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!!!
Nope, didn't go to the show. Thought a lot about it, did many calculations and weighing, decided not to go.
Friday was beautiful. FINALLY. I got to the barn in the late afternoon to find a very happy pony covered in dried mud. He rode very well and I was much relieved to have that boy back after all that crabby last week. KAT had a new group of college student lessons start this week so I ended up helping a few of them get tacked up. I didn't have to help, but I AM a teacher so I don't mind teaching about horses. Besides, it's tough to walk by the stalls and see them struggling so much. We all know (unless you've been around horses since you could retain memories) how much information there is to absorb when everything from the terms to the smells, to the giant animal with hooves and teeth is brand new.
Today was wonderful. I put Junior out for a few hours while I chatted with people and watched some people ride. I cleaned the stall really well and helped Max's people give him a bath. Then I gave Junior a much needed bath. This was our second bath and not that he was "bad" the first one last fall, but I certainly have a better relationship with him than I did 6 months ago. He wasn't very appreciative of the cold water from the hose, but he listened to me and did as he was told. It made me so happy to get those socks white(ish) and get some of that winter grime out of his skin and mane. I love the fact that he lets me wash his face. My old white mare was only head shy when there was water involved and it was virtually impossible to get her forehead totally clean. It was really the only thing she had a problem with.
I put him away with his slightly damp mane combed down and Vetrolin Shined. I'm interested to see if it's a mohawk tomorrow, or if it stays down.
Before I went to the barn I went to Rods and got almost everything left on my show list. I got my hat re-shaped and the guy was SO nice, he gave me a new box to put it in. It seems he could tell the 15 year old box I had it in wasn't good enough. I will most likely be buying a new hat next year or two if I start showing showmanship and want a lighter hat for that, but I'm giving this old cheap hat one more year. I also picked up a black show blanket, reins, curb chain, and a scarf. The big hole right now is my chaps. I was dumb and waited too long to go get the Hobby Horse Ultrasuede chaps from Rods and now my size is out of stock. They are due back in stock on April 29th but is cutting it really close to the show on the 3rd, IF they actually come in on time! As a back-up plan I bought their zip-it easy suede chaps. They are certainly cheaper but do not fit as well and will stain my light suede seat. It's already stained a little, but I don't want to make it worse. The hobby horse in my size fit like a glove and are just SOOO nice. I've wanted them for years so I don't want to end up settling for suede, especially since they do not fit as well. On Monday I will call Hobby Horse and see if they have them in stock. They'll be more expensive than at Rods and I'll have to pay for shipping, so I'll have to think about that. Just one of those days you wish you could go back in time! Just for 5 minutes to order those damn chaps!!! OR to pick them up when I looked at them a few months ago. Idiot. I don't know what I was waiting for. They didn't get any cheaper and now they're not even there. So just the chaps and pants left. Pants weren't in the retail store and the warehouse is closed on the weekends so I just need to call on Monday and have them brought into the store for me. I'm ecstatic that Wrangler started making their Q-Baby jeans in totally black. AND I've dropped a size since fall!
It's supposed to rain most of the week again but be nice next weekend. Monday my order from Dover should show up.
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!!!!
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!
What a great day! This was by far our best outing yet. I remembered all three of our patterns and I was really confident about them. I don't know what happened, but I think someone stole my pony and replaced him with a clone that lacks Junior's ability to be a total prick when he gets annoyed about something. It was like it finally clicked: "Okay, I get cleaned up, go someplace, get messed with, ride around under my best behavior, get to eat hay ALL day, and then go home? Yeah, I got this."
Example #1: He was cooperative during his bath. HE LET ME HOSE HIS FORELOCK. He didn't jump all over the place every time I turned the hose on. He did step on the hose a few times, but he moved when I told him OFF. Normally he tries continuously to get away from the water.
Example #2: He let me clip the INSIDE of his ears. I did shove my sheepskin earplugs in first, but still, I've never been able to do it before. AND he practically fell asleep when he was being braided.
Example #3: He loaded like a champ into a strange trailer with only minimal snorting.
Example #4: He didn't whinny AT ALL at the show... at least that I witnessed. Not even once from the time he went on the trailer, to the time we unloaded back at home.
Example #5: He stood like a statue and let me polish his hooves and spray paint his legs and only moved a leg once. Then stood on the concrete to dry with my BF while I changed clothes. He didn't even try to move towards the grass.
Example #6: He was a ROCKSTAR in the show ring!!!!
AND we won Adult Hight Point!!! I didn't find out until this morning when I found a voicemail from the show staff. A check's in the mail! :)
English Halter: 5th out of 14. We'd NEVER done a halter class but I figured heck, why not. Maybe he'll get his jitters out during that and be okay for showmanship. He was great. Moved around a bit in the line-up, but he did as he was told. There didn't seem to be any jitters to get out.
Adult Hunter Showmanship: 1st out of 4. He was a tiny bit crooked and took too long at the set up, but he nailed the pattern.
Adult Hunter Under Saddle: 4th out of 8. There were definitely three nice horses above me so I have no complaints about the white ribbon. He was VERY good. There were 2 or 3 horses in that class that were a bit terrifying. I know it's a small open show, people, but have some humility and leave the fugly-crazies at home.... sorry that was mean, but really. Taking a horse that's learning is fine, taking a horse that looks so out of control you make the other riders/horses nervous is just rude. Take it from the girl who once did THIS. But look at how far away I kept from ALL the other horses.
We had a long break between classes so I untacked him, hoping he'd pee. He was dropped but he really doesn't like to pee at a show. By the time I had to tack him up again he was pissy and didn't want me to tighten the girth, but he only warned me with head swinging and stopped when I smacked him. I didn't need to tie him or anything. By the time we got outside and mounted up he seemed cheerful again.
Open Hunter Under Saddle Walk/Trot: Top 12 of 30+. This was a HUGE class with 3 splits. I don't usually do this class because it's huge. I entered assuming I wouldn't place, there are too many nice horses in the youth divisions (nearly all the youth classes had to have splits) and pretty much everyone who does any of the English classes does this WT class. We were in the 2nd split and got called back for the finals. I have no issues with his performance. They only placed to 5 so I'm not sure if we were 6 or 12. It was a true Open class with little kids, adults, QH's, hunters, a couple of Arabs, ponies, you name it, and the 5 places went to not only the QH's!
Adult English Equitation: 1st out of 4. I was on the wrong diagonal - apparently I don't understand what right and left diagonals mean, but the other 3 messed the pattern up worse. I was really pleased with the pattern and think we look pretty clean, or at least cleaner than we ever have. He absolutely despises the counter canter so I was surprised he kept it as long as he did. Just wish he would switch cleanly if he insists on doing a flying change.
Just after Equitation.
Adult Western Showmanship: 1st out of 5. He had finally peed by this time so he was in a much better mood. I gave him a touch-up grooming, and since it was our last class went over his whole body with Vetrolin Shine and a goat-hair brush. I cleaned his legs again but didn't re-polish his hooves. He was great in the pattern. I walked confidently out to start the class. I was sure I wouldn't win because there was a guy who has beaten me before when he had a different horse. Thankfully this horse was in training and did NOT want to back in a U shape. He was very chatty in the line up like he was last time.
Junior gets to eat Victory Grass in his fancy halter.
SO. What's next?
A: Learning what Right and Left Diagonals mean. And yes, I'm embarrassed that I don't know.
B: Working on keeping a relaxed and balanced frame during downward transitions.
C: Are my legs too far back? I don't seem to have a very nice ankle angle. I never have. I blame learning to walk on my toes. I've never had good stretch in that joint. But they look funny. Do they look funny?
D: Taking a little time off to recover. My back was unhappy the night before and all day during the show. Today it's not so bad, and hopefully tomorrow won't take a turn for the worse.
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.
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:
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!
Yesterday he got turned out with his buddy Max for 4 hours and he was in heaven. Max's mom turned them out at about 1:30pm. When I got there about 4:00 I got the whole play-by-play of him running circles around Max and then seeing how close he could graze next to Max before Max got annoyed. The proper distance is 3 feet. Max does not participate in Junior's shenanigans. He grazes - period. But Junior tries to get him to play. THEN they let a little red mare named Zippy out with the boys and it seems Junior is in love. That boy has a thing for redheads. Those two ran around and played and spent several minutes with their noses together telling secrets.
I spent my time cleaning his stall and wishing I had gotten there earlier so I could have stripped it, but the manure wagon was FULL so I'll have to wait for another day. When we finally brought the boys in at 5:30 (Zippy had been brought in earlier by the girl that leases her) Junior was more relaxed than I've seen him in ages. I gave him a quick brushing, picked his feet, soaked his tail in Vetrolin Shine (Max's Mom SWEARS it makes it grow and be strong and if Max's tail is proof I believe it.) took his halter off and let him get to his feed. I planned to ride but I had tickets to a show at 8pm and still needed to get home, shower, eat dinner and get to the show on time and that's just not enough time. I thought he deserved an easy happy day. If his demeanor is any indication of how he's going to be when he gets more play time it will be WELL worth the money for turn out. He did have one battle scar that I can only assume was from rolling? Just a half-dollar sized skinned section of the point of his stifle on his right side. It appeared only a flesh wound so I put some goop on it. It didn't seem sore and he was walking fine.
Until next time, enjoy the love story of Junior and Zippy:
