Today's theme: Horsey love

I opened up our treat jar a couple of nights ago and in the midst of all the Ginger Ridge Meadow Mints, there was one solitary Harvest Heart. Isn't that funny? It must have somehow gotten mixed into the batch. I took it as a good omen, of what I don't know, but it definitely made me smile.

Today I visited Raven Ledge Farm, where owner Linda does sleigh rides on her beautiful property. At work we are hosting a family visiting through Make A Wish Foundation, and Linda very generously offers a sleigh ride to the families who want to have that experience. I am usually lucky enough each winter to head to Raven Ledge at least once during the season. It was wonderful to be a part of the outing today and see the family enjoy the thrill of the ride and the barn visit with the horses. May, Linda's big draft mare, is the classic gentle giant; well trained and so patient. Another highlight was the discovery of a recently laid egg in the chicken stall, leading to priceless looks of wonder and excitement from the two youngest kids.

Linda told me a great story. Her husband trained two Morgans as a driving pair, and they were bought by a man from out of state, somewhere down south. This sale happened years ago, as Linda's husband passed away in 1993. Recently Linda got a call from a relative of the man who had purchased the horses. He just recently passed away, and as no one in the family was interested in keeping the two horses, they decided to try to find Linda and her husband to see if they wanted to the pair back. It's so amazing to me that  this family made the effort and were able to track Linda down after all these years. The happy ending? Linda is taking the two horses back. Now 28 and 29 years old, they will live out their days on her farm. Full circle.

Happy birthday to Dude!

Twenty years ago today our guy Dude was born in Pilot Point, Texas, which strikes me as sounding like a perfect place for a quarter horse to be from. Dude's papers, unlike Bestie's, do not have a photo of him as a baby. We would have loved to see Heza Flashy Dude Mr. as a youngster; I can't imagine his stocky self cavorting as a long-legged colt.

Today was celebration day. I brought an extra large helping of carrot chunks for him, and barn owner Julie said they sang to him earlier in the day. He got a special sign on his stall ...

Other than that, the day went pretty much as usual, which is just as he likes it. Well, except that there was no turnout because the temperatures went from freezing to 59 to freezing with accompanying wind, rain, and snow - pretty much every weather pattern that could happen happened in the last 48 hours. He got a birthday walk in the indoor to stretch his legs and a nuzzle from his friend Buddy and that was it.

A few photos from our 12 years with Dude...

When we first met him, he was stall bound, hyped up on way too much grain, and very angry. Only adults were allowed in his stall. Here he is with the girls, posing for our Christmas card that year. Turnout, less grain, different horse.

Over the years, he's been Mr. Obliging when it's come to dress-up, whether for barn Halloween extravaganzas or 4H costume class. One year he and Katie went tropical for Halloween and Dude wore giant-sized floral surfer trunks. Here he is napping as Katie weaves flowers into his forelock and mane prior to a 4H costume class. He was a garden (he wore a green sheet painted with a rock walkway and flowers and greens stitched onto it) and Katie was the gardener.

Everything was fine until Dude got a look at a rider in the same class dressed in a fancy Victorian riding outfit (think "My Fair Lady"), with a huge bouffant skirt and flappy hat. He couldn't get over it. Katie had to hang on to her "garden" pretty tightly.

Below, decked out for club class at the State Show ... Men in Black ... our club won. He's got Ray Bans and a tie on.

One year at the Vermont State 4H Show, Kris participated in parent leadline - with his chain saw helmet on for head protection. Dude: Hey, whatever makes you people happy.

Ahh, another Christmas picture. The concept this particular year was to pose the dogs as elves and the horses as reindeer. I must've been drinking when I thought up that one. First, it was hard enough to get the horses to keep their antlers on. Second, while Dude was happy to hang out next to Bestie, she kept trying to bite him (note the glowing devil eyes!). In the photo, Maddie is trying to lure her to the front of the stall so I could snap the photo quickly. The card ended up being a cut-and-paste job as it became clear there was no way we were gonna get all the reindeer and elves to cooperate and happily pose together.

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And last but not least, this is one of my favorite photos of Dude and Katie. I'm pretty sure this is the last 4H show they did together. Dude was coming off extended lameness, and was really happy to be back in the show ring - we have another shot from this showmanship class where he is trotting happily (and a bit too enthusiastically) in hand with his forelock blowing in the wind and Katie running alongside. 

So many good memories. Happy birthday, Dudie!

"...more like a blissful coexistence for which I am deeply grateful."

When I heard that phrase on Vermont Public Radio tonight during a commentator's essay about interacting with his Shetland pony, it made me smile. I know that feeling of being in the barn and sensing all is right in that little world. I've used the full presence required by horses to shut the door on the outside world for a bit. I feel like I've done that (and valued it) even more this fall and early winter, when there have been so many tremendously sad news stories. The VPR story, In the Winter Stable, can be read or listened to here.

Bits and pieces

Time for a bunch of random items.

I just realized I never posted these photos of our beautiful tree in the tack room and the horses' stockings. Every horse in the barn had a stocking; super cute. Christmas already seems ages ago. I still have their candy canes; maybe I'll break them up in a bran mash.

My winter resolution is to do a bran mash for them each week until late March when the weather warms. New Year's Day was mash #1. It was enthusiastically received. :)

My other resolution is to work with Dude on core exercises. We started tonight with carrot stretches. I'm using the book Activate Your Horse's Core, which comes with a DVD - very useful to see the exercises demonstrated.

Dude lost a shoe in the snow this week. I'm debating whether to leave him shoeless for the winter as he's still rehabbing and I won't be riding him. He's only got front shoes. Farrier Scott will check him out on Tuesday and we'll see what he thinks.

Do you sweat or smile when the barn shows up on caller ID?

I guess that, for me, the answer to that question depends on what's been happening lately at the barn. Has there been a run of horsey incidents? Sweat. Everything seemingly going well? Smile. With Dude, for instance, he's been rehabbing from his hip injury, and as I've had recent reports from observant boarders that he's been running in the field, I expected the worse when I got a call from barn owner Julie yesterday. Particularly as the plan was to send him out with a buddy after 4 months on solo turnout. Sweat.

But the call yesterday was to report that they had decided to switch things up, and rather than turn Dude out with a horse who had just arrived, and who he had been visiting with over the fence for a couple days, his new arrangement would be with TC and Skye, two of the most "whatever" geldings in the barn. They're not runners or blanket rippers, they're more like Dude, eat-and-stand-around-ers. So that was good news. I stopped sweating, and went back to smiling.

Today's project: blanket repair

We just had a great series of days with sun and temperatures in the 40s/50s, but the forecast for today is for steadily dropping temperatures - what better day to do a blanket repair? Actually, it's kind of a cozy project as I've got it spread over my lap while I stitch, slight aroma of equine wafting about the living room. I'm holding the top layer up with one hand while I sew with the other so I don't go through all of the layers and hit my jeans, which *has* happened before. :)

We just got back from a few days away visiting family for Thanksgiving, and I wasn't organized/prepared to convert from turnouts to blankets after our return yesterday. Consequently, Bestie is out today in her other  blanket, but no turnout because I forgot to bring the bigger one to the barn and the one she was wearing is a wee bit snug over a blanket. So I'm sewing away as I fully expect the one she has on today is going to be a mess and I'll need to swap out. I absolutely love this one: a) the tartan plaid looks so cute on her, and b) we bought it used from friends and it still looks new - after 8-plus years. It's made by Saratoga Horseworks, whose blankets when new honestly are out of my budget, but they do seem to be constructed to last. Quality is long remembered after price is forgotten, as our dear friend Jim J. loves to say (but would NEVER EVER EVER apply to anything having to do with horses!).

Dude the cat whisperer

Suddenly the barn kitties have started hanging out in Dude's stall in the evenings. A couple nights ago it was the black cat, and even when I shooed him out, he kept coming back into the stall. That was odd because normally they're fairly skittish. Last night two of the gray and white cats approached his door while he had his stall guard up and -photo opp but I didn't have the camera- he reached his nose down to them, so cute. This kitty tonight kept trading corners, first the right then the left side of the stall, all the while staring at the wall intently. Does Dude have a mouse family living in his wall? Maybe it's not his cat whispering powers or magnetic personality that are drawing the kitties in.