Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad, No Good Day

Today was de-worming day for the horses.  Four of the five were no problem. But Sundance made up for the ease of the other four.  Sigh.  She kept burying her muzzle into my arms and looked so sad.  After 20 minutes of patient touch, retreat, pet/rest, repeat we were able to get her to take the medicine.  I exited her stall and she shoved her big ol noggin up next to my face and proceeded to lick my ear.  Apparently, she was thanking me for the extra effort.  

The goat was playing tag with the doberman.  For some obscure reason our other dog Bosco decided to join in the game and bit the goat on the tail.  I had to smack him on the head with a shovel to get him to release.  Lips took off running, and Bosco chased clamping down on her butt cheek.  I ran after them and smacked Bosco again to get him to release, then had to get between the two of them so she could make it back to her stall.  I locked her in and went to get the first aid kit.  When I returned I saw the blood trails on her cover, and about started crying.  I love that girl and was upset she got hurt on my watch.  I cleaned her wounds as best as I could, then snuggled her and apologized before dog-proofing the goat pen.

I got Rhu a new saddle pad and had her try it on for me.  When I went in the tack shed to grab her headstall, the doberman spooked her and she took off running around the yard with him hot on her heels. She jumped the panels that had just been taken down and cleared them quite beautifully before running back to the safety of the mare motel.  I did some ground work to settle her, trailer loaded her, and then put on her headstall and took her for a quick lap just to test the saddle pad fit.

All in all, not a spectacular day.  The wind made it impossible to ride, the dogs were flat out stupid, goat got injured, neighbor's dog got in our yard (again), and if that weren't enough ... the water heater went out so I couldn't take a shower to get the day's sand out of my ears.  Sigh.

Ouch.

45 minutes - 1.44 miles - Rhulain

It finally cooled off enough to take Rhu for a walk ... however, it was dark and Rhu was jumpy.  I can tell I haven't had her out enough, she was in my space too much.  At one point, she spooked and came down on my right foot.  I prayed she didn't break any bones.

We finished our walk and headed home.  Once inside the gate, I hopped on her bareback and we wandered around the yard a bit.  Sliding off, I felt the pain in my foot.  *sigh*

Morgie time

37 minutes - 1.0 miles - Morgan

Although it may not look like it, Morgan's wound is getting better.  Morgie joined me for a walk today. There were carrots in my pocket and she spent most of the time nuzzling me trying to get at them.  Guess she didn't miss our walk time as much as I did ... she just missed the snacks.

Night Work is Great!

60 minutes - 0.70 miles - Rhulain

Cleaned out Morgie's wound and then spent some time grooming her so she wouldn't feel neglected.  Spring definitely is here ... tons of hair!

Then it was time for ground work.  I set up a keyhole with cones and walked her through it a couple of times.  She seemed wholly unimpressed with the orange cones and tried to eat them, then kick them, then ignored them.  That's my Rhu!

We saddled up and did some gorgeous circles amid a myriad of distractions ... Namely, "A."  He was great at getting the carrots and feeding them to Rhu ...once she showed him where they were located.  Once the carrots were consumed A asked if he could ride Rhu.  I relented and gave him a quick ride. Rhu made it clear that she was done though ... it was dinner time ... so I untacked and she received a quick massage before putting her back in the turn out.

So happy with our progress!

Dreamy. Simply Dreamy.

65 minutes - 1.34 miles - Rhulain

Cleaned Morgan's eye wound and the applied the medicine.  I was only able to take a blurry picture because she didn't want to hold still ... she wanted to eat and I was bugging her, obviously.

Rhulain and I went for a half mile walk to check where her brain was.  She was right there with me, which was fabulous.

We headed back to the yard and did some ground work and trailer loading in the fading light.  She was solidly locked on.  I saddled her up and we rode around the yard in the pitch black dark.

 

We nailed our circles and transitions ... it was almost magical.  She and I were teaching and listening to each other. I made note of what cue worked and when, then repeated it twice to ensure I got the same response ... then used it on the other side.  YES!  

We got beautiful, even circles on both sides and lovely downward transitions by melding the way she was trained and the way I ride. 
We came to a dead stop by me thinking it, then breathing out loudly, and sitting deeply.

*dreamy sigh*

Love.This.Horse.

Eye Injury & Night Work

61 minutes - 0.42 miles - Morgie & Rhulain

There's sunshine when I get home now ... only 15-20 minutes left, but just enough time to spend it with Morgan!  I grabbed a halter and ran outside, only to find Morgie had a cut above her left eye.  I removed her from the turn out and cleaned her forehead so I could get a better look.  Looks like a small gash that stops right before her eyelid.  WHEW!  

Cleaned off the dried blood and debris ... it must have been tender because she kept lifting her head away.  I put her in the large stall and will check it in the morning.  Wish I knew what happened, but I feel absolutely fortunate it didn't need stitches or injure her eye.

The sun had dropped below the mountains while I worked on Morgie's injury, so riding was out of the question.  I haltered Rhu and we did some ground work.  Then we worked on trailer loading for a while.  She wouldn't step in until there was some pressure on her face ... but then, the trailer was very dark.  Once I opened the "escape hatch" she stepped right in and stood still until I asked her to back out.  I was impressed with her effort.

Decided to do some trust building, so I saddled her up next to the trailer.  By now it was fully dark, Ryver kept running around her hind legs, and our foster boy was stomping around the yard in his shoes that light up.  Rhu looked worried.  

I tossed on the treeless and the bitless, while giving her lots of rubs and praise.  Two trips down the driveway, then circles on each side, and back to the step stool.  

I dismounted, rubbed her and stepped back in the saddle, flexed her neck to both sides, sat for a bit, then repeated the process three times.  I just wanted to sit in the saddle and breathe with her, no pressure, no work, nothing but being right there in the moment, together.

December 15, 2012 - Morgan, 20 minutes

Rained the night before, so the ground was mushy.  Opened Morg's stall to let her run a bit and Maj chased her back into the stall - shell fell trying to turn.  Checked her hoof; little bleeding, but no heat.  Put iodine on it and let her play in the turn out while I locked up Trav and Maj.  She zoomed around the arena a few times, so I figured she was OK to ride.

Tossed a saddle on and then walked her to the front where the tractor tire had been left.  She snorted, ran circles around me, and kept staring at it.  I let her circle, but each time I got closer to the tire.  I unhooked one rein and sat on the tire while she pranced around snorting.  Eventually she realized it wasn't scary so we moved on to riding.

I was losing the light, so we only ran around the yard a bit.  I love how comfortable I feel with her!  We rode for about 20 minutes before we untacked and I fed everyone, but it was rejuvenating! :)