Saddlestrings and Other Horse Things: September 2010

Monday, September 27, 2010

My Sentiments Exactly...

The barn manager at Bailey's barn has this on her truck. Words to live by...

I am blessed to be called aunt by three of the most precious, adorable, sweet kids ever. The two oldest (niece, T, age 7 and nephew, M, age 3) happen to like horses. Well, T likes horses alright, but M loves them. We talk on the phone a few times a week and our conversations are always about horses and all things cowboy. I must confess, that I have encouraged his horse infatuation a little, but I also think the horse obsession is genetic. My dad was horseback a lot is his younger years and even at work during his 30's after I was around. My mom also had horses when she was growing up. Try as they might, they couldn't keep the "horse gene" from surfacing later in my life even though I was never allowed to have a horse as a child. I was, admittedly, too busy with other activities to have a horse. So, now they are being paid back 10 fold by their oldest grandson and his horse-aholic ways.

M is convinced that all my horses are actually his horses. He was so excited to see me arrive in Texas with the horses in tow. He loves my truck and trailer too...I mean, his trailer.Wherever the horses and I go, he thinks he should go as well. He loves to ride, though we don't let him do it a lot or for more than a minute or two because, in my opinion, he is still too young. We always make him wear his helmet, with the exception of the occasional photo op and he is never, ever allowed around the horses by himself. Safety first, always.

How do I know he was born with the "horse gene"? From the time M was about 18 months old, you could NOT get him to sit in front of the TV and watch cartoons for even 5 minutes, but put an old western on and he would be mesmerized. No one made a big deal about westerns, horses, or cowboys; he just loved that stuff of his own accord. He loves "cowboy shows" to this very day. Only now, he has to watch them while dressed in full cowboy garb. You won't catch him watching a western television show or movie without his cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and belt with holstered toy six shooter. He also has to have rope in hand and be sitting (straddled on the arm of the sofa) in his very own western saddle complete with leather reins. He gets so into it, when the cowboys in the movie start yeehaw-ing or a bugler plays the sound to charge...M yeehaws at the top of his lungs. It is hilarious. We finally managed to find time to go for a real ride a couple of weeks ago. He donned his cowboy hat for a few minutes to snap a couple of photos at the end of our ride. Maybe you can see why I adore this dimpled cowboy cutie so much...

Meeting our mount.

Serious cowboy business going on...

So excited!!

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Gimme Your Two Cents

The past couple of days Bailey just hasn't quite been herself. Nothing major, but just not 100% her usual self. To be quite honest, I think she is sore. In her back for sure, but maybe elsewhere too. It just so happens that I met the nicest lady at the barn yesterday who is a certified equine sports massage therapist. I am thinking about having her take a look at Bailey. I have never ventured into the world of "alternative or holistic horse health care"...if that is what you even call it. Personally, I have gotten a lot of help from good massage therapists for my own shoulder and neck problems in the past and I can't imagine it wouldn't do the same for a horse. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this idea? Any advice? I am not convinced I should go ahead just yet and I would love to hear how massage has or has not worked for your horses. Feel free to put that two cents in!

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Monday, September 20, 2010

An Unexpected Answer

Bailey was still slightly swollen in her hind fetlocks this morning, so I called the vet out. I just couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what could be causing the swelling. She is turned out most of the day and she has a large run outside her stall, so I didn't think she would be stocking up (though, thanks to Lindsay for the suggestion). I really thought she had to have strained herself while kicking her heels up during turnout. Well, I was wrong. The vet and I talked about her daily routine, exercise and riding regimen, and her diet. Immediately after our discussion and his examination of her, the vet told me he was fairly certain her body was trying to develop epiphysitis. What?!? What's that?!?, I thought to myself. I have seen lots of funky stuff in horses, but epiphy...what? Then he explained. Bailey was on a higher calorie diet since being in Texas due to her body condition loss from the cross-country trip and because I have been working her every day. Sometimes the combination of higher calorie diet, and often genetics and hormonal desynchronization, can cause one of the conditions lumped under "Developmental Orthopedic Disease" or DOD. Epiphysitis is one of these diseases. To make it simple....her body is trying to develop and grow too quickly, which can be irritated or even brought on by higher caloric intake. More specifically, her body's cartilage-to-bone conversion is abnormal or happening too fast. Luckily, we believe we caught it very early and she should recover in a few days. We have taken her off all grain and put her on a better grass hay. We will also be turning her out even more and in a different pasture. So, hopefully this is the answer to our problem and she will be back to normal in no time. I definitely learned something new today and I am glad it was nothing too major, just yet. The vet also told me I can keep riding her, that exercise is important at this point. So, more good news there. All I can say is, "Whew"! Heading back to the barn to check up on her. Catch y'all later!

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After a Good Day Its Always Something

Had a great day with Bailey on Thursday. It has been a bit challenging to ride or do any ground work since we started temporarily boarding. She has been so distracted by her surroundings, her new horse friends, being in heat again, and just being a young 3 year old. I have been good at keeping all that in mind and not overdoing our sessions or pushing her too hard. She is still a youngster, after all. But Thursday...Thursday was fabulous.

She was very relaxed and focused. I didn't make her do a whole lot, but what we did do was quality stuff. We worked on following the rail without having to use the reins too much and then stopping in corners we were previously avoiding. I did everything in a patterned fashion and when I do this, Bailey catches on quickly. Our pattern was: trot down the rail using leg pressure, when needed, so as not to drift to the arena center; stop in the corner using my seat first; back using seat, legs, hands (in that order); relax; and then trot to next corner maintaining gait, position next to rail, and direction toward next corner. After doing this pattern about three times, I could feel her "get it". As we trotted on to our next corner, down the long side of the arena, she gradually sped up and I let her, not wanting to pull on the reins---trusting her a little. She softly broke into the nicest, smoothest, un-rattled canter. It was such a pleasure to ride her in that moment knowing she was relaxed, confident, and ok with me being up on her back, doing what we were doing. Then as we approached the corner, I relaxed, sunk into my saddle, and without picking up the reins asked for a stop. She listened, and planted her butt into a very nice smooth stop and then backed up, just as we had been practicing. There we stopped to end on a great note for the day. I was so proud of her....totally made my day. Actually, my week.

Saturday found us preparing to head out of town overnight. I ran by the barn mid-morning to check on Bailey once more. Unfortunately, I found her a little swollen in both rear fetlocks. The barn manager and I agreed that she probably slipped in the arena sand while being silly during turnout since neither of us saw her do anything specific to bring this on. We are keeping an eye on her and as of Sunday night, she seemed fine. I am heading out right now to see her. Hope all is well.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

National Lampoon's Day at the Barn

Yesterday was quite a day. Let me start by mentioning that Bailey and I are still galavanting. This time not in Texas. Yep, we have jumped ship again to visit the husband. So, while we are visiting, Bailey and I are....eh...enjoying our first experience with boarding. The place I found, by sheer miracle, is great and I drove by another option I had and am so glad to have diligently kept searching! The owners and manager are awesome; it is super clean, neat, and modern. They have two arenas, one indoor and one outside. Bailey has a lovely stall that opens to a large run. She has found a new friend in the mare next door to her and they are turned out together for a good part of the day. She seems pretty content. I am going out to visit her at least once or twice a day. Hearing semi-horror stories about boarding (strangles epidemic, cribbing, weaving, and the list goes on), I want to make sure Bailey was staying active and healthy. I can't exactly trailer her back across the country if she is sick and I will be the unhappiest girl you ever met if she starts any nasty habits.

Things were going quite well the first few days. I gave her a couple days to settle in before I started asking much of her. Monday was great. She was a little distracted by her new best friend whinnying to her from across the farm, but we easily worked through it on the ground and ended up having a nice ride. Then came Tuesday.

Not only did Bailey come into heat...joy!, but she was even more attached to her mare friend AND the geldings in the "geriatric" pasture. One is a little, older, gray pony who just loves Bailey...he is kinda cute. Kinda. I finally got her to stand still for saddling (I don't tie her at this point because I want her to learn to stand still, wherever we are, ground tie and be saddled). This only took about 10 minutes of going back and forth between saddling and ground work. Things seemed to be coming together; I swung my leg over and sat in the saddle and began to slide my hand down the left rein when I heard it. A loud buzzing sound moving closer to me. I looked up and saw a massive swarm of bees coming straight for us. I had nowhere to go, no time to get back to the arena gate and get outta dodge. So, I hopped off and ducked down still holding the reins and managed to find a corner in the arena that allowed us to move around to the side and then behind the bees as they passed. All I could think of was...great!, I am here by myself, no epi-pen in sight, and I hope they aren't "killer" bees. Well, they weren't and we made it through just fine. Bailey didn't even mind them in the slightest.

I re-mounted and the first ten minutes went well. Then the other mare started in with the whinnying again and Bailey quit thinking about me. I finally decided to get off. She was calm, but just completely distracted. We did some more ground work until she came back to me mentally. I elected to call it a day and give her a break. After all, she is only 3 and I know she will have days when she acts like it. This was one of those days.

I then got the brilliant idea to bathe her. I hadn't had the opportunity to really give her a proper bath and "pretty her up" since last summer. The barn has a nice enough wash rack, but it has cross-ties that have the horse facing out to the barn aisle. I knew Bailey had never been cross-tied and I would have to introduce it and check her out before I went ahead with the bath. I truly feel that Bailey is so calm and well-behaved, in great part to how I have worked to prepare her for everything ahead of time. "Prior and proper preparation"...and all that.

She was a-ok with the cross ties and the wash room until her mare pal started in again. Then she stopped paying attention to where she was, swung her butt around and into the side wall of the room knocking off a pitchfork and a shovel, which only moderately spooked her. Note to self: when I build a barn I will remember to never store barn tools inside the wash rack. I am usually much more attentive to her surroundings than that, but then again, I am not perfect. Still not feeling 100% comfortable with the cross-tying thing, since this was her first experience, I just held the lead rope and bathed her. She eventually quit worrying about the mare and tool rack so much and stood ground tied while I finished up her bath. Whew! I groomed her up, spritzed her with fly spray and let her stand tied outside while she dried a bit.

I am excited to say that after this week, the other mare should be gone and barring any other distractions aside from her 3 year old mare antics, Bailey and I should begin having a few more positive sessions. I am loving this opportunity to spend quality time with her every day and expose her to new places and things. I firmly believe that such experiences are invaluable to a young horse, creating a confident, less fractious equine partner. With that said, even though our day was a bit out of the norm, I still count it as successful because we experienced new things, learned from them, and came out on the other side a little better.

Bailey and her new pal

Post-bath

Enjoying her afternoon hay

This is the spot she chose for doing her "business"...I could not quit laughing!

Then after business was done, she decided to show everyone how she could cross the bridge solo. I think we might have a trail class winner on our hands.

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PS. Its Livermore Ranch

In case you were curious about this West Texas oasis I love to frequent, you can visit the ranch's website HERE. They do all kinds of awesome stuff out there throughout the year including horsemanship clinics, weekend get-a-ways, and more. Check it out.

View of the high desert and mountains to the west.

Me and the husband enjoying sunset near "Skull Rock" on the ranch many moons ago.

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Labor Day and a Very Proud Moment

Not all has been bad regarding this extended southern visit. Labor Day weekend was a real treat. I had 5 days and 4 nights in a little, secluded Texas escape where you can be certain to have a good time and beat the typical Texas heat....the Davis Mountains of West Texas! The Thursday before the weekend found me packed up with horses and dogs in tow and west bound.

This time I forewent my usual stop at Big Bend Saddlery. I bought enough gear last time so there really wasn't a need to torture myself with everything in the store that I want, but can't afford or even justify buying. I did stop at the feed store/western wear place and got a new hat, which I am in love with. Turquoise is my new thing...anything turquoise. I got to the highway gate to the ranch in the midst of a deluge of rain. I could see several large puddles down the first part of the road and thought they didn't look too terrible. So, I went on as soon as the rain stopped enough for me to open the gate. Well, what I couldn't see from the highway was the troublesome spot in the road that was just beyond the first curve in the road. A West Texas crevasse had formed in the middle and right side of the road where my tire would have to go. I put the truck in 4-wheel drive as I approached and made it through, luckily. My girlfriends who arrived a couple horse later weren't so lucky. One of them ended up getting stuck just beyond that point in some nasty mud. They had to unload a couple of horses and then managed to make it through.

The weekend was a blast. High's in the 70's and 80's and it was downright chilly from sunset almost until mid-morning. I was loving it. It was the first relief I had from the stifling Texas heat and humidity. We rode horses, enjoyed our usual margaritas, sang a little karaoke, watched some amazing sunsets, ate LOTS of good food, and enjoyed great company. To push the weekend fun over the edge, there were even some airplanes involved.

My biggest thrill of the weekend and altogether of late, was when I took Bailey on our first real trail ride. Four of us went out together and of the 4 horses she was the youngest and greenest. Amazingly, yet not surprisingly, she was the best behaved and a true pleasure to ride that afternoon. She wasn't worried one bit when the other horses trotted ahead or became anxious. She wasn't at all spooky. She was quiet. She walked with her head down, relaxed. She handled the rocky terrain very well. Even when her big brother Scout was acting like a ball of nerves, prancing around, jigging, grinding his teeth...Bailey was a perfect little girl. Definitely a proud moment. I felt like I was living the dream. To ride a horse that I have worked so hard to do right by and have her be so nice. It was a very moving experience for me and I recall telling the husband that I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I think he was a bit proud of us too. It was worth every bit of trouble spent trailering her down to TX...which wasn't much.

All in all, a top weekend in my books. Bailey is such a well-traveled little horse and our West Texas weekend proves she is all the better for it.

Bailey's spunky half-sister, Anna...priceless shot of her tail straight in the air.

Anna and Bailey getting acquainted.

Playing at liberty with my kids...got Scout hooked on first, then Bailey.

I think this was the first time I have played like this with two horses at once.

The husband on Scout.

The hubby's current hero is Theodore Roosevelt, an amazing horseman who rarely went a day without being in the saddle...the hubby rode off while the rest of us were getting ready for the trail ride and the next time I saw him he was up on the side of the mountain doing his "TR thing". We hope to be on the look-out in the next couple years for his "Rough Rider Horse"...one that TR would describe as being a "good, stout pony one can shoot a gun off of".

West Texas sunset

Riding Bailey in the arena

Me and my new hat

Relaxing after our successful trail ride

Me and Logan, one of our 3 adopted mutts.

Getting ready for our trail ride

On the trail..relaxed, low head, good girl

Moving out

Pit stop

Me and the hubby with Mt. Livermore in the background

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

God Never Ceases to Amaze Me

After my May/June trip I headed back to TX in August, this time by land instead of air. Anticipating an extended stay due to the hubby's temporary southern work detail and continuingfamily stuff, my dad graciously offered to fly up to WA and then drive down with me and two of the horses (and the dogs and cat). Ranger couldn't make the trip, due to still recovering from his spring fling with founder, so Bailey and Scout were the two travelers.

Let me just say that the past few months have been hell....just plain hell. It feels like life has been completely up-in-the-air for us (the whole family, all-around). Now, don't get me wrong, I know I have PLENTY to be happy about and thankful for, but that doesn't mean life's troubles don't sometimes get me down. I just try my hardest to give it over to God at those times. I kept having to re-adjust my travel plans for one crisis after another. I also had to move up my dad's flight so we could leave two weeks earlier than planned. And a good thing I did. My nephew was back in the hospital twice in a matter of a couple weeks. Also, my grandmother had been in the hospital most of the time since March and things were not getting better. It started with a broken hip and arm and then compounded with one issue after another...celiac's disease, heart issues, breathing issues, you name it. She had just gone back into the hospital with breathing and heart issues when dad and I left on the 14th of August. We were planning to take 3 1/2 days to get to where the husband is staying temporarily and then head on to Texas in a short 1/2 day trip. We made it to Cheyenne, WY and woke up to thick fog which delayed our departure by over 2 hours. Little did we know how that irritating delay would pay off later.

After about 20 minutes on the road that morning, my dad's brother called with news that my grandmother was not doing well and they were scrambling to get a last-minute second opinion on her heart condition. We were on stand-by at that point, waiting for an update to determine if we should head straight to Texas that day or continue with Plan A. The call came at around lunch that we should drive straight through. When we started into New Mexico, we called home for a weather report from mom because we could see huge storms brewing in Texas. We decided the best bet would be to head for Lubbock instead of Amarillo. As we drove on, the storms started looking more and more ominous. Just past Clovis, NM we could see heavy, dark black clouds in our path and to the south of us. We called home again for another update...should we turn around or keep going? Before I continue, you should know that one of my worst fears is the combination of horses and storms. I am deathly afraid of my horses being struck by lightning (thanks, Peggy), being hailed on, having the trailer struck by lightning, and getting caught in a tornado while trailering. A little neurotic, I know...but I am, by nature, a worrier. Remember that post about when I first realized Ranger had foundered and how I though about fifty-million thoughts at once...yep, that's me. You thought horse-crazy meant you are crazy about horses...it really means, you are a person who is crazy and just happens to have horses. :)

Anyhow, my sister told us that the storm in front of us was moving off and was no cause for concern but that the one to our south was bad...it has two different mesocyclones forming, meaning there was some potential for tornadic conditions. Ha! You thought I was crazy! Me trailering horses and tornadoes do not mix. She also told us that if we just hauled butt we would beat it to Lubbock. She was so right and I was so thankful. We made it to Lubbock and turned south and there was the clearest, most beautiful star-filled sky I thought I had ever seen! We literally dodged storms all afternoon and were barely even rained on! What I didn't mention earlier was that before we headed into Clovis, dad and I prayed that God would guide us through and clear a path, and boy, did He ever! We also saw the most amazing, most brilliant, full double rainbow as we were leaving Clovis. It reminded me of God's promise to Noah after the great flood. It was a beautiful reminder of God's faithfulness and I felt a little better after that. Well, until I heard "mesocyclones". So, back to the fog...if we had left on-time that morning we would have run smack-dab into that first big nasty storm in Clovis. I don't doubt God was looking out for us that day. He knew how badly we needed to get to south Texas and He was with us the whole way. We finally pulled into the drive at almost 6 am. We had been driving for over 20 hours straight without so much as a flat tire or a single sick horse. I was never so glad to be in Texas.

Fortunately, we were able to head to the hospital after a couple hours of shut-eye and see my grandmother. Unfortunately, she was mostly unresponsive, though we think she could hear us, and she passed away two days later. God did help me make it home to see her and tell her, once more, how much I loved her. Thank you, Lord. Now, she is home with Him and though I miss her terribly, I am also thankful for her life.

My sweet Nana

Morning fog in Cheyenne (spotted bison in distance)

Storms popping up in NM

The biggie between Clovis and Lubbock...stretched for 100's of miles

(we could see it out the driver's side window across the windshield, and out the passenger side window)

west of Clovis

north end of the double rainbow

storm to the south of us...it was a lot closer by the time we were approaching the TX-NM state line.

south end of the double rainbow

When In Rome, Er, Texas...

So, you already know I ventured to Texas in May/June for some family time. What you don't know is that I managed to break away for a long weekend and hang out with all my best horse-friends at one of my favorite places. Sans horses (picture my sad face), I loaded up and headed west to Livermore Ranch near Ft. Davis, TX for our 2nd Annual LRCA Horse Holiday (Livermore Ranch Cowgirls Association). I received, in my case, a long-awaited and much-needed warm TX welcome from my girls. There were hugs all around and then it was down to business...horses, margaritas, sunsets, karaoke, fellowship, and all the good things I miss about home. I borrowed a couple of horses, including one who I am trying to convince the hubby we are in desperate need of...Bailey's half-brother, whose full brother is, with his owner, ranked 18th in the nation in competitive trail riding. He is a doll! On my way through Alpine to the ranch, I got to stop at another of my favorite places, Big Bend Saddlery. Of course, I stocked up on a few things...what girl wouldn't?!? :) It is really hard to find quality "good, using gear" in my part of the world, but I'll save that topic for a later blog post.

The weekend ended far too soon and I left hoping I can make it back for our 3rd Annual shin-dig next year. I think aside from my family, my Texas horse girlfriends are who I miss most. I love you ladies! You gals are one-of-a-kind!