Spring Cleaning! Blog Hop! Product Review!

Who loves spring cleaning?!?!

I do!

Allie over at Rocking E Cowgirl invited me to do a blog hop about spring cleaning.  When I first got the request I simply wasn't inspired. It didn't feel like spring yet.

Luckily, Tuesday was 100% SPRING in central Ohio!!!

There's something so satisfying about shaking off the dark damp dust of winter and preparing for the "summer."  Summer in this context means those glorious months in which you can ride without worrying about driving in the dark on snowy country roads to get to the barn, or your horse spooking because it has a week's worth of pent up energy, or whether or not it's possible for your fingers to actually fall off.

My favorite thing to do for Spring Cleaning is the first bath of the season.  I'm spoiled rotten that we have a Insta-Hot in the barn and we had a perfect day for a good long ride (more on that later) and a real bath. It was 70 degrees, sunny, and a warm breeze was blowing.  It was a PERFECT day for a Spring Cleaning Bath!  Huck is the sweatiest horse I've ever known. For weeks we've been going through towel after towel and our cooler has gotten a ton of use.  I gave him an amateur kindofa "bib clip" a few weeks ago which helped a little, but not a ton.  Other than the small area I clipped, he's got a full fluffy winter coat.

Sweaty boy!

In addition to loving baths, I love grooming tools. This winter I splurged on a pair of Hands On grooming gloves from Schneiders.  I couldn't believe someone convinced me to buy a $25 grooming tool, but they were worth it.  I used them for the bath today and I LOVED how I could work the lather into his coat. I discovered I could use the side of my hand as a squeegee and relocate suds to where they were needed. Just as promised, I was able to open bottles and use the hose with ease while wearing the gloves.

Only two things make them not-quite-perfect.  First, that the smallest size is still pretty big on my puny hands and I'd like to have a closer fit so they wouldn't slide around as I worked.  Secondly, that I wouldn't dare use them on his mane or tail.  They have just enough gription that they would most certainly stretch or break the long hairs.  Easily enough problem to avoid, so no big deal. I discovered I like them better for bathing than for normal daily grooming, though they did take a good amount of hair off of one of the resident Basenji's and she seemed to enjoy it.

Overall, the gloves are a winner, and I'm really glad to have them in my grooming arsenal!

I could not believe how milky-white the first spray water was as it began to loosen months of salty sweat from his blanketed coat! I hated all those days that he got sweaty and I couldn't hose him off, only towel and brush, towel and brush.  Crusty.

Huck seemed to enjoy the bath and was standing quietly (he is known to paw and disturb all the mats in the wash stall), licking his lips the whole time.  He even let me spray his face, like his WHOLE FACE just like you see the racehorses do.   He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

After the bath and a good spritzing with coat moisturizer, he got to spend his drying time out eating new spring grass.

Snackin' in a Bathrobe like a Boss

What is your favorite part of spring cleaning?

My Crazy Cow Horse

My horse is not crazy.  He's actually quite level-headed, BUT I'm blaming his attentiveness, his reactiveness, and his worry on his cow horse breeding.

Derp.

I've ridden all of his spooks and he's never bolted or reared or anything.  Just bug-eyed flinches and quickened stride.  He's been that way since day one and to my own surprise, it doesn't make ME nervous.  I don't love this part of him, but he's never put me in danger, not even a little. Junior was way more dangerous in his spooking than Huck has been.  It's like Huck's starts some days on level 3 alert and may turn into a 5-6.  Junior, by comparison, was normally at Zero but would surge to an 8 without any warning.  Like the time he left me at the pond.  He seemed like he was fine with the geese being there and then he was gone and I was on the ground. At least I can read Huck. I was going with a 0-10 scale there, sorry if that was confusing.

Also nice is that he's never run into me or away from me and seems to look to me for assurance.  When I make loud rope-swing noises (he hates it...) he is calmer if he can hide behind me.  If he's tied to the rail (and being particularly nervous about life) and I walk away, he tries to follow me.

Huck's not lost his head over anything and we've thrown some pretty fantastic challenges his way.  You saw some of the visual/physical stuff we've done in my last post.  We've also done many audio challenges including live gunfire in the arena and yesterday we used a game-calling device to play all sorts of loud sounds from a vole to coyote pups and whitetail fawn to a "raccoon fight."  The device even played a cow.

Huck was interested in everything and mostly stood quietly at stiff attention, but the cow made him start moving around to look for the cow!

Why does Ledger sound like a cow?!?!?!

When I only ride him once or twice a week he is a lot more jumpy and reactive than when I ride more often.  Thankfully my theatre show is done and I can concentrate on riding for a while!


His face and leg are pretty much just scars now.  I hope with the spring shed he evens out.  I'm somewhat confused about the way the hair is growing (or not growing) back in the shaved places.

Healing!!!

So Long, January!

Between Huck's injuries, the Holidays, the COLD, and my work schedule, December and January were pretty much a bust as far as riding goes.

This past weekend was glorious and though we will be back down to highs in the 20's by the 9th, I'm crossing my fingers that the worst is over.  After all, I bought a pair of insulated bib overalls that arrived just after the temperature went above freezing.  Murphy's law, you know?

Huck's face and leg are healing.  There's still a tiny stubborn spot of scratches on his RH but it's SOOOOO small.

Things are going well with Huck on the riding front.  I mean, I still don't have a flying lead change, but we are figuring more things out and I'm consistently pleased with our rides  He seems to give his best try and doesn't get upset if I need to correct him.  He minds all my aids and I think we've gained some proficiency in the "I touch you here you move your hip, I touch you here you side-pass, and I touch you here you pivot" department, which goes a long way for gearing up to lead changes and our trail class work.  We have done some respectable simple lead changes, which would be allowed in the Green Reining class, but I am REALLY hoping we can get a consistent flying change anyway.  Some days I can get 3 distinct (well, kind of) speeds of lope. The slowest I call "OUCH", the medium "Yassssss" and the fastest "Whhheeeeeeee!"  He is exactly opposite of Kevin where the slower you go the smoother he got. Huck is the other way around.  I do miss Kev's smooth lope, but I am SO happy with my choice in buying Huck.

Showmanship practice is yielding good results as well.  He seems to get the idea of the setup now and his pivots are improving.  He's shaped so differently (from Junior)  that I can't see his pivot foot when I'm in proper position so I'm having a hard time correcting something I don't know is happening, which means I have to cheat my position for now.

Huck does Yoga when he's tied....

One of our barn friends is entering the Equine Affaire Versatile Horse and Rider Competition so we've been experimenting with lots of obstacles.  We even brought in some pistols (loaded with blanks, of course) to do some gunshot desensitization.  THAT was interesting. We did this on the ground, of course.  Huck did pretty well considering how alert he is.

We have some fun clinics coming up this spring and leading up to our show season starting in early May... wait WHAT?  That's....like... THREE MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!  Oh boy, we have a lot to do!  I open a play on the 18th and then I get to turn my schedule back into one of a "serious competitor" instead of a "weekend-rider".   Bring on Spring!

Equilutions 2016

Happy New Year!!!

I began writing Equilutions in 2009.  I was four months into owning my first horse and I am proud to say Junior and I achieved every one of those goals.  You can read other posts about Equilutions here: Equilutions.

My last Equilutions was in 2013.  For the past two years I have not felt able to set any type of specific goals. There was always a goal to get another horse, but for a long time after I lost Junior I wasn't able to bring myself to make specific "dreams" about the future.  I needed to just take it one day at a time for a while.

But this year I feel different.  Things are different with a different horse.  I have no idea what to expect from our upcoming show season.   Our first show is less than 4 months away and we've not done a half-decent lead change (since the clinic) and I can't figure out what cadence his slow lope and his fast lope need to be, I haven't even tried a whole reining pattern yet, and are still inconsistent with loping off without trot steps.  So we're having trouble with just, you know, ALL THE THINGS.

BUT our jog is extending nicely.  We are doing better with ropes, gates, and stuff... though the sound of a rope cutting the air makes him toss his head or hide behind me.  We are finding the different buttons for moving hips vs. shoulder and finding the difference between transitioning down by only one gate and not slamming on the brakes at the slightest ask for a jog. We are getting better at not throwing rodeos on the lunge line.

I like my new horse.  I've no idea if this season will be successful at this point, but I'm enjoying the journey.   Last year I took a western pleasure horse (something I knew a bit about) and made him a buckled Green Ranch Versatility horse.  Now I'm taking a reining horse (something I know very little about) and turning him into a Ranch Versatility horse.... something I still need to learn a lot about!

I remind myself that last January I was VERY frustrated with Kevin. I didn't blog much about it, but we'd hit a rough patch.  He was constantly cranky and irritable about work, would misbehave if asked for anything but basic rail work.  But by spring he was soft in the bridle and always had a bright expression.... so did I, and you know how that season ended, so maybe we still have time.

We had a nice ride today, though we had a serious rodeo on the lunge line. Not surprising since we really haven't had a work out since before he cut his face. He hasn't bucked that much since the day I brought him home! I made sure he was tired before I rode and we had a nice ride.  So much to work on, but a nice ride!  His wounds are healing.  His face will be a much bigger scar than if the stitches had stayed in longer, but he's a ranch horse, so it'll be fine.

Equilutions for 2016

1. Do something about those "training dees" on my saddle.  I will eventually get a good saddle, but I'm not ready yet.  I found my current saddle for $200 on Craigslist.  It had never been oiled and has a tear in the leather holding one of the rear-cinch dee-rings on.  I replaced all the cheap/chipping conchos with copper ones, removed the d-rings on the pommel, and tied down the d-rings at the back.  The crupper ring and the big rear d-rings make noise when I ride and it drives me nuts.  The biggest issue is finding a way to quiet them that isn't unsightly and doesn't make the saddle completely un-sellable. I found a similar saddle (same brand, not a training saddle) on Craigslist, but I'm hesitant.... am I getting a slight upgrade or am I trading one set of problems for another?

2. Get rid of the clutter. This goes for general household as well as horse equipment. I did sell my hunt saddle, my good helmet, and a few other things off Facebook but OMG people are horrible! I had so many people say they would buy things and then ghost, and some people I met were incredibly late for meet-ups. It's hardly worth the stress! Instead I've got a booth booked at the biggest tack swap in the region on Valentine's Day at the University of Findlay.  Last time I went there I sold nearly everything I brought. Hopefully we'll have good luck this year, too.

3. Say GOODBYE to making show clothing. I've designed/made/sold show clothing on and off for over 15 years.  I have a decent amount of supplies on hand, but I've severely lacked the motivation to make any in a long time, especially since I don't show in those kind of clothes anymore.  The market is flooded so I haven't been getting what I think my pieces are worth. It's a buyer's market, and Americans can get a t-shirt for $5 so why should they pay more than $100 for a show top?  I sold my last several pieces (not including the custom work I designed specifically for clients) well below even off-the-rack prices, just to stay in the black. At this point I think I'm going to finish the last piece I started (an olive green showmanship suit) and sell off all my fabrics/trims.  I would probably still work with repeat clients, though, if they were ever interested in adding to their wardrobe.

4. Learn how to tool leather.  I've never done it.  I might hate it, but I want to try it.  I have been drooling over some custom belts and tack makers for the past year and though I think their prices are appropriate for the quality of their work, sadly they are not appropriate for my budget.  There is a Tandy Leather store in town that gives classes.  I'm going to try to tool a belt for myself and see if I never want to do it again, or maybe it's something I could add to my Etsy store.

What are your Equilutions for 2016?