Diary of the Overanxious Horse Owner

What The Friday!?!?! #6

2012-01-27T09:11:00.002-05:00

Here for you consideration and amusement: The Equine Miracle Harness!!!!!

"The Miracle Harness is a miracle. It really works real good." Quote from YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28lMLK3RojY&feature=related

And just in case you were unsure of the meaning of the word MIRACLE:

One look at this Miracle Harness and you will be SURE to understand it's colossal potential and it will become your go-to training device! HOW have we trained horses for thousands of years without this!?!?! Surely Divine Intervention has given us this marvel! Yes! You can have total control over a horse "up to 1000 lbs"!

This item, and I quote:

"allows the handler total control of both the head and body at all times."

"Safely teach your horse the following concepts and commands while instilling confidence in the animal and handler, and making training more enjoyable for everyone!

Leading
Whoa
Backing
Loading
Stalling
Shoeing
Washing
Cross Tying
Trotting
And MUCH more!"

It gives you confidence that you can overpower a 1000 lb animal!!!!

Perfect for all the un-handled two year old cross-bred studs you can find on Craigslist! Get yours today!!!!

Click here to buy your own Miracle Harness on Etsy!

http://www.equinemiracleharness.com/

And yes, I know similar devices have been around for a while. My own favorite Horsemastership book suggests using a lead rope or a simple rope loop behind the rear of a FOAL to help teach it to lead. You can also purchase a sturdy looking FOAL leading harness HERE for about the same price. But with the Miracle harness....it's good for horses up to 1000 lbs! Woot!

If you ever need....

2012-01-24T09:10:00.002-05:00

.... a good cry and/or an emotional uplift, watch videos of little girls being surprised by getting a horse for Christmas or a Birthday. Mind you locate the tissues before watching...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXSL4vkWmpo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUaB2uxgSQE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr4yDrFJsi4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wll8pS7LezM&feature=related

Liebster Blog Award!

2012-01-21T08:50:00.003-05:00

Leibster in German means "Dearest". Thank you to Nina and A Horse Named Milo for the honor of this blog award!

The rules of the award are as follows:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs!

I would like to give this award to the following:

1.R Lil Bit of Cash who bears so many similarities to my own horse journey and in whom Junior and I have found two kindred spirits.
2. To Eleanor Brimmer Para Equestrian for inspiring Para Dressage riders as she competes for International Titles in Grade III Para Dressage.
3. To Rockin Roxie, the most entertaining BBW bay roan mare bloggin all by herself over at I is Roxie!
4. To Riding Aside for allowing me to live vicariously through her in her Sidesaddle world, both the Now and History, and the Real and the beautifully Imagined.
5. And last but not least, another bay roan over at For the Love of My Horse.

He Doesn't Make This Any Easier.

2012-01-19T09:29:00.000-05:00

Apparently I can't even lunge my horse or practice showmanship without hurting my back. There are certain movements I do that are causing compression in my disks and/or moving my pelvis out of alignment enough to create more pressure on the affected nerves. And I can do this without noticing/feeling it at the time, only later do I feel the effects and there's nothing to be done but take the pain meds and start over. This is not helping my progress and it's very frustrating. I have not been physically normal since May 7th. But in addition to the fact that I simply want to spend time with my horse even if I can't ride, it's also out of guilt that I lunge my horse and work on showmanship. It's winter and turnout isn't as extended as it is in the warmer months and I feel bad that he has fallen out of shape as much as I have. He doesn't seem to care, he's rather lazy, but he does like to be messed with.

So I am going to get more aggressive with my treatment and try really hard not to screw it up any more.

In the mean time I went just to check on him yesterday. I brought him in from the paddock, just to groom him. And then I noticed his Left Stifle was banged up. Not severely, but maybe like he ran into something and scraped off some patches of hair and maybe a slight abrasion. Then, working down the leg noticed the lower leg and fetlock were swollen and there was a scrape/puncture on the cannon bone. He trotted off fine (I had the BO do the trotting... see, I'm TRYING not to hurt myself) but I gave him some bute and cold hosed the leg. He didn't appreciate me poking the stifle but he never really does. I'll go out today but then I'm benched for the weekend after I'm going to have a needle inserted into my spine. Ugh.

So I recruited the BM to keep a closer eye on him over the weekend. I might be able to go out, but I really need to be careful.

Of course he mildly injures himself when I can't monitor it. Sometimes I think he plans things like this.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, imagine me lounging on the sofa with ice packs, pain meds, and Netflix. Then maybe sooner rather than later you will be able to imagine me actually riding my stinkin' pony and having something interesting to blog about. Fingers crossed.

CENSORED - UNAVAILABLE CONTENT

2012-01-18T08:55:00.000-05:00

WTF?

GO HERE:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/18/why-the-wikipedia-and-craigslist-websites-went-dark/

AND HERE:

http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

If the Sopa bills are passed, this blog will probably be shut down. Yours might be, too.

If you are not outraged, you must not be paying attention.

Keep Freedom on the Internet.

Camouflage...

2012-01-12T13:43:00.000-05:00

Many of you will think this is cheating. I tend to agree, but it's becoming the norm at the shows I attend and in this particular avenue I can use all the help I can get...so here I go.

Yup. Eliminating the shiny bright stuff that draws the eye to my wobbly legs like pre-teen girls to Justin Bieber. Dark recedes. Works best on a dark, dark horse, but it'll still HELP on a bay roan wearing a chocolate brown girth, I think.

And yes, Ms. Equitation Police, I know perfectly well that I need to strengthen my legs and core to keep my legs more stable. I KNOW. I was working on lots of 2-point before I was benched and I WILL be working on it again and eventually posting without stirrups and all that torturous crap when I am cleared for riding. But what's wrong with a little optical illusion? And I HAVE seen black irons on classical Dressage horses so THERE.

So I have a question: How do I know what size Iron to get? My current irons I bought years and years ago with my first saddle and I think I just measured my boot or something. Is there some type of criteria? I know for safety you want them big enough that you can easily slip your foot out, but that's the extent of my knowlege. Is there a more precise way to know? They come in 4 1/4, 4 1/2, and 4 3/4. Only 1/2 " difference between the biggest and the smallest.... is it Child, Woman, Man? There's gotta be some reason there are sizes.

The iron in the "in action" photo looks WAY small to me but maybe she's just got big ol' boats?

Anybody know? About the sizing... not about Bigfoot there...

And can anybody explain to me the benefits or drawbacks of the jointed irons? I've never used them. I did have a pair of double-offset irons once (angled foot and off-center leather placement) and I liked them.

Showmanship Outfit Re-Vamp

2012-01-07T14:40:00.001-05:00

I don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me itch for show season. Even though I don't know if I'll be able to show this year, I'm still thinking about it. AND I got a new digital drawing pad from my BFF/SO and I need to practice with it!

And even though last spring I said about my outfit " I'm pretty happy with it. Hopefully I won't feel the need to make yet another outfit for next year!" I am considering making another one. I know, I just can't leave well-enough alone! In my greatest fantasy I'd have a completely different outfit for Showmanship, for Horsemanship, and for Western Pleasure, but that's just not practical for the type of shows I go to. There's not really time to change that many times! And I seriously don't need anything else to have to haul the shows!

I had been pondering the idea of designing a new showmanship outfit in a COLOR rather than the black that I've been wearing. I thought about using Hobby Horse's (now discontinued, but they still have some available) Green and adding tan(like the hat) and some sort of other accent color. The 2011 Color of the Year from Pantone was Honeysuckle and I LOVE the color. Maybe a little bright for an adult, but I really like it.
I can imagine it with my current hat color and I think it would be pretty with Junior's roan coat. I could envision using the hat color and a darker pink like the gradation of the flower petals.

But after pondering the idea long enough I realized that not only will this create some expenses that I don't want to have, this will cause logistical problems for me at the shows. There is simply not enough time between my Western Showmanship class and my first Western riding class. If I changed colors, I'd have to go all the way to a bathroom or my tack stall to change the outfit, THEN put on the chaps and spurs and tack up the horse. Even with a Groom last year I was late to my first riding class - thankfully KAT was kind enough to tell them I was doing a tack change otherwise I would have missed the class! And with how terrible I am at memorizing 4 patters in a day, I need all the time I can get between the classes!!!

If I was only doing showmanship and not riding I might go ahead with a fun color since I wouldn't need to keep the black pants for the black chaps or need a new saddle blanket. I could keep the black and just make a new top with the Honeysuckle colors mixed in, then I'd have to still have another top for riding or get a new saddle blanket. I think that using the same top for both is worth the time it saves both in construction and in tack change time. I did that the previous year with the embroidered lace jacket and I found the additional changing stress this past year was awful.

So then I'm back to my existing outfit I made last year and figuring out how I can make it improve it visually and functionally. After wearing it a few times I'd like to make some modifications and I can do these with VERY minimal cost:

1. Remove the closed "invisible" zipper from the back and put in an invisible separating zipper. Currently I have to put the thing on over my head and squeeze my shoulders into the circumference of the hem which is rather difficult and time consuming. Having the jacket able to slip on and off more easily will allow me to take it off if it's really hot between classes or if I need to do a task that might get it dirty. Separating invisible zippers are not available locally, but I have finally found them on line so I might be able to have the best of both worlds! A new zipper is the ONLY expense on this project.

2. Shorten the Hem just a little so I can wear it for halter and riding. I gave it a removable crotch strap so it would stay smoothly tucked in for the riding classes. Not only was this rather uncomfortable (I'll spare you the details) but it added time to the change. If I shorten the hem I can use the jacket for both showmanship and riding, and only have to put on my chaps and spurs for the riding. I hate putting a horizontal line at my hips, but I think with the black-on-black it'll be okay.

3. Add more appliques down the center front to vertically lengthen the visual contrast. The inverted triangle will hopefully be flattering/slimming. The increase in the non/black color will also allow the hat to blend more. I can easily cut the new pieces from the extra ultrasuede/gold and apply them while the zipper is out. I'll add in some more crystals down the front, of course, to match the amount on the existing areas....maybe I should bling up my hat??? Kidding. Kidding. That will not happen.

4. Make pants? This vexes me. The fabric I bought for the jacket looks like the same black as my Hobby Horse pants in person and in photos, but on my videos it's a different shade and I don't know if it's noticeable in person since I can't see myself. I'm pretty sure I can get more of the jacket fabric, but there's still a chance that the dye lot will be different and I'd have the same problem so I don't know if it's worth the effort/cost of fabric.

So this is what I think it will look like:

I don't think it's super trendy, but I really don't like the trendy textured and crazy look. I like a little more retro/subtle I think. It might end up a little different when I actually go to lay out the new pieces on the jacket.

What do you think? Here's the way it is now for comparison - remember the jacket will be out over the chaps.

Unseasonable

2012-01-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

I love the term "unseasonable" during the winter. Not so much during the summer. It was 50 degrees today, so Junior got a few minutes of hand-grazing...in January... on green grass... amazing!

One of my college students came out to ride Junior this morning. Junior seems to have a particular dislike of college-aged boys, I assume from his 10 months as a lesson horse for a college gym program when most of the boys were there to get their one "athletic" credit done and nothing more. I doubt they gave him much love and were probably big and unbalanced and bouncy and were most of the cause of his slide into evil-pony that he became before I pulled him out of that situation. So I don't really blame him, but he seems to like this kid okay, probably because they're from the same state. Go Texas. He's also not a bad rider for someone without much training. He wants to learn and Junior's a pretty patient teacher. Junior still gives me "the look" whenever he goes by me, you know, the "um... why are you making me do this" look, but he did what he was asked, mostly, and didn't do anything stupid or dangerous so that's a WIN.

After the ride I untacked him in the arena and waved a dressage whip at him... the sound is a good motivator! And surprisingly, this is what happened.... and it's only about a third of the show and this is VERY unlike him! I guess someone was feeling a bit unseasonable... thankfully he was a perfect angel for the ride!

Equilutions 2012

2012-01-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!!!

I have returned from a glorious vacation to visit my family and friends. It was a wonderful time but I am glad to be home and getting back to my normal routine...mostly. ;)

As per usual, to celebrate the new year, I have been considering goals for 2012. But first we must examine the goals I set for 2011...

1. Solve the Western Saddle issue. WIN! I was able to sell both my training saddle and my Circle Y show set for a small profit. I had Rod's custom order me a Rockin' R saddle that has served both as my show saddle and my trail/hack/cowboy challenge saddle. The light color I chose is still pretty light for those cowboy challenges, but I got over it. :)

2. Work on jumping. FAIL! This one has to move on to next year. Though I did pop over a few crossrails over the year, there was no real work done here. Oh well.

3. Learn to braid well enough to pass at a show. WIN? Okay, so it's actually a FAIL, but I think roaching is sufficient (legal in APHA) to "pass at a show" so the problem is solved, just not in the way I had planned. :) When a girl has to do ALL the show prep by herself, a roached mane saves a LOT of work/$$.

4. Place in a cowboy challenge. WIN! We got 2nd in the Novice at our first challenge this year!

5. Trailer out and go trail riding. WIN! Brenda trailered us out to one of the Metro Parks, AND we did the trails at the Cowboy Challenge grounds! And we had FUN!!!

7. Be able to do a fast and slow lope. FAIL! There's been some work here but there's a lot more to go. But I think the FAST part works fine...

2012!

I am still working on my back issue but at this point it's clear that it's going to take a bit of recovery time. With that fact it's rather difficult to know how realistic my goals are. If you had asked me last summer, I would have told you that Junior and I were going to be in the best shape we've ever been in and take the 2012 show season by storm. Alas, life may have other plans.

So my lone resolution this year is to work on OUR fitness level. Not quite able to use January 1st as the start of that, but we'll start as soon as it's possible. I'm considering obtaining in a surcingle and long lines to work with Junior while I'm benched, unless of course tomorrow's Dr. appointment advises otherwise. I'm terrified of carts (I'll tell that story another time) so I've pondered how good it would be for me to get over that fear by doing it with a horse that's rather trustworthy and is not bothered at all by stuff banging into him.

Speaking of carts being terrifying, you've seen this, right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YcT74h5Mg&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

And isn't doesn't this look more relaxing/less dangerous?:
http://youtu.be/lC0QDXBWDvY?t=3m28s

Today I groomed him and gave him lots of carrots which he still had to earn by stretching, then took him into the arena to make sure he remembered how to do showmanship. I turned him loose afterwards and he cantered around a few figure 8's, stopped to sniff his own poop.... and walked back to me with a comfortably submissive low headed posture, sighing and stopping within arms reach, right about in the spot he's finally learned to lead in (instead of directly in MY space.) Goober.

Holiday-ish Greetings!

2011-12-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

As per usual, the blog will be rather silent while I journey to the (apparently not yet) frozen tundra of Minnesota for some much needed family time and friend time over the holidays.

My back is not improved but we now know that I have two, yes TWO bulging disks between the S1 and L5 and the L5 and L4. Super. It seems trying to "work through" the pain wasn't the thing to do after all. I have another appointment after the new year to see another ortho-guy and I've been ordered to take it very easy and have been given some mild pain meds/anti-inflamatory drugs so if this post makes no sense you can guess why... The Pharmacist said "yeah, people really like this stuff."

All of this time off has sort of put a snag in my plan for really getting both Junior and myself back into shape. It's a rare occasion that my motivation outweighs my ability and it's driving me a bit nuts. But things could be much worse so I'm trying to stay positive. We were in such good shape last May before I hurt myself, darn it!

I have some riders set up to give the Junebug some exercise so he doesn't need to spend my whole vacation idle, as much as he would probably prefer that. And as always, BM Sarah and BO Molly will keep an extra eye on The Bug to make sure he stays out of trouble.... as if that's possible...

Thank you for all the nice compliments on my locker sign! I also made one for someone else, but shhhh! It's a secret! I'll post about that in January. ;)

In January I'll also be resurrecting my annual Equi-lutions, both scoring us on how we did this year and confessing my goals for 2012, which will be conservative considering my back issue.

So after the holidaitus I will be back with bells on, I promise.

Happy Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Everyone!!!

I thought I'd to a Christmas Video this year instead of just the card:

New Tack Locker Sign

2011-12-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

It's a "thing" at my new barn to have a wooden plaque on your tack locker with your name and your horse's name. The barn is nice enough to provide the plaque, we just need to provide a little craftivity.

I FINALLY got mine finished and hung today.

Ta da!

A row of signs!

There is only a LITTLE bit of glitter on those pink letters. :)

I chose black and silver with pink as the accent color - big surprise, right? Not trusting I could free-hand it without messing it up, I used photoshop to create the layout and choose the fonts. I used the pen tool to create the WP and HUS line drawings. I then printed the whole image (backwards) on an overhead transparency sheet, you know, the clear plastic sheets we used before we had computer projectors in classrooms? The transfer sheet works like a rub-on transfer but comes out super light so I then painted over the lettering and the line drawings. Lastly it got a solid, glossy coating of Polyurethane and took a good long day to dry.

So what do you think?

WTFriday #5

2011-11-25T08:17:00.000-05:00

o.O

Stuff and Things

2011-11-20T18:57:00.000-05:00

I'm dealing with my back. It hates me and for the first time in a long long long time it actually hurts to ride. It also hurts to bend over or lift anything or get in or out of my car... but the fact that it actually hurts to ride is really awful. It also makes me worried about my own fitness and if I can't ride I'm not able to keep myself in riding shape and then it's going to take longer to get back into riding shape and... anxiety anxiety anxiety....deep breath...sigh.

I rode last on Tuesday even though I shouldn't have. I can't toss my western saddle on his back so I had to use the English and we only walked and jogged around and worked on some turns on the forehand and horsemanship pivots. It hurt to post so we just jogged. We also did some bridleless steering and jogged over a few poles scattered around the arena, but the poles hurt. I can't tell you how aggravating it is that I can't just jump on and get into working on conditioning him. I can lunge him, yes, but he's never been great at lunging and he gets SOOOO bored that he starts to ignore me because that's more fun. Then I get annoyed and I do things like whip myself in the face and he laughs at me like that was his goal.... so that's not a golden solution. I could have someone ride him but that takes $$$ and is not in the budget right now. Besides by all accounts he and Bruin are getting a good deal of exercise together.

Today I gave him a good grooming which he desperately needed after being left since Tuesday. Never buy a horse with white legs. Just don't do it. He tends to hate grooming but there was a lot of activity today and he stood relaxed in the cross ties while I squatted to attack his filthy legs and he let me scrub and scrub until they resembled white. I even gave his tail a coating of Vetrolin Shine and a good brushing out and was pleased to see how thick it's getting.

He continues to love his life there. We moved him to a new stall today. His old stall was fine, but now I'm right across from the tackroom and since the barn is busy enough that the cross-ties are usually full, I can groom in the stall more easily. The new stall is also right by the door of the arena so he can watch the lesson traffic and when the doors are open he can watch the lessons in the arena. It's also got a window overlooking the outdoor arena so he has plenty of stimulation around him. He's between Zip and an appy so he should be just as happy there. Besides, the 1/2 Friesian girl he used to flirt with is gone to training for the winter so he has two friends now instead of one.

I don't remember if I ever thanked all of you for voting on my photos in that EquusNow contest a while back. We had two pictures selected and one can be seen on their used saddle page HERE. So thanks for that!

Well, because I have no shame, they are having another contest and we've entered... of course. So ENTER!!! And also it'd be neat if you voted for me. :) Again, I have no shame. :) I'll vote for you, too!

EquusNow on Facebook

I THINK this takes you right to my entry...

Settling In

2011-11-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to say that there isn't much exciting to report. Junior seems to have settled in really well. He's been able to keep Bruin as his turnout buddy and they seem to get along great.

I've worked two Sunday afternoon feeding shifts at the barn so I'm getting to know the horses pretty well. Of the 30 horses, about half are the new owner's lesson horses, and about half horses that were already boarding at the barn, and then there's 4 of us who came together. So there are new faces for everyone.

I'm still trying to sell my tack box but I've only had one bite and we negotiated on the price and I'm waiting to hear from her to see if she will accept my lowest amount or if I have to keep it a while. I'd rather store it somewhere than let it go for less than it's worth. Too much time and materials went into that thing for me to just give it away.

I'm still dealing with back issues but I'm trying to ride as much as I can because we both really need it. I'm trying to work him back into condition and it's much harder when riding hurts. :( But we'll manage. We don't have another show until spring. Today after my chores I lunged him and had a pole out so he had to trot/canter over it each lap. He was SOOOO lazy and it was very windy and in all my cleverness and coordination I managed to whip myself across the face, but luckily there's just one inch pink line on my cheekbone and not any worse. Nothing quite like feeling pain and embarrassment at the same time to humble a soul.

Time for a Change!! (Part I)

2011-11-03T13:06:00.000-04:00

I remember reading (or not reading because I didn't find them interesting) articles in horsey magazines that dealt with boarding and the foreign term "barn drama" of which I had no frame of reference because I was a kid. Now as an adult and after three years of boarding I get it. And I know why it's frustrating and why it's the subject of many articles and forums. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but I've just moved to facility #3 in just over 3 years.

That's right: We've Moved!!!!

The facility is only 4 years old so it's all pretty shiny still. The new BO just moved her horses in on Sunday so there is still a lot of unpacking and re-organizing to do but I really like her and her husband and their dogs and everyone else I've met there so far.

There are 30 12x12 matted stalls and Junior has a window he can look outside and the doors have yokes so he can stick his head out into the wide aisles. He seems really content so far and he got his feet trimmed this morning.

The tackroom has 30x30 closet sized lockers with two saddle racks in them for each boarder, So that's why I'm selling my tack box. And I don't have a garage to put it in and I'm not sure I want to keep it in my apartment. And considering the fact that I would build it differently if I did it again, I think it's okay to let it go.... IF I can find a buyer...

I'm not fully moved in yet, but the essentials are there.

Junior at the far end of the arena looking back towards the stall area.

The barn has a pretty good sized lesson program going on but she will only have 4 riders per lesson and she really has everything organized and streamlined. I am quite impressed with her attention to detail and professionalism. They compete on IEA team and do some nearby show circuits so I will still be able to get to the shows I want to go to, but will probably still be the only adult. Oh well.

The arena is a nice 90x200 size and is insulated. We had our first ride yesterday and we were able to ride during a jumping lesson so there seems to be plenty of room in there. The outdoor is 125x250! There's a heated lounge/viewing area with vending machines and a kitchenette.

She likes to have clinics and is willing to work with me on resurrecting our monthly dressage lesson clinics. I'm able to continue a working-boarder situation so that is helpful for me financially as well as physically and mentally.

Junior went out today with a new turnout buddy and it seemed like a good match. Junior was his bubbly annoying self and ran right over to Bruin, but Bruin seemed to be enjoying himself and not getting too annoyed. There was lots of running around and some bucking and sniffing and some play biting, but by the time I left they were nibbling grass (though there isn't much) and stray hay bits next to each other and looked pretty chill.

Life is good. :)

Bar-Bar's Blanket

2011-10-31T20:57:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't call myself any sort of expert in the blanket repair area, but considering how rough Junior is on his jammies I've done my share of repairs. And I've learned some things.

Old Man Cinnabar (Junior's former turnout baby-sitter) tore the leg strap connection off and lost some of the blanket fabric in the process.

The blanket has two layers at the edges; the pretty green outside, and a smooth nylon lining. Both are sandwiched together inside the folded-over binding, and of course they were not torn evenly. I chose to "patch" both pieces individually and then sandwich it all. I have a stock of black super-heavy backed nylon I found at a fabric warehouse. I've no idea what the denier is, but it's REALLY tough and REALLY heavy, heavier, in fact than what any of my blankets are made out of. I also have a stock of black rip-stop nylon I used for the lining. One nice thing about having chosen black as my signature color for all things horse is that this repair fabric matches EVERYTHING from his blankets to my tack bags and his hay net which is still in the repair pile. :)

Once I patched both sides I needed to decipher the actual shape of the blanket edge, which required some good-faith guess work in the end. Then I sandwiched the binding back on and gave it a few lines of super-stitching. I needed to replace the dee-ring and used seat-belt webbing to do it. Pretty much the strongest stuff you can find. It's actually stronger than the dee ring. The finished repair doesn't match, of course, but I don't think he'll mind. Hopefully that'll last him a while.

Inside view of repair and new Dee-ring.

Outside view of non-matching patch, and you can see how much of the dirt transferred itself to the black patch.

Some things I've learned about horse blankets in the last few years combined with my knowledge of fabric/sewing:

1. Blankets are often more cheaply made than their prices reflect. This shows itself usually in popped seams. If the lining in the blanket is not made with some extra "give" it tends to take stress poorly. For example: take a look at the inside of a lined jacket/ blazer. You will notice the lining is roomier than the coat itself. You'll see this especially in the sleeves, and usually in a center-back pleat. This makes it easier to move in. The lining is there so you can slide yourself in and out and not much more. Since lining is thin and inherently weaker that the wool of a jacket, the extra room means you can bend your elbow without being squeezed. I wonder if one of those $400 Rambo blankets would be strong enough to withstand my pony, but that's a pretty big investment to have to keep doing repairs.

2. Blankets can cost nearly as much to repair as to purchase. It took me about an hour to do the repair and I refuse to charge a friend with an elderly horse, even though she offered, but this repair would probably cost $40-$60 depending on how much they'd charge for materials. Same with cleaning. I made the mistake of having my first blanket laundered for me. I was in a time crunch. It was a $65 blanket and I spent $28 having it laundered. Ouch.

3. Some repair shops won't repair dirty blankets. This can be a hassle for you, but please think of it from the shop's perspective: All that fine horse dirt and horse hair can do some serious damage to a sewing machine. I don't do a ton of this work so it's not going to kill my own machine to do it, but if my livelihood depended on the investment of my machinery working and not requiring costly and time consuming repairs I'd have made her wash it. On the other hand, sometimes the agitation of the washing process can make a damaged area more difficult to repair, especially if the poly-fil is sticking out. So having a consultation might be a good idea. Ask the shop if they'll repair it dirty, or ask what you can do to minimize the potential further damage.

4. Laundromats HATE horse blankets. They hate them for 3 reasons (actually the same reasons you don't want to wash them in your own machine) and I've got a fix for each: 1. They are FILTHY. They leave muddy furry residue inside the machines. The filthier they are the harder they are to get clean anyway - you end up washing them in mud, so hose them off and let them dry, or better yet, take your stiffest horse brush and brush as much of the dried dirt/poo/hair off the blankets, or throw them over a clothes line and beat the crap out of them. 2. TOO BIG. Find a laundromat that has the 50lb or 75lb capacity front load machines. They are awesome and actually have enough room for the blankets to move around and get clean. 3. BUCKLES can cause some damage banging around. Worse yet the T buckles can get themselves caught in the drum holes which is also bad for the blanket. My ingenious plan for this: Infant socks and a tagging gun. Cover those little buckles with silencing padding. I'm pretty proud of this one, actually.

FOR SALE: Custom Tack Cabinet

2011-10-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

Yup. It's for sale. And WHYon earth am I selling it after all that work!?!?

That's a story for a whole 'nother post, but you'll have to wait a week or so for that one.

Stay tuned!!!!!

Handsome Custom-Designed Tack Cabinet For Sale

Built September 2010

1/2 Plywood with 3/4" bottom and Door

Casters on bottom and also under the Door for stability and smooth opening/closing

Stain and Outdoor Spar Urethane (Varnish) inside and out.

Saddle Racks for 2 English or 1 English/1Western Saddles

Saddle Racks are carriage-bolted through 1.25"reinforced back wall - very stable, and also removable.

Hooks inside right side of box for additional hanging space.

Door is deep and has 2 bridle racks and storage for sprays, bandages, etc.

Bottom Sections sized to fit specific Elfa (Container Store) Baskets (Not included)

Key Lock Hasp Closure (2 Keys)

Outside Dimensions: 30" wide x 36" deep x 58" high (not counting casters)

You Move.

$800 Cash only. Offers considered.

Cabinet Exterior - Newly Built, August 2010

Interior Newly Built - September 2010

What The Friday?!? #4

2011-10-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the research I have to do for my job leads me to strange things...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T19:42:00.001-04:00

Photos courtesy of Chloe Faure Photography.

Is Thin In?

2011-10-13T23:39:00.001-04:00

Does my horse look skinny to you? He's the one on the right, in case you're just joining us. The other one is the Mustang who thinks Junior belongs to her. Photos courtesy of Max's Chloe.

I look forward to quizzing TJ on her BCS skills on Saturday morning before we spend the day at QH Congress.

Knowing the BCS needs to consider the whole horse, I cannot see the ribs, can you? I can certainly feel them, but not see them and if the second photo with the awesome sunset lighting didn't pick them up more than a hint then they're not too bad. I think the topline is obviously bony with the hip points and the sacrum being most evident. He still has a fatty spot behind the shoulder, though.

Poor guy is built funny. He's got a big strong chest but such a wussy hip. He's missing balance between those bone structures. It was pretty well masked when he was Fatty Boombatty, but not so much anymore.

I'm also a terrible muther for the lack of real muscle building exercise he's been receiving.

Anyway, plans are underway to fix it, I'm just looking for opinions on the visual.

I showed my mom the same pictures and her immediate response was "He's so skinny!!!" Now, keep in mind that my Dear Mother had QH's in the 60's when horses like Wimpy were king. BULK! So she can't be my only source of outside opinion. She thought Junior looked good when he was an 8.5 on the BCS. Eeew. Sorry, Mom, done picking on you now. :)

Teachable Moments

2011-10-02T13:44:00.000-04:00

I took advantage of the blustery day today and saddled up and headed to the woods. The sound of wind through drying trees makes the woods a lot scarier than they are when they're quiet (Thank you, Captain Obvious) so if that was the biggest problem yesterday that made the difference between walking calmly through a 100 foot path and freaking the heck out, we needed to try and re-create that situation, removing the 30 second timer and working through things thoroughly. Junior grew a hand when we were out and he gave me lots to work with, including when he refused to go any further and we got to have the same type of moment we had when he refused to go further into the woods yesterday. We happened to be along the driveway when he refused so I definitely knew it was disobedience more than real terror. I was able to work him until he went past the spot, but it took us a while to get very far as he insisted on playing the same game every 5-10 feet. He did give up on heading for home, but when we got to the bottom of the trail loops and turned for home he tried to trot home so we took some time convincing him he wasn't allowed to do that.

Then I REALLY tortured him by making him do the creek crossings several times. We even got to do a deer spook and had to keep traveling around the spot the deer jumped up from until that was tolerable. Then I REALLY REALLY tortured him by making him go into a very muddy and deeply standing water spot. You know the kind where if you stepped in with a boot you'd probably step out without it? The kind that pulls shoes off... the scary kind. We were not wearing shoes and his instinct was to stay the hell out of that kind of mud but I made him do it and stand in it, shaking, until he sighed and I let him walk out... and then made him walk back through which he did on a moderately loose rein, licking his lips.

I ended up with a calm and content looking horse who stood nicely for me to rub him down well and pick his feet. He was rewarded with a nice thick flake of Timothy hay so I think we had a very productive day. We ended calmly and were rewarded with yummies.

I have to admit that when he refuses like that and spins around and does mini-rearings I get a little nervous, but it seems we are finding a language that doesn't make him MORE upset and eventually he gives in. His protests are heard and then patiently and kindly overruled. I think he is working through his fears and trusting me more and more, just as I'm trusting him more and more.

Such a better day than yesterday. :)

Cowboy Challenge #3

2011-10-01T18:59:00.000-04:00

"Now is the time to find out whether the lessons you've given him have sunk in, whether he's ready and willing to depend on you as a master and to follow what you tell him. If he does, you'l know your work has been successful. If he doesn't, you'll have learned where the weakness lies. In any event, at the end of the day you should know a whole lot more than you do now, which, to my mind, is the real purpose of going into Trials such as these." - Margaret Cabell Self, "The Horseman's Almanac"1946, In reference to Hunter Trials

Even though I went into the day with the above quote in my mind, I don't really think I learned a thing, but... I am afraid my horse did...

The day proved to be cold and wet. I'm doubtful we broke 50 degrees and the wind was bitter. I was layered in UnderArmor and Thinsulate so I was mostly comfortable, but the wind was determined to kill us all. We got to the Park at about 11:30 and there were only a few other trailers. The Youth Challenge was supposed to start at noon, but they were holding off to see if anyone else showed up. B and I were riders 2 and 3. I think we started the 7 riders about 1:30pm and by then we were cold and the horses had been thoroughly spooked by a combination of mini horses pulling carts, a pair of lovely grey Percherons pulling a big green covered wagon, and someone's giant rain shelter tarp blowing off of their trailer. Junior was on high alert and snorty but I wasn't worried. We were under control. Didn't seem like he has much experience with carts, but we were okay. Much better than poor Zip who nearly crawled out of his skin.

It was a shortened course and didn't look too difficult:

Step Down
Woods
Hay Feeder
Water crossing
Mound of Dirt
Bridge
2nd Bride with plastic wildlife all around it
Rope Plastic Calf
Pick up trash bag and hang it on the 2nd T post
Gate
Step-up
Dismount and pick up Right Hind foot.

I knew we'd have issues at the gate again. I worked 16 hour days all week and had no chance of practicing. There was also the roping of a plastic steer but aside from my aim being sucktacular he's never been bothered by ropes, and he was so good last week I wasn't worried at all.

I was the first rider to go. Just before they called us to start he started hopping around and being an idiot. I am clueless as to why. It took some convincing to even get him onto the course. The announcer even had to grab the bridle and lead us in. We got about 10 feet from the group out towards the step down and he spun around and refused. We argued about it for a while with several more spins and false starts until another rider led us down the step. We headed off towards the woods; the same exact path we took last Sunday, but this time the wind was fierce and he was shaking and snorting. After some spinning and threats of rearing I eventually got him into the path but when he got to the low muddy spot he refused to go further and after some spinning tripping over the brush on either side of the path the whistle blew and we had to skirt the woods the rest of the way. Even the hay feeder he snorted at. He refused to go into the water. We got over the hill and the bridges fine. When I was handed the rope he started dancing around and I almost didn't get him stopped in time to throw the rope at the head. Missed it, of course. Then we went to pick up a black trash bag full of cans from the first T-Post and that did not bother him at all, of course. We deposited it on the 2nd post. We got the gate open fine but didn't get it closed again. Back up over the Step-Up was fine but he tried to take off while I dismounted. Lifting up the RH foot was fine.

Aside from the rider who DQ'd we were DFL and not at all surprised. I didn't bother to look at the scores. We wouldn't have bothered to stay for the results, but I didn't want to seem rude. It's best to clap for the winners even if you're freezing and know darn well you didn't place. The guy that won the buckle was the clear winner and seemed pretty nice and had a cute little girl in a helmet on a been-there-done-that large pony. She ended up with 3rd, I think. Everyone's horse had an issue with something or other, but aside from the DQ'd horse (went so far off course she just called it quits) we were the ones with the most trouble. It felt like last week never happened. I guess we should have left it with that.

The part that's hard for me to swallow, is that he might have just LEARNED that if he refuses long enough he doesn't have to do it. Because they give you a 30 second time limit on each obstacle you have to move on if they blow the whistle. You can't stay and school the thing, you have to move on. I get it, of course, but I'm not sure if this will have bad effect on our training. We've been doing so well with the woods! So we only got half way through the woods, and he we didn't go into the water at all. He refused long enough and I had to turn him away. He went through those woods last Sunday on a loose rein with no problems at all, so I know that going there and practicing at the site when it's quiet won't help. He'll go when it's quiet, but I can't re-create the situation we were in today. I know the wind was too much for him and he hadn't been worked all week, plus with the rain he's been inside most of the week. Excuses excuses excuses. Just not our day. I fear that we're going to have to spend a good deal of time in our woods this fall in the scary scary wind and see if he can get over it.

Ugh. What happened to that wonderful trail pony I had last week!?!?! There is no video evidence of today's ride, and believe me when I tell you that's a good thing. It was not pleasant to watch nor to experience.

The only good part is that he got on the trailer like a grown-up both times so if nothing else, it seems we've made progress there.

Cowboy Challenge #2

2011-09-27T14:13:00.002-04:00

The equine gods were smiling on us Sunday and B and I were able to head up to the Cowboy Challenge at the Knox County Horse Park. We had some trouble getting him into the trailer again, but I managed to stay calm and intent enough on getting him in so we managed. It was a gorgeous day, weather could not have been better. You may remember that we went to our first challenge last year at this time and we had so much fun. We failed a few of the obstacles and Junior got about 3 feet into the little wooded part and spun around and ran out and I could not get him back in. I was pleased with that first time but made it one of my Equilutions to place in a Cowboy Challenge...

This time we were able to enter a Novice division so there were only 7 competing as opposed to the 25 that were entered into the open division. The course was the same.

Junior was a such a good boy. We had some issues getting lined up for the gate and he wasn't sure he wanted to stand still by the barrel with the water bucket when he could see his two favorite girls and his buddy Zip up in the arena. We're still working on the separation anxiety, but he was great on the course. He was calm and brave and I got lots of compliments on the ride and on how pretty he is.

After we competed we went on a nice trail at the Park. Junior was really awesome. He took the hills and the tight spaces and the deer all in stride. Who knew he'd turn into a decent trail mount??!?

One of our friends won the Open on her mare, Rio, who Junior is very much in love with. Ivy, a new red roan in the barn was there too and he couldn't decide who he was more in love with. Adorable.

JR: "Hey, how YOU doin?"
Rio: "Whatever."

Rather than give a play by play I'll just show you. It's a big course so it's hard to get a clear shot of it all, especially the parts behind the trees. Back there we had to stop at a mailbox and raise and lower the mail flag, then we had to go through a round-bale feeder that's on it's side and buried. It's a tight squeeze for us so it's a good thing he's not at all worried about it.

You can watch the video with the sound ON if you want to hear the wind, the commentator, and B and B. I captioned the obstacles so you can watch in silence if you want. Ignore the camera shaking due to Zip, the video I took of B and Zip while sitting on Junior was way worse.

And the outcome? We got a 106 out of 120 and placed second! He went right into the trailer for the way home so maybe we crossed back into the dimension where my horse trailers like a good boy and not like an idiot. We shall see because...

The best part is that we get to do it again next week because it's a makeup date for the one in May that was rained out! It's only Open, though so we have to compete with the big boys and girls, but it'll still be fun!

Your Anniversary Giveaways are FINALLY in the mail and on their way to you. Thanks for entering!!!

Anniversary Give Away - THE WINNER!

2011-09-18T17:06:00.000-04:00

Remember when I said "Junior will randomly select the winner"? Well, when I wrote that I hadn't yet devised the method for which that would actually happen. I briefly envisioned Junior pulling a piece of paper out of a bucket full of entries. But the more I actually thought about the logistics, the more I realized that things that go IN Junior's mouth rarely come OUT, unless of course the thing is un-chewable metal and is attached to a bridle. I considered writing the names on baby carrots and seeing which one was eaten first, but thought I should avoid feeding Sharpie ink to my horse. Max's Mom suggested I carve the names into the carrots..... um... no.

So I'm sorry to say that Junior randomly selected the winner means me putting all the entries in a bowl and pulling one out. Not nearly as exciting, I know. You can feel free to imagine what it would be like to watch me wrestle the winner's name out of his mouth if it makes you feel better.

To recap, the lucky winner will receive Bick 4 Leather Conditioner (That's YOUR "Leather Anniversary" part!), Vetroline Shine, a blog Magnet and Bumper Sticker, and choice of English Velcro Spur Straps or Western Spur Tie Downs.

And the winner is:

Laura!!!!

Congratulations to Laura of littlekeebler! Laura's looking forward to using the Vetrolin Shine on her new mare! You MUST send us a before and after photo when you start to see results! It's "Teflon for Tails!"

I am terribly sorry, but I couldn't stop with just one fabulous winner. I needed to pass the fun around! And by "fun" I mean those bumper stickers I don't know what to do with!!! So another lucky 4 winners were drawn:

Paint Horse Milo, Mare, Jan, and in2paints!!!!!!! You each win a bumper sticker!

The Winners!

If the five of you would like to claim your fabulous prize(s), please send your snail-mail address to overanxioushorseowner@gmail.com and I will make it happen! Laura, don't forget to choose an English or Western spur helper!

This is how those Rubber Spur Tie-Downs work, btw.

Thanks to all 10 readers who entered!

Also, a big "WELCOME!!!" to our newest subscribers! As of this moment we're up to 109 subscribers! According to my "Stats" this blog gets over 2,000 page views per month. That sure seems like a lot!

Next up: We continue the spoiling of Junebug with a visit from our wonderful chiro/massage lady!

Leather Anniversary Part II

2011-09-15T18:45:00.000-04:00

Aw come on, did you really think I was going to let Junebug have all the "Leather Anniversary" fun?!?! Did you?!?! I'll be breaking these in for our upcoming Cowboy Challenge! I needed some modern western boots I could ride in and wear to events without worrying about hurting my show boots or looking like a newb in my lacers. I finally found exactly what I was looking for.

I LOVE square toes!

Yes, I do love my Ariats. I seem to have better luck with them than many. I now have 4 pair of western (two are the old-school lacers), a pair of brown RT paddocks, and some Crown field boots. I love them all. I've been hunting for a pair in this style for a while and I LOVE the subtle pink/purple stitching and the brown distressed leather is lovely.

I highly recommend OnlineBootStore.com. Their prices are the lowest I've found and I've always gotten free shipping. If you use "topten" in the coupon code you can get $10 off your order. Only weird thing with them is that the "check order status" on their website never seems to work, but the shipping time isn't bad - took 8 business days to get from WI to OH with the free shipping. This is my second order from OnlineBootStore and I will be back... but hopefully I can hold off for a while!!!

Dr. J was out again this morning to check on the Thrush I thought we had, and again I fail at diagnosing my horse's issues. He has no thrush, but he did have some sole cracks that were letting in enough poo/mud/bedding/etc. to make them goopy and yucky. Possible he HAD thrush in there but keeping him in and dry for a week was enough to get rid of it. So all that is cut away and he can go back to his regular turnout schedule, a fact he was QUITE happy about today.

Don't forget to enter our Anniversary Give Away!!!! Details Here. I'll be cutting it off at 7pm Saturday September 17th, so you've got TWO DAYS left! Thanks to all who have already entered!

Anniversary Give Away!

2011-09-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

Three years ago today I brought Junior home. I was so doubtful that making this "thing" I had wanted my entire life into a reality was a smart decision. I worried about finances. I worried about illness and injury and I was terrified I didn't know enough to become a horse owner. Something bad was sure to happen at any moment. That's why I became the Overanxious Horse Owner.

The first few weeks were hell. I never wrote it in the blog or even said it to anyone, but I thought I had made a terrible mistake. I had wanted a calm, broke, horse. I brought home the opposite. He was pushy in the stall, had horrible ground manners, and he was hot and too forward under saddle. He paid no attention to me. He barely ever looked at me. We had no connection. I was heartbroken.

But I trudged on and focussed on the good moments because I am just not a quitter. I didn't want to give up. Over time we got his mental state cleaned up through increased turnout and decreased grain and things started looking up. I started thinking about showing and setting some goals for us.

Junior gets a pedicure on our Anniversary.

Now it's three years later and we've come an awful long way. I learned to be the kind of leader he respects and obeys, and he learned the boundaries of human-pony interaction.... well, mostly. I once thought of sending him back, and now I cannot fathom the idea. Monet even thinks he's my equine soul mate. Even though he's an accident-prone houdini who knows exactly how to push each and every one of my buttons, giggling all the while, he belongs with me.

Have you seen Tangled? I swear they used Junebug as research for Maximus. People tell me they love watching us interact because he's so funny. I've even had someone say "He actually looks like he's laughing sometimes!" And I am SURE he is because he's way too smart and way too silly. BTW, I picked up the handle "Sillypony" over 10 years ago when I started needing an internet handle. I had no idea that one day I would OWN the Silly Pony and that I would turn out to be the Serious Girl. He drives me nuts, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

New Wenglish Showmanship Halter

New Did you know that the traditional 3-Year wedding anniversary gift is LEATHER!?!?! Yes, I KNOW we're not married - eeew. But I like traditional things so I looked it up out of curiosity and couldn't help but use it as an excuse to get us a new leather halter and lead we can use in Hunter Showmanship. We've been using a bridle up until now because that's "correct" but more and more open shows are allowing the halter and since he works SOOO much better in a halter we're jumping on that wagon!

I chose a Billy Royal set from Schneiders. I like my western show halter of theirs so I thought I'd try this. I didn't want to spend a ton and I like this color. It's a little more workman-like than the fancy stitched/padded ones, but I like it. The cheek piece could be an inch longer, so I need to check Schneider's new sizes to see if another size would fit better. The lead is beautifully weighted for the proper coil while showing.

AND...

in honor of our three years together, I'm giving away a box of our Favorite Things. Don't get TOO excited, I'm not Oprah; I have a budget. And yes, these are NEW items, not my old used stuff. :)

The Box Contains:

Vetrolin Shine: so your pony can have a tail as lovely as Junior's and all your friends can say how soft your pony is.
Velcro Spur Straps: so you can have quick in-n-out access to your spurs without buckles. Easy to use, easy to maintain. ** If the winner is a non-English-Spur-wearer, I can trade this out for: Rubber Spur Tiedowns: The best thing for keeping your spurs from become anklets, especially if you swap your boots around. Keeps them right in place without having to crank the spur straps down!** Or if you don't wear spurs, I'd be happy to keep them and use them for you. ;)
Bick 4: Because once you go Bick you never go back.
A Diary of the Overanxious Horse Owner Bumper Sticker & Magnet! So you can boast your allegiance to the world! (or just hang your grocery list on your fridge)

How to win?

Become one of us!!! You must be a public follower of the blog, so join up if you aren't already one of us.
Leave a comment about your FAVORITE post/story/thing about reading this blog AND which of the giveaway items you are most excited about!
On September 18th Junebug will randomly select a Reader who will be notified via a blog post on that day.
The lucky lucky winner will then email a mailing address to me and your prize will come to you! So easy!

So think of your FAVORITE reason to read this blog, greedily plan how you will use your plunder, and comment away! Good Luck!!!!

Trail Ride!

2011-08-27T09:08:00.001-04:00

** Pictures have been reposted. Comment if there are more viewing problems. Not sure why that happened. **

Quick Updates:

Thrush is essentially gone. Some lingering moments of it in the rear, but I think we're out of that danger zone we were in with the RF. **I spoke too soon. Another cavern in his RH.**
The grain transition went smoothly. Thankfully that horse has proven to be pretty sturdy of gut, limb, and wind. Knock on wood... And I no longer have to haul my own grain so that's a nice bonus. I'll keep you posted of any noticeable long-term effects of the change.
The mold has stayed off of the tack I treated with Leather Therapy Wash (WIN) but the box is showing signs of it again (FAIL) so another round of bleach-water will be happening today. The humidity is going down so hopefully we'll be done with it soon. Hope.
My camera is malfunctioning. I don't recommend dropping it lens first into the arena footing. I do recommend the "accidental damage" warranty on anything you'll be using around horses. So you must settle for iphone pictures until Best Buy makes good on that warranty.

And now we return to your regularly scheduled post:

On Tuesday we checked off one of our Equilutions for 2011. We trailered to a local park and did our very first "real" trail riding! Brenda and her horse Zip trailered us and Steve (another boarder) brought his adorable paint gelding, Skip.

Thankfully we have no fun stories to tell as everything went relatively smooth. The only minor mishaps were caused by me. Surprise. I tried to use a head bumper on my rope halter but it was hard to get it to fit correctly and Junior managed to slip the halter while he was in the trailer. I had to unload him with just a rope around his neck since I couldn't get it back on inside the trailer from his off side. It took me a bit of maneuvering to put it back on while he nervously attacked the grass, but we managed.

In the unloading process he stepped on and pulled out a small chunk of his tail. Not enough to notice, but enough to make me sad, and I have plans for it.

Once I got him tied to the trailer where the couldn't see the other two horses he started yelling but that's normal for him.

We got tacked up and I worked him for a minute in the little ring they have just to make sure he was listening and that the buttons were sill functioning.

We headed out.

He actually prefers to lead, which I find contradictory to his nervousness but he likes to set the pace and if the horse in front is too slow he'll be in his lap if I'm not constantly pulling him back. So the lead is actually less stressful for us both.

There was one odd looking brush pile he didn't want to get closer to but it was easy to convince him to keep moving. Once Steve and Skip got too far ahead and I had to have a bit of an argument about who gets to decide the pace but I won pretty easily.

He took a good long while before he totally relaxed and dropped his head along the grassier area, but I am very pleased with how well he did with the amount of wooded sections. There were snorts and blows and tension, but such a huge improvement from his complete refusal to go into the woods at last fall's Cowboy Challenge.

It was a wonderful way to spend the last weekday I was on summer break. Now it's back to teaching and designing and advising and committee meetings and less lazy riding days. :(

We really need to spend a day loading and unloading. He wasn't great when I got him but KAT had a come-to-jesus moment with him and he was fine up until May when he scared himself by bumping the butt bar on his way in and he's been a turkey ever since. He was better loading to go home but he was pushing against the butt bar really hard in anticipation of getting out. He listened to me and quit so I could get the bar undone safely and he came out relatively calmly. Just like everything else with this boy, we need mileage.

Equine Nutrition - Here we go Again!

2011-08-20T15:52:00.000-04:00

I wasn't planning on changing feed, but this morning I made a discovery that made changing feeds a necessity....

At the end of June, before heading to MN for a month, I bought enough Safe N Lite to get him into about mid August. Today, upon realizing I had only about 3 feedings left I headed up to the Drive-Thru. For those of you who (like me) don't know what a DT Feed store is, it is a something else! You drive in, tell them what you want, they load it up and run your card, bring you a receipt to sign and you drive away. Oh, and they nearly always are Feed and LIQUER. Yup. I'll have two bags of that and a six-pack of that, thanks. It's real. Still can't get over it.

Anyway, So I get there and guess what?!?! They no longer carry it! And neither does anyone else in the area. I checked. Sonnuvah..... Not much to be done about that but move on!

So with only about enough grain left for 3 feedings, I need to act fast. Ideally you transition a horse over a week. I'm gonna have to do it in just 3 days. Certainly not ideal, but I'm left with no choice. I came home and pulled out the old Nutrition binder and went to work. For those of you just joining us, you can check out the posts under "Equine Nutrition" on the right-hand side for the epic saga that has been Junior's grain journey.

Rather than get myself into trouble again by finding a feed that is difficult to acquire, I decided to look at our two barn grains. Currently the barn feeds Tribute's Kalm N EZ and Purina's Strategy Healthy Edge. KEZ was one of the feeds Jess analyzed for me way back when, but SHE was not on the market yet.

Remember back then we were dealing with a hot, obese horse having very limited turnout? Now we are dealing with a generally calm horse on the slender side of good weight who is getting ample daily turnout. He wasn't even hot when he was in his stall for almost a week when the thrush was so bad. That seems to be gone, now, btw.

So we're looking at a different situation: and a much more "normal" horse with fewer "special needs." Hopefully it wasn't JUST the feed that made the difference. I suspect turnout has made the biggest difference, along with a brighter stall he can stick his head out and feel like he's in a herd rather than a dark lonely box.

Below is the comparison of the main things I'm interested in with regards to feed analysis. All 3 are considered "low sugar/low starch" but I couldn't find the starch percentage for KEZ. There's of course a lot more factors to equine nutrition, but for the most part all the main brands offer complete nutrition so I'm not getting into the Ca:P ratios or anything that would make my brain hurt more than it has to.

I think I'm taking a gamble with either feed since each is above or below on each line.
-KEZ has better fiber content.
-SHE has nearly the same mcals so I can feed about the same size ration.
-SHE has lower protein - we found most feeds contain more protein that a horse needs based on the NRC guidelines, but I don't mind having a slightly higher number there since he could use muscle, too much though and they just pee it out and make the stalls smell worse.
-Fat is higher in the SHE and some research suggests that has a calming effect on some horses.

As of tonight's feeding I'm going to substitute 1/4 of his ration with Strategy Healthy Edge and by Tuesday PM feeding he'll be totally on the SHE. I have a thing against Strategy but I've heard much better reviews of the SHE so hopefully it'll work out. Or it'll be back to the drawing board!

Just a parting shot for you:

Product Review: Amigo Mio Fly Sheet

2011-08-18T08:37:00.000-04:00

We've been using our Amigo Mio for nearly a whole summer now. I purchased it at EquusNow on sale for less that $60. Horseware Ireland's website lists it for $73 and says:

"Horseware® Amigo® Mio Flysheet with attached hood. Soft knitted polyester, patented front Leg Arches™ for freedom of forward movement and two criss-cross belly surcingles make this ultra breathable flysheet a favorite at a price anyone can afford! "

Being the bottom of the line that Horseware offers, I suppose it's a case of "you get what you pay for" but I am not dissatisfied. It seems to be doing it's job, but I think it has design flaws.

Here it is fresh out of the package:

My only previous experience with a fly sheet was a Kensington style sheet with harder, stiffer plasticky mesh I bought at a tent sale for $10. It was full of holes after one summer and gave him lovely patches of broken hair, including the top of his tail.

Sizing: The sheet had ample coverage. Junior usually wears a 78. I thought it was a bit roomy at first. It comes in 3" increments.

Hardware: Is only nickel plated so the buckles are chipped and rusted after only a few months.

Velcro Closures: There's a reason you don't launder velcro with your Zocks, right? WHY did they use velcro when the fabric itself snags relentlessly on it!?! In just normal wearing, there are snags and pulls all over the areas of velcro, and anywhere else the "male" side of the velcro touches. So even when you fold it up to hang on the blanket bar it gets stuck to itself.

Neck Cover: Is not removable, which I like because he can't lose it. It seems built for REALLY thick necks, though and I'm not sure if that is on purpose or not. Junior has a thin neck comparatively.

Fabric/Construction: Considering that my horse is tough on clothing it seems to be doing fairly well... probably shouldn't have said that outloud. In addition to the velcro damage, there are a few tears in various locations on the body. If velcro can snag the fabric I can't be surprised turnout buddies and fences can tear it, but a few could be stress/strain on the fabric. The binding and straps appear to be holding up well, but one of the belly straps has torn the fabric, and the lining at front closure has pulled away from the stitching line, which seems to be stress rather than abrasion. The lining is not a strong enough weave to stand up to the stress of turnout.

Maintenance: I have washed it once in my standard home machine. I saw no damage or change in the materials after washing in cold (twice) with a scentless detergent (I usually use Schneider's Blanket Wash but I'm running low) and it dried very quickly on my deck. It is not as shiny as it was and didn't wash up "like new" but it was cleaner and smelled better.

Overall: I think it does the job it was intended to do, but will probably only last a few seasons. The damage to the fabric and the few tears do not yet prevent the sheet from protecting the horse, but could eventually. For the first time, Junior is not covered in hives and though many of the other horses have exhibited welts from the horse flies, Junior's only had one small one on his neck below where the cover ends. He was also put on Smart Bug-Off this year, so that probably helps, too.

Recommendations: If you need an affordable sheet, your horse is kind to it's clothing, and you don't mind cosmetic damage, this might be a good buy for you.

Velcro damage to fabric:

Hole in Shoulder, hip, and stress at belly strap.

WTFriday #4 - Curse You Perry the Platypus!!!

2011-08-12T08:38:00.000-04:00

Phineas and Ferb. If you've not seen this show you probably don't have kids between the ages of 1 and 10. But you SHOULD. Should see it, I mean, not necessarily SHOULD have kids... that's none of my business.

I started watching the show with my nephew and neices and it is a great show. The show wasn't designed for children, but it didn't exclude them as an audience. The creators believed in the concept so much that it took them 16 years of tweaking and pitching before a network (Disney) would pick it up. That's dedication. And no matter your feelings about the Disney empire, they made a good choice on this show. Clever plots, recurring themes, fun music, and laugh outloud quirky humor make up each 1/2 hour show's 2 episodes. The boys are on summer vacation and each day they do some crazy outlandish project. Their sister Candice tries to "bust" them and always fails. Then there is a subplot of their unassuming pet platypus, Perry, and evil scientist: Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. You can read a lot more about them on the web, I recommend the ease of the Wikipedia page. They're on Disney Channel on Fridays, but they're also on Netflix.

So what on earth does this have to do with this blog? Well, I happened to be watching an episode where the kids were riding horses. And for a second I thought WTFriday is on their heads!?!?! And then I realized that they had HELMETS under their cowboy hats.

I jumped up an cheered (metaphorically) and praised the person in that office that decided to portray the kids, even though they are cartoons who do all sorts of unrealistic death-and-gravity-defying acts, utilizing this important safety tool. Granted the boys' have no chin straps but I'm over it.

So check out Phineas and Ferb and their crime-fighting pet platypus, Perry.

MOLD

2011-08-08T19:59:00.003-04:00

Skip to the end question if you don't want to read all of my ramblings today...

So much humidity! There's no escaping it and with humidity and in addition to creating a comfy environment for Thrush, here comes every tack room's best friend: MOLD, or MOULD if you are so inclined. Even my purty tack box has fallen victim. Max's mom was too quick to tell me there was no mold in there while I was gone. I found it when I got home. It wasn't too bad at first glance but once I dug around... Not only was it on leather, it was on my clipper bag, the entire inside of my LamiCell helmet, my old Aegis helmet, a stray treat, 2 rolls of vetwrap, my earmuffs, and my bit warmer and I was not at all pleased to see it growing ON THE WOOD ITSELF. Dang. AND I opened up my blanket chest to find it on my newest winter blanket. Double Dang.

To war.

The washables went into hot water wash with vinegar and dried in the sun. The clipper bag didn't fare so well in the wash but I can fix it. The helmet is still a bit ripe after vacuuming, dabbing with lemon juice and a generous dousing (or two) of Lysol spray. Might need another approach if it's going to be wearable. I tossed my old Aegis helmet since It won't adjust anymore anyway and that's just not safe. That was actually hard. It was my first approved helmet! The blanket is airing out while I make a plan to take it to the laundromat. More on that later.

After a bit of research I chose a bleach/water solution and wiped out the box. And even though the Lysol can says not to use on polished wood I used that, too, then set a fan in front of it and left it open for a few days. Then I bought a 2-pack of Damp Rid containers and put one in the door closest to the bottom compartments where it was worst, but I think I need to add the other one into the main compartment. The container says "up to 45 days..." we'll see about that. The wood is still clean today... I shouldn't have said that outloud. Blerg! I've removed most of the contents of the compartments for the time being.

It seems to like my English saddle and my western headstall the best, as well as the franken-halter I made out of parts of one leather halter and one nylon halter. You might remember the photos from last year. Not that bad this year, thankfully. I cleaned them with Saddle Soap and used my Bick4. That BTW is the best stuff EVAR, but today the mold was already back so it's not the best at mold prevention. Triple Dang.

So time for more research... It seems there are two leather care products that claim to be anti-fungal. One is Leather Therapy and the other is the Belvoir line from Carr & Day & Martin. Both have a cleaner and a conditioner. The Belvoir also comes in wipes.

The Leather Therapy claims to be the only one, but Belvior says it too. Equusnow carries both of them so I can get them right on my way to the barn.

Adding to my list of things to consider if I ever build my own barn: TACK ROOM WINDOWS that create tons of ventilation and let the mold-killing light shine on in.

So, Dear Readers, have you tried either of those products? Something else? I'm a little worried about the winter blanket because the tag says to wash on cold but I think I need it warmer to kill the mold.... ?? Thoughts??

What The What is THAT?!?

2011-08-03T21:31:00.008-04:00

Part ONE of what's been occupying me since my return was that upon grooming my pony on Monday, I found this curious hole-thingy in his RF heel:

See it there on the bottom bulb? And YES, I cleaned out his feet after I shot the photo. I took him in to the arena. He seemed perfectly sound so I didn't worry much. The only thing we could think of was maybe an abscess exit? I did get news that he was a bit "stiff" when he was ridden on the 25th but nothing noticeable. Perhaps it blew out on it's own? I've never had an abscess before (KNOCK ON WOOD) but I've read about them (including on some of YOUR blogs!) and seen other photos and articles.

So yesterday we hosed it out and we found this:

So there's kinda like a HOLE in either side of his heel and I got a little freaked out. Doesn't look like the abscess holes I've seen, it looked more like some sort of flesh eating virus! The lower one is DEEP and creepy. So I sent the pic to Doc. While waiting for him to respond we treated it like an abscess and wrapped it. Doc said he'd like to see it and happened to be coming today.

So today, after deciding that he was sound, Doc took the wrap off and poked around. The whole area was black and nasty. No abscesses, instead, it's a really really really nasty case of Thrush that embedded itself so deeply that I saw no evidence of Thrush when I picked his feet on Monday or yesterday, but the wrap must have given the thrush a nice 24 hours of moist heat to thrive in. Ooopsie.

Doc exposed and cut out all of the nastiness. Then he gave him a bit of sedation to make it easier for me to soak it in a hoof bag for 45 minutes, dump the solution out and let it "work" sealed back up for another 45 minutes, then apply a good dose of Thrush Buster.

Awww sleepy soaking pony.

All cleaned out... with a little bit of shavings because it's hard to wrestle a leg out of a soaking bag and take a picture of it without the slightly sleepy pony insisting on putting the foot down. :)
Still looks nasty but I covered it all in the purple-power and he will need to stay picked and dry for a few days. We'll see how it goes. Luckily he doesn't seem painful about it but that barely alleviates my guilt. Not much I could have done to prevent it. I didn't see it and neither did Max's girls when they picked his feet for me. But I still feel bad for him. :( While he soaked I sat a chair outside his stall and we shared some quiet time together. It's amazing how soft his muzzle is when he's not trying to eat me with it! He actually put himself as close to me as he could and I just scratched his face and rubbed his nose and shooed the flies from his eyes. Reminded me of a sick kid who just wants to lay on the couch by his mom. And yes, I'm anthropomorphizing, but it was still adorable.

I Have Returned....

2011-08-03T09:54:00.004-04:00

...To find some interesting things that are keeping me busy. Stay tuned for more on that.

In the mean time, I have a short video for you to enjoy with the sound ON. Right before I left for vacation I caught Junior running and whinnying in his sleep. Cutest thing I've ever seen! It took me a while to get out the iPhone and get it to the right setting so I only caught the end right as he woke up, but he's still adorable. NOT that I am biased or anything...

The Dog Days of July

2011-07-19T16:13:00.005-04:00

Hello Dear Readers! Contrary to all of your fears, everything is fine here in the world of the Silly Pony and the Serious Girl. Thanks to RiderWriter for pointing out how long it had been since I posted. Ooops! Time sure flies when you're on vacation!

I had meant to post before I headed home to MN/WI for the month of July but it was a rather busy week tying up loose ends, packing for a month and entertaining my dear mother while she visited. She so kindly volunteered to fly out to Ohio to spend a week and then accompany me on the long drive to that glorious land where Wisconsin kisses Minnesota with dual blue bridges. And by glorious I mean it's hot and humid and the heat index has been over 110. Gross. But I am NOT complaining because I NEVER complain of heat. Only of cold.

The day before the journey Mom and I took in the Columbus Zoo and I FINALLY got an upclose look at the Okapi. They are totally my favorite exotic animal. It's like there were only mismatched parts left over when the Okapi came to be. Part Zebra, part Gazelle, part Giraffe. And prettiest softest looking brown fur I've ever seen. No idea what they really feel like.

Okapi!

Then we took Junior and Max on a little trail ride around the property. As you might remember, Mom had horses when she was a teenager and she still enjoys a ride every time she visits. This is the first time we've been able to ride together on 2 horses in years and years. Max is an awesome trail horse. Junior continues to be annoyed by trees, but he gets better every time and I get better keeping him on task. I got some nasty head tossing when we had to stop and wait for everyone to cross the creeks, the kind that tosses a rein up between the ears. Stinker.

Reports of Junior continue to be great. He has managed to stay hive-free so between the new fly sheet and the Smart BugOff something is working. Monet rode him on Saturday and Max's Chloe took some nice pictures of the ride.

Oooh! Dressage Pony!!!

If Monet had her way we'd be Eventing.... ha!

Happy Sweaty Mohawk Boy

I'm here until the end of the month then I'm home for a short respite and then it's back to the grindstone getting ready for the new school year and the challenges of a new curriculum, a new colleague, new students, and a LOT of shows to design. It will be a busy year!

I'm also woefully behind on my blog reading. I've been skimming but haven't had much time to really read. I'll catch up eventually.

See you all in August!!!

Show #2 of 2011 - The Rest of the Story

2011-06-19T16:53:00.002-04:00

It was a good show. It was a short show with some highs and lows. You've seen the photo with the three blue ribbons and I had to just show that without telling you the story, just for fun.

I showed in 7 classes and took home 4 blues, a red, and a yellow. Which seems really sweet, until I tell you that the first 3 blues (in the picture) were both 1st and last place. Yes, I was the ONLY adult English rider at the show. There was NOBODY there. The entire show of 43 classes was done by 4pm. At the show in June we left after class 35 and it was about 7pm. This meant two things: not a lot of competition and not a lot of time between some of my classes. Not that I mind taking home the blue ribbons, but it seems a bit lackluster when it was basically an exhibition.

I got a stall and a tack stall which was good since it rained most of the afternoon and my BM and her awesome doberman, Dakota were my indispensable show grooms.

Adult Hunter Showmanship:

Didn't screw up the pattern, Junior was pretty good, but wouldn't keep his pivot foot planted. Not pleased I was the only one in the class but whatever. Not a lot of adults do the showmanship. Maybe they're afraid of running in public? 1st out of 1.

Adult Hunter Under Saddle:

I couldn't believe there wasn't anyone in this class and surmised that if no adults were doing HUS then none would do Equitation, either. Crap. He made me work for it with both an extended trot and a "controlled hand gallop" which I haven't had to do in about 10 years and I only had a little tinkle of KAT's voice saying "for the hand gallop they want to see 2-point" so I guffawed, kissed him forward and went into 2-point. 1st out of 1 ...lame.

Adult Equitation:

The pattern was not too difficult and I only managed to go slightly off pattern. Thought it odd that Junior wasn't picking up his upward transitions as well as he usually does and realized that was a slight problem in HUS, too. Hmmmm. 1st out of 1...again... sigh.

Adult Western Showmanship:

Guess what? I jacked up the pattern. Surprise! I did everything right and Junior was good - still stepping out of turns though. The last piece of the pattern was a 270 but as I passed 90 I realized it couldn't be a 270 cause that would be facing the wrong way and ended up doing some sort of an awkward 405. 3rd out of 3. This actually really upset me because I finally had a little competition and I messed up the pattern so badly of course I was the bottom of the group. If I hadn't done that where would I have been? I'll never know. :(

Adult Horsemanship:

I had barely enough time to tack up for Horsemanship and was so late I only looked at the pattern as I was walking to the in-gate and as soon as I handed the pattern off and walked in my mind went completely blank. There were cones. I didn't have a clue what to do with any of them. I was the last in, therefore supposed to be the 1st to go. Judge asked if there were any questions. I asked to please not go first. Either look like an idiot that way or have to ride and make something up and look like a complete idiot. I literally learned the pattern by watching the other two riders. Felt like an ass. Somehow won the class. 1st out of 3.

Adult Western Pleasure:

I only entered this class (and the next one) because my BO wasn't getting back with the truck until 4:30 at the earliest so I knew I was either going to have to sit around or keep showing. There were 6 riders. I figured I didn't have a chance but somehow was graced with 2nd. Apparently the judge liked our forward lope/canter.

Open Walk/Jog Western Pleasure:

He would start out the jog nice and slow but kept getting faster and faster. I had a hard time convincing him to stay slow. I did have a few times where all I did was shift my weight back and I felt him slow but there were other times he actually needed to be bumped. He even broke to a walk at least once. No place. Not sure how many in the class. At least 9 but I lost count as he started to fuss about leaving the arena last. I went ahead and used it as a schooling moment and he got over it pretty quickly.

So the high spots were feeling the slowing at the weight shift, sitting on him for a few hours straight between my horsemanship class and my last pleasure class and having him be relaxed and content. It helped that lots of people from the old barn liked to come up and love on him. Oh, and winning Adult High Point was nice but felt like a giveaway. I took the cash anyway.

The low spots (aside from STILL not being able to get 4 patterns down) were not feeling like I competed in the English. And to be honest, in the English riding classes I could feel myself not trying very hard and I'm disappointed in myself for that. The other low spot was that I think Junior hurt something. He's not visibly lame but between him not wanting to let that foot stay planted during the pivot (seems like once the leg starts to twist he needs to pick it up, rather than let it turn) and some of the difficulties in canter take offs, which he's normally really good at, and adding how he was on his toe (not resting, more like hesitating) on that leg when we opened the trailer, I think something's up. I'm going to give him a few days off and see how he's doing. Silly pony.

Show #2 of 2011 - Sneak Peek

2011-06-18T19:45:00.003-04:00

I'm too tired to tell the whole tale tonight, but I will soon. Until then, a teaser:

Just remember that things are not always what they seem.... To Be Continued...

Thumbs?

2011-06-16T19:59:00.002-04:00

I guess my horse has grown thumbs. Invisible thumbs, because upon inspection I could not find the thumbs. He doesn't even have ergots, so I suppose thumbs would be the next evolutionary stop?

Are you confused? Think maybe I'm drunk-blogging? I suppose I should explain.

Today I got an email, kindly stating "Everything is fine" in the first sentence because I don't know about you, but if someone from the barn calls or emails or texts I panic immediately so I appreciate permission to breathe. This email was from B and she just wanted me to know that she had tied Junior to our tie ring (I use it often while cleaning his stall or just teaching him a little patience - no big deal) while she cleaned his stall, and though she kept an eye on him since he does have a knack for untying himself (which is why I use a trailer tie on a zip tie instead of tying him with release knots) she finished the stall, looked up, and he. was. gone. BUT the lead rope was. still. there. She found him outside eating grass and caught him immediately with no problems. I'm not at all upset over the matter. I can see it happen and I have to laugh at the darn genius-of-a-horse. Totally something only MY horse would do. And I know I didn't take physics, but I canNOT believe he got a clip off of his halter. It's a standard heavy brass snap clip. The only way I can believe he got that open is if he grew thumbs. Have you ever had a horse manage to do that? I meant undo a clip, not grow thumbs. If your horse had thumbs I would have heard about it on the FuglyBlog. I know he's smart and very active with his face but... Really? More likely, the clip wasn't over the whole ring but rather clipped onto the nylon and when he pulled on it it just came off. I've done that before when clipping without looking. I can imagine poor B's face when she looked up and saw a swinging lead rope where a horse was supposed to be. But it's not a huge deal. This was a freak event no harm was done. Thankfully we're 3 for 3 on his escape attempts ending in "I'm fre-ooooh grass nom nom nom oh hai mom whatcha doin?" instead of any sort of running for the hills. Hopefully he doesn't ever escape in the winter! Luckily all the barn doors are shut in the winter. :)

Tomorrow is show-prep day. All of my stuff is sitting at the top of my stairs waiting to go down to the car. It looks a whole lot like THIS except everything is clean and inside of the bags. Tomorrow I get to do the morning barn feeding, have my 3rd lesson with JM, then hopefully the rain holds off enough for me to put the Bug out on the grass for a while while I pack and organize so we can end the day with a bath so I can go home, double check my lists, wash a tail, pack my clothes, and get to bed so I can be up at the butt crack of pre-dawn. I HATE that part of showing horses.

The plan is to get a stall at the show because it might rain and also because I think he'll be calmer in a stall surrounded by horses than he was tied to the trailer alone. And hopefully when he has to he will go ahead and PEE!!!!!

Strap One On - Part II

2011-06-11T19:57:00.006-04:00

How did YOU celebrate International Helmet Awareness Day? I celebrated it a day early by purchasing a new helmet from EquusNow, taking advantage of their 20% sale in honor of the Day.

A little boring history of my life as a helmet wearer, feel free to skip to the end:

When I began riding at about age 13 somewhere around the early-mid 90's, there were two things I was required to have: A "hard hat with a harness" and boots. I was handed a State Line Tack catalog and then proceeded to beg my parents for the two items. We, of course, chose the cheapest of the options and bought rubber riding boots and the "Trotter" helmet. It was not an approved helmet and I don't really remember what other options there were, but I do remember that it said something about it being an "item of apparel only" but since it had a harness it was good enough. This was over 10 years before even 4H started requiring approved helmets. I would really love to see a catalog from that year and see what the other options were. I still have the poor old thing but the velvet is crushed and discolored and the stiff vinyl harness has seen better days.

It wasn't until I got out of grad school and started riding again that I was required to have an approved helmet so I bought an Aegis Ussepa. After years of un-vented velvet I appreciated the lighter weight, the vents, the adjustable fit, and not having to be nice to it to keep it pretty. I wore that helmet from about 2006 to 2010 when it sort of fell apart. The dial broke and the plastic shell started to split along the seam that appeared to be held together with the equivalent of electrical tape. I also took a light fall in it in 2006 and that was the very first time I felt my head hit the ground and was thankful for the "real" helmet. I wasn't aware that you should replace a helmet after a fall, but it was such a tiny fall and my elbow took the brunt of the fall anyway. The head was the last thing that hit the arena floor.

I replaced it with a Lami-Cell helmet I found NIB on Ebay. I liked the look and the price was right. I thought it would suffice for schooling and look good enough if I decided to show in it. I really like the helmet but it is SO HOT in the summer. Wonderful for winter, though. The reviews on the helmet complained of the black fading and I've just started to notice that.

So now I am an owner/wearer of an Ovation Deluxe Schooling Helmet. I've only ridden in it twice but so far I'm pleased. I think the profile is pretty slim but there was a big difference between the S/M that I fit into and the L/XL I tried on at first. It is very light and comfortable, and though I am definitely sweating in it, I'm about as comfortable as can be in this horrid humid weather. I particularly like that it has a removable and washable liner and once I figured out how to get my ponytail IN the ponytail hole it's really nice. No more ponytail shoved down onto sweaty neck. With the sale price it was under $50 and that is a great price point for me, especially knowing that helmets should be replaced about every 5 years or after a fall, whichever is sooner.

In some belated news, I am a horrible person. I moved Junior's last trim appointment a week later so it would be closer to my next show (a week from today). The day after the appointment was supposed to be he chipped the inside of his LH and it sliced into his RH heel. He'll live and it's not the first time he's done something similar. You might be able to see the scars above and below the cut, and might remember how he was interfering in the hind so badly when I bought him that I had to put ankle boots on him. It had only bled a little and once I shaved it and hosed it I could tell it wasn't all that deep and he showed zero signs of lameness. I did have to go all "frontier medicine" on it and pull the nippers and rasp out of the tool drawer and figure out what to do. I couldn't leave it there but I couldn't bend it back down or rip it off so I nipped it and then rasped it smooth. When Jim came to trim him a week later he approved my work. I forgot to take an "after" shot but it wasn't very interesting looking.

And I also found two attached ticks and what appeared to be evidence of at least 2 more the other day. I think that's the first ticks I've ever found on him. One at the tip of the tailbone and one right in the middle of his face. It looked like another had been on his face and one in his forelock. Gross. Now I'm super paranoid about it. Oh the guilt.

Look at his adorable wrinkled nose!

I suppose I should acknowledge that I am not a perfect helmet wearer. Though you will never arrive at my barn and find me riding without one, I admit I do not wear an approved helmet when I show in my flat classes. This is not news, you've seen the photos/videos. I am not completely above feeling the pressure to wear more "traditional" headwear in the showring, be it a hunt cap or a cowboy hat. I admit it. I also admit that this a weakness on my part and I wish I didn't think wearing a helmet in a western pleasure class would make me look like a scaredy cat. But I did wear my approved helmet when I rode in the Cowboy Challenge (amongst all the cowboys) and I wear it when I school and trail ride. Part of the reason I replaced my helmet was because it was so hot I was beginning to consider not wearing it and I don't want to go down that path. I know that wearing a helmet decreases my risk of head injury in the event of an accident. I know that I am more at risk when I don't wear one. I limit my exposure to the 2 or 3 shows I do each year. I am also an adult and make this choice knowing full well the risks. As in all things in life: there will always be someone with more and there will always be someone with less. In this case, there will always be someone more committed to wearing a safety helmet and there will always be someone less committed. Maybe someday they'll be able to make a western one that doesn't look absolutely ricockulous. The derby Troxel did wasn't nearly as bad but the western is fugly and from what I can tell has already been discontinued. Surprise. The link is the ONLY person I found who was brave enough to post pictures of themselves wearing it. ALL of the advertisements show it without a person so you can't tell.

Strap One On!!!

2011-06-10T22:09:00.005-04:00

Did you know that Saturday June 11th is International Helmet Awareness Day?

There are tons and tons of retailers participating in special sales and promotions to help increase the number of riders wearing proper protective headgear and thereby DEcreasing the number of head injuries caused be equine related accidents.

One such retailer is our friends over at EquusNow here in Columbus, Ohio. They are offering 20% off ALL HELMETS and FREE SHIPPING for orders over $100! And please do let me know if you place an order with them!

And remember the picture that helped me win a gift card? It's featured on THIS PAGE!

I went to EquusNow today, but I'll tell you all about that later. Today I want you to think about your helmet and maybe take advantage of the discounts offered by EquusNow and other retailers. For a list of participating retailers, CLICK HERE.

Lesson, Supplements, and Attitude

2011-06-07T07:47:00.003-04:00

I had another lesson with the JM on Friday and we spent the time working on Western. Junior started out the day very cranky and was behaving a lot like he did on the bad day so we did some cantering and JM drove up at our worst moment where he was being extremely disobedient so she got to see his "other" self instead of the wonderfully calm, relaxed and obedient horse she saw at our last lesson.

Once we started the lesson he was much better which leads me to believe it's mental and not physical. If it were physical, wouldn't it get worse with prolonged riding instead of better? I think with JM arriving he had something else to think about and forgot about the fields for a minute. Mostly due to what she saw when she pulled up, we spent a lot of time working in a circle with 4 cones set up in quarters doing an exercise much like what in2paints has been working on with her "hunting the stop" exercises. We started at the walk and whenever he'd speed up we'd stop and make sure we were balanced and square with round back and soft in the bridle. Then we did the same at the jog. The idea (or so I gathered) is to get the horse anticipating the stop and therefore be softer, slower, and more balanced. It's harder to stop when you're plowing forward with a hollow back and weight on the forehand so you encourage the horse to stay in a posture and speed that makes it easiest to stop. Making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. A variation of this (that I got from a reining video) is to lope to a halt, then back immediately. This is, again, encouraging the horse to stay in the round soft frame so they can stop and back more easily. This is also encouraging topline and hindquarter development. During the walk and jog I felt what in2paints described as the horses's legs getting heavier, almost asking every step "still forward?". Now, this type of exercise can be over-done and create a hesitant horse that lacks forward movement and destroys the cadence. You've all seen that kind of horse where the walk looks like a drunk old man, the jog looks like some weird new gait where two legs are in sync but the other set are slightly off. We will not go there. But considering how forward Junior is, especially at shows, it'll be helpful to establish a communication where he understands to slow down but stay round. We finished off with a little pattern work and it seems it takes us 2-3 tries in a pattern to get him listening to me and responding to the aids. The smaller and tighter the cones the harder it is. I think my worst problem is not pre-cueing enough. I forget that he's not broke enough to just come down from a lope to an extended jog and stay in posture if I don't remind him to round up and I end up using only half my aids and getting craptastic downward transitions. His upward transitions are really easy so I forget that the downward ones still suck.

I know part of the recent problem is that when I have those morning lessons/rides, he gets to watch all the other horses be taken out of their stalls and out to the fields to eat grass. He would very much like to go with them. It wasn't as bad when he was only turned out in the sand lot but now that they're spending their day on the grass he's gotten worse. He was better on Saturday when one of my students came out to get a pony ride. I got on him first and he was a little uppity but not bad. He behaved relatively well for my student and when he was being "bad" I could tell it was because the student was actually giving him mixed signals and Junior was trying to do as he was being asked so I made sure we weren't punishing him for that.

In other news, I broke down and bought a bottle of corn oil. I'm still waiting for the "free sample" from Uckele and the water didn't work. I was able to do the first 3 morning feedings with the corn oil so by yesterday morning the powder was essentially gone and he only left a few feed pellets and that is pretty normal for him. The $5 bottle of oil and the $1 for the mustard squirter was a lot cheaper than the $35 for the Cocosoya oil. And since I don't even know if the Tri-Amino is going to help I don't want 2 gallons of Cocosoya oil lying around.

Mustard squirter? I suppose I should explain. I hate corn oil on the feed cart. We were feeding one of the horses corn oil for a while and everything gets covered in it. Ideally I'd like to find a pump bottle to put on the bottle, but in lieu of that I went to the dollar store and bought a package of the red and yellow squirt bottles people use for ketchup and mustard. I chose the yellow one since it's corn. :) I've also got the bottle sitting inside a plastic coffee can so it doesn't tip over and the mess is contained in that instead of running all over the feed cart.

It's somewhat embarrassing how twitchy and OCD I can be about the weirdest things. I would LOVE for the feed cart to only have the exact same containers for all the horses, labeled with my label maker and for all the feed to be kept in exactly the same type of containers. As if that would make it WORK better. As if the free re-used dog treat containers don't work as well as something I'd find at the container store for $10. But it would look so pretty!!!!

We have a show in 11 days so we have some work to do. Another lesson on Friday with JM. It sounds like my awesome BM is going to come to the show to help me out/hang out so that is very cool and I'm looking forward to it!

One-Eighty

2011-06-01T20:06:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I rode in the heat but he was SOOO much more relaxed than he was on the bad day. Same tack, but instead of doing a fast lope for half a hour, we jogged serpentines, did a bunch of pivots and a few lope-halt-back-whoa transitions. He seemed in very good spirits. We even took a little walk up the field.

I couldn't take pictures of the dry spots because there were none. It was a hot humid day but we didn't work nearly as hard. Go figure. Maybe it was a fluke? I'll keep monitoring it, of course.

Today I went out in the morning-ish, groomed and tacked him without tying him, and then jogged around the outdoor for a bit, marveling at how sometimes he acts like a pro packer, just jogging around on a loose rein like he was born to do it. The breeze was excellent so I took him for a walk first on the little trail loop which we've been in two or three times this year, but it's been very wet. He still gets obviously nervous about going into the woods, walks quickly and with a purpose, (the purpose is to get the f**k out of there ASAP or the lions and tigers and bears are sure to find us) but he didn't spook (aside from the halt when a squirrel jumped onto a tree trunk) and let me slow him down each time we went over the log piles. Then we went out and actually walked the whole perimeter of the hay field for the first time this year. I was VERY surprised he stayed as calm as he was, which is to say he wasn't vibrating and jigging the ENTIRE time and when there was obviously a deer in the woods next to us I convinced him not to run away. THEN we went into the other woods that we haven't been in since last fall and aside from having to off-trail it a few times and double back because we haven't been able to clear the trails yet, he was a champ. Amazing how we can go from a total train-wreck to a superstar in two days. How can I keep up!?!

Someday I'll get that camera mount on my helmet and I'll take you through our little trails. They're very short but really perfect for introducing us to the "wilderness". Ha! I never really thought about trail riding as being "hard" because I grew up on the prairie and trails were mowed paths through grass. Hills? Nope. Trees? Sometimes. Deer? Sure, but they see you coming from 6 miles away. We still have our goal to haul to a real trail this summer and it WILL happen. Most of the places are still pretty muddy but we're getting sun and sun and sun in the forecast finally to dry it all out and hopefully get us some nice plush hay!

Eating it.

2011-05-31T08:36:00.003-04:00

Or not.

Those of you who've been following along for a while might have gathered that my horse will pretty much eat anything. Sticks. Ropes. Plastic flowers off of obstacle decorations. The other day I moved my dry erase board on his stall door and accidentally put it within reach of the monster and soon after caught him in the act of taking off one of the magnets and trying to eat it. He's trying to give me a stroke.

So much to my surprise and disappointment, he's not a fan of the Tri-Amino. The first time he ate it... sometime overnight. The next morning he ate it but only after his hay was gone. Since then he's been leaving as much of it as he can and his lips are incredibly talented at taking the pellets and avoiding the powder, and not going back to it after hay. Instead he likes to kick bedding into it as if to say "Ha. NOW you won't try to make me eat it." Our friends Kate and Mare both suggested adding Cocosoya oil to it so I looked around for that. I can get it at EquusNow, but I'm really not in a hurry to go spend MORE money (considering I am not certain the supplement was worth paying for anyway) and then have the barn staff (myself included) have to deal with a liquid supplement. But I did order a "free sample" of the cocosoya oil directly from Uckele. If that works I'll go buy the jug and try to figure out the most mess-free way to set it up. Maybe I can find a pump big enough for the bottle.

This horse makes me work too hard. And sometimes I wonder if these companies that make things for horses are just laughing all the way to the bank. "Ha Ha! We'll make this supplement unpalatable so they'll have to ALSO buy THIS! Stupid horsewomen! Thinking their horses need all this stuff! Bwahaha!!!"

In other news, I had a lesson on Equitation and Showmanship with the clinician from our Show-N-Tell Clinic, JM. He was super relaxed for most of the ride and was really responsive and easy. Then she set up some cones and he became THAT horse. You know, the one who goes bug-eyed because there's cones set up and gets all inverted and jumpy. JM even asked if he was contested or did western riding. Not to my knowledge but sometimes I'm tempted to contact his breeder and ask exactly what the first 7 years of his life were like. So after 3 tries at the pattern he sort of listened. Changing directions AND gaits at the center cone is rather difficult for us. Lovely flying lead changes... if that's what I had asked for....

Showmanship was pretty great. The work I did since the clinic has seemed to work pretty well and JM agreed. He can learn so quickly when he wants to.

Sadly my next ride was horrible. I put on my western tack and he was a basket case. Wouldn't jog, wouldn't bend, wouldn't follow his nose. I ended up loping him in fast circles for half an hour thinking he'd get the edge off and pay attention, but NOPE. It was a lovely round fast lope, just not what I wanted to do with him. I think finally getting back on the grass has made him a little hot? We ended up working on loping to a halt/back over and over and over again and there seemed to be some progress there so it wasn't totally a wasted session, just rather odd behavior on his part. Much more like he was long ago and I do NOT want that horse back. In case it was soreness related I hosed him off and did the Alpha Stim all over. I did notice (first time I've really sweated him under the new saddle) that he had small dry patches on either side of his withers. They were smaller than with the old saddle but I know that's not a good sign as far as saddle fit goes. We'll see how he is tonight. I'll photograph the sweat pattern if I get one.

Yup, We're Still Here, Rapture, or Not.

2011-05-21T18:27:00.005-04:00

Between my back and busy time at work I have only ridden a few times since the show. We had a good dressage lesson today. It was exhausting! We were working on my seat and using many of the same muscles in my back and hips that are still recovering so it was extra hard. Plus it was over 80 and sunny so I couldn't help nodding off during the following lessons! After our lesson I was able to put Junior in the grass field for the first time in days (it is still SOOO wet) and he galloped all the way across to the tall grass and stopped on a dime with his head down. Will this rain ever stop!?!

In usual fashion, I am still reorganizing after the show. In addition to my laziness, the injury really made it difficult for me to get my show stuff up off the floor and reorganized. You never realize how often you bend over until you can't!

This is just part of the pile that I need to sort through after a show:

I think that was taken after our first show of 2010. I'm actually more and more organized each time I do a show, but each of the bags has to be vacuumed inside and out (yes, I'm that girl), all the washables need to be washed and everything needs to be cleaned, polished, re-hung, and repacked, separating the things that need to go back to the barn from the things that stay at my house. This would be MUCH more streamlined if I had my own trailer and could just leave most of it in there.

It's getting back where it belongs now, including getting my new saddle neatly situated into my tack box! It's so nice not to have a western saddle sitting in my spare room and having to lug it up and down my apartment stairs and in and out of my Civic each time I want to use it.

I still want to wrap the new saddle it in bubble wrap, but I'm trying to get over it. I intended this to be a USING saddle and NOT one that I have to baby, but it's just so pretty! I think it's that new car thing where you park at the far end of all the parking lots. I've got it sitting in there with a stick through the stirrups to keep training them. I think I'll still make a cover for it like my English one, just to keep it a little protected without having to wrestle my huge quilted bag over it.

Tack box is still working great. It could use a vacuuming and a tidying, but I'm very happy with how it's been working these 9 months. Of course if I decided to build another one I'd change a few little details. I think I'd try to use the built-in saddle stand idea and mount one rack for the English saddle above it, with the lower saddle stand serving as the storage area. The sacrifice would be losing some of the down-below storage space I have with this one, but honestly I'm not using all of it. There are two EMPTY containers down there. The benefits would be: 1) I could turn the English saddle inwards instead of outwards (otherwise the English flaps and the Western fenders attempt to share the same space), 2) I could remove each saddle from the box without bumping the other (removing the Western with the English in place is a little tricky), and 3) I wouldn't have to lift the Western saddle so high.... not like it's taller than my 16 hand horse, but it's less awkward to swing it onto a horse than to set it just right on a rack without banging it against the rack/top/sides.

But I'm not really in any hurry to go through all that planning and staining and clear-coating and moving it again!

Bugs and a Butt

2011-05-21T17:58:00.015-04:00

We're adding Supplements! We need more butt and less bugs!

Once upon a time I had Junior on SmartCalm because I thought he needed it. What he actually needed was more turnout and less grain, but live and learn, right? I've decided to try out a few new things...

For the summer we're going to try SmartPak's Smart Bug-Off. In the summer, Junior gets hives along his neck and back, usually around July. Dr. J (our vet) took a look at them last summer. I'd rather not make him go through that so if this works, then great. Other fly protection we use is a fly mask with nose and ears (also protects his nose and cyst eye from UV) and I purchased an Amigo combo fly sheet for this year to replace the harder mesh one I got for super cheap at a tent sale and Gunner proceeded to tear holes in. He got the hives even with that fly sheet. Since his ears are clipped I feel better with added protection.

I got enough BugOff to last into August so if he still gets hives in July we won't get another bucket next year.

We're also going to try Tri-Amino to add muscle building protein. My reasoning for this? Well, his weight is good right now, but I can't seem to build up his topline enough. It's gotten better since the really pointy time in the winter, but seems to have hit a plateau and I think the photos of when I bought him show a more developed topline even though he was much thinner than he is now and I'm pretty certain we're working harder now then he was just before I bought him. It's hard to know precisely how much protein is in his diet since our hay varies and right now grazing time is inconsistent due to our wettest spring on record, but I know his grain is lower in protein than most, so if the hay isn't making up the difference then that could be a reason. When I did the hay analysis before (See sidebar topic of Equine Nutrition) he was getting enough, but who knows what it is now. I'm starting with a 45 day supply to see how it goes. I know that the supplement won't do any good without proper conditioning exercises, so to give it a fair chance we'll continue working hard on conditioning, which has admittedly slumped in the weeks since my injury the day of the show and it's driving me crazy not to be able to ride along the trails/fields to get some hill work in! The "Backing over Poles" excercise in The Book doesn't work because he will just step ON the pole or push it backwards. Nerd.

Back to the supplements.

My Barn Manager is awesome which means that I don't have to measure my own supplements. Yay! Or my own feed! Yay! But for the sake of having something to blog about I filled the first week's worth.

A How-To guide on our Feeding System:

1) Gather supplements and containers, 7 for once-a-day, 14 for twice-a-day. Having a grey tabby named Brutus nearby is helpful but not necessary. Et tu?

2)Insert properly measured supplements and label. The BugOff is pellets, and the Tri-Amino is sort of a granulated powder.

3)Load each meal's supplements into appropriate bucket in the same order as the horses are stalled/fed, which is why Junior's is buried closer to the bottom since he's about a dozen stalls in.

4)At mealtime, each horse on the "Barn Grain" (currently Strategy Healthy Edge), is fed out of a bin on the feed cart. Each horse on a different feed (these include Strategy, Kalm N EZ, Equine Senior, and others) has their own labeled container. There is a chart on the cart listing which horse get supplements, which have their own bucket, and how much barn grain they get. After each meal the feeder re-fills all the buckets and swaps the empty supplement bucket out for the next full one. This is part of my morning feeding duties on Sundays and Mondays. I really enjoy the organization of it. :)

He'll be getting his supplements in the AM feeding but I wanted to give it to him tonight to see how he'd take it....

All seemed well until....

I left him alone for a while and came back to find this:

SOOOOOO unlike this horse to leave ANYTHING in his feed bin and clearly he tried very hard to avoid the Tri-Amino and actually left grain. Crap. I didn't see any of the BugsOff left. I left the feed tub in the stall for the night, hoping he gets bored enough to eat it, otherwise we're in trouble....

Tomorrow I have a lesson with the clinician from the last show clinic. We'll be working on Equitation and Showmanship. While my back was bad I did more showmanship practice than riding and tried to work on getting a speedier cadence. We'll see how it goes!

Show #1 of 2011

2011-05-10T07:59:00.008-04:00

**I have most of the patterns from the clinic posted now if you'd like to go back and look at them. It seems the new thing is for shows to sell the pattern booklets for the shows for $1. I like the idea. Good, easy fundraiser and I get to add them to my pattern binder. The ones from the clinic were postcard size which made them easy to stash in the waistband of my show pants or in the pocket of my jeans, but since I can't find one of them are a lot easier to lose. :(**

Sunday morning I headed to the barn to move all of my show stuff to the barn entrance so when B arrived with the trailer we could load up and go. Zip loaded like a champ, but the trailer (2 horse straight) is the smallest trailer I've ever put Junior in and he wasn't convinced it was a good idea. He got half-way in and shot backwards, dragging me along and wrenching my lower back quite badly. I had felt it coming on before the yank, probably due to the time I spent last week with a broom over my head de-cobwebbing the barn. It's pain I've felt before so I knew I could continue with the day but that it would make it a little tougher. I'm a bit stubborn and I've shown through the flu, torticollis, and what I think might have been fly-spray poisoning... you are actually not supposed to use barn spray on your bare, wet legs, after all, but what did I know? B ended up getting him in for me and once he was in and found his morning grain he was just fine. He bumped his head on the way out of the trailer, but not badly. For only his 2nd show/event being tied to a trailer I thought he was good. He whinnied a lot, and pawed a little, but didn't fuss too much.

I was, of course, nervous and nauseous as I always am on Show days. I try to relax and breathe and get through it as best I can. Memorizing four patterns at once is difficult when you're also listening to how fast the show is progressing and thinking of all thing the little details to get ready. Where is my number? Did I remember to bring the electrical tape for his tail extension? Should I pee now or wait? I think part of that anxiety is that we do the Showmanship classes and then only have a few classes between that and our first riding class, so right after SMS he's got to get tacked and I've got to make small adjustments like taking my number off my back (there are numbers on either side of my pad) and putting on my spurs. More mileage for ME would help.

B was a great Show-Mom and it was really helpful with everything. Because it's been nothing but rain here, we were trailered on grass but Junior made it into a muddy grassy mess and every time we took him from the trailer his feet were covered with dinner plates of grassy mud and B had the illustrious task of cleaning them off. Because the arena is indoors and kind of dark I didn't bother spray painting his white legs or adding hoof polish. I sometimes wonder if this does knock me down in presentation points, but he HATES the spray and it just seems like a lot of futile work. I get jealous of the kids with show-moms who do all that stuff for them while the kids socialize and memorize their patterns. And memorizing FOUR patterns in one day is rough for me.

But anyway, back to the actual show. I realized as I grabbed his bridle for our first class that I had lost a curb hook and it was no where to be found. CRAP. So I would not have the leverage the Clinician said I should use and technically my bit was not legal, but since it was an open show maybe it wouldn't matter.

Adult English Showmanship.

There were 4 in the class and I got 3rd. The 4th horse was DQ'd for totally messing up the pattern. I actually remembered the pattern. He was yelling the whole time. We need to work on some things. Thank you all for your suggestions after the Clinic post. The snap and cadence are my next steps, along with the more deliberate movements during quartering. The judge commented that I need to take at least two steps each time I move to the other side of the horse. Here I thought I was being efficient. WRONG.

Adult Hunter Under Saddle. I worked him down a bit in the warm up arena and since I had very little bit to work with I had to be a bit demanding with him. In the class, however, Junior was lovely. We were 5th out of 9 so we got our first pink ribbon! Now we have a complete set! Consistency is still a problem, as well as anticipating the walk-to-canter transition that always comes soon after the "reverse and continue walking."

Adult Equitation.

B was amazing and found a tiny curtain hook that I kludged into a curb hook so I had some leverage for the class. It was a difficult pattern calling for a lead change and we're really not good at those. I was so shocked that he made the change I forgot to come back down to the posting trot and therefore got 5th out of 5. Such a shame because he was doing the best pattern we'd ever done until I screwed it up. Poo.

Adult Western Showmanship.

He was much quieter by this time and set faster and stood better than he has before. Still need to work on cadence and snap. We got 3rd out of 4 and after watching the video I'm not sure why we didn't get 2nd, but oh well. I just wish I knew what the difference was. That's why the clinic on Saturday was so nice when she gave all of the reasons for placings. During inspection the judge asked me if I knew what I did wrong in the Equitation and I told him I realized it too late to fix it.

Adult Horsemanship.

The lope to extended trot transition wasn't very pretty but the rest was good (for us). I think he thought I missed the 90 at the end because I made eye contact and nodded and THEN turned away but he'd already begun walking away and wasn't watching me. It's those little things that can really screw you.

I got lots of compliments on my outfit, including from the guy who won our western showmanship class and also several comments on how good Junior looked. I also got a few "that's a gorgeous horse" comments and I gave my standard answer: "Thanks! He thinks so, too."

I opted not to do the Pleasure classes, but probably should have since he was being so good. They're just sooo late in the day and I was worn out and hurting. B and Zip got 3rd and 2nd out of 5 in their reining classes and I got a chance to visit with my friends from the old barn. It was nice to see them all. We left after the reining classes and Junior still didn't want to get on the trailer but B got him on safely. We got back to the barn at 7:30 and Junior unloaded easily. Max's awesome mom had his stall all clean for me so I only had to toss my stuff in the car/barn and be done.

Overall I'm pleased with his performance. I can see improvements in posture and obedience. We need to continue to refine in consistency, cadence and carriage. We need to work on keeping weight on the hind end so that stops are smoother and have better self-carriage. A lot of that is strength related. He's working much closer at shows to how he works at home and that's very helpful. I no longer worry that he's going to be crazy or disobedient and can concentrate on keeping him working correctly. He did have a moment before Horsemanship where he didn't want to go into the warm up arena but it was a half-hearted refusal I was able to adjust easily. As the Clinician said, he's still at a place where I need to keep riding him to keep him working correctly, but that's an improvement over not working correctly at all. It'll come with time.

My back is in pretty rough shape and yesterday was a long day with a candidate for a position we're hiring at school that ended with breakfast this morning. All of my stuff needs to be sorted and readied for the next show but until I can bend over without shooting pain it'll have to wait.

Here's footage of my patterns and some of the rail work in my classes.

Show-N-Tell Clinic!

2011-05-07T17:21:00.004-04:00

Overall the show clinic was a good day! I didn't sleep very soundly and I was awake and staring at the clock at 5:15am, half an hour before my alarm was set to buzz. I was at the barn in plenty of time to unload and help hay the horses and I was pleasantly awake. It seems the getting up earlier and earlier this week was a good choice. Let's hope it's as successful tomorrow when we go to the real show!

The misty rain kept us inside most of the day but we did Trail outside since the arena is larger. My saddle was momentarily rained on which made me weep a little in my soul, but it looks fine. Fingers crossed that tomorrow stays the partly cloudy and 70 degrees they're predicting at the moment!

My first class was Showmanship. I wore the new outfit to test it out.

I have to tell you how brilliant I think I am: I bought magnetic number "pins" this year instead of safety pins to put a little polish on my presentation. Because my jacket zips up the back and is rather fitted, and I don't have a show mom to stick her arm up my shirt to attach the number, I devised a brilliant method: I stitched little pockets into the back of the shirt that hold the back side of the magnets. All my helper/random passerby needs to do is pick up the top magnets, place the number and put the magnets back. Plus there are holes in the number where the magnets are so it is foolproof. I could probably do it myself in a pinch. The for Horsemanship when I have the numbers on my pad I just leave the "pins" off. WIN.

But back to the actual class.

He did the best showmanship pattern he's ever done. You can see from the video that we've made some improvements since last year at this time, even though we've been working without a trainer. It might just be the outfit but it looks my posture has improved. I still need to get my left elbow in and get some more speed into his back and the turns. The judge/clinician made it sound like I would have won instead of coming in 2nd.... had I not left out the trot off after the 90 degree turn at the end. I walked off instead. Oooops. She was complimentary overall but said we need some snap. She mentioned at her last clinic I saw that she used to practice showmanship with a metronome. I plan to try that.

Our next class was English Pleasure. He was actually really good for this class, too. He was heavy in my hands but he moved better than he ever has in the showring. I was surprised that she pinned me first of the three. She did suggest that for Hunter Under Saddle I go ahead and put the chain back on my Myler D snaffle. So I had Max's Mom go grab it before my Equitation class. I've been working without it since last fall but I figured I'd need it back in a show atmosphere. I was right, but it was worth a try.

Equitation was not pretty. Thankfully there's no video of that. We got 3rd of 3. The biggest issues were inconsistent circles and major fidgeting at the start and end. Also inconsistency in his trot because he wasn't sure what I wanted him to do. I still can't find the pattern sheet for this one, but I'll post it when I find it.

During the lunch break I put him away in his stall but he did not pee. I have learned that he will NOT pee with tack on and he will not pee if I'm watching him. The shows he's peed between English and Western have been the best behaved. I had no choice but to tack him up and suck it up and ride his cranky butt. He was not good in the warm up.

I was floored that she put me first in Western Pleasure and was highly complimentary! When the class was done I thought I was in the bottom, but certainly not after the two kids on filthy horses whose parents dropped them off with their crazy horses and no helmets. I don't even want to talk about that. Instead she complimented his movement and consistency including his good lope which I thought was far too fast but she really liked his carriage. Neat!

Horsemanship was an absolute hot mess.

Also glad that was not recorded as evidence. It started with a lope off of a halt which is difficult. Instead of halting after the lope he spun halfway around so my 180 became 270. Ooops. So we were in the middle for that one.

We also did the Trail class.

I'm pretty sure I won't be showing Trail any time soon. We got 4th out of 6 and I think that was probably generous. We did a terrible job jogging a circle inside a box, over poles, and then backing through a chute. The rest was perfect.

I will get images of the patterns and post them eventually so you can see. I'm not sure where my pattern cards ended up.

And now I'm tired and need to stop thinking and rest up for tomorrow.

Busy Weekend Ahead

2011-05-05T20:01:00.004-04:00

So much to do. Very busy few days ahead. Today is my final day of prep before our show/clinic at the barn which means it's also the last day of prep before our first real show of the season. Since I am NOT a morning person I've been getting to bed and getting up earlier and earlier and this week. This morning it was 6:30 and I switch to 6am tomorrow. Hopefully that'll make the early hour on Sunday not as jarring to my delicate princessness and I will be able to eat something and not be a nervous wreck all day. The weather forecast keeps shifting in a positive direction and as of 6:55am EST they are predicting only PM showers tomorrow and party cloudy on Sunday!!! Oh, please oh please let that be true! We have had so much rain. Thankfully not the dangerous amounts that other areas have had, but it is too wet for trail rides and horse shows in the rain are no fun unless you're in an all-enclosed facility. The place on Sunday has an indoor show arena, but only a very small in-gate area, you have to go outside at the out-gate, and though the outdoor warm-up drains really well, who wants to warm up right before a class in the rain wearing all your show gear? Then have to go in the rain after each class? Not me. Not my new saddle.

Yesterday was actually sunny and beautiful. Did you know the sky is actually blue? I had forgotten. The vitamin D deficiency was starting to kick in this week in a bad way. Feel sorry for my coworkers and students. A few of them are missing heads and did not deserve it. I even asked my boss to cancel our weekly Thursday 4pm meeting because none of us needed to be in a building on the only sunny day in what feels like forever. He agreed. WIN.

And since I got to the barn at 1:30 instead of 5:30 I was able to force Junior into a bath just incase it was the last chance to do so before the shows. He wasn't too bad this time and held pretty still, but still tried to bite at me every time I crossed in front of him. Not aggressively, just in his weird touchy-feely-expressive way. He doesn't love me much after a bath but I tried to make amends by hand-grazing him in the overgrown lawn while the sun dried him off.

He is still shedding, but I think he's presentable or at least will be after clipping touch-ups today.

Another joyous realization about roaching his mane: No sleezy needed. He will appreciate not wearing it and I will appreciate having one less thing to lug around and have to wash afterwards.

So tomorrow is our barn's Show-N-Tell Clinic. We're running it like a show but the judge will give oral reasons for placings and give us tips to improve. Not sure if we'll get to re-run patterns or anything, but either way I'm REALLY looking forward to this learning opportunity. We're doing the same classes as we do at the open shows: Showmanship, English Pleasure, Equitation, Western Pleasure, Horsemanship, and Trail. We've not actually shown the Trail class, but since he's pretty good with obstacles I thought we'd take the opportunity to do it in a clinic setting before attempting it at a show.

My BM asked what you'd call the kind of shows I go to. She's from a Dressage/Eventing background, as are some of you. In my background this is a "normal" show so I wasn't really sure how to answer. The best answer I could come up with is "Open Pleasure Show." The shows have a little of all the pleasure type classes and are usually divided into Walk/Trot, Youth, and Open/Adult divisions. I guess they're a lot like AQHA shows minus the breed requirement. So you could also say "Stock Horse Pleasure" but there are a few random breeds in there. I've seen Arabs, Halflingers, Ponies, Appys, and a few draftier warmbloodier types who come for the morning jumping classes and may or may not stay for the English flat classes. You see everything from kids (and adults) who clearly have no business being in a show ring, all the way up to folks that will be showing at Congress in the fall. I find it comforting to be in the middle of the pack.

Then on Sunday a barn mate, B and her reining horse, Zip, are trailering us to an open show. Same location we've shown at 4 times and last time we were High Point 19+ ...which is easy to achieve when it's a small division, and who knows what the turnout will be this time. B is going to do the reining classes and maybe Trail. I'm trying to get her to do the Horsemanship depending on the pattern.

I have a teensy amount of sewing to do this morning, then I'm meeting Max's mom at the tack store because her younger daughter is riding in the clinic and has outgrown ALL of her show clothes. Kids.

I hope to have pictures of the clinic and the show. And I promise to show you what the new Showmanship/Horsemanship shirt looks like. It is done and I hope it looks okay! I'm going to wear it to the clinic as a dress rehearsal, but the rest of the clinic I'll be more casually dressed.

Here's a preview, just to keep you interested...

And by the way, I tend to add links to the body of my posts. Unlike the links on Fugly Blog and others, these are placed by me to reference earlier posts and are not links to random automatically generated advertisements. Also, if you get my posts via Reader or Email you may not have noticed the tabs at the top of the blog page. They are not completely finished yet, but the Timeline gives a summery of the main happenings through the history of this blog, so if you would like a refresher or are newer to this blog, that is a super quick way to get caught up without reading all of my lengthy post ramblings.... like this one...

Hair Today...

2011-05-02T18:00:00.007-04:00

Hair Today...

...Gone Tomorrow!

I think I left too much of a wither-lock but it's easier to take it off than put it back on!

I think he looks ruggedly handsome.

And now he needs another bath. Talk about yucky flaky grossness under all that hair!

And why on earth would I do such a thing? You may recall that he was roached when I bought him. His PO said his mane was crazy and she didn't want to deal with it. I kept it up for the first month or so because I liked the look, but my cheap clippers couldn't handle it and I wanted a mane to band for shows so we let it grow... into a long winter's mohawk... and finally into a normal looking mane. A LOT of pulling later (which he oddly seemed to enjoy) and it was bandable but I didn't like the way it looked because it was still so fuzzy. The second year it was braidable and I liked that look. But he has since decided he doesn't like the pulling and I would rather not deal with the expense and/or time and hassle of braiding or finding someone to braid. It's doable, but I am just not going to deal with that this year. I have been tempted to do this for weeks and finally today decided to do it. I sure hope I don't regret it 'cause there aint no UN-doing it!

But on the opposite end of things... no pun intended... A comparison of his tail from when I bought him (9/08) to today.

It's not as thick as it could be but considering how good he is at getting into trouble I am deathly afraid to bag it. Never going to happen. So for now, a lot of Vetrolin Shine and carefully trimming the ends so he's less likely to step on them. As you may have noticed, he travels with his tail quite a bit higher than when he's standing. We're at a strange disadvantage, too: because the hair is half black and half white, depending on the background you really only "see" half of the hair. It's a weird optical illusion. The extension I use for shows helps a LOT with that.

Now if only it'll stop raining long enough for us to GO to a show!!!

Junior's 11th Birthday

2011-04-27T16:44:00.004-04:00

Look what the handsome Birthday Boy got for his special day!!!!

It even looks nice without the party hat. :)

It's a touch darker than my saddle since the saddle I was comparing it to in the store was a little older, but it still looks very nice and now that I've seen it on him I'm convinced it was a good choice. And it was on sale. Woot! Plus, they'll make me a 2nd ear piece if I decide I can't live without one. :)

And to say thank you for the pretty headstall (and probably not for posting pictures of him wearing a stupid party hat) he gave me this:

THAT, if you are unfamiliar, is the foot pattern of a darn near perfectly executed pivot on the hindquarters to the right, complete with deep center circle where is inside hind hoof did not budge and the front feet moved in a circle around it. We did a few really good ones today and one darn near good one the other direction. Progress.

Happy Birthday Junebug!

It's HERE!!!!!

2011-04-21T21:15:00.005-04:00

Look what the saddle fairies brought me!!!! Squeeeee!!!!!

Yes, it's the light color. And I don't hate it! In fact, I like it more and more! I went back and forth and considered many factors and bits of advice. I think I made the right decision. It took just over 6 weeks to arrive so not bad!

Junior doesn't really care, but it seems to fit him really well. You can see how much shorter it is front to back than the original model. In so many ways I think it fits me better than any saddle I've ever had. I think we as women (and by we I mean ME) gravitate to bigger saddles because we feel smaller. Like when you're sitting in a committee meeting and you look over at the really large lady who's rear barely fits in the chair and then you become conscious of how much room YOU have between the chair arms and you feel slimmer. Same concept. However, the saddle should fit you. So I had been looking for 16" saddles when a 15" fits just fine and feels more useable.

The seat pocket is deeper than I thought it would be but I found it very comfortable. My lower back was very appreciative of the support as it has been forced into that English saddle for months. I did find posting a little uncomfortable which will help make me use my English saddle more, which is a good thing.

I was terrified when I first saw the "Youth" fenders they put on. I gave them my inseam measurement and I had to trust they knew what they were doing since they obviously know more about fitting their saddles than I do, but they looked more like "Toddler" fenders when I pulled the saddle out of the box. A little adjustment to the length and to the way they were hanging and we had a winner! They're not properly adjusted in the first photo but they're lower than when they came out of the box! Once I got them adjusted they looked a lot more normal and they felt nice and free moving and I felt good contact with Junior's sides. I think having the longer fenders put the wide part of the fender right where I would want to make contact with the horse, not to mention a whole bunch of extra leather wrapped up in the stirrup rigging.

I also noticed that for possibly the first time, I can hold my rein hand where it's supposed to go! With my last 2 saddles it was so difficult to get my hand in front of the horn without either leaning forward or having my arm straight out of the socket. But now it feels right.

Now it's time for a show headstall! I can't decide if I should get a simple headstall amore like the saddle, or a fancier one since the saddle is so understated.

What do you think?

I've only seen C and D in person.

A. is a two-ear with barrels which I don't trust. They always feel flimsy to me.

B. and F. are semi-custom from an Ebay seller. I think she just replaces the hardware on them. F is a two-ear. This one just seems like a lot of silver.

C is in stock at Rod's and looks very nice with the saddle. I do like it, but I wish it were a two-ear, and there's something about the shape of the cheek I'm not sure about. The ear slider is cool and it seems like good quality.

D would have to have the hardware changed out so I don't really want that one after seeing it in person.

E is by far my favorite. It's simple but unique and quite pretty.... but of course isn't in stock yet at Rod's. It's on their website so I saw it an began drooling and squealing, but called and found out it won't be in for 3-5 weeks or who knows how long. I'd have to do at least my first show with a different headstall. And what if I wait and then I don't like it when it comes in?!? I really like it and it reminds me of THIS ONE that I cannot afford from Hobby Horse's new tack line.

Here's a better shot of E and C. Don't assume they're to scale.

The saddle is at my house waiting some conditioning and fender bending. I'm doing some research on that but I'm also going to call the store and check to make sure I have the right plan. I've never had a brand new western saddle before. :)

Please don't judge my scruffy horse. He's FINALLY started the last phase of his shedding and I didn't have much time to get him out into the remaining daylight. And yes, as per usual; I'm riding Wenglish. :)

Happy Birthday to the Old Grey Mare.

2011-04-19T07:28:00.003-04:00

My old girl, Banee, is 32 years old today. Hard to believe she's still doing so well, but I am thankful for that. I first met her when we were both 14 or 15. Each year I rue my own birthday, but I cherish hers. I'll get as old as you want, Girl, just so long as you keep getting older with me. She became my primary riding and show horse off and on in 4-H. She ran me through the barrels the first time I pointed her at them, she could do tempi changes and a piaffe. She had no tail and the roundest belly I'd ever seen, not to mention a bit of a sway back. She was a fireball. She was tough to ride but I loved the challenge. She was the first horse I fell off of, and she was my worst fall to date when she tripped at the canter and we went sliding across the arena floor in a tangle. That Piaffe I mentioned? Yeah, she did that when you wanted her to walk, doesn't exactly gain points in pleasure classes full of dead-broke QH's. But I thought she was perfect. She still is.

Happy Birthday, Banee-nay.

Momma's Special Boy

2011-04-10T18:09:00.004-04:00

After a second day with the bit I think it's actually a no-go. I was able to see his shadow today so I could see that he was gaping more than I initially thought. I also took some video and didn't like what I saw. He tossed his head up several times. I also don't like the look of the long shanks. The bit itself is pretty, but it's not a pretty picture on his head. The cosmetics are the last of my concerns, but I do show so the overall picture needs to be considered.

So I'm back to shopping. Big thanks to Nicole and eventer79 for telling me about the Myler bit trials. I have already found a few sources so I'll be considering that service in my search.

After watching the Versatile Horse and Rider Competition at Equine Affaire on Friday, we started to get itching for obstacles. We have a ton of stuff at the barn but dragging it all out and putting it all away by yourself sucks, So today, along with a barn mate and another friend, we set up a bunch of obstacle stuff to play around with. He is soooo not afraid of things. He doesn't always understand what I'm asking for and sometimes doesn't want to do things exactly how I want him to, but he pretty much "does" everything. Not always pretty, but done. He's getting a lot better at moving one foot at a time to get closer to something or to maneuver around something like the rope gate.

Our one real goal for today (other than giving the bit a second go) was side passing over a barrel. He doesn't love side passing over objects, and large objects are the hardest, so it took a good while and many attempts to get him to do it. Then it wasn't a big deal. I cannot wait for the first Cowboy Challenge!!!

From our bath yesterday, taken by Max's Chloe: I call it "Momma's Special Boy..."

New Bit Trial

2011-04-09T18:44:00.006-04:00

**Disclaimer- I know long-shanked leverage bits look ridiculously harsh to folks who have never been in the western side of things. In English we use constant contact. In Western, we use as little contact as possible. English needs horses to go forward forward forward - scope out jumps, follow the hounds. Western needs horses to stop quickly and spin while the rider's other hand is busy with a rope or a gate or a gun. If you've got a softly draped rein and you pick up slowly on your reins and the horse responds, you don't keep up the pressure. You give an immediate release. That's how we use the bit. Yes, a long shanked bit makes it much easier for the rider to exert lots of pressure on the chin and poll, and a broken mouth shank can have a "nutcracker" effect, but ANY bit can become cruel in the hands of someone who is ignorant of it's proper use. I don't know everything about bits. I learn what I can about bitting and I watch my horse for signs of discomfort, evasion, or inattentiveness when trying to make good bit decisions. I do the best I can.**

First, a little history of Me, Junior, and Bits:

When I bought Junior, he was being ridden in a slow-twist snaffle. My first lesson horse, Dino was ridden with one so I bought one of those as a place to start. On a good day Junior would do everything I asked. On a bad day he'd blow through that bit like it was made of Jell-O. But, we all know we were having other problems at that time, too. Since you can't show a 9 year old horse in a snaffle, over our first winter KAT started working him in a broken-mouth shank, or a "shanked snaffle" as it's sometimes called, or that dirty word: Tom Thumb. He took to it like an old friend. I don't know what he'd been ridden with before I got him. Supposedly he was trained as a cutter, but who knows. When we started showing, KAT put me in a square-hinged-port bit. I was terrified of it but he seemed to be really responsive to it, and I am pretty soft with my hands if I say so myself. I also borrowed an English Myler bit with a very similar mouth piece for the shows that year since he was "framing up" so much better with a leverage bit. And let's be honest, in the stock horse world the Western "frame" and the Wenglish "frame" are pretty much the same so why not use the same type of bit? **I roll my eyes at this, too. Which is why I cross-train with Dressage lessons and Cowboy Challenge obstacles for a little "field cred", BUT if I'm going to these "open" shows.... well, "when in Rome...."**

Anywhoo. So I was unable to use the English one but Max's mom had a Myler curved snaffle with curb hooks she said I could borrow. He seems to LOVE that bit so I bought it and he has been going really well in it. Until I had my first Dressage lesson and the first thing Monet did was take my chain away - which was not a surprise. We've been working without it since last fall. I have since found out that it's technically "illegal" in APHA and AQHA to use a bit with rein ports if you don't use a curb chain. Not that I'm showing breed anyway, but I'll probably need to use the chain at the shows to keep his mind in the arena and on me.

I finally found a used square-hinged-port bit on Craigslist and bought it for $12. The port itself is really wide and I think it bothers him a lot. It almost seems like the port is so wide it's on his teeth. I can jog him around in it but if I have to actually USE the bit he tosses his head up and gets all inverted. So that bit was only used for two rides. It was a fail. I forgot to take it to the tack swap. Durn.

That means I still need a bit. I used my regular long shank snaffle at the shows last year, but I tend to have to get more aggressive with it to get his attention at shows and I don't want the "nutcracker" effect. He tends to giraffe and gape when I have to take contact in it for Horsemanship. He did the same with the square port and I would get really anxious about it because I was afraid to get too heavy handed, which in turn makes him anxious and that's a bad bad cycle.

I'm also a frugal shopper and as much as I like Myler bits I think they're overpriced. Again, I don't have a closet full of free bits to try, so a $100 bit that isn't what I need isn't a good purchase. They're tough to find used for much less than that. So I've been shopping around and decided to try to find something with the same mouthpiece as our English bit since the curve shape seems more comfortable and doesn't do the "nutcracker" thing nearly as much.

At Equine Affaire I found one for a good price that has ALMOST as much curve in the mouth. It's the closest I've found, but it has longer shanks than I'd like to have. It is also rather heavy compared to the weight of the aluminum cheeks on the square port. That part I don't know what to think about. Will it encourage him to keep his head low? The tag says "mild effect" which is relative, of course.

The overall cheek length is just a hair longer than the square port I had, but about 2" longer than the other "shank snaffle" I have. It's about the same "purchase" or "lift" as the others which means it has a higher amount of leverage than the others. It has about the same "pull distance" as the snaffle but more than the square. All that I "get" but how do you know what your horse will work best in when there are thousands of bits out there?!?! All I know how to do is try it out.

Comparison of the square-hinged port to the new bit:

Comparison of our first shank bit to the new one:

So today after I worked him in the English snaffle without the curb chain I switched over to the new bit. I fit it on him first and let him feel it. I wiggled it around from the ground to let him feel the action. He gaped his mouth at it a bit but I realized he'd gotten his tongue over the top of it so I picked it up a hole. I mounted and let him walk around a bit. He didn't seem comfortable at first so I just let him have his head until he was walking straight and relaxed. I asked for a jog and of course he trotted off like we were in a Dressage lesson so I gently bumped him back down and he did as he was asked. I checked my breaks and he stopped nicely. I played around with walk/jog/back, neck reining and jogging over some poles and all seemed well. Then I bit the bullet and asked him to lope. He was fast but responsive. The bit seemed to be working really well so I even did some quick stops (not sliding, of course) and roll backs. I even had him do a barrel pattern around two barrels and the mounting block. It was a VERY tight pattern and he is not a barrel horse but I found it really refreshing that I was able to keep him where I wanted him without a lot of direction and he seemed to be working easily and comfortably. I wasn't asking for any speed until the run home, instead working on keeping him collected, lifted, and softly changing the lead. I kind of wish he wasn't so big... I forgot how fun barrels are! Oh, and nothing says Wenglish quite like running barrels in a hunt saddle!

I'll see how he does with the bit tomorrow, but today was a good first trial.

I also got to give him his first bath of the season. Can I tell you how much I LOVE having a wash stall with cross-ties and WARM water!?! I was able to wash his forelock for the very first time! I may love it, but Junior does NOT enjoy baths. Not surprising since he doesn't enjoy being groomed at all. (Although the last 3 days I groomed him ground tied and other than reminding me he hates it by swishing his tail at me and reaching his face around at me he stayed put. Sometimes he's so good!) This is why having cross ties made it possible to wash his forelock. He couldn't get away! By the time we were done he was absolutely amped UP. He was reaching out in front of him as far as he could so he could paw the mounting block (that's also how I washed his forelock) because it made more noise than the rubber matted floor.

I ended up taking him to the roundpen so he could work it off.... so of course in the 2 seconds I had my back turned to secure the gate he got down and tried to roll. Sigh. Oh, Junebug. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Shenanigans.

2011-04-04T18:26:00.007-04:00

Shenanigans. They just never stop when you own a horse like Junior.

This morning was my first Monday morning as feeder at the barn. I've been doing Sundays for a few weeks and it just so happened my schedule allowed me to do Mondays, too. Yay for board discount and more pony time!

It was pouring down rain so instead of turning the horses out to the fields, I rotated them through 20 minute sessions in small groups in the indoor arena. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the fact that my horse will get out of his stall and socialize EVERY SINGLE DAY no matter what?!?!

Junior goes out with his mini-friend Apples and Max, who does everything by the book. He is one of the most polite and well behaved horses I've ever met. He does not break rules. As you know, MY horse is not that kid. I am aware that Junior and Apples often go under the rope gate and hang out on the other side, just for fun. I blame Apples since he's small enough to walk under both the rope gate and the board, and since Junior loooooves his widdle Applywapply soooo much he figured out a way to follow. We put up chairs along the gate in a (clearly worthless) attempt to convince them it's a solid wall. The wash rack is over there, but there isn't anything obviously dangerous over there, and come on, what sort of mischief can a horse get into in 20 minutes.... oh wait... this is MY horse...

It seems today there was a random bale of shavings over there...

Those are not Apples sized hoofprints. Of course when I came to retrieve them to take them back to their stalls they were both on the correct side of the gate as if they heard me coming. As if I wouldn't think they were responsible. Max was waiting by the door to the barn with a look of "You KNOW I didn't do it." But Junior's nose was all muddy from nosing around the wash rack floor.

"See, Mohm, I canot fit unner dis bord so der is no way I was rerspunsable! It mustabeen Apples! See how small he is back there? Yah. Onlee Apples kin fit. I dinindo it."

See, he KNOWS he's not supposed to be over there...

WTFriday - Big Grade Gelding

2011-04-01T08:46:00.002-04:00

From The Best of Craigslist:

For Sale:

Big Grade Gelding, Been used as a pickup horse until he got hooked by a bull. Think he has a split personality, some days he's great, some days he's a real prick. No secrets here, you need to tranq him to shoe him or he will try and kick your head off. He has been used for branding, moving cows, ranch roping ect. And like I says, some days he's great, we have had beginner riders on him and they have done fine, I have ridden him in the hills or gathered on him and he was fine. He is not great to catch, although we have him turned out on 140 acres so he can leave if he wants, but in a smaller pen he is much better. He just needs someone that isn't going to take his shit on a regular basis. He needs to be taken and used. If you are looking for a horse that you can ride twice a year, well then this is not the horse for you. But if you use your horse as often as you change your pants then he will probably suit you perfect. We bought him with the intention of selling him and because we have more than enough horses he has gone to the bottom of the priority barrel. He is not a horse for the faint hearted. If you are handy and need a project or if you think you are handy and need to try and prove it.. I think he is about 11 years old. 15.3 hands. Answers to the name Dick. Oh, so he doesn't answer, that's just what I call him. $25oo obo.

Swarovskis Are a Girl's Best Friend...

2011-03-28T20:04:00.004-04:00

There are 476 gen-u-ine Swarovski Crystals in that pile. The colors are R to L on the loose ones: Jet, Dorado, Crystal Copper, and Light Colorado Topaz. You can also some fabric and copper paint.... I wonder what that could be for?

'Cause I'm a Dentist! And a Success!

2011-03-25T16:09:00.007-04:00

As you may remember, one of the possible causes for Junior's slight weight loss over the winter was a need for a tooth float. His teeth may have been making it difficult for him to properly chew and therefore digest his food. Today we finally had that done and the visit from the Equine Dentist came with a surprise...

Do you know what that is? I sure wouldn't have known, and I'm kinda grossed out that it's sitting on my glove. It's a tiny wolf tooth that had not yet been removed. He had a scar from where the other one had been taken out, but this one had not come in all the way and was just sitting there right under the skin, right where bits go. This may partially explain his tendency to become a giraffe when initially asked to take contact. Or it may not really have bothered him, but the Dentist advised removal and it came out quickly and easily. It may have been there for years, or who knows. But it's out now. I felt less sympathetic about putting him through all of this today because I myself had a root canal on Tuesday. I feel your pain, buddy.

There he is in the clamp getting the points filed down. I was able to feel his pointy teeth before the filing and then the smoother teeth after the procedure. They were not terrible but they did need to be done.

The other informative part of the visit was the explanation of what's going on with Junior's middle incisors. His bout of cribbing (of which there has been zero evidence of since we've moved, btw) has caused damage to his teeth and his left one is actually dead and decaying. The right is a little better off, but not much.

Now you can see in these photos, first from the first winter I had him, which was before he started the cribbing, that the middle incisors are shorter than the others. Then on the right is from this winter post-cribbing. The Dentist explained something about how they once were growing differently than the others and so there was some inconsistent wear. The combination of that and the cribbing caused the teeth to essentially die. He showed me how he could stick a needle up inside the right one and there was no reaction from Junebug so we know the tooth is dead. For the time being there is nothing to be done. He doesn't seem to show any discomfort from it and there is no swelling or other evidence of a root abscess, but he told me what to look for so we can take care of it if it happens. Unfortunately, eventually the teeth might become abscessed or fractured and need to be removed.

Aside from the now increased guilt I feel for ever putting him in a situation that caused him to crib, can you just imagine how much it will add to his personality when he is missing his two front teeth?!?!?

Film Review - International Velvet

2011-03-23T15:01:00.003-04:00

How interesting that Elizabeth Taylor passes away on the day I meant to post my review of this film. Though Liz passed up the opportunity to reprise her role for the sequel, she was quite famous among us horse crazy girls due to her role as Velvet Brown in National Velvet.

I recently acquired access to Netflix and I have been very excited about the volume of instant play movies. Yes, I'm still leaving the house daily, but I did have a root canal yesterday and have had an annoying sore throat since Friday so I've been allowing myself a little couch time.

I noticed the 1978 film of "International Velvet" and thought, oh, why not. I had no idea it would be such a good film. I expected one of those predictable sequels that follows the same formula as the original, usually lacks stars, and is generally melodramatic and sappy. I thought I would watch it purely for the unrealistic but heart squeezing moments that all horse/girl films manage to possess and this girl has enough horse in her to still enjoy. Though it did deliver on the sappy part and yes, I found myself crying more than once, I was impressed. Now it did follow the same "troubled girl is saved by horses - well, "A" horse which she then trains and then wins huge competition" formula but the depth of characters, the subplots, and the human emotion really thickened the deal. The Characters were all much more layered and unpredictable than I expected. They all seemed much more real than your average sequal. And how can you go wrong with Anthony Hopkins playing the tough but honest riding coach?

As a special bonus there are lots of scenes of Eventing just for the sake of showing the sport. Not sure how they were all filmed, and one "fall" was clearly planned, but many were just real eventers taking real obstacles. The film pretends to be the Olympic games so it shows some rivalry of the US and British teams. The commentary during the competitions was very interesting since it was filmed over 30 years ago and many things, including the Olympics have changed. There is one line where Hopkins says "They don't allow cowboys in the Olympics, you know" but now the DO!

I was also intrigued by the lat 70's equestrian fashion. One or two of my readers may well remember sporting the styles immortalized in this film. Seeing this movie version of how they transported horses in an airplane was also rather fascinating. I don't believe they do it like that anymore...

In conclusion, I highly recommend the film. And if not for the complex characters and fine acting, then watch it just to see the scene where the girl and the horse run towards each other in the field in mutual joy and anticipation of their future life together. If that doesn't make you fuzzy inside then you must be a heartless neanderthal.

(Closer to) Designs for 2011

2011-03-22T15:15:00.007-04:00

First, it seems from the comments that some readers want to reassure me that I don't have to go through all this work and that the clothes don't have to be that fancy for the level I show. To those people I first want to remind them that I show in Central Ohio where I show against folks who show at the QH Congress. I have noticed it's a bit swankier here. Then I also want to say, "Yes, you are absolutely right. BUT my day job is a Costume Designer for theatre. This is what I do. Every year I spend thousands and thousands of other people's money and spend countless hours sketching and selecting fabrics for outfits I will never get to wear. My job is to make other people feel fabulous and I really do love it, but this is the rare occasion I get to try to make myself feel fabulous."

That being said, I have been working on the Show outfit designs. I've considered lots of options and I am still considering several more. I need to make myself a deadline and go with it. In my professional life someone else makes the deadlines and I just follow them. Considering it's only 6.5 weeks until our first show of the season the deadline is... um...NOW. Or at least I should get the materials ordered. But y'all's comments were so helpful and inspiring that I haven't really come to a decision. I'd really like to find some show clothes that can last me a few seasons, but I've just not been completely satisfied with the past 2 year's outfits. I am happy with the color choices from last year even though it wasn't at all what I thought I wanted.

I admit I've considered going off-the-rack *GASP* I know, you're speechless, right? A few mouse clicks is SOOO much less work than fabric hunting and sewing...And I found two tunics from Hobby Horse that I kinda like, the Santana in Gold, and the Allegro in Copper:

They're simpler than what I'm planning but I like them. I like the Allegro better, but it's the more pricey one at $219. I could make something SOOO much more custom/detailed/impressive for around half that price, or I could make one that simple for less than a third of the price. Plus I really CANNOT be in the ring with someone else wearing the same outfit. Every single western outfit I've had (aside from the first vest I only made alterations to) has been custom. I can't go back now, not when I have the skills and technology to do this.

I've also considered utilizing the new DIY Janie Tunic from Hobby Horse. It's not up on their website yet but here is a screenshot of the digital catalog page:

Not a bad idea at all! Go HH! I've never bought a top from them but I have their pants and chaps and think the chaps are the bees knees. But I'm afraid I won't get as good of a fit that I can do on my own, and I'm not sure what the length is. I'm pretty short waisted so I'm hardest to fit in that area. It seems too short to be what I want for showmanship, but not the right material to tuck in for Horsemanship as it's made from their PMS pants fabric.

So I think I'll be making TWO tops instead of one. Argh. Twice the work!?!?! BUT twice the fun and I admit I get a kick when someone stops me at a show to tell me they like my outfit and I can say "Thank you, it's my own design." and then they say "REALLY!?!?! It's gorgeous!" So having TWO different ones makes me look even more talented. I know, I know, I should get over myself. But seriously, this is my JOB. People pay me for this service I should get to enjoy it for myself once in a while.

So for Showmanship, I think I'm going to do some version of the all black outfit but have enough of a lighter color in the stones or the lines to make it work with a tan hat. I can't help liking that one the best out of the myriad of attempts to bring in some more light color. In fact I was searching for "Showmanship" on google images and my eye was immediately drawn to a very cool black outfit... oh wait, that IS mine. HA! I'll do this in the longer length.

Then for the riding classes since I'm more of a Horsemanship rider than a Western Pleasure rider, I think I'm going to go with something like this:

I've missed the streamlined look of the black body that my purple thing had so I've brought that back. The lines will be Ultrasuede. I'd like them to be more interesting than straight lines but that stuff is actually a pain to cut out into fancy shapes and keep symmetrical. The fabric on top is a glittered stretch velvet in shades of gold and copper. It'll sparkle but not be gross.

I was watching some video of that show season and it masked a lot more of my movement than the stripes. The vertical stripes on the one from last year kinda woodge back and forth at the lope... ick.

So that's where we are today. Probably should make some decisions...

Not that I couldn't wear the other thing for one more year...

Tack UN-Hoarder

2011-03-19T15:46:00.003-04:00

I know many of you are self-admitted "Tack Hoarders" who confess to having more tack than they can imagine using. Perhaps it's because I don't have my own barn or garage to store excess tack, or perhaps I am a penny-pincher that I fit more into the category of a "Tack Un-Hoarder." And yes, I made up that less-than-clever category. The "I might need it someday" excuse doesn't work with me yet because there are still many things that I do need RIGHT NOW. I pretty much only own one of everything, and in categories where I exceed that number I'm quick to find an outlet to dispose of the item in exchange for some sort of monetary wiggle-room to purchase something I need but don't already have one of.

So today I got a table with 3 other gals at a tack swap. This was our table:

You can tell we're amateurs at this! And you can't tell but my show jacket from last year is on that rack. There were lots of compliments on it but no serious lookers. I had it priced super high, but I'm not sure I want to part with it yet anyway.

As you know, my recent saddle order was intended to cut my two western saddles down to one. And now I am 2/3 the way done with that process! In other words, my training saddle sold today! And I sold it for $25 more than I bought it for! I also sold one of my old English Show Dickies that I used to make and sell on Ebay. I had one left and I sold it for a huge profit of $5. She seemed really excited about the Dickie and asked if I still made them. I told her my Ebay handle. I really should have asked the woman for her email or tried to take an order! Business FAIL. Oops. I would have liked to sell more but having the saddle gone is a HUGE relief. I can pay cash for my new saddle!

I took a last ride in the training saddle on Thursday. I really did like that saddle so it was kind of sad to see it go. :( But I'm sure when the beautiful new one shows up I won't think on it again. The new one will be much better quality and fit us better.

So out with the old and in (hopefully sooner rather than later) with the new. I've been eyeing some bridles to go with my new saddle but I can't show them to you or you'll know what color saddle I ordered! I'm now in the market for a show headstall and one (plus a breastcollar?) to use more for trail riding and cowboy challenges.

I did buy myself ONE thing at the Tack Swap. Just a cute western snap shirt I can wear for Cowboy Challenges or whatever. I poked and drooled on a few things including a very old buckstitched halter, but I reminded myself this was a SELLING day.

Showmanship Jacket - Even More Options

2011-03-12T09:38:00.011-05:00

These comments are really wonderful to have! Thank you! A special Thanks to JenJ who pointed out a terrible mistake I was about to make: Tan surrounding my face. I have recently learned the hard way how dreadful I look whilst wearing a tan shirt. That's what happens when you order from the interwebz and don't try on the tan shirt before purchasing. You'd think I would have remembered this!

Also the tan starts looking a bit like that faux-nude skating outfit stuff that eventer79 snarked about....

I had made this sad realization already and I was shopping for latin dance clothes last winter and was somewhat crestfallen to find that western show clothes also look like men's latin dance shirts....
That one on the left is a current Hobby Horse item. Derp.

AND one of the versions I was working on last night had to be abandoned because it looked too much like a drum major uniform. I've already played that game... in was green/silver/black sequined.... ah, memories of a band geek...
I think western show clothing has become much more of a "Costume" than clothing. And it is a SHOW afterall so I guess that's to be expected. I was watching the Masters Western Pleasure class at Congress once and I SWEAR this lady had mini lights in her jacket because she continuously sparkled like twinkle lights- it was rather tacky, actually.... or maybe not....

So I've come up with a few new versions that (hopefully look less like skating, ballroom and marching band) have some sparkle but not too much (no lights), and will allow me to keep the black hat but still get more brightness around my face. The white will act as a reflector under the black hat. No new hat, no new hat can. I've also included In2Paint's idea of blue but not I used it as an accent rather than the all over color. Still trying to work with what I've already got, you know. The same year I buy a brand new saddle is not the year to buy a colored SMS outfit that requires me to custom dye boots! And didn't you remember I already DID blue?!?! :)

This version is with silver metallic lines over black airbrushing which I am a little nervous about screwing up, but it will really help give dimension. Since white is so easily dirty I'll also add airbrushing around the cuffs since those will be dirty first. I can play around with exactly where the stones go but I like the idea of 3-4 different hues together and possibly some clear or AB crystals, too, since it's on white. I'll have to get earrings that match the accent color.

Then the version with the copper lines, the same airbrushing, 3 colors of Topaz stones and tiny black stones.

Another option would be make one short jacket to work with both.

This Shortened version doesn't really look all that different so maybe I only need to make one jacket. It still has the longer vertical line that the top one has because black on black will mask the place the jacket ends and the pants begin. Plus then I don't have to worry about where the belt buckle and the chaps buckle attempt to share the same space on my body, which I learned with the purple outfit. With the jacket from last year I wore stretch pants under the chaps and no belt since it was not seen and that was much more comfortable. The APHA rules don't seem to require a belt. Does anyone know about AQHA? I'm showing open, but it's nice to know which rules I'm breaking. :)

But is the asymmetry bad for horsemanship? Or is this symmetrical enough for the level I show at? Not too crazy for horsemanship but not too boring for SMS/WP?

Thoughts!?!

Showmanship Jacket - Take II

2011-03-10T20:26:00.005-05:00

Below is actually an earlier version of the design from yesterday. I had nixed it originally because I was trying not to have to purchase a new hat. But comments about making the design brighter around the face are very legit and since this trusty black thing has been in and out of the show pen for over 15 years now, only cost me $25 and has been through far too many shapings (from the 90's flat brim to the Arab Taco) it might be okay to retire it. MIGHT. The other hard part is actually matching the hat color to the shoulder fabric. Sort of has to be a perfect match in this situation. I don't want to spend much so I'm limited to the few in my budget. But what do you think about this one?

Or if it's too wierd with the two different colored sleeves:

I feel like I'm losing the simplicity from the all black one.

Another option would be going with a black/white/silver but then I'd either have to haul around 2 hats (which also means buying a new hat can - In2Paints I can hear you laughing!) or buy a new show blanket or use the boring black one.

There's only so much funding Junior is willing to throw at this, you know.

New Showmanship Jacket???

2011-03-09T20:41:00.006-05:00

I've been musing about a new showmanship jacket. I still like my jacket from last year but I think it cuts me off at the hips a bit more than would be considered flattering. If I can find the time, I'd like to have a new showmanship jacket AND a new shirt for Horsemanship/Pleasure, too. I am happy to see THE PURPLE gone, but I did like having the black all the way up the torso. I have a pretty short torso and I thought elongating in from the top down and having the jacket contrast at the hips rather than the high waistline would help. I think instead it made me look even squatter. I'm toying with some hand-painting ideas I keep finding. Easier than applique, that's for sure! However, you can rip out a stitch... but you can't erase paint!

I'd like to stick with the colors we had last year because I think they are well matched with Junior's coloring and are in the "adult" category. Not that a judge is going to mistake a bay roan with white stockings for another horse, but I think it helps to have the same colors for Showmanship and riding, just to create some consistency. I have both a solid black and the Spanish Lace blanket from last year to choose from, but I think the Spanish Lace is nicer looking because a black blanket can be found everywhere. Because it's not as easy to find a blanket in every color combination, having a patterned blanket that matches the outfit tends to look more professional and "put-together" to me.

So here's one idea for the Showmanship:

The front and back will be a mirror image. The asymmetrical design means I don't have to match left and right (harder than you'd think) and the diagonal lines are flattering to every figure. And I'd like to do more of an open stand up collar instead of the lay down peaked collars that still seem the norm. The curved styling lines will be out of a copper metallic fabric Then I've selected some Swarovski colors (the look less similar from above) to scatter heavily along the lines and then gradually thinning as they move away. Sort of a play with positive and negative space. In a very subtle over-all scatter (like one every 6-10") I'd like to put either the Black Diamond or the Jet crystals. The Jet will have a more subtle sparkle and blend in more invisibly with the black jacket. The Black Diamond will be slightly more visible in contrast to the black and will probably have a little more sparkle. The crystals seem to be cheaper now than they ever were before so I will be ordering a good amount of them.

I'm also trying to get a jacket done out of some scrap fabric so I can sell it at an upcoming tack swap. I'll post pictures if it's not a FAIL. :)

In other news, I was asked to become a Feeder at the barn. My BM also works at the Columbus Zoo and she's going back to work this spring with a different schedule so she needed to add another person to the Feeder schedule as well as having an additional person on-call in case of emergencies or when someone else is on vacation. So last Sunday I got to help her feed so I could get my first training. I get to do it again this Sunday, then a few days while I'm on Spring Break and one of the other feeders is on vacation. Not only does this give me a nice little board discount, but it is practice for that small boarding barn I want to have someday!

And it's good for my endurance! When I started doing 5 stalls each Sunday in the fall I could barely get through them all before I was stiff and sore. This past Sunday I fed horses, cleaned 5 stalls and trotted Junior (posting or 2-point) for 25 minutes. And I didn't feel a thing! Yay! This will also help create a more "slimming effect" for the shows!

Saddle Search - Part V - The Order

2011-03-07T21:21:00.005-05:00

I ordered a saddle today. In true Overanxious form, I will spend from now until it arrives freaking out that I have made a horrible, horrible mistake. A horrible, horrible custom-ordered mistake. The guy at Rod's was extremely helpful and even shaved a bit off the price for me. He was very helpful, even calling back to confirm the details a second time to make sure.

I ordered the 2736 in a 15" seat. When I rode in the Border Reiner I seemed to have to put the stirrups almost all the way up and couldn't really get the hobbles on. I gave them my inseam measurement and they are giving me the "Youth" fenders instead of the regular ones. Golly I hope they are right about that! I just hope the fender bump isn't at my knee!!!

Color? OH, well I think it's best if I keep that part a secret since it's been the topic of debate. :) You can't wait 8 weeks, can't you?

I will tell you that I consulted a local judge who generously provided me with honest professional advice on the matter. I think I have made the right decision, but I'm still a bit freaked out.

The question is... CAN I keep it a secret?

I doubt Junior can.....

"Hey Chevy, guess what?!?!"

We Got Stuff!

2011-03-05T19:14:00.008-05:00

When I began writing this blog, I had no intention of gaining any sort of a "following". The very idea was laughable. I only wanted a place to document my journey into horse ownership. Someplace to record the events (small and large) of my time with this big hunk of roan.

When the "followers" started appearing, one by one, I was (and still am) shocked. Are we really that interesting? Do people really want to know what we're up to? This blog currently gets over 1,700 hits per month, according to my "stats." I have no idea how that number is possible, but I want to thank each and every one of you for coming along on this ride. I am grateful to each one of you, whether you are a subscriber or just an occasional visitor. If you have an avatar in the "Followers" box I have read your profile and if you have one, I have visited your blog. If you are one of the "anonymous" I wonder who you are and what brought you to my story. I think about you all when I write. Wonder what you'd be interested in. I edit my ramblings with you in mind, and in doing so I get a chance to condense my thoughts into a more concise record of my life with Junior. I take your comments to heart, even the ones that disagree with me or tell me what I can improve upon.

So when Megan from Build-A-Sign contacted me about creating some merchandise for my blog, I wasn't sure what I would DO with promotional materials! With her generous assistance, we have magnetic and sticky BUMPER STICKERS!!!!
There is a magnetic one gracing the rear of my Civic, and if you would like one to grace your jalopy, VW Bus, or horse trailer, there will be an opportunity to do so very soon! Just working some details out on that, but I just couldn't wait to share the designs with you.

Megan and I designed the bumper sticker using Build-A-Sign's clip art and fonts. It was really easy to use and it was fun to swap the different images and fonts until I found something that I really liked.

I also created some decals by uploading the same image I have embroidered on all of my tack bags. I also created some really similar ones using the fonts and clip art, so you can create your own nifty way to label all of your horsey stuff! And the decals are indoor-outdoor so they should be able to survive the rigors of barn life.

This is the one I did using their clip art. I put on the side of my grooming caddy.

This is the one from the uploaded image helping identify my western hat can!

I had been trying to figure out a way to use the logo as a stencil but I am not that accurate with an exacto knife and my first attempt was a disaster. This was way easier and looks a million times better than I had hoped.

Stay tuned for your chance to get your hands on the first official merchandise!

Saddle Search - Part IIII - The Trial

2011-03-04T13:13:00.006-05:00

I went to Rod's yesterday to pick up their Rocking R Border Reining Saddle to take home and try. When I got there I noticed that they had a 2736 at the store!!!! Sadly it's a 17" and not the shortened skirt I need, but I was able to get a good look at the tooling and color and I took them both home. I wanted to take advantage of our brief stint of sunlight in this bleak and dreary Ohio Valley springtime. Tip for color matching show clothing/tack: sunlight is the best test. Mostly since most shows are outdoors, but also because fluorescent light makes things look funny so sunlight gives you full spectrum or "true" color. You can see in the photos later how different the outdoor vs. indoor flash vs. indoor no flash photos show the color.

The saddle seemed to fit as well (or better) than anything I've ever had on him and he was calm and stretching/licking/chewing during the brief walk/trot ride. I was thrilled to find that I could hold my rein hand where it's supposed to be. In my other saddles I always felt that the horn was in my way. I guess it truly was! The saddle did not bounce when I posted the trot. Overall I approve the fit for me and for him. And he didn't seem lame at all, as we all expected. Tomorrow he gets back into work so I'll be keeping an eye on it.

So I'm pretty solid on tree(FQHB)/size(15" - Yes,You-Know-Who-You-Are, You were right)/shape(27" skirt), but for color I'm still on the fence. I don't like the color of the darker one in real life, but I know it can darken up with some oiling and after feeling how stiff the leather is on a brand new saddle I will HAVE to condition/soften whatever I get. On the other hand, the light will darken with time/light/conditioning. I kind of feel like the light isn't light enough and the dark isn't dark enough. I guess it's a hue issue.

It seems that the folks who don't show like the dark, and the folks who do show say to get the light. The nice Ginger Cowboy that helped me today thought I'd look less out of place with the light at a trail ride/cowboy challenge than I would trying to do western pleasure in the dark one.

In my mind I don't want the "light" oil because it ends up looking like THIS. But is that just me wanting the color of my hunt saddle? Am I the only one who doesn't like this look? My attraction to dark could also be from my history with Arabs. We liked dark. But is using a darker colored saddle going to be as bad a faux pas as when I had a black hunt saddle? THAT was a poor choice in soooo many ways. Have I not yet learned from that mistake? That being a little "different" just makes you look stupid?

Anyone know if THIS works? Or what advice do you have for keeping light leathers soft but not darkened?

Border Reining Saddle in ??? Chestnut???

See the color of his headstall? I thought this saddle would be that color. I believe it's Circle Y's "Walnut". The reins are Rod's show reins that have been oiled with neatsfoot.

2736 in Light:

Close-up of hand tooling:

My plan is to order on Monday..... gulp!

Saddle Search - Part III

2011-02-27T17:31:00.008-05:00

Junior is enjoying his rest. He was up to more shenanigans in turnout this morning and came in with a new cut on his neck... just another one of the countess he's had. I've stopped worrying about those. They heal. No one will ever be able to make boots out of him, that's for sure. He did seem overly cuddly today though, and stood with his head over his gate and let me clip his goat beard off and clean up the outside of his ears and acted like he enjoyed it.

On to the saddle saga...

I am on a path to a saddle. I may yet switch paths, but here's where I think I'm headed....

Rod's carries some Rocking R saddles. They have Steele brand fiberglass reinforced wood trees, and are made in the USA by hand, one at a time, are hand tooled and have stainless steel hardware. When I first was saddle shopping way back in September of '08 I nearly bought one of their training saddles. My trainer had one and loved it. I liked the look and feel of it. The tack salesman highly recommended them. The only reason I decided NOT to buy it was because I was able to purchase a used and MUCH cheaper saddle along with the horse. I was actually under the impression that Rocking R meant Rocking Rod's, I now know better. I personally know two people who have their saddles and love them, our friends over at Cedar View Paints spoke very highly of their Rocking R Reining saddle, and the very cute cowboy I met this morning at Rod's has one that he loves, too.

I am attracted to the different designs they have. I think they make a good looking saddle and those that I have felt and sat in are of very high quality. It's going to be heavier than my current training saddle, but quality sometimes makes it heavier.

I'm essentially ordering a custom saddle through Rod's. Because I need a shorter skirt length, my options are somewhat limited as far as saddles go. I'm not sure yet how short I need to go, but I know that 29" is too long. They can make this saddle shape, which is a 27" skirt and that seems about as short as I can find without being a barrel or gaited saddle:

But in this design/tooling and a suede seat:

And it'll still be a price that's within my budget. I'm waiting to see if they can get the former in stock within a week for me to take home and try since they just added it to their web inventory in the last few days, but don't have any currently in the wearhouse. If they can't get one within the week, I'll take one of their other saddles for a test ride and make a guess on the skirt size. All of their reining saddles and training saddles are with the same tree/seat configuration so if one of those fits us, the one we order should as well.

A few things to consider: Seat Size & Color. I asked the nice fella to take a picture of me in the 15" seat and in the 16" seat. I know that seat size is more about feel than looks, but I'd like some opinions. Can you even tell a difference and which looks better. I thought the 15 felt fine, but so did the 16. I'm leaning towards the 15 because my 16 Circle Y felt huge. I had a bout 4 fingers comfortably between my thigh and cantle on the 16 but could still get 4 fingers in the 15, just touching my thigh.

I suppose I could have smiled or something....

Can you even tell a difference? I'm not sure if I can even remember which was which. I think the 2nd one is the 15.

Next is color. I want to use the saddle for small open shows (maybe a small breed show someday), occasional trail riding, schooling, and Cowboy Challenges. The light is the clear favorite of show saddles in Stock Horse breeds. Will I look like a newb if I have a darker saddle? Should I get the Light (the 2736)? Will I be afraid to "hurt" or stain the light? Or should I get darker?

Thanks to the wonders of photoshop, here's a guess (lighting could be different in each picture so it's a guess) at how they'll look on Junior and with my black outfit...

Again, I like the first one better, but will I look out of place in the show ring with all the light saddles?

They take 6 weeks to make so the sooner I order the better. My first shows are on May 7th and 8th and I'd like to have a few rides in it before then. This means that I need to order it March 12th at the very latest. The sooner the better, but not sooner than I can make an informed decision.

And if I take one home and ride in it and don't like it, well, then we'll head down a different path.

Hobby Horse just launched their own line of show saddles and I'm really excited to see they have two versions without silver corner plates. They call them "understated." Luckily, my big bay roan Overo Paint usually sticks out in a ring really well by himself and I don't need shocking colors or twinkly lights to help the judge remember us.... though sometimes it might be better if they did miss a few things...

Anyway, any thoughts about color, size, the saddle I like, etc.? Pour it on.

Equine Ownership Rite of Passage: The Lameness Exam

2011-02-26T17:55:00.003-05:00

I've now added "Lameness Exam" to our ever growing list of "Things Horse Owners Will Inevitably Have to Deal With" right along side "Fall off" and "Emergency Vet Call."

In true Junior fashion he presented himself 100% sound this morning, purely as a ruse since his friends were outside and he wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of his outdoor enjoyment. He wasn't warm and wasn't lame either direction. BO watched him too and we all agreed he looked totally fine. So out he went. Then Max's Mom came to the barn and says "I saw your boy limping around out there, how's he doing?" so my heart stopped and I walked briskly out to the field to see him. He walked easily over to me I felt his legs again. Nothing. I was about to be late for work. So guiltily I left him out with instructions for EVERYONE I could find to bring him in if they saw anything odd because Dr. J. would be there at noon to check another horse. So I worried about him the whole time I was at work. After work at about 2pm I couldn't help going to check on him and found that Dr. J. was running late and hadn't been there yet.

So we lunged. Dr. J. was busy with another horse and HIS lameness issues so I just worked him. Still no sign of anything at any gait in either direction. Eventually I took him back into the barn and groomed him until Dr. J. was ready to take a real look. Agreeing that he looked fine whenever he glanced over at him, but wanting to have an actual look, he did the flex tests and the hoof tester tests. I've never actually been part of this before so it was somewhat freaky to watch your horse suddenly be SUPER lame for a few steps. Nothing was remarkable. The only thing that gave Dr. J. any information was that he was sensitive if he squeezed his heel side to side and he jogged the lamest after that one. He thinks it's in the hoof, but that it probably isn't a serious issue, more likely another puzzle piece of how he ripped open the front of his blanket and has a wound on his left upper gums: Shenanigans.

So 6 days of Bute and Conquer and keep his routine the same so no riding and normal turnout. If he gets worse or if after 6 days he's not out of it, then I should call. How convenient that tomorrow will be my last day at the barn until next Friday. So now I have a week withOUT the guilty feeling from not riding.

We also discussed the possible stifle issue and he palpated the stifle, but since there is a recognizable lameness in the LF and not one in the LH, we're going to let that be fixed before moving on. Of course, reading in my new book about how important and often overlooked stifles are I'm only a teeeeeeeeeeensy bit freaked out.... in true Overanxious Horse Owner fashion....

Dude, You're Like, so Totally Lame

2011-02-25T20:14:00.006-05:00

Today was to be my first barn time in a whole week since I worked 8-12 hour days every day since Saturday when he refused to be caught and it was too muddy for me to chase him and all I did was clean stalls with a baby migraine - that day doesn't count as the kind of rejuvenating/recharging barn time I am in desperate need of.

So when I got out to the arena to ride, what do I find? I find a head-bobbing-lame-at-the-trot pony. Ugh. Thankfully my BO was there and helped me determine it was his left front. He was fine at the walk and didn't seem in any pain and was perfectly willing to trot even before I really asked him to. It was warm but not super warm, and since I was wearing gloves while grooming I didn't notice. It doesn't seem super serious so I hosed it and will check him in the morning. Dr. J. will be out at noon to check two other horses so I gave him a heads up that we'd like to be on the list, too. Unfortunately I have to be at work when he's there, of course.

Oh and this morning I got a text from the BM of THIS:

And for your entertainment the text thread the followed:

And no he wasn't sweating when I got to the barn, the BO wouldn't have actually let that happen, I was just being dramatic. Sadly it was no where near warm enough to make him sweat. It's a pretty easy fix, thankfully. He can wear his big coat for a day or two. That's the edge binding you're seeing around his neck. It's a closed-front blanket and he somehow ripped the front seam open and ripped the side out of the edge binding. And the "u" in the text was supposed to be an "I." I can type, really.

Sigh... I'll keep you posted.

Product Review - SHE System Gloves

2011-02-12T20:22:00.003-05:00

If you're just joining us, you can read the pre-purchase post HERE.

I've been using the gloves for a few weeks now. It's been getting a little warmer, of course, but even on the coldest of days when Ohio was imitating Minnesota, they seemed to keep my hands as warm as anything ever has. I have not needed to use hand warmers.

Overall I consider them a good purchase, even though they were on the pricey side. There are some details I'd like to share:

I've been layering them with Silk Glove Liners. The inner gloves are quite thin in the fingers to provide greater dexterity, but too thin for the coldest days.
The glove fingers ARE too long and sometimes get in my way, but since they are not lined I may be able to alter them slightly. They're a S/M size and are supposed to fit the "shape of a woman's hand" but they are clearly speaking of a much heftier style of woman.
Maneuvering the finger and thumb flaps took some getting used to and were rather frustrating in the first few days, but have become second nature.
They have actually gotten TOO warm a few times but since the outer mitt is easy to slide off it's a quick fix.
Somewhere between riding and cleaning stalls I developed a hefty blister on the pinky side of the first knuckle of my right ring finger. But since that's not where the rein is supposed to sit anyway, maybe it's a good reminder to start holding it right.
They are WASHABLE!!! Hooray! I did have to email the company and ask for the washing instructions since they were absent from any of the tags, hang-tags, or box. Machine cold - air dry. Works great!
The black suede-like fingers have dyed the glove liners black... not sure if they would have done the same to my fingers or not.
On the coldest days I could actually RIDE with three fingers inside the mitts.
The mitts eliminate ALL chance of dexterity for tacking, but I was able to clean stalls in them and use brushes.
The over-mitts can be worn with ANY other glove, which will be nice for those days when you need to layer on and off constantly.
I LOVE the magnets. Most gloves like this use velcro. The magnets do not hold shavings/hair like velcro can, and I only need to get the flaps close to their magnet and they pull themselves together on their own.

They seem to be sold out nearly everywhere, but perhaps by next fall they'll be back in stock at Cabelas.

WTFriday #3

2011-02-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

In my hunting for saddles I have come across some eye catching things that I thought I'd share with you.

Kinda makes you want to see what it looks like under a blacklight, doesn't it?

That overlay is a bit thick to put on the jockey, don't you think? And they should probably put the pad on the right direction...

WHY oh WHY is everything patriotic so fugtastic? And do they think the pile of dirty laundry on the ugly 70's chair will help the sale?

I thought they had better taste in the olden days...

it seems I was wrong.

Then called this next one a "Modern Western Saddle"...

Thats.... lots green.

At this rate they really ought to make the pommel and seat zebra, too, or at least either hot pink or lime...

We over here we've got...

Saddle Search - Part II - Updated

2011-02-08T22:27:00.005-05:00

Guess what's getting shipped off to Texas tomorrow....

Though the Ebay fees, Papal fees, and increased shipping costs means I'm not getting as much of the purchase price as I'd like, I'm still getting MORE than I was trying to get for it locally. Everyone still wins. Time to go shopping for REALZ.

EDITED TO ADD:

I've shipped two saddles now and there are things that I didn't really consider before doing so. Here is how YOU can avoid what I've just done.... I still did very well on the sale, but comparing the Auction sale price to what I actually MADE is usually a shocking reality.

Ebay FEES: Ebay's fees are constantly going up. Check Ebay's "Final Value Fees" so you are prepared for what they'll charge you. It's a percentage, but there's a cap so currently anything that sells for over $500 will be $50.
Paypal FEES: Paypal is owned by Ebay now so it's highway robbery because they are really charging you twice. There really is no other option for a safe way to send/receive funds, so you suck it up. It's also on a percentage. AND instead of Ebay taking the listing fee and final value fee out of the purchase price itself, Paypal charges you a percentage based on the final value, THEN you have to pay Ebay fees. They certainly have developed a money maker.

Shipping FEES: A little research can tell you how much it will cost to ship. I thought $75 was reasonable and I assumed I'd have to pay a little more if it had to ship far.

Measure the saddle - I ship horn down, just like you set the saddle if there is not a rack available. The smaller the box the cheaper it ships and the less the saddle jostles around the better.
If you do not already possess a sturdy box of that size, call the shipper or another box supplier to see what they have. I decided on a 30x20x24 $14 box.
Weigh the saddle - they say add 2-5 lbs for box/packing.
Call the shippers and get a quote. You'll need the zip it's going to (pick whatever is furthest away from you), the weight, and the box dimensions.
Protect the saddle: I removed the stirrups (not the fenders), wrapped the stirrups, mock billets, horn, and the tack in bubble wrap and tape. Encase the saddle in plastic just incase the box gets wet. Put a layer of bubble wrap in the bottom. Pack bubble wrap/air pillows/whatever you've got around the saddle so it stays in place as much as possible. It's the rocking and rubbing that causes damage.
The final box weighed in at 48lbs. I estimated the saddle itself was about 40lbs using the scientific method of weighing myself then weighing myself holding the saddle and finding the difference. (I swore that thing was 50lbs, but apparently I'm jus a wuss and the 8 lbs difference between that and my training saddle matters a lot.)

All told, the difference between the final value fee and my actual "earnings" was 205.72. This is still nearly $300 more in "earnings" than I was trying to sell it for locally, so everybody wins, I just wish I had charged $100 for shipping, but sometimes numbers like that scare bidders away, so you never know.

I am still pleased and now I can move on to a new saddle!

Saddle Search - Part I

2011-01-30T17:01:00.016-05:00

There is a 1/8" to 1/4" of ice coating all of outdoorland right now so there will be no driving to the barn. Instead, I'm working on my saddle search. There are previous musings about this HERE and HERE and in other random posts.

Mission: to replace 2 Western Saddles of very different styles with ONE saddle that can be used for small local open shows, cowboy challenges, and trail riding. Must fit HIM, of course first and foremost, which also means the skirt probably has to measure less than 29" front to back, as the awesome Chiro pointed out my training saddle is too long for his conformation. I want a low horn, moderately deep seat. Not too fancy, but not too plain. Not too expensive, but not a cheapo one. Suede seat and/or fenders preferred. I think the medium to darkish oil will look best on Junior, even though that's not "in" right now. I do have a budget and can't buy anything new until the old ones are sold. I've found that Reining saddles are the closest I'm finding to what I want both visually and in functionality. They are more workmanlike in appearance which I like, but they are close to the equitation seat of the current show saddles.

Right now I have this:

And this:

Which is listed, as of this morning on Ebay because I found a similar but not as fancy saddle without the matching tack that sold for $1,300 and had 22 bids on it, so onto Ebay mine went. If Craigslist isn't helping maybe Ebay will. I sold a saddle on there once and miscalculated the shipping costs so I made very little $ off of the transaction after paying for the box and packing materials. I was avoiding the Ebay for that reason, but if I can get it sold then it's done with, and I am more informed this time.

I initially thought having two saddles would be a huge benefit but after a few years of it I have changed my mind. I don't like showing in a saddle that feels differently than when I'm riding at home - but you don't want to ding up a show saddle so you have to be careful. The show saddle is stiff and wide compared to the work saddle. And I never really fell in love with it. I don't really love the super-fancy contemporary show saddles you see now, either. They look like machines or medieval furniture or something. Example 1, Example 2. I used to drool over them, but now they look COLD and hard to me, I guess.

Here are some of the prospects I've mulled over:

This one is at a local tack store called Keith's, and as much as it has almost the perfect look I want, the skirt's too long and too expensive. It's a Billy Cook 16" reiner. Even with the trade-in they'd give me on my show saddle I'd still be over budget. It's a nice saddle. Good color, good amount of silver and tooling, very pretty and not too masculine for me, but not too feminine either.

This one is at the same store in their small Used section.

I think it's sort of hideous. It's a used Rockin' R Reining saddle and it's a 15". I sat in it and it felt kind of small but my 16" show saddle feels too big. Maybe I really do need a 15.5, but they are all different between brands. This one has a 26" skirt. It has about the right amount of silver but it's too light, basket weave and I am not a fan. I hope this does not end up to be my best option.

This one is at Rod's, but I haven't yet gotten over there to ask if they do trade-ins and to measure the skirt. It's also a Rockin' R brand. I've heard very good things about the brand for the price range. I actually like the look of it. There is a very similar one HERE that has the addition of some floral tooling accents. I even like that one better. The one at Rod's might be a teense too masculine, but at least it's not barbed-wire tooling like THIS ONE.

They also carry this one. It's a lot like the ugly Rockin R with more silver. The only thing about it I like is that it's a Silver Royal, the same manufacturer as my training saddle which I find comfortable, but this one is 27" in the skirt. It IS a show saddle, but it's still pretty basic and I like that it has rough out seat, jockey and fenders. This one is quite affordable if I order it from somewhere rather than buying it at Rods. I WOULD like higher quality than this.
I was looking at other ones of this manufacturer since I don't dislike my Royal King. Other than the above, the only thing they have that is close to what I want is also FUGLY and probably too big:

How can a company that makes such a contemporary looking training saddle NOT make the same style for pleasure/reining and instead make something that looks like THAT!?!?

I know the best option is always to get a good quality used saddle instead of buying new, but with something as pricey as a saddle I'd hate to get screwed on Ebay - yet here I am trying to be an honest seller of my own saddle on there!

I don't know where all the used saddles go in this town. There were only a small handful at Keith's, and I only have seen one or two at Rods.

Anyway, that's where I am now. The search continues...

Anybody want to buy a saddle? Or two? :)

Not Broken!

2011-01-29T17:54:00.003-05:00

I'm happy to report that my pony is not broken after all. Two weeks ago I posted that Junior was having issues with weight and balance. Though the issues are not completely resolved, he is very much on the road to better times. He is showing improvement all over and increasing muscle in his hind end. I did increase both his grain and his hay rations but I won't get into the details just now. The biggest steps have actually been in the way we've been working. I've been riding more frequently, and have switched back to my english saddle and a snaffle bit. We've been trotting for 25-35 minutes every other day and have been working on keeping his back up and increasing impulsion. I don't suppose that sounds like much, but remember how lazy I am and how it's winter and how f*ing busy I am with work right now - it's my busiest time of year. But improvement is visible and palpable.

We had a session with an equine chiropractor/massage therapist on Friday morning. We'd been trying to get her and she happened to have a cancellation. I can clearly understand why she's in such high demand. She spent over an hour with us. He was "out" in his poll, neck, both shoulders, a couple of ribs, and his pelvis was twisted. Though she said none of that was "scary". She attributed most of his left hind issue to his pelvis. When she was done working on him he was incredibly calm. He even stood by his open stall door while I put his blanket back on and didn't move an inch even though there was a pile of lovely hay in his stall. He was super chill. She also took a gander at my training saddle which I've always questioned whether or not it fits him. She said it seems fine, but that the skirt is too long for him considering how far back his shoulder slopes. So my hunt for a new saddle has a somewhat limiting new factor. I WILL do a post on that eventually, I promise.

Today we had a lesson with Monet. Yet again my mind is completely blown. She says our biggest issues are increasing straightness and impulsion. Which in a way means that we don't know jack sh*t because straightness and impulsion are kindergarten. But I'm okay with that. In the 17+ years I've been riding I've had to accept that I will probably always be in kindergarten. I'm very comfortable with our reality. I didn't think that way when I was about 17 and thought I was the queen of the ring, but we all thought ridiculous things when we were teenagers, right? But I digress. The lesson was great and exhausting for both me and Junebug. But he was such a champ. I did feel his LH go ONCE but it was when I brought him to a walk improperly because I needed to take a break from all of that standing and pushing and releasing and swinging and half halting and whatever other 200 things I was trying to do all at the same time. And I learned today that he DOESN'T lose the LH when he's USING his LH, only when he's NOT using it. So I have to keep him using it. Kindergarten again.

Here's two clips from today. The first is Monet riding him. She mentioned that he feels much better to her now than the first time she was on him back in late summer. Then it's some of the last 10 minutes of our lesson when I finally started putting things together and he (because Monet had been on him) had started to figure out what on earth all my in-saddle shenanigans were all about. You'll notice I look completely ridiculous and flappy. Snicker away. I sure did when I watched it! But just like teaching a horse to steer, you have to exaggerate in the beginning. Don't watch me, just watch him MOVE!

I do love him.

Junior's Weight - The Never Ending Saga

2011-01-22T09:39:00.003-05:00

One year ago I began drastically changing Junior's ration. As you know, this was based on an Equine Nutrition Class project. I took TJ's data and made some choices. Our goals at the time were to:

Lower his BCS with a low starch/low sugar/high fiber concentrate. The digestibility of the hay was very low so this would help the digestibility of the hay, too.
Not lower his busy-work feeding - he was stalled too much - he had begun cribbing out of boredom and frustration.
Somewhat affordable because there was no discount on board if I stopped feeding the 12% barn grain - so the feed costs were additional. AND I had to pay for any hay over the 4 thin flakes/day. This was MY goal, TJ did not factor in cost, only suitability.

The whole "Plan" is HERE, but due to some questionable grain storage practices I ended up switching entirely to the Safe N Lite instead of the 50/50 mixture I had listed.

We seemingly met our goals in the Spring. The barn move greatly helped with a number of things including increased pasture access (from random less than 5 hours to up to 12 hours/day.)

However, as the winter began we noticed weight loss and I believe some energy loss as well. I don't mind having this calm, collected guy, but his BCS is too low. So it's back to the math.

I can't (thankfully) make this Rocket Surgery type science this time because I'm estimating the DE in the hay rather than having it analyzed. I think we were, in fact, underfeeding him this fall. When he was getting all that grazing (1.5 lbs/hour estimated) he was fine. The BM thinks he currently gets an estimated 18-25lbs grass hay per day. He gets a good 18-20 in his stall, but some hay is fed in the pasture so it's hard to accurately guess how much he's getting of that. I can't really do math with 18-25lbs, so I'm using 20. He had been getting 2lbs Safe N Lite each day. Then in fall it was upped to 3lbs/day. With that ration he SHOULD have been fine on DE of 21.48 Mcal/day, but apparently not. NRC guidelines list 20 Mcal/Day for adult horses in light work.

He is currently getting 5lbs S&L/day bringing him up to 23.4 Mcal/Day. This SHOULD be enough... wasn't he an easy keeper!?!?!

A new puzzle piece to this problem is that I will now be going through 1 BAG EVERY 10 DAYS!!! That is a lovely $52/month for 3 bags. When I made the choice to move him to S&L it was cheaper per bag than now and we were feeding so very little. I get an $18 discount on my board for providing my own grain. If I switch to one of the barn grains: Strategy or Kalm N EZ, I can pay only $18/month for grain AND not have to make trips to the feed store.

So what next? Some more math and research. Kalm N EZ was one of the grains TJ analyzed for me. She was looking for low starch low sugar feeds so she did not analyze Strategy. Max is on Strategy Healthy Edge, but that has to be bought by the owner.

A possible switch to KNEZ will be feeding him 2lbs/day giving him 21.44 Mcal/day. I just bought 3 bags of S&L, so when she's at the last bag I'll probably start switching him over. If the 23.4 Mcal/day seems to be helping over the next few weeks (he's been on that a few weeks now) I might do 3 lbs/day which ups it to closer to the DE he's on right now.

Sigh...

On a side note: I missed two days at the barn due to long work days and crappy winter snow. It's amazing how quickly 3" of snow can cripple a city that doesn't have enough plows. Anyway, I rode last night with the help of the BM telling me when he was "round" like Monet told me to make him. I'm much more of a visual thinker than a tactile one. I would LOVE mirrors in the arena! His neck was not solid but the two hard bumps were definitely there. Before and after the ride I did stretches. I broke down and did it with treats - need to go buy carrots. I was reading an article and it said to do the stretches in a special location to help prevent the horse from being grabby. His annoying grabbiness has been the reason he doesn't get treats. Can I train him to know the difference? He certainly stretched further and longer with the food reward than with the pat/verbal praise award. Hopefully we can keep him from being like this: