So beautiful

I just love the rolling hills around the barn. The neighborhood where our barn is located is an equestrian community; I believe that all the homes except one have horses, so barns large and small dot the area. Across the way the ring where I ride (or attempt to) is visible, and beyond that, there's a large home and barn way off in the distance. What an absolutely beautiful day to take puppy Drummer and Bestie -separately- for a stroll down the road. That's been my go-to activity with her when I'm short on time, and this week, with a couple trips to the new house required, I was definitely short on time.

Mare moments

As soon as I bring Bestie in, she goes to the rear window in her stall to gaze back at her pasture. Just in case she might have missed something in the few moments it takes us to walk to the barn.

Before I start whining about Bestie, I have to admit that my barn visits have been pretty sporadic over the last couple weeks. House stuff has picked up speed, so I've had a few days of driving the hour and a half to the new house in Culpeper, and depending on the timing of the meet up with a contractor, I often just can't make it to the barn. Throw four days away for Thanksgiving in there, too. And a couple of days of heavy rain. 

Since I had been away, I went to the barn on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend. Bestie whinnied when she spotted me, which is always heart warming. I planned to ride on Sunday since I had more time and it was a really beautiful day. Just can't get over the warm weather in November - nothing like Vermont!

After I saddled her up, we walked over to the ring, meeting ring owner Cindy and her gelding en route. Upon starting to walk with them, Bestie was positively beside herself - I don't know if it was the novelty of seeing a gelding after a few months with mares, or what. I couldn't get her settled down. I ended up walking her in the ring for about a half hour. She seemed to calm down after about 15 minutes, but when I brought her over to the mounting block she got all kooky again. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was different from the previous week, except the weather was better. No scariness. NOTHING. Very frustrating.

The next three days I was tied up with house stuff and there was heavy rain, so today was my first day out. Again, I squared away the ring plan and looked forward to a ride.

As I walked out to get Bestie from the field, she and Mia came trotting up from the lower part, then turned and stared back at the woods. There was a regular hooting noise and the crashing sound of brush from the woods. I went ahead and brought Bestie in, and Mia hung out by the gate, looking back toward the woods, but not worked up.

Once we got in to the barn Bestie was really agitated. She kept circling and looking out the back window. I finally put her lead rope back on and walked her in the stall for about 10 minutes. At some point the hooting and crashing stopped and she calmed down, but then got worked up by Percy and Jazz goofing around in the front field. Between the agitation and the time it took me to groom her, I shelved the plan to ride. I ended up walking her down the road for a short stretch, then turning her back out with Mia.

And now I'm off to New York for three days. Inconsistency with her is not a good thing, but I don't see my schedule settling down at all with the house projects kicking off and the holidays looming. Foreseeing more mare moments in my future. Yay.

Still picking at Bestie's legs

The weird follicle things I described in the last post are still popping up on Bestie's lower legs. It's making me kind of crazy.

Every other day when I visit the barn, I've taken to dousing the back of her legs just below her fetlock with Fungasol and really scrubbing the area. So far she's had the big spot that fell off when the farrier flicked it, and four or five other smaller spots; I think there's been at least one on each leg.

Then today I found a spot up higher on her right front leg. Grrr. I scrubbed it, just a small one, with Fungasol and it broke apart, which is typically what happens with the yucky things. I never see blood, just a greasy waxiness mixed with a little hair. After the scrubbing, I dab either Corona or 3-way antibiotic cream on the spot. There was one today that didn't break apart, and she let me know when to stop picking at it by continually lifting her leg out of reach from my crouched position next to her.

When I picked one off last weekend, it left a little bare spot. I couldn't find the spot today, so I guess the hair does come back in.

I keep searching online to see if I can read up on this condition, but I haven't found anything so far.

Other than picking at her legs, I handwalked her down the road and did the tail pulling for her stifles. She was great on the road - she did her usual whinny to announce her presence as we got to the road, then strolled along. Coming back up the hill to the barn, she broke into a little jog, and she looked fine. I think I'll try a short ride when I go out this weekend.

Vet check for the cellulitis

After Bestie was diagnosed with cellulitis on October 22, it took a while for the swelling in her leg to go down. Laurie poulticed her with the Sore No More poultice each evening, and I would wash it off the next day. I have to admit that the first day after poultice #1, I had the irrational hope that her leg would be back to its svelte shape. No such luck. We poulticed her leg and soaked her hoof in a povidone iodine/epsom salts/warm water bath through Thursday, when she let me know that she was done with soaking by kicking the bucket over. She had stood quite complacently Monday through Wednesday for soaking. Laurie texted me that evening, "Apparently she feels the same way about the poultice" - Bestie had given her a run for her money during application time, moving around her stall. So we decided she was feeling better. 

The leg swelling had gone down quite a bit by Thursday; in fact, her hock looked great and most of the swelling seemed to be confined to just above her fetlock. I had my fingers crossed, because we had family coming into town and running out to the barn would put quite a dent in the family time. On Friday I decided the swelling was down enough that I could take Saturday and Sunday off, but to be safe, I tacked Bestie on to the vet visit scheduled for Monday - fall shots time and teeth floating for the other horses. No texts from the barn over the weekend, which meant no change for the worse. Whew.

On Monday,  veterinarian Jana Froehling of Full Circle Equine visited and said that she thought the cellulitis had been taken care of, but that Bestie seemed uncomfortable in the stifle in that leg. The cellulitis might have been secondary to some sort of injury. At the walk, she judged her to be  2/5 on discomfort. She thought that perhaps the change in workload (going from 4 rides to 2 shorter rides a week)  might have been the culprit due to muscle atrophy. Or it could be a mysterious injury. She prescribed getting her back to work at the walk and doing small hills and poles to strengthen the muscles around the stifle. It's good that Bestie is out moving in the pasture all day. She also suggested continuing the bute for a week or so.

I asked her to look at a crusty spot just over Bestie's back exterior heel bulb. It wasn't flat like a scab. And I had also found little bumps in that same area; when I picked at them they had kind of waxy feeling. I had been spraying the area with the Fungasol just to feel proactive, ha.

Dr. Froehling said both things were a by product of Virginia's clay - that it holds water and affects the hoof with some funky things, like these follicle inflammations. She said if I could pull them off when small, fine, but not to pull the big one because it was pretty deep. She suggested coating it with something like icthammol and wrapping the area to hold warmth in, which would cause the crusty bump to break down. Because it's just a big ol' hardened mess of follicle oil. Yuck. The funny thing is, two days later the farrier came and I asked him about it. He was like, "what, this thing?" and flicked it with his finger and it came off. Bestie never even blinked. It left a rough patch, which I coated with the 3 way antibiotic cream. I'm pretty sure she's sick of me messing with her heel.

For the possible stifle injury, I walked her a bit on Wednesday and today. I've also started doing lateral tail pulls to engage and strengthen the muscles in the area. I found this article on therapy for stifle problems very helpful.

Taking it day by day. Dr. Froehling said to give rehab a couple weeks and then we could see where we're at and talk about next steps. Nice that she has existing clients down where our new house is, although I'm not yet sure where Bestie will head to once we move. Have been looking at barns online but haven't found anything yet that offers full board, has an indoor, and is convenient to the house.

Cellulitis delivers a setback

Bestie and Mia

On Saturday I got a message from the barn that Bestie seemed a little sore in one leg. When I listened to the message I could hear Bestie whinnying in outrage that she had been kept in the barn while her friends went out. 

I thought it would be better for her to go out and graze rather than stew in the barn until I could get there, so Kristy went ahead and turned Bestie out. I got to the barn around 3:30 in the afternoon, and peeked out at her while I picked out her stall, and she was grazing happily. Not so bad, I thought.

Ha. When I walked up to her in the field I could see that her left hind leg was quite swollen, right up the leg and a few inches over her hock. She was really favoring it when walking. I couldn't think of anything that had happened recently that might have caused the injury. She'd had a little scab on her coronary band that had flicked off a week ago, and I'd never actually seen any blood. Or could be an abscess, maybe. But my first worry was cellulitis, so I called the vet on weekend duty, who came promptly and confirmed my fear, with the possibility of an abscess as the cause.

Bestie got injections of anti-inflammatory dexamethasone, bactericidal antibiotic enrofloxacin, anti-edema Lasix, and antibiotic Excede. Wow. The plan going forward included a packet of enrofloxacin for 10 days, accompanied by 2 grams of bute for the first three nights ... both in her evening grain. 

The vet said that she could continue to be turned out as long as she seemed comfortable walking. On Sunday she went out. her leg was still swollen, but she was walking pretty well. I walked her around the barn, hosed and doused her leg with Sore No More, and turned her back out. Because of my hour long drive to the barn, I am typically there mid afternoon; any later runs me into horrible traffic, no matter the day. (It's been an adjustment, not being able to pop over to the barn easily, but that's another story.) I left wraps and asked Laurie if she could wrap Bestie when she came in for the evening. 

This morning. Laurie texted me that Bestie had looked good when she came in Sunday evening, but the leg had swollen back up overnight. When I got there today, the swelling actually looked better to me. I guess walking around the field during the day helps work off the swelling, and perhaps the beginning of her bute/enrofloxacin protocol the evening before was contributing. I soaked her hoof in epsom salts and betadine, and cold hosed her leg and rubbed it down with Sore No More. I had purchased a bucket of Sore No More poultice, and asked Laurie to put that on this evening. (Buying the SNM poultice was my first intro to Tri County Feeds, a pretty fun store that I'll need to pay a return visit to soon.)

So that's where we're at. Poor Bestie. At least she is perky and continuing to eat and drink well. If the leg still looks pretty swollen tomorrow I'll check in with the vet again as that would be worrisome. Bestie has never had cellulitis before. Dude had it once or twice, and I don't remember it hanging on too long with him. Fingers crossed Bestie's able to shake it quickly. Her leg was so swollen Saturday evening I'm sure it felt terrible to her.

I've been reading up on cellulitis, but it's one of those conditions that seems to come on with no clear origin. Injury and poor housekeeping were cited as two of the potential causes, and those factors certainly aren't the case here. As with most horse ailments, it seems that things can go south pretty quickly. It's been a relief to see her continue to be happy and alert since Saturday.

I thought this article in Equus magazine was about the most straightforward presentation on cellulitis of the reading I did.

Back in the saddle

It's been a process, getting back in the saddle. While our new neighborhood isn't particularly busy, from Bestie's perspective there is still a lot to look at and take in. Typically, there are cars going by on the road, people walking their dogs, lawns being mowed, and other horses doing their thing on adjoining properties. There may be turkeys passing through. Or cows mooing. As soon as I get Bestie away from the barn, she's a rubbernecker.

The first attempt at some sort of routine: one week after arriving, we spent about 20 minutes walking around a neighbor's outdoor ring. 

About a week after that, I walked her around the front field and then lunged her in a couple of flat spots. She was pretty good; only one break into a gallop. How she can lunge while craning her neck this way and that to take in the sights, I don't know.

Three days after the field lunge, I walked her back to the ring and lunged her there. She was perfect, much more at ease than during the first visit. The horses across the road came to their fenceline to watch the lunge session, which was pretty funny. Most of the session was at the walk and trot, with one circle each way at the canter.

The next day, I got on Bestie. Laurie had set up a nice little "playground" in the front pasture. Bestie and I threaded our way through the barrel line several times, went over the ground poles, and stepped over the cavalettis. She relaxed as the ride went on. It did take three attempts to get on her from the mounting block. She kept walking off right as I would step up on the block. Sigh. Patience required with that.

I planned to ride over the  past weekend, but it was incredibly windy on the day I went out to the barn. The ring sits below the neighbor's barn, so I thought it might not be too blustery there. No such luck - it was windy enough to blow jumps over in the ring, and sand in my eyes as we walked over to check out the ring situation. So I bagged it.

Yesterday we did the course in the front field again. I rode for about 25 minutes, and as with the ring, she was much more relaxed than she was during our first time out. She called out to her friends in the field and the neighbors once we got up to the course, and a chorus of whinnies answered. I rode her back to the barn when we were done. It was a gorgeous day - sunny and 70 degrees. 

I'm glad that when I head out to get her from the field, she either comes to me or waits for me to approach her. She's always happy to get turned back out for another few hours once we're done; this longer turnout is agreeing with her. 

If the weather holds, I'm hoping to ride in the ring this weekend and get back to some of the routine we were working on at Maple Valley. It's a juggling act to get good barn time, with the challenges of an hour's drive to the barn, traffic en route that can extend the drive, and any inclement weather. But all in all, we're in a good place.

Thoughts on trailering

Along the way from Vermont to Virginia, we stopped several times, which allowed Bestie to rest her legs and take a break from the constant bracing.

Over the years that we've owned Dude and Bestie and the kids were showing, my experience with trailering generally involved travel to destinations no more than a couple of hours away from home. And we never owned a trailer, so the experience also was limited to paying for someone else's services, watching the girls get the horses prepared with wraps, and then following the trailer to our destination. The prospect of trailering Bestie from Vermont to Virginia for our move was a bit daunting. A few thoughts, now that she's settled in Virginia...

If I had to do it over again, I would start the process by talking to my horsey friends to see if they have any trailering recommendations. When I got around to this (I started with web searches = mistake), one friend passed along her parents' chosen hauler for their Standardbred race horses, and another shared the contact information of the private hauler whom she has trusted with her horses over the years and many miles. It's definitely reassuring to have the opportunity to choose from haulers for whom you have personal recommendations. I would think that vets, farriers, and local tack shops would also have folks who might sing the praises of specific haulers if asked.

When I started web searching to identify a transporter, I quickly got a bit overwhelmed. Searching turned up a few companies that focus on the east coast route I needed. After looking at their websites, I turned to other sources to read more about the hauling companies; sources like the Better Business Bureau and Google review pages, and the companies' own social media pages, if they had them. Compiling all of that gave me a sense of each company, but that's all it was - a sense. 

I felt that I would need to make a decision based on my gut feeling on which option was best, given the available information. And there's nothing like mentioning you're reading up on haulers to encourage everyone to start sharing their hellish hauling stories - not exactly what I wanted to hear! Kind of nerve wracking.

In the end, the kind owner of Bestie's new barn trailered her to Virginia. 

My set of to do's prior to Departure Day...

1. Setting up a vet appointment. At the appointment, within a month of departure, Bestie received the shots she would need to transition and a health certificate. My vet also gave me two tubes of GastroGuard, and prescribed dosage as follows: 1/2 tube the day before departure, 1/2 tube the day of departure, and 1/4 tube for four days after arrival at our destination. She also gave me a tube of Ace in case Bestie got worked up on departure day (we didn't need it). She suggested bringing enough hay to offer two weeks of transition time from VT's timothy to VA's orchard grass, and to have the destination barn's nearest vet's contact information in case care was needed upon arrival (it wasn't). The appointment was a good opportunity for me to ask questions (Shipping boots or standing wraps? Standing wraps, for support on the 13 hour journey) and to be reassured (Dr. Emily's reality check for me - "Remember horses travel all over the world. In the scheme of things, Bestie's travels are nothing to worry about. Stay calm and all will be fine.")

2. Loading practice. Bestie hadn't been trailered in almost 7 years, so our new barn owner suggested practicing. We practiced once while I was still in Vermont, and then our Vermont barn owner practiced with Bestie in the week between closing on our VT house and trailering Bestie, when I was in Virginia. It all worked out great - after a little bit of "hmmn, not sure about this," she loaded fine on Departure Day. It helps that Miss Food Motivated could see the full hay net. :)

3. Filling containers with water from our VT barn's well to encourage Bestie to stay hydrated en route - familiarity. I also brought along a few small apple juice boxes to add to the water for enticement (not needed).

4. Packing all health information and my first aid kit to be accessible during travel.

5. Going through all of our horse stuff to get rid of anything we wouldn't need in our new digs. Even with a pretty extensive clean-out, a lot of full plastic totes still ended up in the trailer.

6. Making sure Bestie's routine prior to departure didn't change up too much. 

En route...

We stopped every few hours to give Bestie a chance to rest and to check on the hay and water situation. She went through a few hay bags full of hay, which was great as it kept her occupied on the long ride. She didn't drink much; luckily it wasn't super warm on travel day. 

Upon arrival...

I walked her around for several minutes so she could stretch her legs. Her stall had been bedded extra deeply to give her more cushioning in case she was a bit stiff and sore. She did drain a good portion of her water bucket once in her new stall. She had bute in her first grain meal at the new barn to also ease stiffness. 

The first week...

I came to the barn daily the first four days and groomed her and walked her. I also rubbed her legs each day with Sore No More. Turn out started right away, first as half days to ease her into the generous amount of grass in the pasture, and then to a couple overnight turnouts at the end of her first week. Basically she had a relaxed first week to settle in. One week after arrival, I handwalked her to the neighbor's outdoor sand ring with the intent of lunging her, but just walked her around for 20 minutes as she seemed a bit too "up" in the new surroundings to safely lunge.

Travel from Vermont to Virginia was a long trip for 20 year old Bestie, but she traveled and settled in well. Whew! Huge peace of mind.

So there's been a change...

We're not in Vermont any more.

We listed our house for sale in March. We had been contemplating our future, considering that Kris had been "commuting" between Vermont and Virginia for over three years. To stay in Vermont? Or to move back to Virginia? It seemed pretty clear that his job wouldn't bring him back to Vermont, so the decision was made to move to Virginia. Full circle - Virginia > Vermont > Virginia ... even a return to the condo we lived in when we were first married!

An offer was made on the house in mid July, with closing scheduled for early September. In the intervening weeks, we packed up, got rid of some stuff, did a few summer fun things, scheduled movers, and did all the other things that come with a move. That was all easy; time consuming but easy. My main concern was Bestie.

On the recommendation of a friend, I checked out a barn in northern Virginia that I ended up really liking. Unfortunately, it was undergoing major renovations and the manager couldn't commit to taking on new boarders until early September ... too late to fit into our plans. Kris suggested calling a high school friend of his, Laurie, who has horses at her home in the DC area. She had actually moved from Charlottesville, which is where we planned to look for a house, so could fill me in on area barns that might work for Bestie.

Amazingly, when I explained our situation, she offered her empty stall to Bestie. And even more amazingly, she offered to trailer Bestie down to Virginia. Laurie was planning a mid September visit to her parents in Connecticut and could "swing over" to Vermont. As I write this, after all these weeks, I am still blown away by Laurie's generosity.

To make a long story short, I left Vermont to drive to Virginia after closing on September 6. Bestie stayed in Vermont until the weekend of September 17 and 18, when I flew back and Laurie drove up via CT so that we could meet at Maple Valley and travel back to Virginia. Between September 6 and September 17, trainer Paula rode Bestie a few times, and the kind folks at Maple Valley worked to make sure she would load with no problem on D(eparture) Day, September 18. So many awesome people helped make this work!

The ride down was uneventful. Bestie was comfy in Laurie's big rig, and we stopped a few times so she could rest her legs and so we could water her and refill her hay net. Luckily it was not too warm because she didn't drink very much. 13 hours later we arrived at her new home. More thoughts on prepping for our trailer trip.

It's a cute little four stall barn off to the side of Laurie's home. Bestie is in the second stall from the right. The tack room is in the middle. The pastures are in back. Super laid back atmosphere, and she seemed to take to it right away.

Bestie looking contemplatively out her front door. The little bit of hay hanging out the side of her mouth makes me laugh. The first few days, she was on day shift turnout while the other three horses were on evening turnout. She love/love/loves her front half door and back window.

The horses' back windows look out to the  two pastures. Even when I bring her in to groom her, she gets a bite of hay to munch and then promptly goes to the back window to make sure she isn't missing any excitement in the pastures.

It's been absolutely awesome at Laurie's; I'm so relieved and happy that Bestie settled in well. She's turned out with another mare, and these two alpha girls seems to be getting along. Today, after I rode, I turned Bestie back out and she whinnied and cantered over to where Mia was grazing. Later there were a few squeals, but when I checked on them, they were grazing the fenceline together. I think there's mutual respect. :)

I'm so incredibly grateful to everyone who helped to get us moved and settled, especially to Laurie for her generosity.

Lesson day

No photo today, just a little post about our lesson today.

It wasn't a perfect lesson, as in perfect behavior. But it was a good lesson in that I felt like we've come a long way.

I was a little curious as to how things would go because we haven't had a lesson in two weeks and our rides this week were a bit all over the place.

On Tuesday, I rode without stirrups the whole time to get a feel for how I can balance. It felt really good, and Bestie felt good. We jogged along for about a half hour, around the perimeter, and some smaller circles and diagonals. One of those "sitting on the sofa" rides.

On Friday, she was so sluggish I couldn't get her going. She'd jog a few steps, then fall out of it. Her whole attitude was "meh." After about 20 minutes of this, I decided to move outside to the round pen. She perked up out there - change of scenery, cooler air, more to listen to in terms of noise on adjoining properties, lots of stuff rustling in the wind. We walked around for about 10 more minutes, and I'm pretty sure she moved at a faster pace at the walk outside than she did at the jog in the indoor.

On Saturday, we went back into the lower indoor and she was fine. Much more perky. I mentioned her sluggishness to a couple other people, who said they had noticed the same with their horses. Summer doldrums? Who knows. We had a good ride.

So today, I wasn't sure what she'd be like. She was a little sluggish at the beginning, and Paula was after me to get after Bestie. After jogging the perimeter and doing some quarter lines, Paula set up a fan pattern with 3 rails on the ground. I don't know how many times we circled and went through going counter clockwise, but initial attempts were a little, um, ugly due to operator error. I didn't keep her on the circle, so we'd kind of drift out after the third rail rather than continuing to head on a circle to the left. I have this problem with getting my leg on her behind the girth - it's so awkward for me. We got better, though.

But when it was time to switch and go clockwise, Bestie decided she had had enough. No more sluggishness ... the speed demon took over. The difference is that now I can ride her speedy trot, and I have a little internal checklist of things I can do to slow her down. Sitting deep, half halts, circling. It took a while, but she finally calmed down and we walked through the fan a few times, then jogged around the  perimeter again and in a few small circles to end on a good note.

These little outbursts have become few and far between. I'm just so happy that we can work through them, that with a calm response, she does return to the task at hand.

The horses are big fans ...

... of fans! And 'tis the season for fans, and thank goodness for 'em, as we've had a few days of hot and humid weather.

I think the hard thing in Vermont is that the weather can change so quickly, and we never have enough of a stretch of any particular type of weather to get used to it. Typically (if there is anything typical about Vermont weather), when the hot and humid weather comes, it comes suddenly, with a vengeance.

When I first moved to this barn, they had two huge barn fans, one at the very end of the aisle and one in the middle of the barn. Those suckers were crazy powerful. They were probably a good 4 feet in diameter and stood a little higher. Dude and Bestie seemed to love being on the cross ties a few feet down the aisle from the midpoint fan on hot days - I couldn't blame them; it was a good spot.

The two monster fans died several years ago, and the solution was to double up on box fans in the same locations. I guess the monster fans are pretty expensive to replace. A few horses have fans on their doors. But not every horse can have one because it would overload the electricity. I tried a battery operated fan on Bestie's door last summer, but it didn't move much air and the batteries didn't last long enough to make it worth it. Larry has strategically placed a few fans above the walls in between stalls about half way down from the doubled-up fans. All in all, the whole arrangement seems to work pretty well until we get a day in the upper 80s with high humidity.

That's what we had last week, and that's when the low ceiling of the barn really holds in the heat. It's sticky and gross. The floors get wet from the humidity. The barn smells sort of zoo-like. It was worst mid week.

I had ridden Bestie on Sunday and her breathing seemed a bit rough. We didn't do much at the trot after I noticed it; we kind of took it easy. I rode again on Tuesday and she was fine. Then on Wednesday it was super hot, so I didn't ride. In fact, I ended up not riding again until my lesson today - Saturday. We were kind of off our game this week - off the regular schedule, anyway. Looking forward to getting back in the swing of things this coming week.

Where is June going?

May flew by, June is flying by. By and large, the weather has been AWESOME, and that has meant that Larry at the barn has been able to get hay in. 

Bestie is a big fan of the new hay. We had gotten to the point where last year's hay looked really brown and dry. The horses were eating it, but this fresh cut is a big hit. Between being out on grass and the arrival of the new hay, she's had a few gassy spells. Probably brought on by the fact that she's not a girl who ever says, "Oh, none for me, thanks. I'm full."

Our lesson schedule has gotten a bit topsy turvy because I was out of town at the end of May, and out of town again over Father's Day weekend. It was nice that Paula rode her those two weekends. 

The week before I left in June, she seemed a little funky. I had ridden her on Sunday, and she was great. Then I went to ride Tuesday, and she seemed kind of stiff in the hind end. The next day she seemed better, but I decided to lunge her for a couple minutes - didn't notice anything. On Thursday I rode, but just at the walk. We went down to the big arena; she seems to like the deep footing in there.

Paula rode her on Saturday while I was gone and said she was great. Who knows about the mystery funkiness. Maybe she was a little stiff and ouchy while in heat. I've only ridden twice this week. Looking forward to my lesson tomorrow and getting back in the swing of things.

A great article - Aging Gracefully, on trailridermag.com

Back in the saddle

Paula rode Bestie last weekend while I was away. Peace of mind for me knowing she was getting a little exercise in my absence. I heard via text that it went well, but haven't had a chance to get the full scoop; will get that tomorrow night when I have my lesson.

I got back into town on Monday. The weekend had been very hot, and Monday was still pretty warm, so I postponed riding until Tuesday.

Once I got Bestie saddled up Tuesday after work, I decided to ride in our regular indoor, the upper one. She was super sluggish, and kept pulling me toward the door. The arena did feel kind of hot, so I dismounted and walked her down to the lower arena. The lower arena is always airy because the plastic walls are lowered in nice weather, which typically results in a nice breeze. She was better down there, but still inattentive. Honestly, it was a drag to keep pushing her along, so after about 20 minutes I dismounted, walked her back up the aisle to the door, got back on, and we headed outside to go down the path to the outdoor ring.

About a third of the way down, we met a few riders and their horses coming from the ring, and Bestie totally lost interest in walking down there, since they were going the opposite way - the magic way ... back to the barn. Whatever. I chalked it up to being one of those out-of-sorts nights, after experiencing a break in our routine over the previous 5 days.

On Wednesday we tried again. The weather had cooled off, and she was great in the upper ring. We did a lot of figure eights over a center pole, and long diagonals. She was much more peppy than the previous night. After about a half hour, we went outside and headed down the path, catching up to a couple people who were riding the same direction with their horses.

The early evening was perfect, much cooler and with no bugs, and walking out to the ring was really pleasant. Once we got there, we turned around and headed back to the barn. Easy peasy. She seemed really happy to be outside. Sometimes I can sense both of us loosening up and relaxing on that path. We spend so much time in the arena during the long Vermont winter, enjoying a mosey down the path feels like heaven.  

Quick stop at the barn

My lesson was last night due to a conflict on my usual day, Sunday. We had a good 50 minute lesson, so I didn't plan to ride today. When I got to the barn, it seemed Bestie didn't plan to ride either - this is her "if I don't look at her she will go away" posture.

We're still working on strengthening her, since she carries her right hip lower than her left. It's better than it was back in the fall, and she has put on muscle - so good to see. We did lots of little circles with me working on fine tuning myself .... things like keeping my hands in position like I'm carrying a tray, dropping my heels - pretty basic stuff, but I still need Paula's reminders to keep it all going at the same time. :) My main challenge is bringing my leg back behind the girth when needed; I just can't get it back there, which Paula says means I need to work on my lower abs (learned that at Pilates last week, too!) and stretching my hip flexors.

This coming week's lesson will also be on Friday night, because holistic vet Kim Henneman is back to our barn on Sunday. I'm really interested to see what she says about Bestie. I feel like she looks so much better. Amazing what a little more riding time with the support of a good instructor can do.

So today was salon day - a full grooming, conditioner in her mane and tail, bridle path trim, and hoof polish. She pretty much zoned out on the cross ties. There was one spot where her neck meets her shoulder that she really loved curried today. Typically she doesn't really react to currying, so it was kind of surprising to see her stretching her neck as I did that spot on both sides. Love the single piece of hay hanging from her mouth. 

It was pretty quiet at the barn. A good night to have her parked on the cross ties for a while.

With spring grass coming in, I thought this article about spring turnout from Holistic Horse was very timely and super useful.

Today's lesson: focus, focus, focus

I think that because I'm riding so much more than in past years, I've really noticed Bestie's heat cycle this spring.

Over the last few years, she hung out most of the time, and our rides were not very structured. Whether or not I rode was dictated by how I felt when I got to the barn, and how much time I spent with Dude. Pretty irregular. Pretty short rides.

But now that I've got a routine to my riding days, I've realized that when she's in heat her plan may not really match up with mine. Understatement.

Like yesterday. Typically I don't ride on Saturdays, but yesterday was gorgeous - sunny and 70 degrees. Since it's only early May, we haven't had many days like yesterday in northern Vermont yet. I thought it would be a nice day to ride down the path, circle the outdoor arena, and head back to the barn. Just a relaxed 15-20 minute walk to get us both outside - we spend so much time in the arenas.

The horses had been turned out all day, so Bestie seemed pretty calm and happy to see me. I didn't notice much of anything while I tacked her up, and she went out willingly enough to the arena so that I could hop on from the mounting block and then guide her out the open door.

She even started off down the path happily. But a few steps in, she whinnied - a huge, body-shaking whinny - and then whinnied again when a horse back in the barn answered. We kept walking down the path, but she was super alert and moving along at a good clip. Not exactly the mosey of an outing I was hoping for. And the whinnies kept coming, which put me on edge.

About three quarters of the way down the path, I stopped her and we stood for a moment, then turned back. I just had this feeling that things were going to go awry at some point.

We went into the arena and did about 15 minutes of circles and she was quiet and responsive. It wasn't the ride I had planned, but we ended on a good note.

Today it poured, so there was no turnout. When I got to the barn for my lesson, Bestie was anxious to go outside. I grazed her for a bit hoping to take the edge off before my lesson, but once tacked up and in the indoor, she was still really "up." I think I even said something to Paula about needing a really focused lesson. Probably said with a nervous laugh.

So that's what we had. Paula got the lunge line, and clipped it so that it ran over Bestie's poll. And for 58 minutes, we did circles, me in the saddle, Bestie on the lunge line, Paula at the other end of the line. Small circles at the jog, working on getting her to bend. One way, then the other. Then a bigger circle to stretch her out, then back to small circles.

Bestie was pretty well behaved doing the small circles, but whenever we tried to go down the long side and give her some room, there's be a bit of escalation - she'd increase her speed and throw her head up. When that happened, we went back to small circles. At the end of the lesson, I got off, and walked her around the perimeter a couple times. My legs felt like jello. I think we both heaved well-that's-done-and-I'm-tired sighs at the same time.

From a really helpful article about mares in heat - "Consider focus-type lessons, such as ground poles and changes of speed and direction."

Yup, words of wisdom.

Happy birthday, Bestie!

A milestone birthday - 20! The last 12 years since Bestie came into our lives, arriving tethered all by herself in a big stock trailer, have gone very quickly. I still remember when she came out of the trailer, looking a bit ratty from being out on a Vermont mountain all winter. First impression - not too impressive.

From the beginning she was awesome in her stall as Maddie worked around her. We just had a couple broken leather halter straps early on as she got used to cross ties. :) 

Lots of ups and downs with this girl and her strong personality. She was skinny when she arrived, so it was a while before Maddie rode her. Then, the first time that Maddie got on her, Bestie reared. A BIG rear. Maddie stuck on, and no harm done, but a little unsettling.

In shows, she's either rocked them, or pitched a fit. Made her presence known, one way or another. The only time Maddie ever fell off was when she was spinning in the saddle after a ride, and Bestie threw a little buck when she'd had enough. You don't goof around with her. She has her own terms for everything.

I brought her a birthday apple. She got treats from Jenny and Kathy in the barn, and Renee took her picture to send to Libby, who we bought her from. It was a lovely day - turnout today was in the sunshine with warmer temperatures than we've had the last few days. I groomed Bestie really well, scrubbed the post-winter scrunge on her legs, cleaned up her face, and polished her hooves. A little spa treatment for the birthday girl. xoxo Bester Bear.

Most interesting lesson ever

April 10 lesson. Imagine the arena above, but kind of crowded...

Four pigeons. Two cats. One horse. And me.

The pigeons have been in the rafters of the indoor closest to the barn for weeks. They appear each spring, usually one or two pigeon couples, to assemble nests somewhere in the rafters' nooks and crannies. The horses are always a little skittish when the pigeons first make their reappearance, but most horses get used to them. 

Bestie was one of the horses that was doing fine with the pigeons, even when one bird dropped suddenly out of the rafters to swoop right over us during a ride a couple of weeks ago. I felt her tense (and I know I did, the bird appeared so suddenly), but she kept jogging along.

When we went into the indoor a couple of weeks ago for our lesson, there were two pigeon couples in the rafters. No sweat, seen 'em before. However, things got interesting because the barn cats followed us into the indoor. When that has happened in previous lessons, Paula has scooped them up and returned them to the barn. But the cats were pretty quick this time. One went over to poke around in the corner where the jump standards and poles are piled up, and one climbed the short wall and went into the aisle that leads to the other indoor.

We started the lesson. As I came around one corner, a cat reappeared and then disappeared among the jumps. Another couple circles, and the other cat jumped up on the wall right as we came around the curve. I started to feel a little jittery. Bestie gave the cat on the wall the hairy eyeball, but otherwise didn't react. The cat jumped into the indoor and leisurely strolled in front of us as we tried to go over a pole.

Then both cats climbed up into the rafters, and the pigeons started flying nervously across the indoor. The cats couldn't get to the pigeons because they had climbed into the rafters pretty far away from the nests. But the pigeons really weren't happy.

As Bestie and I circled, every so often I could see a cat's leg or tail hanging from the rafters as they prowled around up there. I had this nightmarish thought of what would happen if a cat suddenly fell out of the rafters. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be pretty. Pigeons Bestie was fine with, but dropping cats would be a whole 'nother story. I mean, the thought "I am dead if that happens" did cross my mind. I could feel my stress level rising and rising and I started an internal debate on whether to tell Paula that I just couldn't continue. 

During all this - me sweating and riding with one eye on the rafters and one eye on our riding area - Bestie was going along like nothing was happening. In her world, nothing was. So, I took a few deep breaths to calm down and kept riding.

Honestly, when it was over and I could laugh about it and recognize that  lesson was a good one, I felt like Bestie and I had really achieved something together. She totally took care of me. There was enough going on that she could've escalated and I would've likely gotten off. But we got through it.

It was not a happy ending for the pigeons, though. When I got to the barn the next day, I found out that the pellet gun had come out. Apparently during a lesson after mine, a pigeon flew right in front of the horse and rider and it was determined that enough was enough. Felt kind of bad for the birds.

A little shopping trip

It's been ages since I've needed to do any horse-related shopping. But this week my last bag of shavings got down to less than a third of a bag, so I added Guy's Farm and Yard to my Saturday list of errands.

I try to accumulate a list of "needs" prior to stopping at Guy's so that I don't have to make the drive more frequently for onesie-twosie purchases. One thing I wanted to check out was their stock of coat conditioners, but none really appealed to me - all the products seemed kind of greasy.

It's always fun to wander the aisles and see what else catches my eye.

Lots of gardening related stuff was out, like seed starters and packets - it gave me the itch to garden even though it's still wayyyyy too cold in Vermont.

I ended up getting two bags of shavings and the items above.

The Lexol wipes are great for cleaning tack; so handy for when my saddle or bridle just needs a quick wipe and not the full clean. I also use them at home on our leather chair, and on my boots and clogs.

We haven't had a canister of the peppermint bit wipes in a while. Total impulse buy, but kind of nice since it's a local business.

Bestie's salt block is getting tinier and tinier so it's only a matter of time before I have to replace it. She has licked it down to almost flat on one side. I keep flipping it around on the rope in an attempt to ensure that it disappears pretty evenly. She is crazy about the Himalayan salt licks. I always buy the Hilton Herbs type. I've seen unwrapped chunks for sale also, but I always wonder about the quality of those.

On the next trip, I'll probably be adding fly spray to the list.

Blog entry category: never a dull moment

Tonight I decided to ride Bestie in the lower arena because a) we hadn't been in there in a while and b) word at the barn was that today's sun had made it pleasantly toasty in there, especially as compared to the upper arena with its metal side walls that radiate the cold.

We ended up being the only ones in the lower arena; the just-after-work rush had slowed down at the barn. All seemed fine as I got on her and we started walking around to warm up. But after a bit, I realized that she seemed intent on not staying on the wall as we walked around the arena on the field side, at about the midpoint of that side. Then, when I tried to correct her to get her on the wall, she started acting really strangely, reaching out her nose to the wall, but keeping her body away from it. We were in the back right corner of the field side at this point.

At first I thought she just needed to itch her nose, which she does almost every time after I first get on. But as I watched her, this was different, almost like she wanted to reach out and smell something, but was hesitant to do so. She'd reach her nose out, get it right to the wall, then pull back. Each time she did that she got a bit more excitable. It was like there was something happening outdoors that she sort of wanted to investigate, but wasn't confident about doing so. I couldn't see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. Of course, with the plastic side walls up, you can't really see anything outside except vague shapes.

It made me increasingly nervous to be on her, so I got off. I tried to lead her along the wall to continue our loop, but she still continued reaching out to the wall with her nose while keeping her body perpendicular to it and then backing off. Even as I led her away from the corner into the middle of the ring, she kept turning back to the wall and looking at it.

I'm all about self preservation so I decided to lead her out of the lower arena and continue our ride in the upper arena. She was fine up there; business as usual.

After a few minutes, another rider came in and I mentioned the experience to her. She said the horse she had ridden earlier in the evening had acted the same way. Same corner. Honestly - it was a relief to hear someone else had the same experience. She couldn't see, smell or hear anything either. All we could think of was that there was an animal out there.

It was definitely weird. I've never seen Bestie act like that. It'll be interesting to go back in there in a day or two and see how she is. So much about horses is ... interesting. :)

Pivoting

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and it struck me recently that twice in one week, on two different podcasts, I heard the word "pivot" used to describe the sidestep or adjustment that can be made when coming up against an obstacle or a challenge. It resonated with me because I feel like that's what I've been doing a lot with Bestie in recent weeks. 

I don't know if it's spring fever or what, but we seem to have regressed to the "oh hey, I'm done" stage at about the 25-minute mark while riding. That, and she has been finding odd (to me, anyway) things to get fired up about. For instance, on Sunday we were having a pleasant ride until someone pulled open the lower door to the other arena without shouting "door" (which is protocol), and Bestie shied away from the aisle and threw a couple low grade bucks for good measure. Then, last night we were going along well until another rider passed us and Bestie decided it was a race. People pass us all the time - that's just what happens when you're about the only Western rider in the barn, and usually she doesn't care. After that, she remained kind of "up" for the duration of the ride. Not misbehaving, but I felt like she was on alert for some other situation to react to.

In both situations, we pivoted. Rather than continue with what we were doing, I chose to scale it down to a walk, yet still keep at it for the full period of time I had allotted for the ride. I asked her to focus and listen, and she did, and I felt more confident at the walk that she wasn't going to pull any tricks. 

Today we pivoted outside. :) 

Rather than ride again, I decided we needed a little down time. The horses haven't been going out because the fields are pretty soupy, and lack of turnout definitely could be contributing to her issues. So we headed out to hand graze. Of course, in Vermont in March you have to look pretty hard for any grass. But up on the hill above the barn is our secret patch where no one ever grazes. There was enough there to keep her busy, and hopefully the relaxed time outside will let us get a fresh start together tomorrow night.

She was pretty tenacious - lots of leaves got pushed aside to find the grass underneath.

One pause to check out the sound of people in the yard next to the barn property. Then, back to eating.

Naughty Mare makes an appearance

I had a full hour lesson on Sunday (more on that in a separate post) so Bestie and I took Monday off. I just swung by the barn for a fairly quick grooming session and an offering of carrots.

I really wanted to ride tonight, Tuesday, because I have book/wine group on Wednesday and yoga on Thursday, so I don't expect to go to the barn those nights. I hate to miss riding too many days in a row because I feel like we've made such great progress. It seems like we're in a good routine.

When I got to the barn tonight, a horse was already on the crossties in front of Bestie's stall, so I decided to tack her up in her stall while she continued to eat her hay. Normally that's fine. But tonight, she kept circling away from me. Finally, I left the stall to give her some space to see if she needed to poop. She likes her privacy. After a bit she did poop.  Then she let me tack her up, but she kept pinning her ears in a sort of irritated way. But not a totally angry, I-don't-agree-with-this way.

We went on down to the lower, bigger indoor with Katie and Rocky. We rode around at the walk chatting for a bit, and then started doing our own thing. We remarked that both horses seemed a little sluggish. The weather has been so up and down, I can't blame them for feeling a bit blah.

Bestie and I jogged the long sides of the arena and walked the ends. I guess we did about 4 rounds, then I asked her to reverse. We made it about half way around after reversing direction, and she suddenly sped up for no apparent reason. I started to post, which usually slows her right down. But she kept speeding up with her head up high and pulling on the reins, and she broke into a canter  just as I was trying to circle her, which threw me a bit off balance.  I was trying to sit deep and relax my hands, but being off balance kept me from sitting deep and I know that lack of balance led me to have a tight grip on the reins - that reaction of hanging on for dear life. She gets really angry when you grip on the reins, so we were kind of stuck in this no-win escalating situation. I got her back to the trot, still speedy, and rode her right at the end wall, so she stopped and started sidestepping. But at least at this point we were back to a walk. She huffed and puffed around the ring for a lap, clearly still worked up.

I walked her around at least three more laps, and then asked her for a jog at the front end of the arena. She did a loop of about a third of the arena at a nice jog, and then I asked for a walk again. You gotta pick your battles, and I felt ending on that good  note was best. Self preservation.

I haven't seen a tantrum on this level for several years. The last time was when we had been out in the field, and coming back to the barn, we had to pass the hay baler in action and she suddenly freaked out, jigging and bouncing around. I got off - it seemed the best thing to do in the wide open field. After that incident she refused to go down that way for the next couple of summers. It took forever to work through.

I don't know what this was all about tonight. Just a bad night? Maybe. We'll see how the next ride goes on Friday.

What to do with your horse when the temps hit subzero?

That's the question I ask myself when the temperatures drop.

See above - that was the temp heading home from the barn this afternoon.

It has continued to drop. And the wind has picked up.

So the windchill is ... well, I don't even want to think about it.

The horses stayed in today because of the temperatures. No problem with that, they tend to get silly outdoors on days like this when it's super cold. Plus, I certainly sympathize with the barn folks, who I'm sure don't want to do the back-and-forth, back-and-forth of turnout in this weather.

So what DO I do when the temps drop?

1. Have a heckuva grooming session. When it's really cold Bestie tends to get the spa treatment with three rounds of currying (mitt, gelly scrubber, and rubber massager), brushing, and then some argan oil leave-in conditioner in her mane and tail.

2. Hand walk. I find hand walking kind of boring, but necessary to give her some movement and a change of scenery from her stall when there's no turnout. Sometimes we'll do serpentines or smaller and smaller circles just to mix it up a bit. About 15 minutes is my limit. If no one else is in the indoor, I'll let her off the lead to wander around and roll. When it's super cold like today, we hand walk in the barn aisle. Typically not too many people are out in weather like this, so the aisle is free. This afternoon they had just fed hay, and she got a lucky score of some of the 2nd cut "salad" that had fallen in the aisle. Bestie the vacuum.

3. Add warm water to her bucket. Whenever it's chilly, I'll clean out her water bucket and then fill it half way with warm water before filling it the rest of the way with the usual tap water. It ends up somewhat lukewarm, and I have to say that when I do this, she *always* takes a drink as soon as I'm done filling it. So I think she likes it. And it's good to encourage her to drink since they get extra hay when they're stuck indoors. Keeps her system moving.

4. Make a bran mash. I haven't done this yet this winter. One winter I made Dude and Bestie bran mashes every Sunday. I bought her a special bran mix for Christmas, but Christmas Day was so warm I never made it. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow (which is supposed to be even colder than today).

5. Hang out in her stall. Our barn is an old dairy barn with a low ceiling, and when the doors are shut it tends to stay pretty warm inside - typically around 40 degrees. It's plenty warm to just sit in the stall and watch her eat hay. I love being in the barn when it's quiet and you can hear all the horses munching. It's very peaceful.

6. Cancel my lesson. Regretfully, because I missed last week being out of town. But my personal comfort zone for riding is about 20 degrees and warmer. Plus, it doesn't seem very kind to her to ride when it's colder than that.

The good news is that we've only got one more day of this, and then Monday is in the 20s, and Tuesday is in the 40s. Those will be riding days, for sure.

Thinking about Dude

Dude would have been 23 today. I knew I wasn't going to be at the barn today due to another commitment, so last night, after I groomed Bestie, I sat on the shavings in her stall and watched her eat her hay and I thought about Dude.

Each year I did a little sign  for his stall; this one was for his 21st birthday in 2014. Going through all the photos looking for the one above made me smile as I remembered what a funny guy he was, but also made me sad because I never thought he'd leave us so soon. It's still unbelievable to me that he's not around.  My daughter told me today about a friend of hers whose dog was diagnosed with cancer and died within the week after diagnosis. She said it was tough on the family. I thought, "I know." A sudden death leaves you reeling. The month after he died was a lost month for me. I felt like I just went through the motions.

I still miss him. I'm glad I have so many photos to keep the wonderful memories fresh in my mind.

. 

Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it. -Author unknown

Lesson day

I always give Bestie Monday off after our Sunday lesson, then ride Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It was difficult to follow my usual riding pattern this week.

Last Tuesday we had a snowstorm, and there was just enough snowfall that by the time I got home, and our driveway got plowed, I decided not to drive to the barn. The horses had gone out, so I knew she had been able to stretch her legs.

Then on Wednesday, I had book club. Again, the horses had gone out, so I figured she wouldn't miss me.

On Thursday, I had yoga. But I decided to drive over to the barn after class and say hello and at least give her a good grooming.

I knew I had to ride on Friday and Saturday or it would kind of be a waste to pay for a lesson. When I got to the barn Friday night after work, it was cold, in the teens, and I do not enjoy riding when it's that cold. I felt like the Stay Puff marshmallow woman with a hat under my helmet, two shirts, vest, down jacket, long johns and jeans. And neck warmer.

We ended up riding in the lower arena with Katie and Rocky. No one else was at the barn by then. The lower arena is definitely a bit warmer than the upper one; it has the plastic walls which seem to create a slight greenhouse effect when it's a sunny day. The temperature was just below 20 degrees while we rode. I stayed pretty warm except for my hands. Bestie was kind of distracted and speedy, probably a combination of the cold, lack of riding, and the not as familiar arena. Finally, after about 25 minutes, I rode into the center of the ring and Bestie and I hung out there and watched Katie and Rocky while I kept my hands in my pockets. My fingers were aching.

Saturday was a better day. We rode in the upper arena and got a few long side 1/4 lane serpentines in. She was much more focused.

Our lesson today was awesome. Generally we have to negotiate through some sort of tantrum, but she was perfectly fine. Even when the horses in one of the adjacent paddocks started running and snorting, she kept jogging along. We did long side 1/4 lane serpentines, full arena serpentines, lots of jogging, some posting, At one point she spooked - it sounded like something slid off the roof - but she came right back to what we were doing.

Paula videotaped us because we were doing a lot of work on straightening Bestie out and strengthening her in a balanced way. Unfortunately the lighting is kind of tough for filming in the arena, so the video was a bit too hard to see and learn from. I think I need to straighten up a bit - that much I could see. :)

I feel like we've made so much progress and that we're both more confident. Because of hockey, I can't do a lesson this coming Sunday, so we rescheduled to Friday. Then the following weekend I'm in Massachusetts, so I'll have to see if we can work out another day change. I hate to have a long stretch without a lesson since we're doing so well.

A hardworking girl needs hock boots

When Bestie got checked over by holistic vet Kim Henneman back in the fall, one of the the things Kim mentioned was that Bestie's right hip was lower than her left and there seemed to be some imbalance there. She definitely favors a side and we've been working in lessons to balance her.

After talking to a couple people at the barn, I decided to invest in some hock boots for her. I bought the same kind a friend at the barn has - Back on Track - and the friend gave me a coupon ... nice! Bestie really just needed one - for her right hock - but they're sold in a pair. Seems like wearing two can't hurt.

So, almost every day, before I start grooming her, I put them on. She's fine with them. No drama. She probably wears them about 20 minutes. The hock boots are one of those things that I guess could be called an investment. She doesn't have problems that I know of, seems it's fairly minor age-related wear and tear. Hopefully a little TLC in the form of the boots will help keep it that way.

The hock boot material is similar to splint boots, but the material is ceramic infused. After she wears them for the 20 minutes, her hocks feel slightly warmer to the touch.

Here's what the Back On Track website says: Designed to reflect the horse's own body-warmth, Back on Track horse boots create a soothing far infrared thermal heat, which can help alleviate pain associated with inflamed muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. Used for both injury prevention as well as injury recovery. Back on Track products are not to be compared with magnetic therapy. Our form of therapy works with your horses own body heat.

They are easy to  put on and seem to be holding up well. Bestie's stall neighbor Jack, who is in his 20s, also wears them. When the horses are indoors due to the weather, he wears his hock boots for long stretches at a time.

When I put the link into this entry, I noticed that Back on Track has people products, too. I may have to check them out. 

Never a dull moment with Vermont weather

The key thing to notice in this photo is the big fat 0. As in Zero Degrees. I feel like I completely dodged a bullet having my lesson yesterday when the temperature was a balmy 33 degrees. It always blows my mind when the temperatures drops so precipitously. 28 degrees last night when I went to bed at 10 pm. 3 degrees when I woke up this morning. Wow.

The barn folk wisely decided not to turn the horses out today. The wind chill was sub zero, and most likely they would have gotten the horses all out, only to start bringing them in again. The prince and princess ponies don't last too long in this kind of weather, especially with any wind. They were probably plenty happy in the warm barn.

Bestie certainly seemed content. When I got to the barn a bit after 6 pm, she barely looked up from her hay when I said hello. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, I took her out to the indoor so she could at least stretch her legs. She rolled and then wandered around the front of the indoor checking out the lunge lines and crops hanging from the front hooks, the wheelbarrow with manure (frozen) in it, and the always fascinating corner full of jump poles, standards, and jump box with the artificial flowers in the top, 

While she was doing her tour, I occupied myself by raking the footing away from one side wall. Doing that was enough to warm me up pretty well. Then I clipped her lead back on her and we took a few laps around the indoor at a leisurely pace. 15 minutes out there was plenty, as my fingers were starting to get really cold. With its metal walls, the indoor can feel like a freezer on really cold days.

I cleaned out her stall, fluffed in some extra shavings, picked out her feet, tucked her back in her stall with another flake of hay, filled her bucket full of half warm and half cold water, and wished her good night. Not much else to do when it's this cold. I'm liking the looks of the weather as the week progresses.