Day #2

Last night/this a.m. I woke up at 1:30 convinced that something terrible had happened at the barn. Just one of those typical wee hours irrational feelings, like Dude had gotten his teeth hung up in the mesh biting at his neighbor, or something. So when the phone rang at 6:45 this morning I jumped to answer it. It was a call from the barn with a modification to the plan that was developed last night -- which was that Dude would get turned out with his new pasturemates upon my arrival at the barn, planned for 7:30. They had decided to go to Plan B. No great surprise: he threw a major fit once he saw everyone getting turned out before him. So they decided to put him out, which was fine, and all went well. He got one small bite on his rump which took some hair off but didn't break the skin. When I got there after 4 pm, he was still outside, hanging out in the top half of the field with a barn kitty in his leftover hay. His pasture mates had been brought in to be ridden. But he seemed fine (--she writes with utter disbelief!).

When I went out to get him, he turned and looked at me and then slowly ambled toward me. Huh. I walked him into the indoor since we hadn't explored that yet. We did a loop around it, and then I brought him to his stall, where he promptly pooped and peed and started happily eating his hay. Even the threatening faces at his next door neighbors were few and far between tonight.

When I arrived at the barn, Bestie was also still out with her girl gang, and was grazing quite happily next to Molly, her nemesis from yesterday. Very funny. They worked it out, apparently. So much so that when the barn manager started bringing horses in, she brought in Bestie and Molly together.

I'm a pretty cautious person, so far be it from me to pronounce this move successful at the end of Day #2. But things are looking pretty darn good. :)

On the road again ...

Daughter settled and happy at college, check.
Horses moved and happy at new barn; check. Well, kind of.

Got them moved with no incident; in fact they were model ponies loading, riding, and unloading. Except that Dude made a teeny tiny misstep backing out of the trailer and somehow stepped on himself and yanked his shoe mostly off. So the barn manager very helpfully pulled it all the way off so that he wouldn't make an awkward, embarrassing shoe-dragging entry into the new place. And the good news is that our farrier is coming to the new place in two days to do another horse so he'll be able to tack the shoe back on. I need to remember to give him a call tomorrow with an alert.

Got them both situated in their stalls directly across from each other. I decided that was best, since I thought they'd settle in more calmly if they could see each other. And they did. Then, in consultation with the barn owner and manager, I decided to turn them out and see if they would get adjusted to new fields and field buddies while I was hanging around, rather than waiting until tomorrow when I'd be at work.

Grazed Dude for a bit before taking him out to the field. Bestie whinnied (she was still in the barn) and he would answer her in a tone of consternation. Then he spotted turkeys across the road. At least I think that's what he was looking at. I couldn't really tell if it was the turkeys or the black and white paint that was staring fixedly at Dude from a corner of a paddock. I thought maybe Dude thought the paint was a dreaded cow. I mean, who really knows what he thinks? Whatever the problem was, we had a few minutes of him snorting and running around me in circles, then he settled down. When I finally walked him down and put him in a field it was kind of anticlimactic; he strolled around, rolled, then positioned himself at the fence and watched the mares next door.

When I brought Bestie out she was really good. She went into the field quietly. Once I unclipped her she started trotting around with her tail in the air. Two of the mares pretty much ignored her, but Molly, a little Morgan with BIG attitude, was determined to show Bestie who's in charge. They finally reached detente with no mishaps and just a few isolated squeals whenever one would cross the other's line of vision. Dude would get very agitated whenever the mares would squeal. "No conflict, girls, let's all settle down and just be friends," seemed to be his line. Once the mares quieted, he parked himself in the corner up by the gate and alternately dozed and watched Bestie graze her way around the field.

I brought them in just ahead of the other horses at turn-in time, and that set up a whole new thing to get used to: horsey neighbors peering at them throught the wire mesh at the top of the stalls. Bestie wasn't too bad, but Dude absolutely could not settle down with his neighbor, for some reason. He'd grab a mouthful of hay and then snort and stomp around to glare threateningly at the perfectly nice mare next door. I picked out his feet and did the same for Bestie. On my way out I thought, what the heck, I'll put some Mellow Out in their water buckets. I'm trying to be patient and remember back to when we moved to Fairfax and EVERYTHING was scary for a few days. I hope that once Dude ate tonight he simmered down out of pure exhaustion ... lots of new experiences, and two turnouts in one day! No calls from the barn (yet) that he's driving anyone crazy!

A week of changes

Here's the week thus far: Lovely dinner out Sunday night to celebrate Maddie's 18th birthday with a few of her friends, followed by packing frenzy for college Monday - Tuesday, then Tuesday afternoon departure for college with a first stop to drop off additional items with Katie at her school (at 10 pm because that's when she was able to get out of training), followed by midnight arrival at hotel located in between the two schools. Early morning wake-up and drive to Maddie's school on Wednesday. Unloading of all her stuff, family lunch in school cafeteria, departure after big hug. Something eaten on the way home made both of us feel sick, bleh. Home around 5:30 pm. Quick trip to barn once home to check on ponies ... then to bed, a little road weary.

Back up today for work. After work, off to the barn. Yoga this pm, happy sigh :). Now home at the way-too-quiet empty nest. Thinking about all the things I don't have to do on a regular basis anymore, like listening for someone's safe arrival home in the wee hours, or negotiating who is going to use which car and when. It will all definitely take some getting used to.

Tomorrow, work a half day then pack up what stuff Maddie didn't get together for Tuesday's departure. Trip to barn, hope to at least lunge Bestie. On Saturday we go back to Maddie's school for a wrap-up presentation of the community service program she is doing prior to the start of classes, convocation, and a little open house with the school president. Back home later that day.

And on Sunday, I move the horses to a new barn. I've looked at it twice, once with Katie, so have no worries. Barn and people (both owners and boarders) seem very nice. But change is always a bit unsettling, and I think my perspective is still colored by the unhappy ending of our last move. Hopefully we will have better luck this time. I really want it to be a long term arrangement. We will trailer over there Sunday morning. I'm anticipating Bestie will be overjoyed with the all-day turnout. Dude will take a while to get used to it, but he had all-day t/o before and was fine as long as he had pals to occupy his attention. He'll probably bellow for a bit upon arrival if he can't see where Bestie is stalled; it took a day or two for him to settle down when we moved back the last time. But they'll settle down. They always have.

Just gotta get through the week ...

The Zen of Grass Eating

I tend to graze Dude and Bestie quite a bit since they only get half day turnout. I find it very relaxing. There's just something about standing there, lead rope in hand, with not much else to do except maybe curry or brush them if I've managed to carry the necessary items out. But mainly I just stand there and watch them eat. There's something mesmerizing about it. They're just so totally focused on that single activity that I become totally focused on it also for the time we're out there together. And I've noticed that other people do the same thing. If there's no one to talk to, it just seems pretty common to stand there and idly watch the horse do his or her thing.

Today I grazed them both (separately, of course; I'm not crazy) and watched their eating styles. Bestie tends to be very methodical, covering an entire patch and taking huge bites before moving on to the next patch. Dude grazes a spot, then moves to another spot, then might move back to the first spot; totally random. Maybe it's like when people eat corn on the cob (now available fresh locally!) ... there's the typewriter style of eating straight across the cob, then starting a new row (me); the people who rotate the cob in a circle; the people who eat totally randomly all around the cob. What makes horses (or people) methodical eaters or random eaters? Who knows? That's a bit too deep to get into when I'm on the end of the lead line. The zen part of the experience is standing there with my head totally empty of any other thoughts, just watching my horses happily eat their grass. Grass is good. Life is good. Ommmmmmm.

Hose the horses. Hose the horses. Hose the horses.

OK, it's a bit ridiculous how we've had a pretty cool and rainy summer and now all of a sudden we are having total sweatbox days. It's like going from one extreme to the other. And I hate to be a whiner (I first spelled it without the "h," a little slip there since I was just thinking about having a nice cold glass of white!), but it's kind of hard to adjust to. It's funny how you adapt/or not to weather patterns. This one we're experiencing now is totally similar to the summer weather I spent years and years coping with in Virginia, and it wouldn't have fazed me at all there. But I also lived with A/C 24/7 there and had no barnyard animals.

Beginning on Thursday, all I've done is muck their stalls, graze them until the flies drive them or me crazy, and hose them down. Too hot to muster the energy for lunging or riding. One day I think I lasted maybe 4 minutes outside with Dude. When the flies starting swarming both his face and mine, that was IT; we both had a meltdown. Today was hot, but the flies weren't as bad. The horses came in around noon and hung out the whole afternoon in their stalls, which is actually pretty comfortable for them since most people have fans hung on their stall doors. I hosed Bestie, then Dude, and while I was hosing him off the hose burst a small hole and I got soaked, which felt pretty good, but I think I looked a little scary going into the grocery store later.

I guess tomorrow is supposed to the the doozy ... 90 degrees. I know some people scoff at 90 like it's nothing (my Florida-resident sister, for one), but heck, this is the North Country. In another month we'll have nights in the 40s and I can whine about that. :)

Baby Bestie

Last night I finally got around to filing a big stack of old vet and farrier receipts and this year's Coggins tests in Dude and Bestie's binders, and I came across this photo of Baby Bestie. It's actually on her registration papers. Sometimes when I arrive at the barn and she turns to look at me, she'll be in this exact position. It's kind of funny to me because it's such a "caught in the act" shot. Wish we had one for Dude too; I would've loved to see him as a colt.

Weather today: 85 degrees, 72 percent humidity. All the horses had their stall fans on, but it was still sticky in the barn. I could feel the sweat trickling down my back, ugh. Cleaned their stalls, refreshed their water, hosed them both down, and headed down the road for an ice cream cone. :)

New product from the Sore No More line

I am a HUGE fan of Sore No More; I mean, it's probably my favorite horse product ever. Part of that enthusiasm comes from the fact that I use it on myself (SNM and Bag Balm take care of just about everything, in my opinion!). For bug bites and sore muscles, it can't be beat. And that's the word around the barn (although I don't know that the makers endorse it for human use). One other positive point, it doesn't have that mentholly smell that some other muscle rubs have.

In any case, because of my love for SNM, I was pretty psyched to open up my recent issue of the Botanical Animal e-News and see that they have a new product. It's called Sore No More Sports Salve, and it seems to do what Sore No More accomplishes, plus more ... hydration of skin and shelly hooves, and helping hair to grow back from cuts and abrasions. Interesting. Of course, I'm wondering, can I use it on myself? :) Can't wait to get some.

Wild horses

My dad just sent me an article from South Dakota Magazine about a woman who is the president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB). It was interesting reading not only for the insights into the hierarchy within bands of wild horses, but also for the details on the personal commitment of this woman, Karen Sussman, to the Society's goals. She first became involved in the early 1980s, and moved the site for the ISPMB from Arizona to South Dakota when she moved there in the late eighties.

According to the article, the ISPMB currently has 350 horses on 680 acres of land near tiny Landry, South Dakota. Some placement of horses outside the refuge does occur, but the ISPMB's main goal is to preserve the bloodlines and culture, and to research behavior to better understand the horses and their "communities." Sussman even uses some of the wild horses in therapy situations, bringing them into contact with adults in alcoholism programs. Kudos to her for her activism.

I couldn't find the article on the magazine's website and so could not include a link here; however, the ISPMB has a very informative website, and in addition to details about their efforts offers links to other press coverage plus everything from horse sponsorship to travel information to visit the refuge.

A brief photo essay of Dude's primary concerns in life

Flies. Flies are bad. Bring me in. I'm on the verge of a meltdown. Maybe if I stare pointedly at my lead rope she'll put the camera away and BRING ME IN.





Hay. Why is that hay sitting way down there? Clearly the help around here doesn't "get it."

Photo shoot

Brought my camera to the barn today because Bestie's next door neighbor and boyfriend Jet is leaving. He actually has a big long Quarter Horse showname involving "Cowboy" and "Jet," but I can't remember what it is. He's about the only neighbor that Bestie has gotten along with. She and Ariele used to make awful faces at one another, and she'd squeal like crazy at Jet's predecessor, Roadie. So it's kind of sad that he's going home. If he had more white on his face, they'd be twins ... they do have the same back right sock marking. He's super sweet. In the photo, he's banging his grain bucket and she's saying, "Hey, big boy, how 'bout being neighborly and giving me some grain?" What a cute couple.