with a smile) that he was "a little disappointed" that he didn't have to ride her. So it was a really good lesson. Looking forward to practicing more and hopefully will make it to the next lesson...still waiting for a grandchild to be born.

6 years and 11months

Today is September 1, 2014. I have been waiting 6 years and 11 months to go riding with my friend, Georgie, and her horse Glory. Of course part of that time was waiting for Glory to grow up and be trained. And waiting for my friend to go thru many changes in her life-health, work, training the rider. So here we are 6 years and 11 months to the day-and I get to go out on the trail with Georgie and Glory! Zoe and I were not there for her first ride out but now we have caught up with her about a week later. We did a short loop for about an hour. I had heard she had problems at a certain hill so we went there first. Glory hesitated at the bottom of the hill, then followed me up. Much better than her last attempt. We went past a tree that someone almost chainsawed all the way thru. The tree is down and I agree it is an odd sight. Glory wasn't sure about that. One step at a time and she went past it. She had never gone home on the trail across from FLEC. It has ruts in it that a horse can walk in and she did great with that too. Sometimes Glory was in the lead, in the middle, or at the end. All was good. Zoe didn't mind going out with Glory. Zoe doesn't know Glory and fox trotters (Glory is a fox trotter) move so differently than a square trotting horse. Sometimes the 2 different gaits don't work well on a trail ride, but today all was good. Georgie has put much time, energy, effort, preparation into being able to ride Glory on the trail and it was great to see it all come together for her and to share a ride with her. And to see the beautiful smile on Georgie's face was so satisfying. 6 years and 11 months-worth the wait.

Part 2

Wednesday's rides made an impression on Zoe. She was really good on Thursday. No stops at all. She did think about it once but a squeeze with my legs kept her going. She remembered what happens when she stops. Good girl Zoe! Now I think I'll give her the day off Friday and try again Saturday.

Working thru a problem-again. Part 1

I've also had a few dressage lessons since my last blog. I've finally got Zoe to pick up the right lead at a canter. But I've also encountered a few problems. 

Zoe, in typical Zoe fashion-I should have known, had decided to try some evasive maneuvers. She was at her worst, last Wednesday, at my lesson. That was good because I got some good pointers to work through the problem. It seems that my cues to prep her for the canter also gave her the idea to just stop-dead stop-so that she didn't have to canter. She even took it a step farther and did the same thing as I tried this- going from a walk on a loose rein, pick up the reins to collect her while still walking forward and in a few steps ask for the trot-she just stops-dead stops. Stops so suddenly that my balance is thrown off and I lean forward, my feet slip back and if I squeeze correct her and keep her going, she just goes backwards. FRUSTRATING.

 I remember her doing this when she was younger, on the canal trail. We would go by a certain area that had some rocks around the trail and she would stop-dead stop. Couldn't seem to move forward, in fact sometimes she would go backwards, so we would go in the direction I wanted-backwards. Or sometimes we would side pass in the direction I wanted. It was harder work for her and eventually she decided that it would just be easier to move forward at the pace I asked of her. I always wanted to turn her in tight circles too but the trail in that area wasn't wide enough to do safely. 

Fast forward to now with this problem in the arena. Now I can use the tight circle idea. My dressage teacher said to stay on her case and get her feet moving, even if off the path I was working on-make stopping more work for her. We didn't do the tight circles and I'm not sure what he would think of them. Asking for forward movement without the circles, using my whip, using my legs was getting me crow hopping and almost bucking. So I thought tight circles would be safer-hard to crow hop and buck while doing a circle. Add the whip and I can make her work-hard. Now it's really uncomfortable to just stop-dead stop. My timing has to be instant. 

So Monday morning we tried it and we had to do many circles. I wasn't expecting miracles. Tuesdays morning was somewhat better. So I decided that since I was at the barn all day on Wednesday we would ride 3 times...hopefully making progress as the day wore on. It's not like I was asking her for some strenuous activity, just walk on loose rein, pick up the reins, collect, and trot-without stopping. Yes we will throw in some canter work. And give her a break when she does it correctly. And try it again. Remembering to end on a good note. 

Results-First ride was like Tuesdays ride. A few hours later the second ride was better, fewer circles. A few more hours later and there were NO circles and she did everything I asked of her without protesting. 

Now I wonder what tomorrow will bring....part 2 coming up. 

Visitors and baby showers

I haven't blogged for a month...didn't realize that much time has gone by. Since my last blog I've had out of town company, planned and had a baby shower for my daughter and now we are just waiting for a baby to be born. Any day now.
My brother and Phillip came to visit. I took them on a trail ride. It was a calm ride and the only thing that happened was Phillip lost his sunglasses. Tim, my brother, commented that ChaCha was the biggest horse he had ever ridden. She is a big girl. They really liked the ride and we went out for lunch afterwards.

Just a few baby shower pictures....

Day trip to Hidden Falls

Mid week we decided to trailer to Hidden Falls. We are not going on a horse camping trip this year so we decided to take some day trips instead. Jim on Skippy, Cheryl on Dune and me on Zoe. It's a nearby regional park for hikers and equestrians.
We really liked the park and the trails. They have a fantastic trial map that is pretty accurate and in color! We stayed on the North Legacy Way trail for a while...that trail is more like a wide dirt/gravel road that the park maintenance vehicles can travel on. We traveled on to the Ringtail Trail to get to the far end of the park. We didn't want to travel on anymore wide dirt/gravel road on the way back so we took the Gold Finch Trail, the Great Egret Trail, the Warbler Trail, the Black Rail Trail, The Golden Eagle Loop, the Pheasant Trail to the smaller portion of the South Legacy Way. Ended up on the Poppy Trail back to the parking lot.
We crossed at least 5 bridges on our ride. 3 of the bridges were long ones that arched up and over the creek. They were metal bridges with a dirt base over the top. The horses hoofs had a nice hollow, metal sound as they walked across the bridges. Each horse got to be first over each of the 3 longer bridges. Each one was a bit wary going over and had to be "talked" into it but it didn't take much to get them across. I was proud of them. Even after going over those bigger bridges they questioned the smaller ones too. They were wooden bridges, the kind we find on the way to Avery Pond back home. Zoe went first over the Salmon Run Bridge-the one furthest out and then shortly after that had to go over the small wooden bridge to get on the Gold Finch Trail. She seemed more worried about the smaller bridge than the bigger one. Funny horse.

It was nice to take the smaller trails back to the trailer. It was shadier and sometimes we were by the creek.

The smaller trails were very well maintained and they were marked with signs that were accurate. Just in case you questioned your map reading abilities, there was the "you are here" maps, with a star for your position,  next to some of the signs. It took us about 3 hours to make our trail ride, which was a good thing since I had to get back to the barn to feed the horses. 

On the way back we had to go thru a locked gate at the end of the South Legacy Way Trail. The gate was made for a human to go thru, but horses had done it too. I was in the lead and asked Zoe to side pass up to the gate. She was a bit wary but did it anyway. I tried to get her close enough to the gate to reach down and unlock the gate. She did put her feet closer to the gate but leaned her body away from the gate...so I was really no closer to opening it. It took a few tries but she finally did it. Once it was open she said "oh, it's a gate". Once thru the gate we had to travel on a road next to a canal. That was new too. Zoe was still in the lead and wasn't too worried. Then we ended that and got on the Poppy Trail back to the parking lot. 

All the horses did great. Dune had been there before but the other 2 hadn't been there. None of them was up tight or spooky. They each took turns being in the lead and did great. I had Zoe in the back for most of the way out and she did good in the back...even with Skippy leading with her nice fast trot. Sometimes we got too far behind so Skippy waited for us, but Zoe wasn't wild and crazy being in the back. 

There are lots of trails here so there will be plenty of trips back to go exploring. The only trail we were warned about was the Creek Side Trail, part of it I guess is narrow with drop offs but I think it would be fine as you go farther out.  By the end of the trip there was 6 trailers in the parking lot so I think mid week is the best time to go, weekends must be really crowded. We did meet a few hikers and the horses did fine with them. 

Healing project

While Zoe had her abscess and my back was out, I finished up a project. During this healing time I decided it was time to get this done. I've been working on this for over 2 years. It was to be given to my daughter and son-in-law for their first year anniversary. I'm a little over a year late. Now on to the next project...a baby quilt for the newest grandchild to be born in late Sept/early Oct. 

Finally get to ride my horse

Zoe's abscess is totally healed and we are back to riding.  She feels really good under saddle.  I put my back out a few weeks ago and she got to rest some more as I healed up.  Last week we had a lesson and we got some "trail worthy" shoes put on her feet.  So now we are back on the trail.  Phew!

Now to work off some of the flab-or is it fluff- that has accumulated on my horse from standing around for 4 weeks.

Mom-the horses are shrinking!!!

Aren't these cute?!? Lilly is on the left and Grace on the right. They are very friendly. They are a mother/daughter pair-just like Skippy and Zoe. They live at our barn now, at the far end of the arena...the "scary place", if a horse is going to spook it is usually at that end of the arena. 

This is Zoe's third time seeing these horses. 

 This is Skippy's second time seeing these horses 

Skippy and Zoe had a similar "discussion" regarding these horses. The "discussion" started out as a "shouting match" and it went something like this....

Z-Here we go into the arena again, maybe I'll get to eat at the edge again...wait...there's something at the scary end. 

Zoe stops half way into the arena, lifts her head high, tail raised, eyes bugged out, ears forward so much that they might fall off the front of her head. She snorts and blows. She starts dancing. 

Z-Mom did you see that!?! They're starting to shrink the horses! I knew there was something wrong about that end of the arena! 

Me-Just calm yourself. They are just little horses. 

Z-NO NO NO! 

So I just let her off her lead and I walk over to the minis and stand there while Zoe runs back and forth in the middle of the arena. She doesn't run back to the gate, she is curious but doesn't want to get closer. She had her "floaty" trot, head raised and tail up like an arabian. I just stand there talking calmly while she.....

Z- Mom they're going to shrink you too! Get away from there! This isn't right! What can I do to save you?!? Why don't you listen to me!!!! 

After a few minutes....

Z- Wait...there's food in here...I can eat some over here close enough to watch you mom, in case something happens. 

That's when I knew we were done with the horse that wouldn't listen to me. So I put her back on her lead and was able to lead her closer. Then I would ask her to back by wiggling the rope. I did have to wiggle it pretty hard at first-usually she is lighter than that, but she did go back. Then we went towards the minis again getting closer, then we backed and we kept doing that until we were about 5 feet away. Each time we backed she was getting lighter with the lead rope wiggling. So I knew she was listening to me. 

Z-Mom, they are so weird. Why are they so little? I can whip my butt around and kick them for you! 

Me- NO! Let's walk back and forth across the arena and don't run over me! 

Z- Ok, just don't let them make me that small, I like eating too much and surely something that little doesn't get to eat very much. 

Later that morning I lead her into the arena again and the "wild Zoe" was gone, the curious, cautious Zoe was there.  The next day I rode her in the arena. We had to work on listening to me and not watching the minis all the time. Eventually she was able to ignore them and get to work. I was hoping that would happen because the next day I had a lesson. 

Lesson day went fine. No problems. She did try to watch them, but we were too busy doing working. 

Skippy...well she's a bit of a different story. The "shouting match" was similar, only she noticed them as soon as we walked into the arena. And when I let her off her lead and walked over to the minis she ran to the opposite end of the arena and ran back and forth. She wasn't as accepting of them as Zoe. I eventually got her on her lead again and using the same "game" was able to get her closer to them, however she wasn't comfortable at all. We tried it again later that day and she was VERY wary. I think it will take a few more times to get her past that and be able to ride her in the arena without her spooking. 

Healed up

So today we had our first lesson in 5 weeks-and we were able to do it! Zoe didn't take a bad step. Altho we still need to work on our right lead. We did do many things correctly and she kept up her tempos really well. I have some exercises to work on to help us with our lead. I think I will also go back to riding without my brace on my left leg-maybe it's getting in the way. The most exciting thing-Zoe is better!!!!  Just need to wait for a trail worthy shoe to get on her foot, rest a few days after shoeing and we can hit the trails again. Farrier appt is June 11, but we may move it out a week to get more growth on the left front.

Abscess almost healed

Abscess is healing up. Zoe is moving much better. Every once in a while she takes a "bad" step but comes out of it the next step. Every day she improves. I'm glad we don't have a hole in her foot. Everything must have come out a crack. Researching abscesses brought up information saying it was okay to put them back on the dirt-no bandages?!? In my case it is working but I can't imagine doing that with a hole in a foot. Farrier says eventually we will see it.
On Sunday, June 1st, I put her in the arena and lunged her. 99.9999999% of her steps were great.  So I decided to ride her. She did great.  I've been riding her mostly at a walk and she is improving. So this Thursday I will take a lesson on her.

Abscess update

I kept the poultice pad on her foot, changing it every 2-3 days, from May 17-May 24. Every time I changed it there was grey matter in the pad.  The vet said in the beginning it could be just thrush but it kept producing grey matter for a week-every time I changed it. So the vet said it was the abscess opening up. I had no obvious hole in her foot. It was just coming thru a crack by the inside left heel-possibly just under the frog. Her lameness remained the same.

On the 24th I took off the poultice and continued to soak in epsom salts and water. After the first soak I noticed a red line on the inside heel. Not sure what that was. The area wasn't tender to pushing on it. Maybe the abscess was around that area and the poultice pad drained it? The vet thought so. The farrier wanted a boot put on her to help keep her hoof walls ok. I have 2 types of easy boots-one that goes up over the heel bulbs and one that someone trimmed down and is below the heel bulbs. I chose the later thinking that the other one would irritate something that was looking "angry" in the heel bulb area. The only problem with that choice was that the boot would only stay on about 1/2 a day. The lameness was improving however her hoof was chipping some-farrier wouldn't like that. I soaked once a day thru Wednesday the 28th.
On the 28th and 29th I put her in the arena to "self-exercise". She loved it, ran, bucked, kicked up her heels-you could tell she was feeling better.

On the 29th the farrier came again. We put the hoof testers on her and she wasn't as sore. She was walking better. So we decided to put a shoe on her. Only enough good hoof to have 2 nails on each side. She is still a little bit off at the trot. She will only be going in the arena until she is 100% sound, so the 2 nails should be just fine.  

So I have a vet that thinks the abscess was caused by the fourth nail on the inside of the foot.  I have a farrier that thinks it wasn't the fourth nail but was a bruise that caused an abscess. I'm caught between the vet and the farrier-both have more knowledge than me in their fields. I have to make a choice what to do in the future. The past is done and we may never know the answer as to what caused the abscess. I think I will err on the side of caution and request no fourth nails on my horses shoes. I'd rather have the horse pull a shoe than to go thru an abscess again. It took a good 3 weeks to get to the worst of this and it will probably take 3 weeks to get better. So I guess I have some more waiting to do. Another update will be coming. 

Abscess watch

Monday has come and gone. I had Zoe's shoe pulled on Thursday because she was getting worse not better after having the nail pulled. I was soaking with warm water & epsom salt. Once on Thursday, twice on Friday, twice on Saturday. But there was no change. Finally I talked to a vet at work and starting using a poultice pad on Saturday evening. Poultice pad, diaper, elasticon, ductape. Keep it on until Monday when the farrier can come out and take a look. Sunday she was moving better, but Monday wasn't moving better.

Monday came and so did the farrier. We took off the bandage...a bit stinky by now. But still no abscess has broken thru. Farrier even dug some but no abscess. We did discover that the heel area on the inside of her foot is tender to the hoof testers.

Now it's rebandaged with the poultice pad for 3 more days.  Hopefully we will see some results.

Lameness and waiting

So my horse is lame. I'm not sure why. It's her left front. Hope I didn't break my horse. I have a few theories.

She's been somewhat off since her last shoeing but nothing definite. Off for a few days, okay for a few days, off for a few days...etc. But now she's off all the time. So maybe she's too short or maybe it's a nail in the wrong place. I had my farrier look at her a few days ago. He put the hoof testers on her and she did flinch at one nail. Not a major flinch but it was obvious that it bothered her. So he pulled that nail and said give her 4-5 days. If she's not better he will remove her front shoes. We'll see. So on Monday we hopefully see some improvement.

Could be an abcess. So I started soaking her foot. I've never soaked her foot before. She let me put the medicine boot on her and put the epsom salt water in it. She only moved once to test out what was on her foot but she didn't panic and stood still the rest of the time. So I guess I'll soak her foot for a while and see if an abcess shows up.

She has a new habit. She has started putting her front feet, usually her left front foot, in her feeder. She just started this earlier this year. In order to get the foot out of the feeder, she drags her leg out of it. I suppose after a while it would start to bother her. Must be the Foxtrotter in her-they tend to put their feet in everything. So I'm having our barn handyman lower the feeder. I know that won't stop her from putting her feet in the feeder, but at least she'll be able to get it out with greater ease. She also has a habit of scratching her belly on the corner of the feeder and she rubs all the hair off her belly. Then she's bother by the flys even more. Then she scratches more...then...well it's a vicious cycle. So even if the lameness problem turns out to have nothing to do with the feeder, it will be nice to get rid of the belly scratcher.

So my horse has some time off. I do have another horse to ride. Her mom, Skippy. Skippy is so different from Zoe. She has more "go" and is really sensitive to a rider's legs on her. I haven't ridden her consistently for many years, just off an on over the years. My husband or a friend rides her only on the trail. She gets ridden maybe 8 times a month at the most. She is 20 years old and you'd never know it by the way she loves to go. So I rode Skippy and I noticed something. Years ago when I rode both Skippy and Zoe, I remembered Skippy as being the better of the two. She was more responsive and I felt like she had more experience so I could trust her more. Memories are good for then, but I found out that things are different now. I tried to ride Skippy like I ride Zoe in my lessons and it wasn't working out so well. Zoe understands more than Skippy! Sure Skippy is still responsive but it only goes so far. Zoe responds to far more commands than Skippy. Sure Zoe is still slower than Skippy, but speed isn't everything. So I was proud of my little Zoe coming so far along. And I decided to ride Skippy like I used to ride-I wasn't going to change her in one ride so I might has well make it pleasurable for both of us.

Now to just wait and see what's up with Zoe.

Zoe's got another rider

Zeke is now big enough to ride a horse by himself. He can keep his balance and follow directions. So I asked him if he wanted to ride a horse and he said yes. We kept it short the first time and we forgot his helmet. The second time was a little bit longer and we remembered the helmet. He didn't mind having the helmet on his head. Each time he wants to stay on longer. He also gets so excited that he will talk to anyone out at the barn about riding his horse. He just rambles on and on. Usually he is on the quiet side but he's so excited that all the words just bubble out. So now he calls Zoe is his horse and the old saddle that I use he says is his saddle. I wonder what Zoe thinks of all of this. She probably likes it since it doesn't involve work.

 

Plants everywhere

On horseback I get to see the lupine-beautiful this time of the year 

Grandma's helper with the plants 

At the barn they are growing 

Artichoke flower 

Last years coleus 

My Red Tassel Flower did great last year.  Alas this year this plant didn't grow. 

This year's Bleeding Heart 

Maybe with a break

Apparently Zoe has forgotten how to pick up her right lead. Or maybe her rider, me, is giving some confusing cues. Or maybe she's protesting having to work harder trying to pick it up while collected. Or maybe it's a combination of all of the above. Or maybe I'm obsessing about something that is really no big deal. Last summer while doing serpentines, we could change leads with just a trot step between...working towards flying lead changes. Apparently things are different now. We did manage to get the right lead with much work involved.
So to give us a break we went on the trail with a friend from work. She and her husband trailered to our staging area and off we went toward the lake. Jim and I went with this couple about a month ago and they were really excited about the area that we ride. They were so excited that they tried to find the lake on their own a few weeks after that and ended up on the rocky trail. Not good news for them. They didn't like it, got off and walked for about a mile, a bit too hard for their horses. So I took them on a ride and showed them how to get to the lake without using the rocky trail. They really liked it. It ended up being a long ride tho...2 hours to go 5 miles. They were ponying a horse and they don't trot much. And when they trot, it's pretty slow. I thought Zoe and I were slow. It ended up being a great ride tho, nice company and it was nice to show the place to riders that appreciated it. Zoe did pretty good too. The slower horses she adapted to. They had a dog that liked to walk/run behind the last horse-and sometimes we were the last horse. Zoe didn't mind the dog. Zoe liked to be in the lead or last. The middle was the challenging place for her. I think she didn't like how close the horses rode behind her. Anyway it was a good break from trying to get the right lead.

Lessons better/ankle better

Today was another dressage lesson, the 4th one. I was so happy-I got a complement!  He said my hands and feet were doing better! And my horse and I were doing better with different gaits. Progress. We didn't work on anything new, did more work on the leg yields. Zoe seems to do better at them at a trot because we have some forward momentum going. At the walk she seems so slow but he says that's okay. So we will work more on "form". I'm enjoying these lessons, there is so much precision, careful thought, physical demands on my horse and me-it's challenging.
On another note my ankle is now normal colored, but not normal in function. I'm convinced that nothing is broken but the muscles, tendons and ligaments are still sore.  Not as sore as the beginning, the swelling is down, not as painful but there is still a stiffness. I expect it will take more time to get full function back. But it is getting better.

Lesson and ankle update

My ankle still hurts. I'm totally weight bearing, the bones seem fine but the tendons and ligaments are protesting. And my foot is a rainbow of colors. However, I can still ride my horse. Stubborn I am. It doesn't bother me to ride at all. So with that in mind I went out for a short trail ride on Wednesday. Zoe and I did fine. It was nice to get out on the trail. The past 2 weeks have been rainy or I have been recuperating from my ankle injury, so I have only been riding in the arena.
I had my third dressage lesson on Thursday. We worked on my feet staying still-again.  I must be doing a bit better because we didn't focus on it as much as before.  I have some ideas to help me with that.  My hands must be doing better because we didn't get reminded about them as much.  We cantered again and I really like her at the canter in my lessons.  She reminds me of a rocking horse.  We also worked on leg yields, inside leg to outside rein.  Lots to remember.  I have an extra week to practice this month as my next lesson is at the end of the month.  Hopefully I will make more progress.

Note to self…again

Seems like I spend a good amount of time making sure that my horse has good footing out on the trail.  I'll avoid or go around "nasty" spots.  But I also need to make sure that I spend time watching out for my own footing as well.  That way maybe I won't roll my ankle when stepping off the tractor.  Ouch!

September interruption

So this September this blog will once again be interrupted by the birth of another baby!  Exciting times!

Comfort zones

Zeke is a fearless 2 (almost 3) year old.  He loves his horses.  He has a book that he loves called "The Big Red Barn"  He call this place his "Big Red Barn".

It's a good thing these horses are so good with little people.  I still watch him closely tho.  

Starting From Scratch

Today I had my second dressage lesson. We covered things from my first lesson plus added a few more things. I don't know what I was thinking-I thought I knew how to ride a horse but sadly I've been mistaken.  All in all I feel like I'm starting all over again, in a good way.

I knew my ever wiggling hands and feet would get me in trouble and sure enough it was one of the first things we worked on.

My horse is on the lazy side of life and over the years I do a lot of the work for her- meaning I keep her going instead of Zoe keeping herself going. My horse has me trained really well that way.  So now I'm retraining myself and Zoe too.

The way I learned how to ride is now obsolete. Look, leg, rein doesn't apply anymore. So getting what I want happens differently.  I totally have the mental picture of what I'm supposed to be doing, physically doing it...is another story.

I need to find more time to practice.  Even tho my lessons are every other week, I find that I need more time.  It would be great if I was a "natural" at this, but sometimes I have to work at it.  I suppose in time all these new things will become second nature.

It's a good thing that I can relearn something AND my horse can relearn something.  My horse will probably appreciate all this as it means that she will be able to use her body more effectively.

I guess as time goes on I will be better at explaining how things are so different now.  But for now I just want to think things over and practice, practice, practice.

"Loose" horse?

Today's ride was interesting.  I thought it was going to be a quiet, quick ride.  And it almost was.  On the way back, by "grand central station" I heard galloping hooves coming up behind me.  Zoe and I turned around in time to see a riderless horse galloping towards us and then turned left to go up the ridge to my left, followed by a horse and rider that seemed to be chasing the first horse.  I wasn't sure if the first horse was being ponyed and got away or if it was a rider that rides and lets the 2nd horse go loose all the time.  I've heard that some people do that with their older horses.  I've even run into a man once that was doing that but the "loose" horse stayed with the mounted horse.  I've even done that with foals out on the trail…but the foals tend to stay with their dams.  Anyway they disappeared up to the top of the ridge and I continued down the trail.  I got to thinking that maybe it was a "loose" horse and it could be a rodeo in front of me, so I got off and walked with my horse.  Zoe was doing ok.  She kept looking up the hill towards the 2 horses that ran off, but otherwise she was fine.  As I rounded the corner, the ridge trail mets up with the trail I was on and I met the 2 horses again.  This time the rider had the "loose" horse on a lead rope and was getting her horses arranged to continue on her ride.  I asked her if she was ok and I got a short "yes" and off she trotted.  This time her ponyed horse was trotting behind her-a bit wild but following.  While I was talking to her a bicycle rider and a dog came up behind Zoe and me…they stopped and he made the dog stop and sit next to the bicycle.  Very polite bicycle rider.  Much nicer than the horse lady.  Maybe the horse lady just had a bad experience and wanted to get home quickly.  I'd like to think that was the situation.  If she is one of those people who let their older horse go "loose" on the trail, I'm not too happy with her.  Either way I'm glad the "loose" horse didn't chose to run up to us or blow past us on the same trail.  Seems like a recipe for disaster.  And I'm glad she got her horse on a lead rope.   Zoe was a bit excited so we walked for a while.  After a while I got back on and rode home.

Note to self…again

When looking for your riding pants for a half an hour, you might consider that you're wearing them!

I was riding at 5:30 am and decided to put my work pants on over my riding pants since it is cold at work.  Wore that combination of pants all day.  When I got home and got ready for work the next day I looked for my riding pants…that I was wearing the whole day.

Guess that tells me 2 things.  l-my riding pants are very comfortable  2-I'm getting old and forgetting things.

Ride to Lake?

Isn't this where we sometimes get on the canal trail? Where's the water? 

View from the top of Dottie's Hill.  We found water!  Look, it's Folsom River!   The picture for my blog shows the lake full.  Not full in this picture.  

12th Birthday

Every year on Zoe's birthday I take a picture with her and her foal blanket that I made for her.  She was so small when born that I had to make her blanket.  Now it just looks like a funny blanket.  Jan 8th she was  12 years old.  

5:30 am interesting ride

At least two days a week I ride at 5:30 in the morning.  It's the only time I have those days to ride, I've done it for years, it's just like some people going to the gym before work…only I go to the barn before work.  It's a good thing I work at a horse clinic and not a place that requires a dressy appearance.  Anyway over the years I've had different people join me at 5:30 am, it seems they ride for a "season" and then I'm by myself again.  I don't mind it either way.
This week I had a friend join me (L).  Her horse, Rose, is 6 but is early in its training.  So on this day she decided to lunge Rose in the arena while I was riding.  She was in the middle and I was on the edges.  All was going well.  Rose was giving her a bit of a challenge but it seemed controllable.  Zoe was learning how to pay attention to me and not wonder about what Rose was doing.  Zoe was doing pretty good.  So I decided to just hang out at the top end of the arena and do figure 8s, collected, with a non-posting trot.  Suddenly here comes Rose, loose, running around us.  Apparently Rose bucked, reared, pulled and got away from L.  So the horse, being a herd animal, ran for the "comfort" of the only other horse in the arena.  Zoe was not pleased.  It's funny…Zoe says she's the older, more sensible horse, and "why doesn't this young horse behave itself???"  That's Zoe's attitude, but I remember when Zoe was that irresponsible, young, impulsive horse-and she would have done the same thing-might even try it at 12 too.  Zoe almost kicked out at Rose, but I stopped her.  I almost came unseated, but regained my seating pretty easily.  Now we had 2 horses going in circles around each other with a lunge rope dragging on the ground-who knows where on the ground?  All this time L never said anything-didn't hear a "watch out" or "loose horse".  I, on the other hand, was very vocal…I had some harsh "whoa's" and "knock it off" coming out of my mouth.  When I regain my seat, I was then concerned about the lunge rope.  If it twirled around the horses legs, might it cause one of them to stumble potentially causing me to really come off?  I got Zoe stopped and then Rose stopped.  I was wondering where the lunge rope was when L came and picked it up and I could see it was just in-between the horses, not wrapped around anyone's legs.  Phew.  Adrenalin was still pumping in my veins and before L could do anything with the lunge line I said "wait, just give it a minute to calm down"…probably said it harshly too.  So we had a few seconds to defuse the situation.  I side passed Zoe away from Rose.  Rose tried to follow.  I tapped Rose with my whip as L pulled Rose towards her.  And the whole thing was over.  Probably lasted for less than a minute-but was intense.  L and Rose went back to the center and continued lunging and I went back to my figure 8s.
Interesting.  I was glad Zoe didn't do more to Rose, that I could get Zoe's attention back to me pretty easily.  I told L I would like her to do it again with me in the arena.  It's good practice for Zoe to not be influenced by another horses attitude, maintain her composure and not blow up.  It's good practice for Rose as she will have to eventually work in the arena with other horses.  I didn't want L to not try again so I hope she will join me…she said she would.

New Years Ride 2014

 Every year we go on a new years day ride.  It's been fun.  Some years we go out in big groups but lately we have been going out in smaller groups.  This year our barn manager hung ribbons out on the trail, pink ribbons for a short easy ride and orange ribbons for a longer intermediate ride.  Before we left for the trail a runner/rider came up to the barn and told us that someone from the housing tract across the street was pulling ribbons and complaining about horseback riders.  George (runner/rider) had "words" with him.  Not sure it went well.  We left for our ride anyway and could follow the orange ribbons no problem.  The pink ribbons were probably the ones that got pulled.  And sure enough we ran into some people from our barn that were trying to follow the pink trail and got lost.  They are new to the trails so that wasn't very nice for them.  They were not worried tho…the horses know their way back.  We met them almost at "grand central station" and led them home.

I took a picture of Folsom Lake.  It is very low now.  The first 3 pictures are from previous rides when the lake was fuller.  The last picture was taken from Lookout Rock today Jan 1, 2014.