Sheath Cleaning Article

I was googling information on sheath cleaning as it's something I know I need to do but am in NO way looking forward to it. I do not know if Jr. has ever had this procedure done. He was fairly tolerant to my cleaning of the nether regions during his bath yesterday but I have not attempted to touch the sheath area.

Just have to share this link:

Equusite.com Article

There are two articles there, the first is informative, the second is a delightfully humorous instruction manual to the process. Worth a read.

Spring Cleaning and Gait Check

Spent over 6 hours at the barn today. I turned Junior and Max out while I cleaned the stall, bleached buckets, and worked on my tack box. I stopped at Home Depot on the way to the barn and picked up some black handles to screw to the sides of my tack box. I'm constantly trying to find better ways to organize my barn storage. Everything gets covered in dust so quickly from the shavings so I try to keep everything covered either in my hanging zippered bridle bag or in the box. I took the whole box apart and de-spidered everything. I culled some items from the box to take home to store, took out the fly sheet and put it on the blanket bar, swept and brushed everything down. We'll see how long I can keep it that clean!

I tacked up and rode but it was 86 degrees so we didn't work long. We've made excellent strides in many areas, but here are the things we're working on:

At the walk we are working on slowing down. He tends to walk faster than he jogs and prefers to look around while walking rather than drop his head. His walk to stop is not quick enough and he tends to pick his head up when he stops.

The jog is our best gait right now. He is able go go into a cute little pitty pat jog and drop his head nice and low. I can steer him around tight corners and he'll keep that frame and speed fairly well. From that gait his stop is very good and he will jog off from a stop pretty efficiently. He can pick up his leads well from a jog in both directions.

The lope is coming along. He is SOOO much better balanced than he was. I don't have to manage his shoulders nearly as much and it's easier for me to feel when he does need some assistnace. He's got nice muscle tone now so he lopes along more easily and evenly. The speed is decreasing well, and he's getting more consistent with his head set but it's not quite low enough for WP yet.

During our rides we also work on horsemanship elements like pivots and transitions. We've been working on lead changes more now, too. Sometimes I hit the buttons just right and sometimes I swear he moves the buttons on me!

Today I spent a large portion of the ride without stirrups. We even loped both directions one handed without stirrups. It felt really easy but I sure can feel it in my butt, thighs and lower back! When I was cooling him out I put my feet back in the stirrups and they felt too short. I wonder if it's time to drop my stirrups a hole or two to give my a longer leg. I'll ask KAT at our lesson on Tuesday.

He sweated up quickly, even on his face, so we walked a while and then walked back to the barn, un-tacked and did a real long bath. I haven't cleaned his sheath yet, I've never done it before. I cleaned between his cheeks and the area around the sheath, but I want to get some gloves and sheath cleanser before I venture to that unknown territory. When I got him back in his stall he yawned several times and then it was time for his evening feeding. I left him damp in the stall so I'm sure he rolled as soon as he was done with his dinner. It was a clean stall, though.

Here are some pictures I took today. Have a lovely holiday!

Pony Rides

My mom, sister, cousin, and aunt flew in from Minnesota for the weekend. We played lots of cards, ate too much, and drank margaritas, but on Sunday we went out to the barn so I could show off my boy. My sister has been allergic to horses since she was 16. When she was younger she had friends with horses and rode a lot, but one day her boyfriend took her for a ride on his dad's horse, Rambo, and she wasn't able to breathe. SO, we took lots of precautions. She is, of course, on medication, but with as severe of an allergy she has, we needed to do more. First I needed to uber-clean my apartment and my car to try to eliminate the allergens....and cleaning my car upholstery was WAYYY overdue, so it was a good excuse. It really takes months to get ride of allergens but I'm sure it helped a little. At the barn she wore a bandanna to eliminate some of the airborne dust and allergens, she didn't touch anything in the barn and I quickly got Jr. clean, tacked up, and outside. I lunged him in the indoor first (he hadn't been out since Thursday due to rain) and then rode a little so Mom could see the difference in him since her trip out in November. Other than my mom who showed QH in the 60's, none of my family are really horse savvy so I didn't want to bore them by riding around in circles, I just did enough to show mom how good he is now. Then we took some pictures outside and then took him over to the outdoor. I convinced my mom to get on him, and yes, everyone mounted had to wear my helmet. I kept him on the lunge line just as a safety measure and so Mom didn't have to steer. I wanted her to feel how nice his jog has become so we did that and she looked nice and balanced so we asked him for a little lope, too! He was really good! Then I led my cousin around on him a little...she was not interested in going any faster...and she remarked how much core strength it took, just at the walk. She does a lot of Pilates. Then my sister, clad in her bandit mask, wanted to get on! I led her around and I had to ask her three times if she was ready to stop! We are all sad that she is so allergic as I know she really loved to ride as a kid. The TOG came when we were tacking up (they were just unlocking the front fields when we drove in) to let Junior out so he said if I wanted to put him out in the field after the ride he'd come and put him in before evening feeding. I un-tacked him and let him out. I tried to encourage him to run around since he's so pretty when he runs, but he wanted none of that. ALL of his turn out buddies were at the All American Youth Show all weekend so the barn was empty (16 horses gone to the show) and there were no other horses out.

I was very proud of him. Not that I expected any less, but I get worked up worrying about things so it's nice to see that he took the pony rides in stride and was not bothered by the novice on his back asking him to slow his jog and to lope. His attitude is SOOOO much better than it was over the winter. I know I keep saying that, but the difference is just so incredible and it makes me love him even more.

My sister and me with the sign we made for my niece and nephew.

Mom, jogging.... and Junior with the end of the lungeline in his mouth...see I didn't really need it...

My sister in her bandit mask...and Junior trying to eat the line...

Mom and me getting my cousin ready to be led around....and Junior being very patient and adorable.

The weather says it's going to be a week of high 70's and low 80's so it's finally SUMMER!!!! I will be spending lots of time at the barn! Have a great week!

New considerations for Turn Out.

We have a bit of a sunburn. And by "we" I mean Junior. He was out a good long time in the sun yesterday and was a bit pink around the muzzle/face when I got to my lesson last night. He did not really look BURNED, just a bit pinker than he did on Monday. I checked and the UV index was only 2 today so I didn't request that he be kept in. It's going to be yucky for the rest of the week and I wanted him to have some TO time before it rains this afternoon, and Thursday, and Friday....

How do I plan to prevent this in the future? Two ways. I will be taking some human sunscreen to the barn on Friday when I go out. I will read labels and fine face-safe kind with a long staying power. I will apply the sunscreen daily or as often as I go out to the barn. I will not expect/depend on the TOG to put it on for me.

I also purchased a fly mask recently..

Unfortunately they were out of the tasteful black/tan so I had to get the blue/white plaid. I tried it on him and he looked embarrassed.
Once I myself get a chance to turn him out in it to see how he deals with it, I will ask the TOG to put it on him before turn-out. I'm just nervous to do that if he starts to try to get it off. I do wonder how safe it is for turn out? I'd rather put it on loosely so it'll pull off if he gets into trouble and have to go retrieve it from the pasture than let him get hung up. He's turned out in a single-ply leather halter. Have any of you had bad experiences with fly masks? I've not used them much, but between Junior's bald face, shaved ears, and eye cyst, I feel it's the best thing to do. Have I mentioned the cyst yet? I don't believe I have. More on that another day. Nothing to be alarmed about.

Lesson was pretty good. Did a few gorgeous pivots, did a few that were complete fails. Must figure out what I do differently...

If any of you have advice, cautionary tales, or other gems about sunburn or flymasks, or anything else I post about, please feel free to share!

Happy Hump Day.