A moment (just a moment) to think about sad stuff

We went with friends to see the movie "Marley and me" over the weekend. There were parts that were hysterically funny (particularly because we too had a challenging dog as our first--the much loved Bentley the bearded collie) and there were parts, mainly at the end, that were sobbingly sad. I don't think that I've ever been to a movie where at the end I could hear soft sniffles from what seemed like every row of seats!

That started me thinking about animals passing on. Our oldest dog, Dixie, just turned 10 on Christmas Eve, so she's getting along in years. Although being an Aussie, she probably seems full of energy to anyone who doesn't see her every day like we do. I started thinking about Dude and Bestie too after seeing the movie. Dude will turn 16 at the end of the month, which astounds me ... where did the time go?? We got him when he was eight. That will be a tough one to handle. My childhood horse had to be put down due to medical problems and I remember crying and crying. I once read an essay by Vermont author Chris Bohjalian about watching a mom watch her daughter as the vet put down the daughter's horse. I'm sure that mom was thinking about all the parts of her daughter's growing up that were shared with that horse. I cried reading the essay then and I'm getting teary remembering it now! Animals are loyally with us through so many of life's moments that it is hard to let them go.

The zen of mucking

Yesterday I filled in for one of the barn's weekend muckers who had gone out of town for Christmas. I usually take her slot a couple times during the year, which is nice when the credit for the work gets applied to knock the board costs down a bit. I find it relaxing to work at the barn, alongside the horses, and chat with the other women who are mucking. It's a nice time to catch up on their news as well as completely random topics that come up. The forecast called for freezing rain, rain and high winds as a front came through the area, so we didn't turn the horses out. They were all quiet for much of the morning, just munching their hay and hanging out. Even Dude, who normally gets a bit antsy when he doesn't get turned out, was happy to eat his hay, and then hang his head into the aisle and doze. There's something so peaceful about the scene.

I've become a wimp in my old age; my back and shoulders were aching last night! When we first got involved with horses, the kids worked in the barn during the summer and I took over their mucking chores one day per week once they went back to school in the fall. There were days I'd do 14-plus stalls. Now I feel like I'm hitting the wall at about eight. Of course when I was doing all those stalls I was having frequent lower back issues. After an MRI and many visits to the chiropractor and physical therapist, I think I'm being much smarter about it. Taking care to lift with my legs, and never bending so as to put strain on my back. Knock on wood, it's been fine.

I guess they need a person to supplement the Sunday mucking crew, but I'm a little wary of committing to a weekly mucking schedule. Both for fear of what it will do to my back, but also because I don't want to be locked in to it. It does eat much of the day, from 7:30 am until about noon. I feel like I already spend so much time there, without adding more hours!

Three snowstorms in the last week!

With one day of sleet/rain/icky stuff thrown in for good measure! It snowed pretty much all day yesterday. I was surprised (pleasantly) that the horses got turned out. The am and pm groups each got about two hours apiece, which is plenty for most of them since they get freaked by inclement weather. Pampered ponies! Dude and Bestie's turnout sheets had soaked through in the snow and had been hung by a kind soul on their stall doors. The funny thing was that when I arrived, it was so cold that the sheets had both frozen into solid lumps of folds! Luckily I had extra turnouts and midweights to put on them.

Didn't do much with them. Katie is out of town with a friend so I was working alone. Handwalked both D & B, so they each got a leisurely roll in the arena footing, which they love, then made them bran mash, which both slurped down with great gusto. With it being blanket time, they both get so itchy and love to roll. I feel like I'm constantly currying off arena dust!

Tonight with the wind chill it is supposed to be sub zero. Then up into the 30s on Wednesday and Thursday! Crazy. At least it looks as though the snow will stick around for Christmas. I bought some treats to bag up for our barn friends, along with sample sizes of Sore No More. The barn looks cute with stockings on a few of the stall doors.

We have a flake of hay, we get hand walked, we roll, we nicker for attention

Also known as ... The Life of Dude and Bestie When There's No Turnout. I feel like all I do is write about the weather and how it impacts the horses, but when you live in Vermont, that's pretty much the story, 24/7. We had up and down weather all last week so the fields were mucky, then froze, then got mucky. On Friday we had a storm. We lucked out because we got about 7 inches of snow; people to the south were much less lucky and ended up with ice and sleet. So the horses didn't go out that day because it was very blustery. Then the temps dropped that night to zero, and the fields refroze. And they went out. Today, Sunday, after a low of six overnight, it is now in the 30s, so the fields will start remuckifying and then tomorrow it is supposed to be in the high 40s, so the muckification will be good and messy and they probably will have a few days back in until it refreezes. Aaaaaaaaargh! It's crazy! Which blanket do they wear today?? Will they or won't they go out??

The weather in VT - gotta love it

Yesterday the temperature hovered at just south of 30 degrees for the better part of the day, then plummeted at night. When I got up today, it was 2 degrees. TWO DEGREES! That's January weather, not December weather. Our hardy barn workers turned the horses out. When I went to the barn after work, someone reported that with the wind chill, the temperature had been more like -16. Yikes! I walked Dude and Bestie in the indoor just to loosen them up a bit, and even Bestie didn't seem too interested in going outside to graze, which has been our routine of late. Dude was still working on his lunchtime flake, which he hadn't had time to eat before getting turned out in the afternoon. Hay, the great distractor. They both seemed very happy to munch on their hay and eat their grain as I mucked their stalls, rubbed down their legs, and picked their feet out.

It's supposed to be anywhere from -5 to 5 degrees tonight, then, get this, it's supposed to climb into the high 30s tomorrow. I hate the see-sawing temperatures; I just don't adjust well. I'm fine if it gets cold and stays cold (although I do get sick of hat head :)), but when it boomerangs back and forth I just never feel warm. We get two days of upper 30s, then back into the 20s with temps in the teens at night. Ugh. Brrr. It'd be nice if we could at least get some snow with those temps. Dude got his winter shoes on his front hooves on Friday, so we're all set for play time in the snow.

Fun and frazzle--it's definitely December!

Usually I make time on the weekends to spend a good chunk of time at the barn. I don't get to do that during the week, when my visits are generally hit and run, and I really enjoy just taking my time and not rushing through taking care of the horses. I thought I'd be able to linger yesterday ... nope. I had to clean the house, get some holiday decorations up, then had a haircut scheduled, and by the time I got to the barn it was 4 pm and I was due at a holiday party at 6 pm. So Maddie helped me to do a quick graze of Dude and Bestie (at least they are now getting turned out since the ground has hardened up). She took off, and I stayed to muck their stalls and clean out their feet before changing clothes to head to the festivities at a boarder's house about 10 minutes from the barn.

While I was at the barn, one boarder was hanging around watching her horse, who had a little colic episode earlier in the day. He hadn't pooped and she needed to run home and clean up and get her dish ready for the same party I was heading to. Of course, not 15 minutes after she'd left, he pooped, so I called her house and shared the good news. It is nerve wracking when they've colicked, but the sense of relief and joy on the part of all nearby horse owners once the long-awaited poop appears always makes me laugh.

The party was a lot of fun. One of our fellow boarders hosts it every year in early December and the spread of food is simply amazing. We all await Paul's famous spicy shrimp appetizer all year, and there are lots of other goodies to enjoy as well. Jen's fudgy brownies with peppermint chunks, Stephanie's bacon-wrapped water chestnuts ... yum, yum! It's just really nice to chat with people that you see pretty much every day, but generally don't have much time to shoot the breeze with while at the barn.

So my vow for today is to linger at the barn. But first, Maddie and I are heading to the International Festival, a fun little shopping and eating extravaganza that is held every year locally. Lots of good food and unique stuff to buy. Then off to the barn for the afternoon!

Fun with Bestie

Sunday I got to the barn early in the afternoon and snuck by Bestie's stall since she usually naps then. I went ahead and mucked Dude's stall, did a few other chores, then crept down the aisle right along the stalls to peek in and see if she was still lying down. Imagine my surprise when I peeked around the corner and there she was, staring back at me, not two inches away. I jumped and she did her crazy-girl high-pitched whinny, so I guess we were both surprised. Funny.

I had lunged her on Friday and the horses had gone out Sunday, so I saddled her up to ride figuring that she'd be fine. It took me three attempts to actually get on her back; as soon as I'd climb the mounting block, she'd walk off before I could get my foot in the stirrup. I just kept jumping down and leading her back around, and finally was successful. After one walk around the indoor, my stirrups felt cockeyed, so I jumped down and raised one then got back on. Right back on--no shenanigans involved this time! There were two other people riding so I decided to walk her around the field and then come back to the arena.

We got outside and I could feel her, tight like a spring. She walked just fine about halfway, but as soon as we rounded the fence on the far side of the outdoor rings, she started jigging and snorting and yanking her head up and down. I considered getting off (of course thinking all the while, "I REALLY should have lunged her") but decided to stay on and just kept talking to her. We basically jigged all the way back to the walkway into the arena. When I tried to slow her down she'd snort and toss her head all around like a nut.

Once we got into the arena, she settled down, but she definitely thought we were DONE. I just kept plugging away at it, asking her to do circles and one more round, and then I rode her back out and around the front door to the barn. And she was fine. She heaved a huge sigh when we got to the door; like this had been the most stressful outing she had EVER been on. I kinda felt the same way.

Penny pinching

Dude and Bestie are just about out of supplements. We've had them on HorseTech products for several years. But now, with the cost of everything in life going up, I decided to take a look at the HorseTech catalog and see if there was something else I could put them on, other than the Reitsport, which is fairly costly. Plus, now that they're not really working, I don't think they need all that the Reitsport offers (glucosamine AND chondroitin). So I decided to switch them to the Glanzen GL, which provides joint support in the form of glucosamine, with a host of other goodies like biotin and vitamins C and E, all in a tasty ground flax seed base (smile). It's a lot cheaper than the Reitsport and I think it will suit their needs at this time very well.

Plug for the HorseTech people: when we first had Dude tested for HYPP, I started researching how to reduce the potassium levels in his diet. Ironically, it seemed like every supplement he'd ever been on was alfalfa-based, loaded with potassium. We just didn't know any better. A friend in the barn recommended looking into HorseTech. (I might add that this friend's horse is still on a HorseTech product.) I called HorseTech and described my concerns regarding Dude, and they figured out the potassium content of the supplement I was interested in. It was the OWNER of the company that got on the phone. Great customer service. And you get a free pack of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies with each order. And, if you order 20 pounds, which is a nice easily stored size that lasts us a few months, the product comes in a large white bucket, which is great for toting other horse stuff or passing along to friends (or fathers) who always need buckets for watering or weeding. Or, just take it to the recycling center. Also recycle the plastic bag that lines the bucket and presto, no trash. Hey, can't beat that!

Weather wimp

OK, I'm sure I'm going to sound like a whiner, but.... we had temperatures in the 60s this weekend, then on Monday it dropped into the 30s. A thirty degree drop is nothing to sneeze at, especially once the snow started falling on Monday night!

Dude and Bestie got their turnout sheets back on on Sunday night, then yesterday I added their cotton/poly sheets under the turnout sheets. They're both pretty fuzzy so that's probably all they'll need for now. Once it drops to the 20s pretty consistently, I'll switch to the midweights.

They're still not going out because despite the cold, the fields have not yet frozen and are very mucky. So they're in. And not happy. Last night I was in a rush; had to hit the barn prior to dinner out and a basketball game, so I grazed them and mucked their stalls. While we were outside, Bestie was doing big snorty breaths of the cold air; she loves it. Dude would graze and then randomly do a little rear of happiness, then graze again, then rear. I was FREEZING by the time I got done with the grazing. The merlot with dinner hit the spot!

Muck, graze, lunge, ride, wash ...

Geez, a busy day. I filled in for one of the daily muckers who was heading off to the Equine Affaire in Springfield, Massachusetts. We went every year for about four years; it's a shopper's paradise for horsey stuff! Sadly, now that the kids aren't into it as much, we don't go. But I highly recommend it for the shopping and the clinicians. There are always some awesome big names there who are fun and informative to listen to and watch ... John Lyons, Clinton Anderson, the O'Connors.

OK, back to my day. Mucked, and everyone was in because it warmed up and the fields are mud pits. It was so warm that all the horses seemed a little dozey; in fact, at one point four stalls in a row were occupied by reclining ponies! After I got done mucking, I grazed Dude and Bestie, then lunged Bestie, then rode Dude. Dude and I have reached an understanding with the curb bit and we are doing much better. It's been fun riding him this week around the field. I am dreading when the weather changes once and for all and we're stuck indoors. The field is a lot more interesting and also good for him with the little ups and downs.

I brushed off two of their turnout sheets and lugged them into the laundromat on the way home. The sheets get so yucky what with all the rolling around outside. This way, they will each have a clean one for the next change. Not too crowded at the laundromat, which was good. This particular laundry has ok'd horse blankets, but I still hate walking in there when there's a ton of people, most of whom look at you disapprovingly when you start wadding the smelly blankets into the washer. There's an awesome wash service in our area called Thorowash, but it usually takes them a week or two to clean and dry the stuff and I often don't have the time to wait for the blankets. When they wash the blankets, they don't smell AT ALL. When I put mine through the laundromat, they still have a faintly horsey odor. Thorowash is a good end of season option and they do nice repairs as well. That's my shout-out for Thorowash, owned by friends of ours in Milton, VT :) !

A short but happy ride

Rode Bestie on Friday. I had lunged her on Thursday night so that she could get her inner bronc out, but she was actually pretty good. Only a couple of head tosses in my direction, like she was saying, "You know, I could really run if I wanted to, but I'm just not into it tonight. But I could if I wanted to."

We rode around in the indoor for a few minutes. Amazingly, no one else was riding; that hardly ever occurs, especially now that the barn is full with about 30 horses. We negotiated through a couple of passes by the door to the outdoors, where she wanted to head directly out and I said, "No, not quite yet." She's so funny. You can just feel her settle down when you're consistent in your reply to whatever it is she wants. We had a couple of good slow trots around the indoor. When she's doing her little Western jog, she is just so smoooooth. I keep trying to get her to take it further and further, but it's like a little bell goes off and there's no more slow jog. She gets faster and faster and then gets all frazzled. I'm not sure how to get over this hump.

So after nice stretch of s-l-o-w, we went outside and walked around the field. I'd much rather end on a good note so both of us are happy. And on a 50 degree-plus day, I too would much rather be outside than in the indoor.

60 degrees in November

A few days ago I was writing about dealing with the horse blankets, and now it's 66 degrees! Whenever this happens, it's like a little gift; you take it, whisper "thanks," and go about your day not letting yourself think about what weather might be coming down the pike.

I got to the barn late yesterday because I had a much-needed haircut scheduled. It was about 7:15, so Dude and Bestie had basically finished all their dinner hay and were snuffling around in the shavings looking for stray pieces. Both were muddy as anything; it had obviously been a good day outside with a lot of happy rolling in the areas still wet from last week's rain. I chatted with a couple boarders who were still in the barn, then mucked the stalls and curried each of them to get the mud off. Dude had it packed into his hooves like concrete blocks.

I went in and out of their stalls and the tack room numerous times, getting brushes and treats and other stuff, and every time Bestie would see me reappear she would nicker pointedly at me. I got the message ("Take me out for grass NOW slave lady!") but ignored her since it was pretty dark and I really wanted to get home and see what was happening with the election.

I love being in the barn late at night or early in the morning. It's just so peaceful with the sound of horses muching on their hay, and they're generally pretty quiet since they know their routine. They watch what you're doing with idle curiosity but don't get worked up about anything, particularly in the evening, when they know they're in for the night.

Home on the range

I should've done this back at the beginning ... some shots of the barn, our ponies' home. For the first picture, I stood in the grassy "aisle" between the two outdoor rings and the two stallion paddocks. The fields are to the right. That's the indoor arena straight ahead, with the barn attached to the left. It's definitely a nice facility and I'm very appreciative of all that we have there. I'm still amazed at the quality and lushness of the grass in the open areas (where no one is turned out and where we continue to hand graze until the snow starts staying around). The shot of the fields shows the morning turnout group happily grazing. They're usually out from about 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The afternoon crowd heads out from 11:30 a.m. until about 3:30 p.m. The grass is looking pretty sparse in the fields at this time of the year, but they're definitely happy to be out regardless.

Silver sparkle boots

Dude's bell boots are favorites at the barn. He's had them a while, but they've been packed away in the trunk with all the show stuff that we no longer use. He got them for Christmas one year. A couple of weeks ago he finally ran his old bell boots into the ground; they were barely hanging on with major strap and Velcro malfunctions going on. Rather than going out and buying new boots, I dug the sparklies out of the trunk. The turn out girls said he looked like a male body builder when they have those colorful booties on. Hmmmmn.

I've often thought we should've bought stock in Davis, the company that makes these bell boots. At times I've tried to save money by buying cheaper boots, but the Davis boots have really been the longest-lived on our horses, as well as the most flexible boots with Velcro closures that I have found. A couple of the other brands seemed fairly inflexible, particularly in the cold, and I worried that the rubber (or whatever it was) might bruise their ankles. Bestie is not shod now, so she doesn't wear them any more, but Dude is the king of bell boots since he stands base-narrow and tends to step on himself quite a bit.

Time for a close-up ... a little muddy, but definitely still gleaming in the sunlight!

First snow

Here's the view today from my office window. It was snowing when I left my house, but both my house and office are at higher elevations so I'm not sure if it's snowing at the barn, which is near the lake. I left the horses' turnout sheets on their stall doors just in case they go out.

They're always so funny with the first snow, snorting and snuffling around in it. Yesterday they didn't go out because it was chilly and rainy all day, so I'm sure they're anxious to escape the confines of the barn. It's supposed to get back to the 50s this weekend, which is good--I'm not too excited about getting back to blanket weather!

Sighhhhhhhhh

Wow, I am EMBARRASSED that I haven't posted since early October. Excuse: Visit to Katie in CT, parents came for a stay, and two college visiting trips (with two more to go). Funny how when you think back it never seems as though you were really as busy as you thought you were at the time. But I'm pretty sure I've only been on our home computer once in October. Seems like I get home and crash.

The thing about the college trips is that the ponies go without my tender loving care for a day. But it is good to come home and see that they survived, and that maybe, just maybe, they CAN do without me for 24 hours. The barn friends were poking fun at me because I left three notes at the barn with emergency numbers when we went to visit Katie (two days, one night). I left one on the manager's desk, one on Dude's door and one on Bestie's door. They were like, "Did you leave ENOUGH notes?? We thought we'd find them all over the barn!" A little obsessive compulsiveness, what can I say.

After each of my absences I arrived at the barn on the following day to find both horses happy, healthy and very dirty. They always look up when I arrive like "Oh, there she is!" Dude does his low nicker and Bestie does her high pitched crazed-sounding whinny. It's a nice welcome, and one that I'll never get tired of. Today it is raining and cold, in the 40s, so I doubt they got turned out. I'm just hoping this isn't the beginning of the usual dreary claustrophobia-inducing weather we see in November. I'm not ready to ride/work them inside yet!

Where did September go?

Fall always rushes along here. The leaves have been absolutely gorgeous--so if anyone reading this blog is thinking about a foliage visit to northern VT, you'd better get up here in the next week! We had rain last night, and that always seems to bring out all the colors. A couple of the local weather forecasters were saying that the stretch of sunny days in September, combined with cool nights and summer's rain, are what have made this an amazing fall for foliage. It's certainly one of the best that I can remember.

Ran over to visit the ponies this morning because we are hosting a couple of visitors from Nicaragua and I didn't think I'd have time to hit the barn this afternoon. The horses were inside because at turnout time it was pouring. There was a break in the rain while I was there, so I was able to graze them both for about 20 minutes and give them a little walk. Not sure when our guests are arriving, so I didn't want to linger too long at the barn.

When I first arrived, Bestie whinnied, and Kara commented that Bestie had been "telling them" all morning that they'd forgotten to turn her out. She is a very vocal horse. Last night I mucked her stall and then moved on to take care of Dude. Right as I was finishing up and about to leave, Bestie put her head into the hall and whinnied every time she saw me in the aisle. Her way of saying "Hey, you didn't get ME out!" Nothing gets by her. So of course I had to graze her for a few minutes. I'm a softie, I admit it.

Two new horses came in this morning while I was at the barn. New boarders. One is 31 YEARS OLD!!! And he looks pretty good! I always start to think about the "what ifs" if ours live that long. That would be 16 more years for Dude. I'd be 63. Yikes! Best not to think too long about that!

The whirlwind week continues

On Tuesday I had some time after work so I lunged Bestie and rode Dude. Bestie had her angry eyes on because after standing in her stall since coming in around 11:30, she wanted to be OUT. So she whizzed around me a few times on the lunge line but then settled down. She's pretty smart; I'm sure she started to think, "You know, a little bit of cooperation might buy me a few minutes of handgrazing after this lunging thing." And it did.

Dude was a good boy. I rode in in Katie's saddle but put Bestie's English snaffle on him. I still have to wrestle with his curb bit, so I'm not really using it at all. He's better in the English snaffle than he is in the Western snaffle. I guess there's just a few more attachments and more control. We rode around the field and the rings. He tried to get away with following another rider back to the barn, but gave in when I wouldn't. He can be a pill but his fits are usually not too long-lasting or dramatic.

Yesterday was a buzz-through-the-barn day, since I had to take Maddie to DMV, then to a quick dinner out and hockey for me right down the street from DMV. We basically ran into the barn and she pulled each horse out to graze while I mucked their stalls and refilled their water buckets. We were in and out in 40 minutes. What a team! And she got her license! Tonight will be another quick night because there's an open house at her school. Sigh.

Whilrwind week with another to come

I absolutely hate it when I can't get on and post for a week or more. I've been pretty busy at work, and while I've made it to the barn every day, the hours at home have been just too short (or too late at night) to get on the computer.

No after effects from the vet's visit; that was a relief. We've had enough post-shot huge bumps on both horses for me to be a little worried. I don't know if the flu/rhino and Potomac don't usually produce reactions, or if the three days of bute kept a reaction beaten back.

Last week I felt like I really short-changed the ponies because I had to go to NYC for the day, then the next night was my book club, and then on Friday, my usual day off where I spend a lot of time at the barn, I had to go in to work. I squeezed in a couple of lunges, but no riding. On Saturday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and hike Mount Mansfield, so I ran to the barn late and then went on to hockey. Sunday I filled in for an absent mucker and really didn't feel like working Dude or Bestie. They both went out in the morning, came in for a bran mash and their leftover hay, and hung out in their stalls the rest of the day. I felt bad.

This week's not looking much better, time-wise. Ugh. It's on these busy days that the half hour drive is painful. At least they are getting outside since the weather has been fabulous. I just always feel bad when I can't spend the time with them that I want to.

Good news: I was able to buy some excellent extra hay to keep on hand for munchie moments during the winter. I've got six bales and may pick up a few more. Usually we only feed about about a bale a month, since it's "snack hay" and the barn provides their main meals as part of board.

Whew! An uneventful vet visit!

Dude and Bestie were the best I think they've ever been for the vet today. I was so proud! I got there about a half hour early and unloaded one bale of hay that I bought from a farmer near our house. $5 for second cut. It's expensive this year since it looks like only two cuts will be possible, and the first cut wasn't that good or plentiful. I'm hoping to get 5 more bales to supplement what the barn provides so that the ponies can have some extra to munch on in the winter.

The horses were on a quick rotation outside because the forecasters were calling for heavy rain and possible thunderstorms today. Bestie was already in and Dude was out, so I took Bestie out and gave her about 20 minutes of handgrazing before Dr. Emily arrived. Managed to also get Dude out of his pasture and graze him for about 5-10 minutes as the rain started to get heavier and heavier.

Both were excellent for the vet. Bestie was amazingly good; she just stood quietly for the shots and only tossed her head a little for the wormer. Dude did pretty well. Right as Dr. Emily got one needle in he shifted quickly, so that first shot was a little hairy. He's always perfectly fine once the needle goes in; it's all about the anticipation with him. Because all the horses had a short day of turnout, they all got a "lunchtime" flake of hay, so everyone was eating happily when I left around 12:15 to meet a friend.

We had a good lunch, and actually quite by surprise met another "horse mom" that was in our co-op group several years ago, so it was good to get caught up. My friend's daughter has been on the Mount Holyoke hunter team, and this year made the dressage team. She's got one show in our area early in October, so I'm hoping to be able to see her. We went through a lot of drama together between barn changes and trainer changes and horse issues. THey too have a cute paint mare with strong opinions. She's boarded about a half hour from their house; so my friend is doing the commuting thing and is also riding. These horses certainly have a way of becoming part of the family.

After lunch I ran back to the barn to quickly graze them again since it had stopped raining. I also wanted to check to see if there was any swelling from the shots. They both looked fine. Tomorrow we've got to do a day trip to New Hampshire so I'm not sure I'll make it to the barn unless I go pretty early. I always feel a little "off" when I don't see them.

Doctor's appointment coming up

Tomorrow Dude and Bestie are getting their fall shots, flu/rhino and Potomac. There are usually a few cases of Potomac in our area at some point in the fall so we vaccinate to be safe. And they'll get a once-over by the vet for their Preventicare exams. We're on Pfizer's Preventicare program, which involves an annual reenrollment, hence the physical, and the dosage by the vet of wormer once a year (and once more by us), and daily Strongid. Successful enrollment in the plan means that Pfizer will reimburse us up to $5000 for costs related to colic surgery and up to 3 days of post-op care. We've been on the plan for a number of years now. Again, the ol' better safe than sorry approach!

A visit from the vet is always cause for much excitement. Most of the time neither horse is a good patient. Bestie does the head tossing, semi-rearing thing. Dr. Emily plies her with a few treats, which sometimes buys a bit of reluctant cooperation. Other times there's a jointly made decision to hold off on that procedure until she's tranquilized for her teeth cleaning. Dude's modus operandi is to menacingly snort and back away. He usually gets his large rump backed right into the corner, where he also reluctantly submits to whatever "horrible treatment" he's scheduled for.

It's best for the vet to mosey into the stall like they are just there for a friendly visit. Dr. Phil is a very tall guy, so I think it is hard for him to do a casual mosey. Under no circumstances should a syringe be visible. My role is to hold the lead, rub their ears (horse's, not vet's), and croon soothingly, "Who's the BEST horse for the doctor?" This has worked like a charm on some visits, but on others it's like the horses have a sudden flash of "I know what this person did to me LAST time and I want NO PART of this!"

Given this behavior, I'm always amazed that Dr. Emily and Dr. Phil never fail to greet me with a smile and my naughty equine kids with a pat. I always want to say to the horses, "Look, this is for your own good. And these are really nice people. It'll only take a minute. Just be cooperative!"

September!

Yikes, how did it get to be fall??? We've had a perfectly lovely stretch of two weeks, scheduled to end on Saturday with incoming rain as the hurricane leftovers move up the East Coast. Oh well. The stretch gave everyone a chance to get some hay in. I priced hay in Jericho yesterday: $4 for a bale of first cut, $5 for a bale of second cut. I plan on buying at least three to start feeding out to Dude and Bestie as the cold weather comes in. Here a flake, there a flake, when they're looking bored and grumpy on cold winter days.

I rode Dude around the field yesterday. I used Bestie's Western snaffle, which Dude loves, but really doesn't have enough "influence" on him when I'm riding. It's a fight to get his curb bit in his mouth, at least when I'm doing it, so I decided to use the snaffle yesterday. Slipped it in with no problem.

He seems to like going around the field much better than being inside or in the ring. His ears were perked and he was looking all around. The only time he got a little bouncy was as we went by the horse graveyard. He's always a little jumpy there. There's a cross in the pines where our barn manager's horse is buried. Funny how he's always a little goofy there.

They didn't mow the side part of the field in between the pines and the trail this year so the grass is really high, belly high on Dude. Great for birds and deer to lurk, but since I wanted no critters making a sudden appearance, I sang down that sretch. A couple renditions of "Red River Valley" and Brookes and Dunn's "Only in America" served as fair warning that we were coming. Good country songs to serenade Dude the Western pony with!

Love my Western pony!

Today I rode Bestie. I went to the barn intending to ride Dude, but he seemed so happy outside I didn't have the heart to bring him in early to ride. I got her all tacked up, then ran out and got Dude since all the horses were beginning to be brought in. He pretty much went into nap mode as soon as I got him into the stall and turned on his fan!

Bestie was awesome! We set a new record for trotting at a nice Western jog--all the way around the indoor without her getting fast. I tried really hard to sit back and stay relaxed, and the one time I felt her start to pick up her pace, I sat back and concentrated on relaxing and she slowed down! That is truly an amazing achievement that only I would recognize! The other achievement was that we walked and trotted and walked and trotted several rounds. Usually I can only get her to trot once at a slow pace and then she won't do a repeat. All the stars aligned today!

Because the weather has been nice for a couple weeks, new hay has started to come in, thank goodness. Hopefully hay cutters can get one more round in before the fall; usually it's no problem, but this round was so late this year, it's hard to tell if the grass will grow enough to cut again. Bestie's dinner flakes were great; Dude's were damp feeling and full of cut up twigs. That drives me crazy. I shook it out and it didn't seem moldy (although it probably would become so if left in the hay loft). I picked all the crappy stuff out of it and took some of his and gave it to Bestie, and gave him some of hers. Then I traded his night flake for a better, drier flake. Glad I was there when they got fed!

A little unintended hiatus

Yikes, this may have been my longest stretch without writing. I'm not even sure why it occurred! Daughter number 1 is now back to college (boo hoo) and daughter number 2 has returned from a 10-day trip to Nicaragua, is now sick with a head cold, and hopefully headed back to school tomorrow if she's a-ok.

We drove Katie back to school last Sunday. I had arranged with Maddie that she would go to the barn and check out Dude and Bestie in my absence. Of course those plans fell by the wayside because at the last minute she rememberd a school-related commitment. So after a 8-hour round trip drive to CT, I got back in the car to go to the barn and check on the ponies, who were surprised and happy to see me at a later time of night--7 pm. Part of their happiness I'm sure was that 7 pm falls in the in-between hour, a no-hay no man's land between dinner at 5 and late night flake at 9 pm. So they are always enthusiastic when anyone arrives then.

I took them both out for a graze as I brushed them, then mucked their stalls, cleaned their water buckets and wrapped it up for the night. Katie had said good bye to Dude on Saturday. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed kind of resigned to my presence, like "Oh, it's just me and Grandma again." I wonder what he thinks when he doesn't see her, after he's gotten used to her daily presence over the summer. Got home around 8:30 pm .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... long day!

Not too much happening

A quiet week. Katie and I went to the barn yesterday and rode. It was one of those days where a storm seemed to roll in every 22 minutes, so we rode inside and then just decided to head from the indoor around the corner of the barn through the parking lot to the front door, rather than taking our usual route through the field and around the outdoor rings. I just rode Bestie at the walk and watched Katie ride Dude. He's looking so good that it's a shame she goes back to school in a bit under two weeks. She had him cantering and he just looks so big and powerful! After all we've been through with him I just love to watch him go.

The fly sheet seems to be working out. He doesn't have any new bites and luckily it has been fairly cool this week so he has been able to wear it. Of course it is trashed from him rolling in it when he gets turned out. Oh well. It's all in one piece, just not quite so lovely as it looked fresh out of the bag!

All summer we've been stopping at the ice cream stand near the barn and getting cones, with the goal of eating EVERY SINGLE FLAVOR by the time she leaves for school. The exciting news is that we have three flavors left: vanilla, bubble gum and cake batter. And cake batter might be iffy; when we got cones yesterday, it wasn't on the list any more. We'd be just as happy if we don't have to have that one, it sounds a little yucky. So the end is in sight! We're going to make our last flavor (#20!) a sundae, or a big waffle cone; something special. The ice cream is Hershey's and it is great. My favorite is black raspberry, with peppermint a close second.

The first summer we were at this barn the kids rode the horses up the road to get cones. They weren't allowed to go through the drive-through (why not??!), but the horses were ok with being there at the stand. It always amazes me to see what horses will tolerate. Particularly when kids are involved, they more often than not seem very accepting of the craziest situations.

Amazing grass for August

Bestie doesn't come up for air when the grass is this good!


Dude grazes in his new fly sheet. Unfortunately, while he was grazing a big bug got underneath it, bit him, and he bucked, dropped and rolled. Nothing is ever easy!

Today was absolutely beautiful; our first pleasant sunny day in ages. Pretty much all of July was rainy. The one good result of all that rain is that the grass around the barn is fantastic. Usually by August it starts to get thin and brown, but it is positively lush right now and the horses love it. We try to handgraze them because the pastures are pretty eaten down by now. Also, it's been a tough summer for hay and a lot has been thrown out because it was bailed too quick and was wet. I'm dreading the winter, because we haven't had a decent hay delivery yet this summer. What are they going to eat all winter when this beautiful grass is just a faint memory?



Another shot of Dude in his new fly sheet. We left instructions for the turnout crew that he should only wear it when it's not too hot and muggy; he'd sweat to death. Hopefully it will cut down on the bug bites. And hopefully one won't get underneath it again to bite him. He was pretty freaked out by the bite today while Katie was grazing him. Oh, and the plaid Weatherbeeta also fit and looks terrific on him!

Horsey shopping trip!

I finally got my act together today and stopped by a couple of tack shops looking for a swivel lunge line attachment. I've been using one for months at the barn that is NOT mine; I'm actually not sure whose it is. I found one in a catalog, but had put off ordering it, hoping I could find it locally. Yippee--today I found one at Guy's Farm & Yard, which saves me about $3 in shipping costs.

I also looked at fly sheets because poor Dude has been getting eaten alive outside. I think that with all the rain we've had there's some bug that is breeding by the zillions, and Dude has had little rashes of bites on his jawline, belly and hind end. The second tack shop had a fly sheet in an 81". Usually he takes an 80", so it should be ok, but they did tell me I could return it if it doesn't fit (and I don't get it dirty trying it on him). There were two colors, cream with black piping and grey with red piping ... ugh, I hate color decisions. You wouldn't think it would matter, but I want him to look good :). The grey/red was pretty but not really his color so I went with the cream. He'll look kind of like a bumble bee since it's a yellowish cream. Heza Flashy Bumble Bee Mr. ... new show name, hahaha.

I wandered into the consignment section, BIG MISTAKE, because they had a Weatherbeeta sheet, really nice polyester/cotton blend in pristine condition for $30. It's a plaid with different shades of green and tan ... perfect for Dude and his chestnut coloring. He can wear it in the barn in the fall when the nights get cool. It's a good blend. Bestie has one in purple and it washes up really nice. I'm interested to see how it fits because I vaguely remember that there was some issue with the neckline on him with a similar sheet. But maybe the lady at the Sewing Corner can adjust it to fit.

A good shopping day for Dude! He'll get to try on his new clothes tomorrow when Katie goes to the barn.

A baby visits the barn

Yesterday while I was at the barn a woman showed up with her little baby in one of those wrappy chest sling holders and asked if she could look at the horses. She mentioned that she had already talked to our barn manager who had said she could come in and walk around. She was interested in exposing her baby to new sights and smells to stimulate her. I thought that this was very interesting. The baby is only 11 weeks old and that someone would think to bring a baby to a BARN was a first for me. I never would've. Of course, when Maddie and Katie were babies we were miles from any barn, but still, I think I would've been a little worried about the dirt and stuff. Actually, I wouldn't have been with Maddie; I was pretty over that by the time she came around :).

So the lady was very nice and the baby was very cute and while we talked the baby grinned her precious little toothless grin at Bestie, who looked at her with interest but also a bit perplexed, like "what IS this thing all wrapped up in front of my stall??" Katie was riding Dude, so I suggested the woman walk down to the indoor because Dude loves small children. And dogs. And chickens. I instructed her to call out "Door" as she neared the door so that everyone in the indoor would be expecting a person to materialize. When I went on down to the tack room, there she was at the door, with Dude craning his big head toward the baby with Katie on him. Would've been a good photo. It was very funny to watch the baby's expression and her eyes shifting around the barn at all the movement.

The mom said she would show up periodically so it will be kind of fun to watch the baby. Better than the people who show up and feed the horses way to many treats. Of course we all laughingly warned her that she was likely starting her little girl down the path of equine no return.

Rainy day in the barn

Bestie: "If I do my alert cute look I bet she'll take me out to handgraze."



Dude, bored in his stall, initiating yet another attempt to reach the brushes and whatnot right out of his reach.

Yesterday it rained pretty much ALL day. The horses were not turned out, which is standard operating procedure when it pours. They were both pretty antsy by the time I got there in the early afternoon. I brushed them and mucked their stalls and kind of cleaned up our tack trunk, killing time until a break in the rain occurred and I could run them out to graze. Luckily I got just enough of a break to get them both out for about 20 minutes each in a light drizzle.

Dude's bump had migrated downward. There was a definite bite mark, and the swelling had gone down around the bite site (which wasn't visible on Saturday), dropping low on his neck. He still seemed perfectly unfazed by it, so again, I decided to bute him in his dinner last night and I rubbed some more Sore No More on. My bet's on it being a spider bite; I can't imagine what else would have caused such swelling. I fixed them both a bran mash, which they ate with their usual gusto, Dude banging his bucket around and Bestie ending up with it all over her face.

Dude and his big bump

Yesterday morning we got a call from the barn manager letting us know that Dude had a big bump, like an insect bite, on his neck. "Just letting you know," which is nice. Katie was heading out to visit a friend in NY, so I had barn duty. He was out in the pasture when I arrived and seemed perfectly happy, so I let him stay out while I went and mucked out their stalls and rode Bestie.

About an hour later I went out to get him to let him graze a while before bringing him in. He trotted toward me once I got in the field and I didn't notice anything, but once he got up close, yep, there was a BIG bump on the right side of his neck centered about halfway down from both his mane and his jawline. And I mean big ... probably about 3 inches wide and six inches long. It looked like a mosquito bite, raised and welty, but LARGE. Very strange. Everyone who saw it had never seen anything like it. It didn't feel hot and I couldn't find a bite area.

I gently scrubbed the area with Betadine and then rubbed Sore No More onto the area. About an hour later before I left, I rubbed Sore No More into it again. Left a note in the grain room to give him a scoop of bute in his dinner and breakfast, figured it couldn't hurt and might reduce the inflammation. It didn't seem to bother him at all, and he was eating his hay, drinking, and pooping normally. The poor guy, he also had a line of little bites right at the edge of his flymask along his jawline, and a few scattered bites on his barrel and rump. We've had a lot of rain lately so I don't know if it's a whole new crop of bugs out or what. He is very sensitive to bug bites.

Going over to the barn soon to check him out.

All alone for barn duty

Katie is out of town this weekend, so I had barn duty. I went over around two so that I could ride Bestie and get her taken care of while Dude was still outside. We rode in the indoor for about twenty minutes, doing circles and serpentines at the walk. She's so funny; right about 15 minutes into it she tried to go into the center of the ring and stop. She definitely has her own agenda. But she was ok when I just calmly asked her to keep walking.

We had one nice slow jog about a quarter of the way around. I asked her a couple more times, trying to sit deep and keep the reins loose. The second attempt was a little faster, and the third was even faster, but not as fast as she can be. I just would love to do a nice slow jog all the way around the indoor ... someday. I don't push it, since it's clear that doesn't work with her. I just stop her when she gets going too fast, wait a while, and ask again. When we went outside to go around the mowed field, she was about as calm as I've seen her.

When I went out to grab Dude from his pasture and let him graze a bit in the walkway, he was definitely ready to come in. Can't say I blame him; the flies were terrible back by the paddocks. I had grazed Bestie in front of the outdoor arenas, and the flies weren't bad at all there, which is strange, since the spaces are only separated by a 100 yards or so. I only grazed him for about 10 minutes. He had some welts on his back from bites, poor guy. Had to rinse both their fly masks. It appeared there had been some serious mud rolling going on.

The importance of a good brush

Many years ago we bought a set of brushes for horse shows, thinking that they'd stay nice and clean and in good shape since they'd only be used during shows. I think I've mentioned them before; they were from the Chamisa Ridge catalog. I have to say that set of brushes was one of our better horse purchases. They did last well, they were priced reasonably, and we still have them. Except for the lovely goat's hair soft brush, which mysteriously went missing last year. (Along with the lunge whip, but that's another story.)

The goat's hair brush was particularly perfect after the animal psychic told us that Bestie has sensitive skin. Indeed, she never seemed to be a horse that particularly liked being groomed. Dude, on the other hand, practically can doze off when on the cross ties getting groomed. Bestie just shifts, and prances, and just doesn't seem to enjoy it. So I figured, that's an easy one, if the horse psychic says Bestie likes a soft brush, well then, I'll brush her with a soft brush.

But then it went missing. And rather than going out and getting a new one, I dragged out a soft nylon brush to use. But last week I was in the tack shop and suddenly decided to get another soft natural hair brush. And Bestie loves it. And I love it. It's just so smoooooth when you use it, and leaves such a nice sheen. Why did it take me so long to replace the other one? I don't know. But maybe the horse psychic was checking in with her "contacts" and Bestie complained. Maybe that's what prompted the new purchase. Who knows?

-ing verbs: lungeing, bucking, jigging, biting, (not) relaxing

Yesterday Katie and I went to the barn. We had agreed ahead of time that it would a riding day, since due to the heat, me being out of town, and other reasons/excuses, neither horse had been ridden in about a week. Clearly I needed to lunge (longe?) Bestie first. I got her all saddled up and then got her going on the line. After a few funny crowhops, she settled right into a a nice little Western jog. It made me a bit worried that she was saving her energy for when I got on her back.

Katie actually went out to the outdoor ring and rode while I was lungeing, so basically she was done when I was ready to get on, but she took pity on me and agreed to go around the field. She mentioned that Dude had actually bucked, a rare occurence. A bug-related buck? "No, I think it was an enthusiastic buck when I asked him to canter." Oh,ok.

Bestie had definitely saved herself for the ride around the field, walking like a speed demon and breaking into a trot several times. The bugs were awful. Katie and I didn't actually ride together since after a few minutes I ended up way ahead. Pulling on the reins just made Bestie toss her head and jig. I got so far ahead that Dude got irritated and started jumping around a bit, so Katie was a little cranky with me when we got back to the barn. Not exactly the relaxing little trip around the field we had envisioned.

Attack of the biting flies

Hadn't seen Bestie since Friday morning and boy did she let out a whinny when she saw me. That always makes me laugh. I opened her door to put her stall guard up and saw that she was a total muddy mess. She hasn't been too bad about rolling in the muck over the last couple of weeks, but I guess yesterday's rain left some spots that were just too enticing.

I decided to take her out and let her graze for a bit before she got her dinnertime hay. Dude had just come in so he was kind of in la-la land from the sun and heat, and I let him nap.

We only lasted about ten minutes outside. The biting flies swarmed in, only on her. That always kind of surprises me, how they go for the horse and not for the human sometimes. Other times, they attack both of us. I can't ever predict it. Bestie is pretty complacent about bugs, but today even she was kicking her legs and rubbing her head on her front legs when they'd get near her eyes. I had sprayed her, but hadn't put her flymask back on because I'd had to wash it to get all the mud off.

I was trying to curry her while she grazed, but after almost getting cow-kicked when she kicked at flies on her belly, I decided it was time to call it quits.

As soon as I said, "Come on, we're going inside," she started trotting toward the barn. I guess she wasn't too thrilled with the bugs either, but didn't want to tear herself away from the grass until I made her.

A visit from the vet

I hate it when I go this long between posts! By way of an excuse, last weekend we were out of town for a wedding and this week was just really busy with a variety of things. We got back home last Sunday. The girls picked us up at the airport and then we all went out for an early dinner. I had just settled on the back porch to read the paper when we got a call from the barn that Dude was acting "wierd." So Katie and I jumped in the car and went over.

He definitely seemed uncomfortable. Katie pulled him out of the stall and started walking him while I cleaned up his stall and debated whether to call the vet. One of his poops in the stall was really runny. It turned out that the barn had gotten a load of first cut hay and they didn't really phase it in with the old stuff like they normally do. So that, probably combined with the very hot and sticky weather, gave the poor guy a stomach ache. His temperature was normal (our first use of our new digital thermometer!) but I went ahead and called the vet just to be safe.

The vet and two student interns arrived about an hour later. Great service for a Sunday night! Of course, by the time they all arrived, Dude was acting pretty chipper. Katie had walked him a while and he had a leisurely roll, and that seemed to make him feel better. Dr. Emily confirmed the normal temperature, looked him over, then went ahead and gave him a dose of banamine and pulled him off of hay and grain until the morning. He was very unhappy with that, you could tell right away, as all the other horses started munching on their nighttime flake of hay.

Katie was meeting up with some of her buddies that night that she hadn't seen for a while, so she took my car and went to the party. I stayed at the barn and walked him two more times over the space of about two hours. I washed brushes and chatted with another boarder who was pulling a late night shift. Dude stood in the corner of his stall and stared at me in the tack room, willing me to give him some hay. I felt terrible. Katie came back at 11 pm and we left. He seemed fine.

I called the barn the next morning to check on him, although I knew the a.m. feeder would call if Dude looked off again. Katie went over mid-morning prior to his turnout and walked him again. Over the course of that day he only got about a 1/4 of a flake at a feeding, so he was pretty cranky by the evening when I went back. Dr. Emily ok'd a bran mash, so when everyone else got grain Monday and Tuesday nights he got a mash, and was happy. We decided to mix the old and new hay for the week. Tomorrow will be his first day on all new hay.

Katie and I both vaguely remember that last year he had runny poop the first day they switched over to new hay. I guess we'll have to watch it from now on and make sure he gets a mix of old and new for several days to acclimate.

This was just a blip, a minor event in terms of what can happen with horses, but it was still a little scary. They're so big that when something goes wrong it seems magnified. Dude is very constant and predictable action- and personality-wise, which is good, because our barnmates quickly knew that something was wrong when they noticed him not acting himself. He was banging his Jolly Ball against the wall very pointedly when they would walk by, in his horsey way saying "look, I need some attention!" I'll end with a sentiment similar to the end of my last post: never a dull moment...

Built tough, and all those other tag lines

Whenever I walk into the barn and see one of our horses with a bell boot hanging by one strand of Velcro, or with an ear poking through a hole that has mysteriously appeared at the top of their fly mask, I think of all those commercials for tough products. Toughskins tough. Ram tough. Companies should run all those products through a couple of days in a horse's daily life and we'd see how tough they are!

Regarding the bell boots, my daughter just called to say that Bestie had come in with one bell boot inside out, sort of like a little rubbery cup around her ankle, and one bell boot completely missing. She immediately assigned blame for this situation to me, since I had rashly stated just a few days ago, "Wow, we've set a new record with these bell boots. We've had them for AGES." I should've known better. It's like when our farrier whispers to me, "Dude's feet look pretty good," because he knows to proclaim that out loud surely would invite disaster of some sort.

On the day I mucked stalls a few weeks ago, one of our barn boarders called to ask that we please check on her horse periodically to make sure he didn't "freak out" while outside. (It was hot and buggy.) Honest to God, we checked on him every ten minutes, frequently remarking on how good he was being and how amazed we were by this. We let our guard down to go in the tack room and eat donut holes for a few minutes. In that time--a scant few minutes, he somehow managed to rip a big gash in his fly sheet, which ended up looped around his back legs. The good news is that when we peeked out at him and discovered this unfortunate situation, he was still happily walking around his field grazing, just with very mincing short strides in the back. He looked like his back end was swaddled in a sleeping bag or something.

Maybe I'm just a little superstitious, but here's how I feel:
Never say with satisfaction, "There, that'll hold him." Because it won't.

Never say, "She's been so good this week, we'll do GREAT at the show." Because you won't.

Never say, "Oh, he's not afraid of anything." Because he is.

Say, "She's a nightmare to load; it can take HOURS." And it won't.

It's like they KNOW, and they're just waiting to do the opposite of what you expect and/or want. Just to keep you on your toes.

Life with horses is NEVER boring.

Same old, same old ... aieeeee ... same old, same old

When the girls started horse showing, a wise person, a veteran of many horse show scenes, said to me, "Face facts, you're in for hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror." She was kind of right. I'd substitute "routine" for "boredom." And while "sheer terror" seems a bit extreme, I'd definitely agree to "moments of spiking adrenaline." Like when Bestie took off bucking and backing wildly in a huge class with Maddie aboard, or when Dude suddenly decided in a halter class that he really missed his barnmate, and started rearing and dragging Katie around.

Even now that we're not showing anymore, I still find those moments. Like last week, when Katie rode Bestie. The words, "Boy, she's being really good for you" were not 30 seconds out of my mouth when Bestie shimmied away from the wall, did a little crow hop, and Katie popped off. Unhurt, luckily, but definitely emotional, miffed, and determined to get back on. Bestie stopped right away and looked down at Katie. From my perspective, Bestie looked a bit surprised to see Katie looking up at her from the dirt. To Katie's credit, she calmly walked the mare over to the mounting block, remounted and continued trotting Bestie around the arena for another ten minutes or so with no further mishap.

It seemed to me like a classic case of pissed off mare syndrome ("What??! This girl is WORKING me!"), with the tractor mower roaring by the door as a little excuse for misbehavior, followed by good behavior when she realized "Oops, I crossed the line." I think if she had really meant to be bad, she would've taken off bucking and farting as soon as Katie fell. After the ride, Katie took her back to her stall and got her tucked in for the evening. I later sidled into the stall, looked Bestie in the eye, and said firmly, "Don't you EVER do that again." Just wanted to let her know where I stand.

Photos of the kids--two- and four-legged

Finally got around to downloading a few photos...


Bestie back in her jumping days. This was her second show with us and she seemed to think the cross rail was actually a three-foot fence!


Dude always loved horse shows. You could tell he was just so happy with the door open so he could check out all the goings-on. This shot shows preparations for a 4H costume class: Dude as a garden (involving flowers in his hair and a garden complete with "stepping stones" on a cotton sheet) and Katie as a gardener. Fun stuff.

Today she rode and he looked really good. An earlier post mentioned what seemed like a hind end problem, but he looked perfectly sound today at the canter and trot. In fact, I thought his trot today looked amazing, a nice slow Western jog in good form. Maybe he is getting back into shape now that she's been home over a month.

Someone had put lots of poles down in different configurations in the arena, so I got on Bestie and rode around at the walk over the poles for a little bit. Then we went around the field to end the ride... always nice and you can tell the horses like getting out of the arena. We may swap horses tomorrow for a ride.

Mellow Mare loves her new supplement

I've been getting catalogs from Chamisa Ridge for a while; years, probably. I think we ordered a really nice show brush set from them when the girls first hit the show circuit. A few weeks ago I was perusing their most recent catalog and noticed a product called Mellow Mare, full of herbs that are supposed to take the edge off a mare. Who wouldn't love a product description that begins, "The female equine can be a rather complicated animal..."!

I ordered it and Bestie has been on it for two weeks. I vaguely remember that I read the product's effects wouldn't show for a month or so, which I think is pretty much standard procedure for most of the herbal supplements. Plus, I started her on a half dose for a week just to make sure she wouldn't have any adverse effects.

So there's nothing really to report as of yet except that she LOVES the stuff. And I mean loves it like a cat with catnip! The first day I brought it into the barn I opened her door and announced "Here's your new supplement," while holding the container in the doorway. She sniffed it and started pushing it around; I thought she would knock it out of my hands. Then, a few days later, I was sitting in the aisle mixing up her supplement bags, and when I started scooping the Mellow Mare she started nickering and craning her neck out of the stall, almost like it was feeding time. Not sure which ingredient entices her so, but I bet she would eat the mix out of my hand.

I'll give it another few weeks to see how she does. All I'm looking for is a bit less of "the edge" and a little softening and relaxation.

Rode again!

I had good intentions to get on Bestie again this weekend, but on Saturday I filled in for an absent stall mucker, and by the time I got done, I was tired. It was a really hot day, and it just seemed like a good decision to get the horses comfortable in their stalls after turning them in, with fans going and a flake of hay each, and head for home. Pretty much the same story for Sunday ... Katie and I went to the barn intending to ride, but it was just so HOT! I lunged Bestie and Katie hand-grazed and hosed Dude, who was sweaty from the heat.

Last night a storm went through and the temperature dropped nicely. Seems like that has been the weather story the past few weeks: hot, storm, cool. So Katie and I both rode today. I decided to live on the edge and not lunge Bestie beforehand. She was good, but still just so speedy walking around the field. If I try to half halt her she pulls an attitude and starts tossing her head around. I really try to keep my hands quiet and only pull when I feel I need to. I also try to sit deep in the saddle, so as to say to her with my body language, "We're NOT in a hurry here!"

When we got back to the barn she was sweaty under the saddle pad. I think it was just because she gets herself all worked up, because all we did was walk around the field for 15 minutes. She had a few opportunities to really be bad, like when one of the Arabians started racing around on the lunge line in the arena just as we were heading out the arena door, or when another horse tried to bolt out the arena door with his rider right as we were heading in. Amazingly (to me), she didn't use either of those opportunities to misbehave. She is a study in contradictions!

I rode!

Yesterday I got on Bestie for the first time since late February. It has been a l-o-n-g time! I lunged her first (better safe than sorry) and she got a little racing around out of her system that way. I only rode a couple of times around the indoor and then went out with Katie into the field next to the outdoor ring and did a lap around that. All told, maybe 15 minutes on her at most.

She was good. She broke into a trot as we turned around and headed back toward the barn, but settled right back down into a walk when I pulled back on the reins. She walks so much faster than Dude that I'm always twisting around in the saddle to talk to Katie when we're out on the horses. I'd love it if Bestie would just amble along like Dude does. Her whole way of going is very "up" and I'm just not used to it or comfortable with it. I think I've seen her going full tilt with Maddie one too many times to feel very secure.

The funny thing is that considering how high strung she is, she does have a nice little Western jog. It's just that she won't do it for long before she starts speeding up. If I could get her to jog along as a regular practice, I'd be so happy. I guess it will take a lot more work on my part to achieve that. In any case, it was fun to be back in the saddle again!

First hot weather of the season

This weekend summer hit with a vengeance. Friday was nice; in fact, I remember debating whether to add a sweatshirt to the long sleeved shirt I wore to the barn. Then on Saturday the heat and humidity arrived. It was kind of nice, since spring was so cool, to actually feel summer heat. But as that heat continued into Tuesday with temps in the high 80s and low 90s and horrible humidity, humans and equines both seemed to get a little sick of it. We're just not used to it here in northern VT.

On Sunday, the people who brought in the horses told us that Dude was at the gate after about an hour of turnout time. He is terrible with the heat, I guess due to his bulk. He gets really sweaty. We had hooked up fans to their stall doors, so those ran all weekend, which definitely helped them while they were in their stalls. Pretty much all the horses at our barn have their own fans (just another thing my South Dakota part time rancher grandfather would've snorted about).

Same story weather-wise on Monday. The girl doing turn-in ended up hosing Dude and about four of his afternoon compatriots because they were so sweaty. On Tuesday, barn workers decided to do shortened turnout so that all the horses got back into the barn by early afternoon. That turned out to be a good thing because some rip-roaring storms came through later in the day, complete with hail, high winds and driving rain. It was a mess last night during the storms, but all that crazy weather action did break the humidity and high temps.

We woke up this morning to temps in the high 50s. I can just picture all the horses rejoicing and doing a happy tear-around the fields at turn-out time today.

Back to blogging

Geez, I feel guilty for not posting in so long, but the roadblocks have either been a) kids on the computer or b) out of town for college reunion (very fun!). The girls took care of the ponies while I was out of town.

Katie and I went to the barn on Monday and I lunged Bestie and she decided to just handgraze Dude because he seemed a little tired and sweaty. It was humid, and he takes a while to adjust to that because he's so hefty.

He was so cute. Katie was standing in front of him braiding his forelock, just for something to do, and he was dozing, doing the sleepy eyed thing. Then she switched to braiding his mane and he kept nuzzling her and resting his head on her shoulder. It was so funny because he seemed like he was about to nod off and hardly realized what he was doing.

Tuesday I had to go to the barn to meet the farrier because Katie had her internship. He was really pleased with Dude's feet. They do seem better, harder and not as squishy/thrushy as they frequently are. We've been consistent about treating them. Love The Sauce from Equilite!

The only worrisome thing was that Dude didn't seem to want to get his left hind up to be trimmed. It seemed something was bothering him. I couldn't decide if the lifting was uncomfortable or he didn't want to put weight on his right hind. Katie hasn't noticed him being "off." We had this problem before when he had that hip injury three (?) years ago. Will have to investigate further. Aaaaargh. There's always something to worry about.

Pass the liniment, please

One of the barn's regular Sunday stall muckers asked me if I would fill in for her while she was on vacation, and I said sure. I do it periodically, maybe twice or three times a year when people need a fill-in, and it's nice to have the credit taken off our board for the following month. I just usually try NOT to join the muck squad when hockey is in season because it's just too much for my back and arm muscles to bear!

So today I headed to the barn at 7 am, with one little stop at Dunkin' Donuts for a box of donut holes--the perfect snack for extended periods of stall cleaning. There were three of us today, and we were done by 10:30, fueled by Munchkins and grateful that stalls were reduced in number since a few horses have left the barn and a bunch of the Arabians were away this weekend at a show.

I did eight stalls, and I'm paying for it tonight. Got to find the arnica cream or Sore No More. To be honest, it might not have been so bad except that I came home and finished painting the bathroom, spread compost and mulch, and mowed the grass around the fire pit. And then jumped on my bike. It was just one of those gorgeous sunny days when it's easy to keep on the move.

I didn't do much of anything with Dude or Bestie, except to graze Dude for a bit before turning him out, and soap up Bestie's lower legs with antibacterial scrub since she stands in the swamp and eats the grass there practically the whole time she's out. She doesn't seem to have any ill effects from standing in the muck, but I scrub her every once in a while, mainly to make myself feel better, I guess.

Dude was a little at loose ends once turned out because his neighbor Dakota wasn't yet out. First I thought it was the bugs, so I sprayed him again, but he kept standing at his gate gazing expectantly toward the barn. Paige, who works almost daily at the barn, said, "Oh, he'll be fine as soon as Dakota comes out." She sees it all and if you inquire, she is good at giving a synopsis of your equine kid's day, reminiscent of a day care provider's feedback on whether your child played nicely or not and whether they ate all their lunch. Reassured by her comment, I headed home. I think Dude and Bestie were both just as happy to have a quiet day with sunny turnout and a little pre-hay stall nap. A leisurely day for them!

Pondering poop

I bet I think more about poop now than at any time since the girls were babies and the contents of their diapers were of utmost interest. It's such an indicator of a horse's well being. Is it firm? Green? Runny? Frequent? Few and far between?

Today I got to the barn and Dude's stall was perfectly clean. That is definitely out of the ordinary because normally his stall gets mucked by about 9/9:30 a.m., and then he stands there for at least another hour, perhaps longer, before getting turned out. Plenty of time to leave a couple piles--which is usually what we find when we show up in the late afternoon.

Hmmmn. No poop always gives me a bit of a twinge of unease, since most of the horses that have colicked in the barn have always started the process with minimal poop. I looked at Dude. He looked at me. He had his usual just-in-from-turnout dozy look. No sign of discomfort. So I filled his water bucket, then went and did Bestie's stall and water bucket. Every time I'd go down the aisle I'd do a poop check. He'd look back at me like "What's your problem??"

I split half a flake of hay between him and Bestie. Finally, about 5, I went by his stall again, and he'd pooped. Hurray!

The no-poop situation doesn't happen often, but when it does I always dredge up one of my favorite little memories. We hadn't had Dude long (meaning we didn't know him or his habits well), and it had been a hot day and I think he might have worked hard or had a show or something the day before, so he was a little sluggish. And he didn't seem to be pooping at the usual rate. We hung about wringing our hands and peering into his stall periodically in hopes of spotting a pile. Finally, we gave up and started to head home for dinner, leaving instructions with the barn manager to keep an eye on him. As we were backing away from the barn, she came running down the aisle of the barn shouting, "He pooped, he pooped!" High fives and a general feeling of relief all around.

What makes 'em tick?

I spend a lot of time thinking about why Dude and Bestie behave the way they do. Horse behavior--both with other horses and with humans--is really interesting to me. Take yesterday, for instance. It was a nice day, and by the time Katie and I got to the barn, Bestie had already done her shift outdoors and Dude was nearing the end of his shift.

Katie started mucking his stall and gathering up brushes to groom him, when all of a sudden in came barn manager Lisa leading her horse Dakota and Dude. "We've got the goofiest Quarter Horses around," she laughed. Seems she had been going down the grassy walk between the pastures with the mowing tractor and Dude and Dakota started tearing around in a panic. The tractor, which they have seen a MILLION times, both operating as well as parked, was all of a sudden very scary. Why?

Another perplexing thing... One day while I was handgrazing Dude, Paul, the Arabian trainer at the barn, came out in his new training cart hitched to his filly. The training cart is very open, and Paul stands upright in it. The whole effect is sort of Roman charioteer in the 'burbs of Vermont. I saw it before Dude did and my first thought was "Here we go!" I was convinced that Dude would have a huge freak-out fit with me frantically maintaining a death grip on the end of the lead rope.

He looked up from grazing as the cart approached, checked it out for a moment, heaved a sigh, and went back to grazing. Why?

On the other hand, Bestie, who is pretty ho-hum about most new and interesting sights, saw the same cart yesterday and promptly went into total panic mode. Big up-and-down prancing, tail straight up, lots of snorting. I had the distinct feeling that I would not win any attempt to hold her in place to look at the cart in a reasonable way, so I led her back to the barn. She absolutely was having nothing to do with the contraption. Why?

Like I said, I think a lot about why they act the way they do. But I sure don't come up with too many conclusive answers!

From Barbie Horse to Swamp Monster...

... in a matter of hours.

When Katie and I went to the barn last Wednesday we bathed Dude and Bestie. They were way overdue; Dude had probably last been bathed before Katie left in August and I think I did Bestie some time in September. The blankets went on in November and stayed on until April. Of course they were getting groomed for the most part every day, but still, they just get so gunky and dandruffy that the first warm day with enough time for a bath is cause for great celebration.

Our barn has a great wash stall. It's centrally located in the building with cross ties and hot and cold water. So bathing is not a logistical big deal at all. The most challenging part of the whole process is getting the water temperature right, because it seems that when anyone turns the sink on in the tack room it affects the water temperature in the wash stall. Bestie very definitely likes her water lukewarm.

She's very cooperative in the wash stall and stands pretty still the entire time but does NOT like having the hose anywhere near her face. I usually have to towel rub her face. Toward the end of this particular bath she got a little prancy because the cart with everyone's grain went by, but all in all the bath was pretty painless. I took her out afterwards to let her graze and she looked nice and shiny. I always see a few spots I missed... grrr. I left her tucked in the for night, bright-eyed and sleek, happily eating her hay.

The Horse Illustrated cover girl look didn't last for long. Her field has a wet spot that runs right through the middle of it. Some horses don't like to go in that area, but it doesn't bother Bestie. So of course I was thrilled (yeah, right!) to arrive at the barn the next day and see my formerly clean little princess with caked mud up to her hocks and splatters of mud on her sides and stomach like some kind of wierdly marked Appaloosa. I could just see her happily trotting through the muck to get mouthfulls of the tall grass in that wet area, splashing right through it and probably throwing in a roll at the mucky edge for good measure. Clean-and-shiny NEVER lasts very long. There's definitely a lot of elbow grease involved in keeping horses somewhat clean.

Dude and Katie reunited

Yay! With Katie home, she has taken over Dude-related responsibilities again. Yesterday I went to the barn after multiple errands and happened to be there when she arrived. I lunged Bestie and Katie rode Dude around in the indoor while Bestie trotted around in circles (with only one brief galloping snorting "I need longer turnout" moment).

I wondered what Dude thought this year as Katie popped back into his life during her school breaks in November, December, March and now. Did he wonder what had happened to her and where she went during those weeks he didn't see her? I watched them in the indoor and he looked really happy; his little ears were up and he had a lot more pep in his step than he does with me. I think he loves having his kid back aboard.

I like being at the barn with Katie. We talk as we pass one another in the aisle or in the tack room, or we take them out to graze and chat then. It's just sort of laid-back idle chat but it helps me tune in to her life. At the barn, she does her thing efficiently and doesn't complain about the work. She just does it.

We both decided independently that today should be Bath Day, since it's supposed to be in the upper 70s and may even hit 80 degrees. Both Dude and Bestie need good scrubs after a winter in blankets and the past week rolling around in mud in the pasture. (No matter how dry the fields seem, they always seem to find a mud spot.) More later on Bath Day. I'm looking forward to deep inhalations of their pina colada scented hair conditioner!

Happy tears and sad tears

I'm such a weeper when it comes to horses. When I took the Equissage massage class in Virginia several years ago, we watched a video of an amazing dressage ride at the Washington International Horse show. It was so absolutely beautiful and moving, I cried. (Actually, I'm pretty sure all of us in the room did!)

During that same week, Mary the Equissage founder (an amazing lady) read the Horse's Prayer to us. I cried. I get teary-eyed during horse races, I get teary eyed during Club Class at 4H shows. I just can't help it.

A few weeks ago I did a search on Google. I can't remember the exact terms, but it was something like "horse mom" because I wanted to see if anyone else had a blog similar to mine. I came upon lots of fun reading, but there's one I've returned to over and over.

The address is http://www.savingargus.blogspot.com/ and it's the story of a woman's rescue of a Thoroughbred who had been in a pen for most of his 16 years, with very little human contact. It's a heart warming story and I marvel at her commitment. Talk about happy tears and sad tears!

Pony withdrawal

I'm going through pony withdrawal because I haven't seen the horses since Friday. I went over to the barn Friday morning and lunged Bestie, then hand grazed her and Dude. They had already been through their short turnout shifts by 11 a.m., so I felt kind of sorry for them facing stall confinement for the rest of the day.

We left that afternoon to head to Connecticut to attend our niece's first communion and to pick Katie up from college. Missions accomplished! It was great to see the family and to have Katie back at home for the summer. When we got back to VT on Sunday I helped her unload the car while Maddie and Kris took off for the kennel to grab the dogs. We had cut it close, arriving home at about 3:30 with the kennel due to close at 4:00.

Didn't make it to the barn that day (had to run up to work for a couple hours after returning home) or today (eye doctor appointment, massage, grocery shopping), which is why I'm suffering pony withdrawal symptoms. I really do miss them when I don't see them for a couple of days. Katie ran over tonight to say hi to Dude, and cleaned their stalls and made sure both were ok. I'm sure Bestie's filthy after going out all weekend and not being brushed since Friday. My grooming work will be cut out for me tomorrow!

Happy days are here again!

Turnout is back! The horses went out yesterday and today. As I type this, it is raining, and it's supposed to continue through tomorrow, so tomorrow is iffy. Oh well.

Lisa fenced off the fields to reduce them by half, so all the horses have access to the front half to let the grass keep growing unmunched upon in the back half. The fields are really in desperate need of fertilizing and reseeding; there's not much good grass. There's a decent amount of fields for turnout, but they're all taken because each horse goes out alone. When we first moved to the barn, Bestie went out with a couple mares (who have since left) and Dude went out with another gelding, Cullen. Cullen tended to bite on Dude in the winter when he wasn't distracted by grass, so they ended up getting separated.

I think Dude likes have a buddy to go out with; even now, he tends to stay along the fenceline if one of his "friends" is in the next field. When we first got him, he was out in a field with four other geldings and did fine. He paired up with Damian, an older guy, and they would stand at the fenceline and check out the mares in the next field.

Bestie doesn't seem to care if she's with anyone or not. She was kind of bossy with her pasture mates before, especially when it was time to come in; they would all jockey for position at the gate.

Today I grazed Dude and Bestie for about ten minutes each because they both seemed frantic to get out of their stalls, even though they had their two hour shifts outside earlier in the day. The amount of time will gradually increase over the next 1-2 weeks to prevent the chance of laminitis from overconsumption of the rich spring grass. Only the horses that have been hand grazed regularly over the last month are getting two hours.

Soon they'll get up to 4 1/2 to 5 hours outside and resettle into the routine. Life gets a lot easier when turnout starts up again.

The Derby

After watching the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, I wanted to drive right back to the barn and give Dude and Bestie a big hug. The breakdown and euthanization of filly Eight Belles right after the race was just so sad.

I always watch the Derby, actually any race, with trepidation. On the one hand, the horses are so beautiful going to the gate, and galloping down the home stretch. But I absolutely hate the whole part as they come out of the gate and start fighting for position. I watch it with my heart pounding, willing everyone, horses and riders, to stay upright and safe. And now, after watching--actually 'imagining' is more like it since they didn't show it on camera--Eight Belles' breakdown right after the race, it makes me want to never to watch a race again.

It's that powerful combination of athleticism and beauty cut down by lightening-quick blink-of-an-eye tragedy that makes me feel so sad. The vision of an animal giving its all, and then dead a few minutes later, the victim of a horrible accident. It seems like her death is generating a lot of questions about horse racing (again). I just hope that everyone involved in the sport from breeding to training to facilities to races tries to make it as safe as possible for the horses and their riders.

Attack of the killdeer

I had Dude out handgrazing today and was just starting to relax after manhandling him through the indoor arena (strutting trot combined with lots of "look at me going outside" snorting). All of a sudden a killdeer does this piercing call, seemingly right at his hooves. I jumped a mile. Dude didn't blink an eye. I guess he had seen it pretending to be hurt in the grass and was just planning on eating around it. The killdeer kept doing its thing, frantically dragging its faux hurt wing around and loudly shrieking. I know they're supposed to sound like "killdeer, killdeer," but this one just sounded like "KEE KEE KEE." Dude kept eating. He was probably within two feet of it when the killdeer seemingly figured out its routine wasn't working and got up to scoot over to its mate about 20 feet away. Dude rolled his eyes in its direction as it departed but never picked his head up from the grass.

Grass, glorious grass

Since I lunged Dude and Bestie yesterday, I decided to give them both the day off and just hand graze them. I developed a routine a few weeks ago after taking Dude out and having him leap and buck and rear around me ... one of the hazards of no turnout is very dramatic forms of misbehavior. My routine is this: arrive at the barn and open Bestie's door (she's trustworthy with the stall guard). Say hello to Dude but leave his door closed (he has busted right through several stall guard spring clips). Grab a couple horse treats and put 2-3 drops of Equilite's Mellow Out on each treat, let it soak in, then feed each of them one. Muck one stall while waiting for Mellow Out to do its thing. Take Bestie out for hand grazing, bring her back in and then take Dude out. That whole process usually takes about 45 minutes.

I wrote about the Mellow Out in an earlier post. It really does seem to calm them down. I've been putting it in their water too for about three weeks and am on a second bottle. It does take a while to work and I really should've started it while they were still getting turned out. We've tried Bestie on all sorts of natural calming supplements and this is the only one that seems to work somewhat. She can definitely be the poster girl for crazy mare syndrome.

Even with the Mellow Out, they're still absolutely frantic when they get out there, ripping at the grass and practically inhaling it. After about 5 minutes I can see them start to calm down, blowing a little air through the nose, slowing down and becoming a little more methodical in their eating. The Zen of Grazing.

A dreaded rainy day

Currently our horses are not on turn out because once spring comes our barn owner likes to give the fields a chance to dry out and let the grass grow before all the horses start chomping it down. Makes perfect sense, but spring is still a very stressful time for horses and owners. Usually the horses are in for about a month, depending on when the snow melts and the fields thaw and then dry out. If it's a good snow year they're usually out through the end of March and
then stall bound for most of April and into early May.

I just checked my turn out record and they've been in about a month now. Now that we've been through this for four years, I see the cycle. For the first week they're in, Dude and Bestie are both really grouchy about the confinement. By the second week they're resigned to their fate. Then, when the grass starts to grow and it gets warmer and the smell of spring is in the air, they get stir-crazy, communicating in their horsey way (pawing, pushing at the stall door) that it's time to get on with life and GET OUTSIDE.

Last week it seemed like turn out was coming, because we had two weeks with temperatures in the 60s and 70s and the fields were looking great. We all go out and handgraze our horses in the common area around the two riding rings and talk wistfully about the grass and how it's growing. But yesterday and today we got a ton of rain, so the fields are back to being really spongey and it's not looking like turnout will occur anytime soon. Ugh.

Bestie and Dude got spoiled with the nice weather, because I'd arrive and immediately take them out one at a time to graze them for about a half hour each. Yesterday, when it was drizzly, I mucked their stalls and killed a little time hoping that the rain would stop. They were both really antsy. But the rain did slow down to a slight mist so I was able to get them both out for about 20 minutes each. It's not much time to be out of the barn and I feel bad for them, but there's only so much I can do between work and getting home for dinner. When I do have more time on Fridays (my day off) and weekends, I try to keep them outside for a longer period. It's just a horrible time of year with cranky horses and humans!

Then they go out for the summer and usually in November we get another month of stay-in time because the fields get wet and muddy prior to winter. Oh well. I've learned to put up with this given the fact that they are in a lovely barn and are fed on time and correctly. You learn to choose your battles!

Meet Bestie

Now for Princess Bestie. She really is a princess: pretty, fine boned, very demanding, very "it's all about me." She's a Paint mare but everyone assumes she's a Thoroughbred because of her looks and demeanor. That's her "Horse Illustrated" cover shot above (not really!).

Whereas acquiring Dude was a drawn-out process, Bestie pretty much popped into our lives. Maddie was leasing an older horse and interested in jumping more, so her trainer at the time started looking around. She had seen Bestie previously when she was looking for a horse for another family, and made arrangements for Bestie to come to us on a trial period. A pretty extended trial period, it might have even been a year. She was on a farm in eastern Vermont, and between the weather there and the condition of the dirt road leading to our barn, her arrival date changed from week to week. Finally, in late April she arrived, tethered all by herself in a big stock trailer, looking pretty ratty and a bit skinny after a winter out in the field. What struck me was how accepting she was of the whole situation, coming off the trailer to a bunch of people standing around, and being led into a new barn. Right from the start she was great in the stall and great to handle. Although it took two broken halter crowns until we realized she needed to get used to being on cross ties!

Maddie didn't get on her for a few weeks, until Bestie put weight on. The first time Maddie got on, Bestie reared and I thought, "Oh my God, what have we gotten ourselves into??" She's definitely a rearer when she gets ticked off. A rearer and a prancer. The rearing occurs fairly rarely, but the prancing occurs pretty often. She's tempermental and will fight you constantly if she doesn't want to do something. Amazingly, the only time Maddie came off of her was when Maddie was fooling around, spinning in the saddle, and Bestie I guess had had enough, popped a little buck and off Maddie came.

Lots of ups and downs with this mare. With Dude it was injury-related ups and downs, with Bestie it's been temperament. Maddie and Bestie had their share of successes, but it was never easy and never predictable. You really have to pick your battles with Bestie (with Maddie too, come to think of it!).

You're probably wondering why on earth we bought her. Well, we were on a girls' vacation with some friends, two months after her arrival, and my husband took it into his head to finalize the purchase while we were out of town! To this day I'm not sure what possessed him to do that. If he hadn't done that, to be honest, I'm not sure what we would have done; if we would have stuck with the lease then sent her back, or in fact purchased her after Maddie had a few more months with her. Who knows! In any case, she's part of the family now.

We had the horse psychic talk to Bestie, too. Actually I shouldn't say "we," because it was all my idea (the girls thought I was crazy). She characterized her as a Chatty Cathy, a very social, nosy busybody mare with strong opinions about everything. Yep.

One funny thing about her is that she's the mirror image of the horse I had growing up. Black mare, little star on the forehead, little rear sock.

Things I love about Bestie: Her high pitched whinny as soon as she hears me, sometimes even when she hears my car pulling in; how she delicately goes to the back of stall to poop; how she nuzzles different fabrics--she loves Velcro and nylon; how in the spring she will handgraze and seemingly not come up for air, just methodically eat and eat and eat.