Falls are scary

19 minutes - 1.09 miles - Morgan

I got home just in time to see Rhulain getting a hoof trim ... I snapped a picture from the front porch and was astounded by the clouds.  She stood well, but she was a little cranky I went for a ride with Morgan.  I'll take her out tomorrow.

 Morgan and I snuck in a ride before the wind and rain started in earnest.  The clouds were amazing ... we even saw a rainbow!  On the way home, I asked Morgan to walk across a mound of dirt which collapsed under us.  Poor Morgan face-planted and struggled to get her legs free.  She didn't panic and she backed up and got us out safely.  She's such an amazing horse and I'm so grateful neither one of got injured for my stupid choice.

Hoof Trim & Horse Time

16 minutes - 0.5 miles - Morgan & A
25 minutes - 1.02 miles - Rhulain

While holding the lead rope waiting for hooves to be trimmed, I have the opportunity for oodles of odd pictures.  Today's random shots are proof that I have entirely too much time on my hands.

Sundance (Red Heads unite!)

Morgan (cuddly and best behaved)

Wasabi (licking the farrier's stand. sigh)

Rhulain (filthy after last night's rain)

Majesty (slept with his head on my shoulder)

After getting a trim and some breakfast, we went for a walk.  It was almost 90 degrees, so we kept it slow and short.

Morgie seemed quite puzzled by the neighbor's stallion taking an interest in her ... in fact, she seemed quite worried about his studdish antics and hid behind me on the way home. 

Dropped off Morgan and the kid and grabbed Rhulain.  We did a mile at what I thought was a mellow pace, but we actually walked at 3.0 mph pace ... which shows me our hard work has paid off.

Hoof Trim Day!

Lots of horse related activity, yet not one ounce of saddle time!

The fence line had to be fixed because our horses broke through it Thursday night.  We found them in the neighbor's yard patiently waiting for dinner. Sigh.  Bill had to temporarily fix the fence in the rain, in the dark, at 10:00 pm ... not our best evening.  So, we hired two gentlemen to fix the fencing.  On a good note, we redesigned the yard and eliminated the guest driveway which means more yard for us!

While the guys were here, they also installed my hitching post!  Woo hoo!

 Then it was time for hoof trims ... started out the morning with Majesty.  He fell asleep and I watched the clouds move over his head.  Not a bad way to start the morning.

Next came Sundance.  She had her nose on my shoulder most of the time but she was content to let me move as long as I was massaging her neck.  She presented her nose for kissing.

 Next up was Morgan. She was practically in my lap and wouldn't let me move more than an inch from her side.  Her lips were clenched the whole time.  She's a funny mare.

 Next up was Rhulain.  She was fascinated with the farrier and kept craning her neck around to see what he was doing.  Her attention returned to me once I whispered the word treat.  She did much better with her back hooves ... only tried to pull one away then relaxed.

Last but certainly not least was Wasabi.  She was unconcerned about the farrier, but was fixated on where Bill was at all times.  She came in for a quick snuggle and treat when it was all over.

Though the view was incredibly inviting, I dumped and scrubbed all of their water buckets. I find the most interesting things in the buckets ... today was no exception. Found half of a bird skeleton and six rocks in one bucket.  No idea how that stuff gets in there.

Hoof Trims!

So, it was time for everyone to get their hooves trimmed.

Majesty went to sleep during his trim. Might be the full breakfast he ate, or it could have been the snuggling in Bill's arms.

Bill said Rhulain was still having trouble with her back hooves.  *sigh*  Every time I handle her I pick up her backs but it seems like I need to hold them longer.  K, issue noted.

Hoof Trim Day

All 5 of the horses got trims this morning.  Bill was kind enough to assist the farrier while I got ready for work.

I did run out to the front porch and snapped a picture of Morgie before hopping in the shower. She looked relaxed.

Rhu seemed to be struggling and snuggled Bill for reassurance.  Bill said she had a hard time with the back hooves. Sigh. Guess we still need to work on that.

Luppy in the way back, Bosco next, Ryver in front of the barrel, Zeus and Einstein front and center

Bill let all the dogs out after the farrier left and introduced Ryver and Einstein to hoof trimmings.  Wish I was there to see the fun!

Einstein selected one larger than himself!

Hoof Trimming Day

All five got their hooves trimmed early this morning.  Bill and I had a class in town, so we couldn't assist the farrier or take pictures.  

Morgie's hoof

I went out to take off their fly masks before hopping in the car and the farrier was working on Rhulain's back hooves.  She yoinked the right rear out of his hand and he darted away from her ... my back was turned so I'm not sure what happened, but he quickly regained the hoof and continued the trim.  

Rhulain's hoof

Seems like I need to work on those backs some more.

Fly Masks Are Our Friend

Rhulain
40 minutes ground work
15 minutes tacking
5 minutes saddle time

It's been windy lately so there hasn't been much flies about bothering the horses.  Realized Morgan had a few on her face, so I pulled out the fly masks.  Rhulain wasn't sure about the crazy thing I held in my hand, but she only slightly flinched when it touched her shoulder the first time.  Then she let me rub it all over her neck and ears.  I placed it on her face and secured it with no problems.

Later in the day I put a halter on Rhulain and led her around the yard again.  She handled the gate like it's been part of her everyday routine, didn't try to get ahead of me, and moved out nicely when asked to circle around.  She did so well that I decided to walk her out the front gate and into the street.  Not an issue.

We saw an ATV coming down the road, but she just looked at it for a few seconds then gave it her patented "so what?" look.  We climbed some of the sand and dirt piles on either side of the road, stepped over a log, and then I let her taste some of the local fauna.

I took her over to the tack shed and picked out her front hooves, then lifted the backs.  Much, much better than yesterday.  I took her back to her stall and gave everyone their lunch.

Later I decided to try on her tack.  I took off her fly mask and put on the bitless bridle.  I spent a few moments teaching her how the bitless works.  She was fine with it, but kept reaching out for the fly mask.  I laughed.  Didn't take her long to figure that out.  I put it on over the bitless bridle.

Saddle pad looks striking, but it's too long and she needs a cut out for her withers.  Saddle fit fine, although I'll need to switch out the cinch (36" is way too big).  No issues with cinching.  She stood there with her back leg cocked the whole time.  So, I put weight in the stirrup.  No movement.  I slid over and into the saddle, no movement.  I kissed and she moved forward.  

Had a little trouble with the bitless ... every time I picked up a rein, her head came around to touch my boot, but she didn't turn her body.  Ok.  I asked with leg cues and she turned on the forehand nicely, but a bit stiffly to the left.  Kept it short, two laps around her stall and one figure 8, then asked for a halt and she stopped immediately.  Slid out of the saddle, untacked, and put on her beloved fly mask.  She's going to be fun to ride!

Learning about Rhulain

60 minutes, ground work

I wanted to spend some time with Rhulain, so I tossed on a halter and asked her to exit the turn out.  She rushed through the gate, so we worked on where to stand and not to move forward until asked, then progressed to walking calmly through the gate.  It only took three passes before she was executing gate manners perfectly.

Morgan didn't want to be left behind, so I opened the gate and let her wander the property.  Rhu kept an eye on Morgan and one on me.

We started with basics: leading, stopping, turning, and backing. Moved on to lunging in both directions at a walk and trot.  She's got a great stop.  We walked around the yard and whenever we got out of Morgan's sight, Morgie would come trotting to where we were.  Rhu didn't crowd my space, but she did try to walk ahead of me if Morg was around.  Minor corrections and we were fine.

She's got a "So what?" attitude which is great.  Giant tractor tire? So what?  Monorail in the yard?  So what?  Jackrabbits jumping out of bushes?  So what?  The only thing that seemed to hold her attention was the dogs ... not that she seemed scared, but interested.

Ran into a bit of trouble when I tried picking up her hooves. Fronts were no problem, back right was hesitant, but there was no way she was giving up the back left.  Ok. This is not an issue, just an opportunity to get to know her better.  Worked on it for a few minutes and once she gave up all four hooves and let me hold them for 5 seconds each, I moved on to something else.  I'll work on picking up her hooves everyday until it isn't an issue.

She is a little stiff flexing to the left, but very pliable on the right.  Good to know.  She ties off to the trailer like a champ.  There's a few little holes in her training ... could be that the cue was different.  It's certainly fun to figure each other out!

Wasabi's Sand Dune Adventures

Wednesday, July 9th  Left @ 6:50 pm - Home @ 8:14 pm  101°
1) Rode with Bill & Wasabi, T & Red, H & Beauty, H & Beauty, N & TC
    Sand dunes NW with Wasabi (7:00 to 7:30 pm)
2) Rode with Bill & Majesty, T & Red, H & Beauty
    Sand dunes NE with Majesty (7:40 to 8:15 pm)

Wasabi and Bill discussing the upcoming ride

The group heading out to the sand dunes

Morg and I trailed behind, nice and mellow

We followed the pack up to the dunes, but Wasabi didn't fare well with the sand sinking under her and the strange horses ahead of her, so we decided to break off from the group and try some smaller dunes by ourselves.  Morgan's front hooves are still tender, so we stayed in the soft sand whenever possible

Wasabi staring at a sand dune ... little hesitant, but willing to give it a try

Bill was able to coax her up, down, and around a few dunes. 

She did pretty well for her first experience!  Sometimes she led and sometimes she followed, but she was sure thinking about what she was doing 

To boldly go where only quads have gone before ... Wasabi conquers a hill

She did great going up the hills - kept a steady pace and listened to what Bill was asking

An appreciative pat on the neck for her efforts

Morgan wondering what all the fuss was about 

Dunes are fun and she knows it!

Decided to end Wasabi's ride to reinforce the positive.  

We rode back to the house and Bill tacked Majesty up for a quick spin

Majesty's "Ha ha, it's my turn" face 

We quickly located Red and Beauty and played in the dunes for a bit longer

Ever resourceful, we decided to turn a pole in to a small jump.  

Everyone took turns, but the pictures were all blurry. 

H & Beauty waiting their turn to "jump" the pole

We parted ways after 30 minutes and Bill & I headed home. 

What's this view?  Well, that would be me riding Majesty while Morgan ambles along behind us

It's not a view I see often, but loved how she just followed us around the yard

The "kids" waiting to be untacked ... Oh, let's be honest ... they're waiting for treats!