It's So Good For Us

Yesterday we had access to an insulated, and sunlit, indoor arena.  Most of you know I do very, very little arena riding.  For one, I haven't had access to one in a while.  For another, I much prefer *going somewhere* on my horses.  But when I do ride in one, my dressage lessons when I was 8 years old (and very infrequently since then) somehow come back to me. 

Both horses made the trip (about 6 miles from the barn) and first off got some free time, sans blankets, in the arena.  Rhio, of course, rolled four or five times - he does love to roll!  They tooled around a bit looking at stuff, and trotted a bit.  Honestly I was expecting a bit more of a rodeo, seeing as it's been so icy and so cold lately and they haven't gotten much kicking-up-their-heels opportunities.  The air quality in the arena was unfortunately poor due to the presence of some diesel fumes from a piece of equipment that had been started inside - but it made for great, interesting light for some photos!

Red and Rhio (mostly Red) have been having some separation anxiety issues.  At home, I have begun handling them separately rather than together, and rode them each once in the outdoor arena before this cold/ice/snow snap hit.  They are mostly out of sight of each other when one is in their paddock, and one is in the outdoor arena.  When Red is the one under saddle, he tolerates being separated absolutely fine.  When he is the one left behind, it is an entirely different story.  Red carries on quite dramatically - which then of course revs Rhio up a bit, and he starts calling as well.  Rhio had serious herd-bound issues over the first few years I had him, and I certainly don't want to regress into that issue again. So we've been slowly working on leaving Red in the paddock while Rhio does something else, although after his accident the first week we were here, I am very hesitant to actually leave the premises with Rhio.  Obviously I will need to have a solution once I can actually start conditioning, as I don't intend to pony Red along all the time!  And then there's the prospect of taking Rhio for a weekend endurance ride, and leaving Red at the barn.... I admit, I am already nervous at the thought.  I wish I knew why/how Red got so much worse with his "buddy sourness" - although it isn't your typical case, either, because he is completely fine if he is the one to leave.  Anyway, I digress. 

Red was first up, and since I sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago, I decided not to ride in my saddle, where my stirrup would likely put too much stress on my ankle.  With the bareback pad, we worked about 45 minutes "schooling" - which Red clearly is very out of practice with!  It took him the first 15 minutes just to settle and start listening to me and working.  We worked on obedience, bending, backing - all skills he definitely has in his repertoire, but clearly needed reminding of.  He likes to rush through things, and evade by tossing or shaking his head.  I felt pretty good when we ended, and he wasn't too hot or sweaty (we did a lot of walk work), which is exactly what I wanted.  In this cold weather, the opportunity to get them out and moving is wonderful for their mental and physical health (and mine!) but I didn't want to work them too hard and get them too sweaty and risk that heat load getting dispersed as sweat later under their blankets during turn out. 

Riding Rhio is completely, utterly different than riding Red.  Again, I used the bareback pad, but everything else about the ride was unique.  It is so interesting to ride these guys back-to-back and feel the contrast between them so clearly!  Rhio goes in a hackamore, and thus I don't have the lateral control of his head that I do with Red, because Red goes in a snaffle bit.  Rhio's anxiety comes out in his feet - the more he moves them, the better he feels!  So, with Rhio, my first goal is always to slow down (in an arena setting).  Then, I work on his right side - bending, moving laterally to the right with sidepassing, etc - because he has real trouble moving right.  He also doesn't travel straight at all unless I really, really concentrate!  When I began riding as a kid, I was taught to start preparing the horse for what you're going to ask him to do next before you actually ask him.  But Rhio seems clairvoyant - in the preparation, he goes right ahead and does what I am intending to ask him to do!  For example, if we were moving across the arena and I intend to ask him to go to the right when we reach the wall, as soon as I think about going right, he goes right!  The end result is that we look a bit like a drunken sailor if I ride him with the same pattern of intention that I ride Red.  So, with Rhio, I have to really concentrate on being straight, in my body and my mind, if I want him to go straight.  We work on circles (he would definitely fail geometry) and side passing and halt-walk-trot-walk-halt transitions.  We did a little cantering (whee!) just for fun.  I put out ground poles and we trotted over them, through them, and around them.  Then we used them to practice halt, back, sidepass through each section, creating a zig zag pattern.  Then we made circles around a few barrels.  Can you tell Rhio is a busy, busy, busy horse?  Boredom strikes early and often, and I try to keep things new and changing all the time.  No drilling exercises for Rhio!  Forty-five minutes of work for him (yes, with Red whinnying from the stall frequently, and Rhio answering periodically), and I  think all three of us were pooped!  The horses were definitely mentally challenged, as I  asked them to do things we don't normally do, but that we probably should do more often! I was mentally and physically challenged (90 minutes bareback, anyone?).  I am used to my rides being mentally relaxing, a form of meditation.  My horses and I are partners going from point A to point B, wherever those may be on a given day, and they have certain responsibilities and decisions to make (where to put their feet, watch for obstacles, be aware of our surroundings) during a ride.  It feels like when we do arena work, all the decisions and responsibilities are mine.  It's exhausting! 

I usually ride on my birthday, but I might not get to tomorrow, due to weather and footing issues.  So, I am considering this afternoon my birthday ride for 2015.  It was just a great day with my ponies.  I can't wait to hit the trail again this spring, but any and all time spent with my horses is wonderful, uplifting, and rejuvenating, and the outside world simply slips away for those moments. 

Napping post-ride

Foggy New Ride

We're all settled into the new barn - now its time to start getting familiar with our new riding routes.  It is drastically different from our miles of deserted woods trails we've had access to for the past few months up north.  This is farm country, sprinkled with neighborhoods of commuters.  Corn fields, dairy cows, and grass lawns are our new scenery, at least what we could see of it through the dense fog and perpetual mist.  All these roads are paved, which has got me thinking about conditioning miles.  While the boys are super road safe, so the traffic aspect isn't so much of a concern on the secondary roads, the ongoing concussion from being on a paved surface is worrying.  There is a bit of gravel shoulder in many places, but not all.  Rhio is usually shod, but with so much asphalt, I will be hesitant to shoe him.  One of these evenings, I must sit down and go through my boot bucket - matching up usable pairs, replacing a few gaiters, assessing my stock.  I think boots will be the name of the game for rides out from the barn, anyway - good traction on the asphalt, and hopefully some absorption of the concussive forces.  I know from being a runner, that the pounding my own legs take running on paved surfaces is very different from when I run trails, or natural surfaces.  A little bit of road work is good - the even, firm surface feels good and uses muscles differently (its easier,actually!), and it can help build bone in horses.  But too much will lead to soreness, and, I believe, eventual deleterious joint effects.  So, we'll see how it goes...

Given Red's accident the other day, I opted to pony him along today.  The paddocks and barn area are treacherous with a layer of water over ice (it was almost 45 degrees today!), and I certainly didn't want him running about being upset with Rhio leaving.  Good thing we've been practicing our ponying all fall!  It is second nature now. 

We are able to ride off the property at the back side, and follow the edge of a cornfield out to a secondary road, thereby avoiding riding on the busier county road.  We then followed that road about 2 miles to an intersection, then retraced our steps.  Bits of the road were cornfield on both sides and felt very "country," while others felt very suburban, with houses, garages, driveways, and lawns on both sides.  I met a lady who stopped her car to chat; she also has horses along the road - she was very pleased to see horses out and about.  The few other cars and trucks that passed us were very polite, slowing down and moving over.  I think we won't have any trouble navigating the typical hazards of road riding.  Rhio did have to pass some dairy cows, which are much more terrifying than even scary beef cows (I have no idea why!), and despite Red's complete nonchalance, I had a giraffe-necked, snorting, prancing pony.  Silly boy.  Is it too much to hope that living in dairy country might help him conquer his fear of Holsteins? 

Riding along the edge of the cornfield.

Despite the dismal weather (but at least it was warm!), we all enjoyed seeing the new sights and getting out and about.  The boys even found a few blades of green grass to munch and were in heaven for it!  

The view of the farm, from the back (coming home).

Rhio releases some tension after being turned back out.  Must have been those Holsteins!

Horses Are Accidents Waiting to Happen

A little Friday afternoon ride - to check out the new area - was what I had planned when I headed to the barn under a gray sky today.  It would be the first since the horses moved last Sunday.  I brought Rhio into the barn to tack up, listening to Red whinny outside.  For all Red's comfort when riding alone, he sure doesn't like to be left home by himself.  As any of you regular readers will know, I ponied him along every time I rode up north this fall, except once.  Given the setup at the new barn, with lots of horses in close proximity and constant visual contact, I thought things would be ok.  Boy was I wrong!

Rhio and I started off around the perimeter of the pastures, and I was watching Red run up and down from their pen into their pasture, looking very prettily animated and all Arabian while doing so.  He was screaming for Rhio and I was pleased that Rhio was doing so well with ignoring it!  Rhio doesn't prefer to go by himself and can sometimes be barn/buddy sour because of it.  This is one reason I like to get him out and about solo pretty quickly after moving to a new place if I can.  We had completed 2 sides of the 3 we were going to ride around, before heading off toward a corn field, when Red had his accident.  Running full tilt up from the pasture, he slipped and fell flat on his side right at the gate, sliding into the (open) gate, and getting his hind legs (one or both, I'm not sure) caught between the rails.  The gate came off, and fell on top of him, and after what seemed an enormously long time, he got himself free, jumped to his feet, and ran off toward the barn end of the pen.  Rhio froze when the commotion occurred, and I had to jump off and try to lead him toward thrashing Red, which he was a bit reluctant to do.  Luckily, there were several people around as some of the others were getting ready to haul out to an indoor arena to ride.  We all rushed to the scene, and Red was so worked up he just couldn't stop moving or let me touch him.  He was at least weight bearing on all 4 limbs and there were no major cuts.  I had led tacked-up Rhio right into the pen with him to try to get him to calm down.  After hurriedly untacking, I took both horses into the barn to assess Red's injuries.  All I could find were a few superficial (but bloody) scrapes on his right fetlock.  Nothing was swollen (yet) and so I put the two of them into the outdoor arena to move around a bit and let the adrenaline subside (for all of us.) 

About an hour after it happened, Red was calm and had a little heat in the fetlock with the scrapes but seemed otherwise ok.  I am sure he is body sore, and gave him a little Bute to help with that.  I also spent some quiet time meticulously combing out his tail - an activity sure to calm my mind, and it seems to have the same effect for him as well. 

So, now what?  I am thinking through several scenarios to cope with his attachment to Rhio.  He has fallen in love with a mare in the adjoining pen, who happens to be stalled at night, and so was not in the pen next door when I took Rhio out to ride.  I will try ponying him the next time I go, so he doesn't feel left behind again immediately, but I also think that perhaps riding while that mare is outside would be beneficial.  We shall see.  He does not mind being the horse leaving the herd, and going out alone, but being the one left simply overwhelms him.  I sure know that I will be getting a 3rd equine ASAP if I am ever able to take them home to live someday!  Having just 2 won't be an option, clearly. 

Interestingly, this has been a trait of his since the day I bought him, 12 years ago.  Very shortly after bringing him home, I had to suture up a cut on a front leg, acquired by sliding into the fence when his 2 buddies left to go for a ride.  If I look carefully, riffling the hair up, I can still find the scar.  The falling down part also seems to be a theme - and not one I particularly enjoy! 

It is a scary thing when your horse has an accident.  It's especially scary to watch it happen, in the slowest of slow motion of course, and know there is absolutely nothing you can do about it whatsoever.  Thankfully, he seems just fine and tomorrow will be a new day.

Well-Socialized Ponies

Red and Rhio have moved again - about 3 hours south of their previous home in the northwoods of Wisconsin, to the Green Bay/Appleton area.  (Obviously, C., I, and the dogs have moved as well!) As expected, my adaptable boys have settled right in.  They trailered with ease (many thanks to friends B. and T. for taking a day and their rig to move them!) and we arrived at their new barn after dark.  I don't generally recommend arriving at night, but this time of year, with sunset at 4 pm, it just couldn't be helped.  They moved into their own paddock and went straight to eating hay and having a good roll. 

We all think about socializing puppies at a young age, making sure our dogs are good canine citizens, exposed to lots of different experiences and able to live among us humans companionably.  Does anyone think about socializing horses?  I suppose some do - but mostly we think about training them to a specific discipline, to instilling good ground manners so that us puny humans can handle animals many times our size without harm, to bending their flight-or-flight prey instincts and wandering ways to fit into our nice neat boxes.  After years of boarding in different places, trailering in different trailers with unfamiliar horses, camping at endurance rides, and sharing the trails with numerous unknown equines, I would say my boys are also well socialized.  They play well with others, horse and human alike.  They get along.  They are relaxed in new environments.  They are easy for anyone to handle.  They adapt to new food sources and methods of feeding, to new water and waterers/tanks/buckets/etc, to new types of fencing and shelter, to new routines, and to new buddies with ease.  I am very lucky.  And they give the Arabian breed a good name - as many folks unfamiliar with Arabs, or only familiar with the 'hot' show Arabs, would never expect them to be so dependable, so predictable, so unflappable, so resilient, so personable, and so calm. 

Meeting new friends across the fence

Paying attention to the new stuff here

Play time!

Love the ears shot!

Yup - life is good.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday.  I have been a little "Scrooge-y" today, however, as C and I are spending it alone with the dogs.  He is on call, and so we need to be close to the clinic.  We were invited to share meals here, but the on call prevents us from accepting those invitations.  And so, it is our first Thanksgiving without any family to share it with.  Boo.

However, I took the dogs for a nice walk in the quiet chill of the late afternoon, listened to the snow squeak beneath my mukluks, and breathed in the scent of fresh snow, pine, and cold air. 

How could I be anything but thankful?  I couldn't.  And so here is just a small piece of my life's bounty that I am thankful for - my horses.

Red and Rhio are the best.  I am biased, of course, but they have been my anchor in the stormy sea many times.  They are my escape from the rat race - you can't be with horses and do anything except live in the here and now.  They are my ticket to adventure and exploration - what better way to find out what's around the next bend than from the back of my horse?  They quiet my mind and busy my body - grooming, feeding, picking hooves, blanketing, unblanketing, walking to and fro, scooping poo, stacking hay, filling water, cleaning tack, and of course riding.  They introduce me to new people; everywhere I've lived, I have met "horse people" and developed friendships that will last a lifetime.  They fill my heart to overflowing with their nickers, their soft eyes, and their mere presence.  A deep inhale of horsey scent does wonders for my soul. 

Getting ready in the barn.  I love this pic because they are each entirely comfortable (see the resting hind legs?) in their own space, sharing that space with each other, and paying attention to me, too (see the ears pointed in my direction?)

Last day before WI gun deer season - and so our last ride out until the hunters have left the woods in 9 days' time.

Exploring the snowy trails, checking out the deer tracks, rubs, beds, and spots where they've pawed for grass beneath the snow.  So much to see and learn from the back of a horse!

Nothing can beat the peace and quiet, ambling through the snow perfectly in tune with your mount and companion.

Getting ready to put blankets back on post-ride.

It'll Get Me Through

Perfect for zooming!

Last Thursday I had one of those great rides that has stuck with me in the week since then.  I'm quite sure it'll be one of those rides that will get me through the long, cold winter, just by remembering the feel of my horse breathing and moving beneath me, the smell of his sweat in my nose, the view between his pricked ears, his energy and enthusiasm to get down the trail, and the pure concentration and attention required of me to be in the moment utterly and completely with him.  And to intensify all of the above sensations, I had Red along ponying, too - so it was doubly memorable, doubly pleasurable, doubly wonderful. 

Last Thursday I had no agenda and no time constraints.  I knew I wanted to explore what lay beyond Highway K.  And so off we went!  It was a brisk day.  The wind was bringing with it the first snow of the season (overnight a couple inches fell); both the horses and the wildlife knew, as we saw many grouse, several deer, bald eagles, squirrels, and even a fisher flashed its dark, lithe body away from us through the forest.  The horses wanted to *move* and so move we did.

We found insanely beautiful cantering (or galloping) trails.  They were the perfect packed sandy footing, with a smooth surface but enough spring to cushion our hoofbeats.  Pine trees mostly lined the two-track lanes, and kept us focused forward and on course.  I thought we'd just have a nice, comfortable long trot.  The boys had another idea entirely.  Zoom, zoom we went, zipping along at a very forward pace, the boys cantering in step with each other but not racing.  I did briefly wonder about the wisdom of flying down the trail with two horses under my (pseudo)control, as flashes of wild turkeys jumping out in front of us passed in front of my brain.  However, there was no talking the boys out of their run.  Two manes were flying, two tails were flagging in the wind we created, and we cantered a 3 mile stretch effortlessly. 

We explored an out-and-back snowmobile trail as far as we could before the bog through which we were traveling engulfed the trail ahead of us.  We startled a county guy who was out picking up trash (oops).  We trotted and cantered and walked and paused occasionally for a bite of grass.  We three existed in our own space, united, for the afternoon.  We traveled the trail together; the harmony between us was magical.This is why I ride endurance - these moments of perfect union with my horse, the shared experience and desire. To share those moments with both my horses at the same time was really amazing. We made it home before dark. 

The first opportunity to take my hands off the reins for a moment and snap a pic - 9 miles into our 14+ mile day.

Cooling out and mowing the lawn

Snack stop - the boys are mugging me for carrots

The Best Way To Go for a Beer With a Friend

Hello, November - you did arrive in style, I suppose.  All dressed up for Halloween, anyway - in fresh snow and way below average temps.  I think it was technically above freezing today, though my toes wouldn't agree. 

Not quite unbroken snow, as two someones had been walking here before us.  But truly enticing, nonetheless.

About midday, and with a glorious amount of sunshine beaming down upon us, Red and I headed off with M. and her Paint mare Twister.  This is actually Red's first ridden outing since moving here, as I have been taking both horses with Red ponying up until this point.  Before getting to the farm, I stopped at a feed store hoping to find a performance feed.  No such luck - everyone around here would be happy to order something for me, but my choices off-the-shelf are pretty slim.  At least I can readily get beet pulp!  So instead of keeping is as simple as possible for M. to feed my boys (just soaked beet pulp and a pelleted feed, in differing amounts for each of them, plus MSM supplement for Red), they're now getting beet pulp plus plain oats (what they were both eating at home, and a favorite combination of mine), and Rhio additionally gets stabilized rice bran.  So hopefully it's still not too complicated or too much mixing!  I try not to be one of *those* horse people that boards her horses and makes all sorts of demands.  This stop let me make up a tub of goodness for Rhio, so that as we rode out, he had deliciousness to occupy him.  I am not sure if I'll try leaving Red behind or not - he has a history of panicking when left "alone," and I can't guarantee that the herd would stay close enough to the fence to keep him company.  Rhio may not prefer to be left alone, but especially with food in front of him, he seems to handle it just fine. 

After encountering a camouflaged (buried slightly under freshly disturbed dirt) coyote trap right along the trail - thank goodness M. told me what it was - I'll be a little more careful in guiding my horses around anything that looks like that in the future.  (The trapper is on their land with permission, by the way. So no concern there, but it is nice to know where the traps are so I can stay away, and certainly not take Kelso out there with me.)  Red was more than happy to show Twister the way to go about the business of getting down the trail, and the inch or two of snow from Thursday night just made for a delightfully quiet, soft ride.  We got the occasional dump of snow in our laps from overhanging branches, but mostly it was really quite lovely to ride in.  I'm not sure how I feel about day two of snow this early in the season (really, it should just melt this time of year), but it was pretty. 

We did a little exploring along the way, generally covering the trails I've become familiar with in my solo outings.  After a few hours, and with swiftly approaching full-numbness in my toes, we opted for an excursion to town.   The trails connect to the town park, and just a bit down the road from there is a friendly little local bar.  This IS Wisconsin, after all!  This bar conveniently has a hitching rail, and we took ourselves inside for a beer (and, yes, to use the ladies room, and thaw out our appendages.)  The presence of horses outside the door lured about 1/3 of the bar patrons out for a look-see (and a few asked permission to go pet them, and feed them sugar lumps.) 

At the hitching rail

We hit the trail for home with just enough time to arrive before sunset.  Nothing can beat an afternoon spent astride a good mount, with the trail bending away ahead of you, and excellent companionship.  A beer along the way doesn't hurt, either. 

Rhio waits for his brother to return.

Cutie pie knows I've got his supper.