Monthly Totals

September 2014
430 minutes = 7 hours riding time for me; 5.5 hours on Morgan

260 minutes = 4.25 hours - Bill and Majesty
90 minutes = 1.5 hours groundwork only

Wasabi's saddle time 2014: 
Jan - Jun - 5 hrs
July - 2 hrs
Aug - 1 hr
Sept - 0 hr

Just a quick jaunt

Monday, September 29th  15 minute ride  80° 
Rode with T & Red

T stopped by for a few minutes tonight.  It started to get dark, and I didn't want her to ride home alone so I saddled up Morgan and rode with her and Red.  Just a quick jaunt out and back ... because dinner was waiting for Morgan.

Morgan looking for comfort ... whenever she gets nervous now, she reaches out and touches my boot

Coming in for a landing!

The Other Side of the Valley

Sunday, September 28th  90 minute ride  70° 
Rode with Bill & Majesty and Meggan & Zanadee

Wait ... who's that riding with Bill?  Well, our friend, Meggan and her horse Zanadee.  Morgan's ears seem to be in most of my photos

Meggan took us through some interesting scenery.

Don't worry Maj, feel free to leave "road apples" if needed ... the "No Dumping" sign doesn't apply to you.

Hmmm, we seem to be up here all alone.  Where is everyone else?

There they are! Waaaaay down there.

Bill decided to switch places with me

Hey, which way do you want to go?

Meggan says "Follow me"

And we're off ... climbing down the dune

Bill and Majesty discovering what's around the corner

Morgan and I heading home ... can't resist those fuzzy brown ears

More Baths!

Saturday, September 27th

It's starting to be a bit chilly in the morning and the horse's "fur pajamas" are starting to show, so I figured it was time for their last summer baths.  I only managed to get 3 out of the 5 done, but there's always next weekend for Wasabi & Sundance.

First I started with Traveller ... he kinda looked like a puppy sniffing the ground and once he discovered the "delightful" aroma of alfalfa was coming from the trailer, he stood like a pointer for a bit before trying to grab a snack.  Silly old man.

Majesty is NOT a fan of the goat ... here he is closing his eyes and wishing the goat would go away.  That didn't work, so he tried making silly faces and noises, which did work, much to his surprise!

Morgan was supposed to be drying in the sunshine while I filled the dinner buckets, but she kept giving me "the eye" while I worked.  So I held out a cube and she promptly yoinked it and turned her head away, just in case I wanted it back or something.

Morgan's resigned face before the bath starts, and her "look at me, I'm gorgeous" pose after her bath. 

Blazing New Trails

Sunday, September 21st  30 minute ride  90° 
Solo

Tried to add a different dimension to our ride today.  I had bells on a leather strap so I attached it to her neck and we moved around a bit to get her used to the sound. Once she figured out that she made the noise, she seemed to have fun moving different parts of her body to the jingle. Too cute!

We headed down the trail, just jingling away

Most of our normal trails had been washed out, so we spent quite a bit of time searching for ways to get through the sand dunes.  We looked for other prints to see if the path ahead was safe, but we didn't much other than jackrabbit prints.

This used to be a sand dune we would climb down ... now it's been washed away and it drops off a mere three feet from where we stopped.

Morg and I lost the trail again, but we found some quad tracks off to the left so we decided to investigate ... 

The tracks lead us right to this drop off.  The far left "bank" is where Morgan had a hissy fit last month.  Now we can't get there because the area has been completely washed away.

Batteries gave out shortly after this, but we made it home safe.  Once we were on the property, I took off Morgan's headstall and we tried riding around with just leg aids.  It's exhilarating!  We need to work on stopping, but otherwise she did fabulous.

Getting dark way too early

Wednesday, September 17th  25 minute ride  90° 
Rode with Bill & Majesty

Horses can twist themselves into the most interesting positions.  It always makes me laugh when they itch themselves with their hind hoof.

Heading out at 6:45 pm ... sky looks like we have plenty of time to ride

With flash & without a mere 10 minutes later

This is what it looks like when we get home at 7:15 pm

I miss when the sun was setting at 8:30 pm.  

Even though it's setting earlier, we still have 90+ degree weather until 9:00 pm or so.

*sigh*

Trailer Loading Trials With Wasabi, Part 2

Tuesday, September 16th  30 minute groundwork  92° 
Trailer Loading with Wasabi

Morgan just figured out she got left behind ... Sundance offered comfort

I figured I'd spend a more time with Wasabi on trailer loading.  Morgan had been napping when I went in to collect Wasabi.  When she saw Wasabi and I on the other side of the fence, she started scolding me ... she was whinnying, nickering, and running the fence line for 10 minutes before she settled down.

Wasabi and I went right to the trailer and did basic groundwork for a few minutes before I asked her to load.  She initially refused, so she got to do a few more figure 8s before she got to rest.  She stepped right in the trailer the next time I offered her the chance.  I got most of her body and three hooves in the trailer, but just couldn't figure out how to get that last hoof and rump in consistently.  At least we had no more refusals.  She was standing in the trailer when Bill got home, so I opened the "escape" door and let her get muzzle snuggles from him before putting her away for the evening.

It occurred to me later on that I "send" her horizontally from the trailer door and she does just fine. Perhaps I could try "sending" her vertically and see if that will encourage the forward momentum needed to get her whole body in the trailer.

Great fluffy clouds and beautiful colors tonight

Trailer Loading Trials With Wasabi, Part 1

Monday, September 15th  60 minute groundwork  99° 
Trailer loading with Wasabi

Normally Wasabi is a light grey (like her rump) ... with all the sweat, she's nearly black!

I went to gather Morgan from the turn out pen when Wasabi got in my way.  She was rather insistent, and I figured I could pony her off Morgan, so I haltered her up and took her too.  However, once she got away from the turn out, she turned bratty ... walking in to my space and generally being a nuisance.  So she got to do ground work.  Lots of ground work.

That's one tired mustang ...

After 20 minutes she was listening but still resisting, so I decided to transition our work into a trailer loading session. She loathes trailer loading. 

We worked on circles, figure 8s, sending her back and forth, side to side, anything to get her closer to the open door of the trailer. Then I asked her to stop moving at the trailer door and let her catch her breath a bit.  I asked her to move in to the trailer and she balked, so off she went for another round of circles and such.  When I let her stop the second time, I again asked her to step in to the trailer.  She popped her front hooves in and I let her stand there as long as she wanted.

Morgan was really tired of me paying attention to everyone BUT her ... look at that face!

Another few tries and I'm happy to report that Wasabi will now willingly step up in to the trailer ... with her front hooves only.  We'll work on the back half of her body later.  In the meantime, Morgan wandered around the yard, pretty much ignored.  She was really in need of some cuddling after I put Wasabi away, and I was glad to oblige. 

Snuck in a quick ride

Sunday, September 14th  15 minute ride  90° 
Solo

Morgan did NOT want to ride.  She discovered the "feed" trailer and was just sure we put it there as her personal buffet.  Every time I turned around, she had scooted over to the trailer.

Elmer came over to wish us well on our ride ... Morgan questioned why we needed to ride. CLEARLY there was a feed trailer that needed emptied.

Once we got off the property, Morgan boogied down our regular path ... in fact, she didn't want to stop moving for pictures, or slow down.  The route that usually takes us 20 minutes was completed in 14 minutes flat.

So we went home and I untacked her ... then turned around to give her some carrot chips and she was gone.  Morgan!

Yep, she went over to "help" Bill unload the feed trailer.  Silly Morgan.

Quickie

Thursday, September 11th  5 minute ride  
Solo, bareback


Had no intention of riding ... but, somehow, whenever I get near Morgan I just can't seem to resist.  

I pulled her out of the arena and gave her some feed while I filled water buckets and fed the other horses.  She left her food to see what I was doing, so I climbed up the side of the rails and slid on her back ... no reins, no saddle. 

She walked the length of the turn out, then wandered around in the front yard for a bit before turning back to where her dinner was waiting.  On the way back she started to trot but slowed down after only a few strides. It was a fun diversion to my evening chores :)


Morgan and I setting up a trail challenge for the ACTHA in November 2013. She had to sniff each water bottle before I pulled them out of the basket.  She's a funny girl!

Checking out the dunes

Wednesday, September 10th  15 minute ride  85° 
Solo

Morgan thought she might miss dinner, so she carried an alfalfa cube with her for a while

We went out exploring our normal dunes, but our paths were changed. Some of them were completely unusable and others had been lost in flooding.  

The ride was uneventful but with the sun setting earlier now and our paths so different, I didn't want to be out too long.  Rain is expected for Monday and Tuesday, so it may be another week before we get back to "normal" riding.

Cheesy pictures!

Surveying the damage

Tuesday, September 9th  20 minute ride  80° 
Rode with Bill & Majesty 

Before the ride ... Majesty napping & Morgan sticking her tongue out. I swear she does that on purpose just to hear me laugh.

Bill said: "What are we having for dinner?"

Morgan's head popped up and her ears whipped back at the word dinner!  Guess she was curious too.

Roads were very, very yucky.  Most of it was ok, but parts were still muddy and both horses slipped a bit. 

Morgan contemplated the new drop on the main street.  

2nd picture used to be a road, but it got completely washed out.  Bottom pictures are fence damage that was incurred at other properties.

Mud. Everywhere.

Monday, September 8, 2014
Flash Flood Warning, Day 2

The drive home ... streets were flooded.
Check out the parent picking his kids up from the school bus - look how high that water has risen up his legs. 
Oh by the way, he's standing on our side of the road. We drove on the opposite lane. Fun fun fun!

This is the street we live on ... Morgan and I were playing in puddles right here just yesterday!  Now the road has a 3 foot drop.  

The County does not maintain our streets, that's left up to the property owners. Unfortunately, this "divot" is next to blank land. I'm sure it's owned, but they're not going to fix a road they don't have to drive on. It will be up to the 6 of us that have to use this to get to the paved road.

This is what we had to look forward to when we arrived home ... flooded stalls, mucky puddles, and gaping holes 

We're lucky the corral fencing didn't tip over because of the sand washing away ... that's a  6" to 8" drop

Luppy went out exploring and had some huge gaps to overcome.  She's about 35 pounds and some of those crevasses were large enough to swallow her whole

Luppy and I were out working in the muck

All that's missing was a Morgan hoof print!

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

Sunday, September 7th  30 minute ride  75° 
Rode with Bill & Majesty 

Somebody had fun in the rain ... looks like our grooming session is going to take longer than usual
 

Always such brilliant sunsets after a downpour
 

Wait .. what's that reflective surface up there?  Could it be?

PUDDLES! Hurry up Morgan, let's go play in them!

Morgan: How about I walk next to it? I'll get really close, promise!
Me: No deal Morgie. You need to walk through the middle.

Morgan: This is not what I thought our evening ride was going to include. You're lucky I like you.

Me: I love you too Morgie!

The water was so murky it is hard to tell that she's walking (grudgingly) through a large puddle. What she doesn't know is it is expected to rain for two more days!

  We'll be mud-licious and puddle-tastic by the time this week is done :)