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.